December 2011 at Point Mugu, California!!

I know, I know....it's been a LONG time since I have posted.  Can't say that I've had an excuse, but relaxing at a campground with this kind of view makes you lose all track of time!!!

We arrived here at Point Mugu...which is about 30 minutes north of Malibu...on December 1.  Point Mugu is a Naval Air Station with one of our favorite campgrounds in California.  We have stayed here twice before and couldn't wait to get back.  Our site was actually the one we stayed in back in 2005 on our first trip out West.  As you can tell in the last picture, we did have a few days of high winds but fortunately the camper was facing the right direction to take the winds easily.  Well, maybe not EASILY, but better than we expected.  We were very surprised that the campground was not any more crowded than it was.  In the past, we were lucky to even get a space during November or December.

It was nice to just be able to relax and enjoy the sunshine...

Max enjoying the sunshine on our first day at Point Mugu

Glenda enjoying the sunshine near the end of our stay!

We even "decorated" our little home and yard for Christmas...

The sunrises and sunsets here are amazing.  The campground is on a little cove, so we could sit and watch the sun rise in the morning above the mountains, and set on the other side of the campground.  We only got pictures of the sunrises...don't know how we missed the sunsets!

During the Christmas season, I always make a big batch of Party Mix to share with those around us.  This year I made enough to give some to all the staff at the campground motel plus a couple of our neighbors.  It's always challenging cooking large batches of ANYTHING in the camper!

One day we drove down to the Santa Monica pier and had lunch at Bubba Gump's.  Sad to say, I didn't take the camera.  I got a few pictures on my new smart phone, but I am not SMART ENOUGH to know how to download any of them to here!  Oh well.

On several mornings we were blessed to see a LARGE group of dolphins swimming by.  Most mornings they were so far out that we needed our binoculars to see them very well.  Those mornings they were stretched out from one end of the cove to the other, leaping out of the water and chasing schools of fish.  I would guess there were hundreds of them.  On the day before we left, we were watching for them again and all of a sudden they were RIGHT CLOSE TO THE SURF!!!  There weren't as many as we had seen before, but having them close was wonderful.  So I will close with this video of them.  What a wonderful time God gave us here in this beautiful place.  We have now returned to Camp Pendleton near San Diego for a couple of weeks before heading out on our Anniversary Cruise to Hawaii.  Can't wait to post about THAT trip!

Southern California for the Winter!

Well, we made it to Southern California after a nice visit with the McVeys!  It's been a while since I've posted.  We drove from Ft. Irwin to San Onofre FamCamp at Camp Pendleton, CA and settled in for a few days.  TERRIBLE place to camp (she said with tongue in cheek)!

We have camped here twice before and love being able to see sunsets like this!!  The only drawback this year was a broken water pipe at the campground the day after we arrived!!  Because of this, we had no water (except what we could tote and put in our fresh water tank from some Water Buffalos that the campground set up in the parking lot)!  We have "dry camped" lots of times, so this wasn't too hard on us.  What WAS hard was knowing we were paying $35/night for just electric hookups.  Now THAT hurts!  Thankfully, they had the water pipe fixed a couple of days before we left, which was amazing since it ran UNDER some railroad tracks!

We were really glad to be able to stay in this area because we were able to visit with long time friends!  One of the young men who worked with us at South Mountain Baptist Camp, Michael Kerley, has moved to Temecula, CA, which was only about an hour away from us.  Michael came one night with his sweet girlfriend, Ellie, and had supper with us.  What fun we had remembering all the crazy, wonderful times at camp!  Michael only worked one year, but he said it was a great experience for him.

Then on Friday evening, we were able to visit with great friends (well, adopted family), Bob and Monica Clark!

Bob and Monica went to high school with my younger sister, Susan.  We have been able to see them each time we have come to Southern California.  In fact, the last time we were here, they adopted us and had us over for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Such a sweet couple, as well as being just as crazy as we are!!!

The weather was great, for the most part.  It was a little chilly some days and rained on the weekend, but all in all, the stay was very restful!!

Eating breakfast at the Skinner Outdoor Bistro

Surfer utilizing his board!!  Max watched him catch a BIG fish!

Sunset at San Onofre

Sunrise at San Onofre

We will be coming back here for a few days in January and hope to get a spot down on the beach.  Until then, we will keep you up-to-date on the Skinner "doings" as we move up the coast.  We are now at Seabreeze RV Resort (a Navy FamCamp) at Seal Beach.  On Thursday we move to one of our favorite California Campgrounds, Pt. Mugu FamCamp near Oxnard, CA.  I look forward to posting lots of great pictures from there!!  

