First Hike, First Sand

 

 

 

 

June 18th

I personally like rolling into a campground late at night.  It is a funny feeling to peek outside and get to see where you slept.  We opened our eyes to a beautiful mountainside and decided to take our first hike before we headed out to the beach.  It was a beautiful hike and the kids did so well.  We knew we had to start breaking them in before marching them through Yosemite!  Lizard chasing ensued.  Frequent stops in the shade.  It was a nice start to our day.

The first beach we came across was Dana Point Beach in Southern California.  A pretty ritzy little place with a perfectly nice beach.  Immediately, upon pulling into the parking lot, a surfer pulled up next to us and gave us a thumbs up for our "Rad Ride".  We have been in Tennessee long enough that I actually thought the term "rad" had expired.  But oh no....we were professed as "Rad" more than once, which made us realize we were going to fit in just fine.  The kids bounded down the cliffside stairs and wasted no time testing out the waters.  Tom finally got to surf a few waves. 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to our "rad ride" for lunch and then it was time to keep moving.  There was a lot more for us to see.

After driving for a considerable amount of time, it became clear to us that California is NOT very friendly to gypsies that just want to sleep on the side of the road.  Apparently it is illegal...in the entire state of California.  Even campgrounds require a two day window before you can reserve one.   Your only hope is to pull into one and ask for availability (there wasn't).  Walmarts don't like overnighters in California either.  Eventually we pulled into Jim's Burgers in Altadena for a bite to eat and Tom actually considered sleeping in the parking lot...real sneaky like.   Thankfully, my cousin Carl came to the rescue and offered to let us crash at his place in Pomona. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with him.  Besides, based on Jim's surly response to a customer's request for fresh fries, I doubt that he would have been real keen on us sleeping in his lot.  But whatever.  My fries were good for the record! 

 

 

 

Our Trip Summed Up: 

Days Remaining:  24

Miles Driven:  2,927

Currently in:  Pomona, CA

Total Spending so far:    Gas:       $855 out $1,500 goal

                                            Sleep:  $30 out of a $500 goal

                                             Eat:      $353 out of a $600 goal

                                             Other:  $40 out of a $400 goal

                                            Grand Total:  $1,278 out of a $3,000 goal