we aren’t superfans of big cities. at least i’m not. i mean. the history and architecture is often pretty cool. and there’s usually so many great places to eat. and museums. but the people. and the traffic. ugh. after our two beach weeks with no hookups, we moved a bit inland to a thousand trails […]
beach
leo carrillo state beach.

beach number two on our california state beach tour was leo carrillo in malibu (which meant we got to do a bit of l.a. traffic driving on our way north). we got in pretty late, and got set up, and then derek had to pack for a morning flight back to north carolina for the […]
san elijo state beach.

after wilderness lakes, it was finally time to kick off our long stretch of california state beaches. derek booked us at four different beaches for five out of seven weeks in march and april. the first one up was san elijo, a little bit north of san diego, near encinitas, california. our campground was up […]
grandlidbom san diego christmas, days 2 & 3.

after our action packed first day with the grandlidboms, the lidkids spent the night with them, and since we didn’t have anything planned until lunchtime on day two, our morning at the camper was lazy and glorious. i savored a delicious cup of coffee outside by the lake, with no bickering, whining or cartoon sounds […]
grandlidbom san diego christmas, day 1.

finally. the day was here. the grandlidboms arrived in san diego. we woke up, ate a quick breakfast, and then headed out the door to meet them at the birch aquarium. we had our happy greetings and then started exploring… while the whole place was pretty educational, the first bit that we walked around in […]
san diego, pre-grandlidbom christmas visit.

after our little stay in menifee, we moved on to san diego, where we would be meeting derek’s parents for an epic christmas extravaganza. but, first, we had a few days to settle in before they would arrive. once we were all set up and good to go at our site, we headed off to […]
fort pickens week two.

and now. a recap of our second week at fort pickens state park. we have stayed in a few state parks at this point. in our experience, they don’t usually have sewer hookups, which means you have to be very thrifty with the amount of water (and other stuff), you send down the drain, or […]
navarre sea turtle conservatory.

when the kids were getting their junior ranger badges at fort pickens, the ranger there told us about a sea turtle rescue down the island in navarre. plus, our friends were staying basically across the street. so, on friday we took a beautful 20 mile drive along the gulf coast to meet them and visit […]
fort pickens state park: the beaches.

as warmer temps moved in, we took full advantage of our beach surroundings. for the first official outing, we went to the tip of the island. it was still a little chilly, but that didn’t stop isaac and anna from heading straight into the icy waters. isaac loves playing in crashing waves. hazel is smart. […]
fort pickens state park: the fort.

the next stop on the lidbom rambling road show is fort pickens state park. it’s on the end of a barrier island that is part of the gulf islands national seashore. our campsite is within walking distance of the gulf of mexico on one side and the pensacola bay on the other. we are also […]