"Doings" in the Desert

Last week we traveled from Las Vegas down to Ft. Irwin, California.  Where is Ft. Irwin, you ask?  WELL...it's hidden in the Mojave Desert!!  Why would we go to a desolate place in the middle of the desert?  To see FRIENDS, why else!!!!

Greg & Conli McVey and their sweet family

Greg worked with us at South Mountain Baptist Camp the first few years we were there.  It was so much fun to be able to catch up, as well as remember great times at camp.  I'm sure the kids and were bored hearing us talk and talk and talk.  In fact, they ended up going to another room to watch a DVD!!  

Ft. Irwin is the National Training Center for troops, especially those heading to the "Sandbox".  Greg was in the midst of this training while we were there, but he found time to come by and say hello.  Greg is an Army Chaplain and part of his job is training other chaplains how to be prepared in combat situations.  You can imagine how excited Max was being able to hear all about Greg's work, as WELL as just being on a military base.

The FamCamp here at the base is NOT the most exclusive campground, that's for sure!  Well, then again, maybe it is..IF you consider the word "exclusive" as being isolated!!!

Nope, we were not alone!  There were several other campers here, but I think we were the only ones just "passing through".  The rest were here waiting on housing, or living in their campers while stationed here.

Although the area is desolate, it was beautiful!  Now, if I was arriving here for the first time realizing I was going to LIVE here, I'm not sure what my reaction would be!!!  The nearest town is at LEAST 40 miles away.  Anyway, here are just a few pictures that we took while at Ft. Irwin and as we were leaving.

Many of the units who train here paint their emblem on the rocks entering the Fort

The coyotes just walked through the Base everywhere

This was right across the street from where we camped.  Nope, not going there!!

We teased Greg and told him not to worry about the "opposing troops"..they were broke down near us!! LOL

 

ONLY road leading in and out of Ft. Irwin!!!

We were so glad that we took the time to stop here on our way to the coast of California!  We were so blessed to see the McVeys and hear how the Lord is working in their lives. I also have a new appreciation of ladies, like Conli, who take up the slack while their spouses are defending our country and who treasure the time they do FINALLY get to spend with their men.   We also feel like we now have three more "adopted" grandkids!!

Thanks, McVeys, for making us feel so welcome!!!

TOURING LAS VEGAS

Hi again!  As I stated in my last blog, on Monday night we took a Night Sightseeing Tour of Las Vegas on a Doubledecker Bus .  We prepared ourselves since we knew it was going to be COLD!  After donning layers of clothes, packing gloves and earmuffs, we headed out to the Excalibur to wait for the bus.

  We left early in order to give ourselves plenty of time just in case we got lost or got caught in traffic.  The handy GPS took us straight there without any problem, so we were able to grab a bite to eat before hopping on the bus. We were able to get front row seats behind a glass shield, so at least we were protected from the breeze!  Las Vegas is, indeed, a glitzy city!  We enjoyed seeing all the huge hotel/casinos all lit up, but did NOT enjoy so many of the other signs, etc., that light up along with them.  You can only imagine what they promoted.  What a shame to realize that immorality is encouraged so rampantly here.  Yes, there are some shows and areas that are family friendly, but getting there requires closing your eyes and blindly fighting your way through all the rest of the stuff!  We were glad that we could just ride through.  I'm posting pictures of several of the hotels/casinos and hope there is not any offensive signs in the background.

Might have enjoyed this show, but all the shows are very expensive

People actually bungee off the top!!

The bus took us down the Strip to Freemont Street, which is called Freemont Experience.  This is at the end where the older section of Las Vegas is.  We passed many Wedding Chapels along the way and I took a picture of this one in the older section.  The reason I did is that back in 1941, my parents were married in Las Vegas and I wondered if it was in a chapel like this.  The sign in front said it had been used since 1940. . . you never know!!

Freemont Experience was pretty interesting (if you blocked out so many striptease places)!  It is an area of several blocks (the tour guide told us how many, but of course, I forget) that are covered with a canopy where they have a light show every hour.  The canopy lights up with films of the group singing, and the music plays throughout the entire area.  We stayed for both shows. . . the first being American Pie and the second one was one by the Doors.  Of course, these two older folks enjoyed the American Pie one the best! lol!

I am inserting a short video of Mr. Max singing along!  Aren't we "with it"!  A lot of people were dancing along, but you do NOT want to see Mr. Max dancing!!  lol

Well, we can now say we have been to Las Vegas!  Yep, we did have to try one of the slot machines before leaving Excalibur. . . spent $3, lost $3.65. . . that is one reason we don't gamble!! LOL. . .

On Thursday we left Vegas behind and headed to Ft. Irwin, California, to visit with some friends.