Thursday, March 10, 2016

Happy Camper

Calvin had a week off work where he decided to take me on vacation. It was going to be our first trip together. I was so excited! I loved the direction our relationship was going. Wouldn't you?

I packed a carry on luggage full of stuff  for the week and a small overnight back. I washed my car and headed on out to my Calvin's. I was so excited, I always have been whenever I was going to meet him; which had been every weekend since we met for the first time. Nice record. I have dated people in the past who were never available on weekends.

Brian, my airbnb guest was still staying at my house but was becoming more of a nuisance. The vacation couldn't have come at a better time, quite honestly. Not that there's ever poor timing for  vacation. I didn't tell Brian I was going out of town. It was none of his business. Also, you never know what people might get up to, knowing you were going to be away for a week.

Calvin planned that we would go camping by the beach on San Clemente. I had never been there before and hadn't camped in forever! Being n arborist, he had a bunch of wood from the trees he had been trimming, we took that with us, he also has very warm and thick sleeping bags and a tent. He is pretty outdoorsy, so it's only second nature that he would have that kind of stuff handy. I took my sleeping bag along as well. You can never be too prepared, right?

I arrived with my silver spinner suitcase, Calvin had his silver suitcase packed. I was surprised at how we both had similar suitcase. Poor coincidence!

We loaded my SUV, I posed for a few selfies and hit the road, Jack!
Notice our silver suitcases in the bottom
We both loaded the truck together, I pride myself in being good at packing. Having moved as many times as I have, it comes with the territory. Calvin thought of everything. He put water in the cooler for us and of course brought his skimboard. We were going to the beach after all. There it is in green below.
Let's go! 
We started at the gas station by Calvin's house. He bought a few snacks. We did have lunch before we headed out. He prepared something for both of us. I ate as soon as I got there, within an hour, we were on our way. Right on schedule! We were both psyched!

It was a nice two or so hour drive to San Clemente, Orange County. We drove to the campground, booked a spot, the one we wanted was already taken or something, so the lady was nice enough to move us to one with an awesome view of the ocean. Man! So cool!

View of the ocean from campground
I was jumping up and down for joy with how everything was falling into place. As soon as our camping spot was booked, we set up our tent, which was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Cute tent for two
After setting up the tent, we went out for pizza down the street at a pizza joint where they also brew their own beer.

Ready for pizza!

The pizza was really good. I asked for one with as much meat variety as possible while Calvin was ordering exotic beer.

Deliciousness!

We also had chicken wings with our pizza. So good!

It wasn't a lot of food but I was full. Probably, mainly from excitement! Calvin bought himself a Pizza Port beer mug. From Pizzaring, we headed out to the beach. We did so much that day, I can't believe we only had 24 hours! Calvin skimboarded. I took pictures and videos, you know the drill, haha. Soon, I will know how to do all these things and be cool too, you wait! I stepped into the water, because you have to! I love water, I just can't swim. I had shorts and flip flops on, so I was ready to go.
View from the parking lot

After all that, we went to the supermarket to get ourselves a few necessities; ice, juice, stuff to eat while staying there, red velvet cake for moi, etc ;)
Because I had to

San Clemente beach behind me

When we got home, we walked around the are to see what else was going on. There were a lot of campers,. I must say! Families, some people had two trucks, bikes, bicycles, it seemed like they lived there.

We went in the tent and chilled there for a second, when someone close by started playing nice music. This is not Beverly Hills, you can't be mad that someone's music is loud. We're on vacation, we're open minded. We had our own speaker, I had the iPod, but we turned ours on and enjoyed the neighbors music. He had a caravan/Trailer right next to us. Calvin went out for some reason and ended up talking to our neighbor. The neighbor asked if his music is too loud, we told him we love it. 

Around sunset, Cal called me to watch the sunset. 
So amazingly beautiful!
We stood outside our tench and took it all in. It was a moment, for sure! Neighbor invited us over to watch the sunset from his 'yard'.
Beautiful San Clemente Sunset
Neighbor had a lot of interesting things over there. He had a wooden statue from Indonesia, he refers to it as his wife. That was on the table and a lot of interesting things from his travels all over the world. He's a very nice guy, we were lucky to be posted next door to him.
The neighbor's wife!

Calvin made dinner, he had brought ground beef/minced meat from home, he made burgers out of that for all of us, including the neighbor.
Burgers for dinner
We had brought a camping type stove but the neighbor offered his, so Calvin used that instead.



Dinner time!

The burgers were delicious, we all loved them. Calvin is such a gem, I'd be lost without him. He comes in handy in all kinds of environments.

Neighbor offered some stuff from his own kitchen, pickles, etc to go with out burgers.
You know, the messier food looks, the better it tastes!

After dinner, they drank some exotic drinks. We all sat and chatted the night away. It was a really good day and night.

I got tired and went to bed, Calvin made fire for us to keep us warm through the night. 
I may have got up to quickly enjoy the fire 
As you can see, a great time was head by all!

Eventually, I went to sleep. Calvin sat outside by the fire and enjoyed the still of the night. Eventually, he woke me up. There was a skunk by our trash, he didn't want me to miss out. What? I've never seen a skunk in person. If I did, I must have been very young in the farm.

The skunk going through our trash
The thing didn't care how much noise we made or anything, it was focusing on what it was doing; licking those avocado peels. Calvin threw rocks near it to scare it away, hoping it wouldn't spray him with its smelliness. Did it move an inch? Nope! Only when it was done, did it walk away! Bye Felicia!


2 comments:

  1. Have you camped before this trip? Sounds like you had a really swell time. Did I tell you about the camp simulation we did in my garden over the Christmas period?

    This gives me hope that camping us not so bad after all. But again you are Brook. Very adventurous;)

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    Replies
    1. I have camped before, in South Africa. We were going to camp after Enrique Iglesias' concert in Eastern Europe but someone offered us a place to crash. I slept in a bed that was outside, which was kinda like camping but without a tent.

      No, you didn't tell me. I remember you told me you're not down for camping so you guys hadn't been in the four years you have been together. Tell me more!

      Camping, just like any life experience is what you make of it. Also, go with the right people and don't be a nightmare lol.

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