Coastal Camping

I've never really been a fan of camping up until this past weekend. I'm a newly reconverted camping fan! In the past, camping to me was dreadful. Dirty all the freakin' time, dry hot weather,  dreaded taking a shower in the less than clean showers, bugs, bees, bears, etc. But, I think I've found a solution to my camping dilemma and that is, find a campsite that is near nice places such as Pismo Beach. 

Pismo Beach was my saving grace. We were able to hang out in cool, breezy weather, and then return to our campsite in the evening hours where it was finally in decent weather temperatures and lounge for the remainder of the night. It was the perfect combination! 

This past weekend, we drove down to the Central Coast and camped out at one of the KOA campgrounds in Santa Margarita. I have to give much props to KOA as they were exceptionally good at making sure the bathrooms and campgrounds were clean. Heck, even their porta potty was clean. Well, that's what I heard from my fellow family members. I didn't have the heart or the courage to go into the porta potty. My rule, go in a porta potty unless its absolutely necessary. 

This time around, the weather was perfect to set up our tents. Last year, it was so windy making it difficult to even hold down the tents to stake them. Below is our humble abode for 4 days/night. Inside, we had cots that took up majority of the room inside and made me a wee bit clausterphobic. I thought I was going to have a panic attack. 

The next day, Friday,  we all decided to head to Pismo Beach. I was very excited because I've never been to Pismo Beach. The weather, at first, was foggy and cold, but the sun began to come out mid afternoon making it perfect to walk around and explore the little beach town. 

We encountered the infamous Splash Cafe that my lovely Facebook friends kept telling me to check out. The line was super long, but fortunately, it went by fast! We ordered a bowl of their award winning clam chowder, with seafood topping and a loaf of sourdough bread. (Thank you V for giving me this tip!). It was very, very, delicious and needless to say, worth every minute of the wait. 




Noshed on a seafood platter combo which was next door to Splash cafe at a place called Brad's Restaurant.  that consisted of clam strips, shrimp, halibut, and calimari and oh, some good ole' chips! It was oh-so delish!

Then on Saturday, we headed over to Grover Beach. This was my favorite part of the trip! We were able to drive onto the beach and have a little tailgating beach party all day long.

Dogs are allowed on the beach, so long as they are leashed. Fine by me. Maddie is a rebel when it comes to being off leash on the beach. The last time we off leashed her, she went ballistic. She started chasing a bird and kept going farther and farther into the ocean. We seriously thought we were going to lose her because she wouldn't respond to our voice commands. 

I can't wait for next year to camp again! It truly was a enjoyable weekend! I heart summer days.....

All Natural

Believe it or not, I had my very first visit to a Whole Foods during our trip to the coast. We have a couple of Whole Foods near us, but I never felt the need to go there especially since it's very expensive and I get my satisfaction from Trader Joe's. 

I decided to pick up a couple of dinner items to eat while I watched the infamous LOST finale. The husband and I are still debating about the ending and its theories associated. We can't help ourselves. I love it! Any LOST fans out there? What are your thoughts?

Oh, as I digress. Getting back to Whole Foods. Ahh yes. So I wanted to purchase a couple of items for my dinner. I remember reading a  review about Whole Foods and their wonderful tasting natural honey roasted peanut butter. It wasn't a  high praising review, but for some reason, it clenched my curiosity and I just had to swoop up one!

I didn't get the opportunity to run the peanuts threw the intimidating machine, but I was able to snag an already pre-packed one. 

Yesterday morning, the hubs decides to make himself a peanut butter and jelly toasted sandwich for his breakfast and I remembered that we bought the au natural peanut butter. I was ecstatic to try it, and man, oh, man, this stuff was gooooooooood!!! 

 
What I love most about this peanut butter, or natural peanut butter in general is that it has no preservatives, but what I dislike about it is that it is pretty expensive! 

Back In the Saddle, Again!

Been on a 3 month hiatus. I've been very bad. I know it's no excuse, but this was my first time to experience the glooms of running through the ugly rainy months and well frankly, I suck at it! After running the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in December, I was over the cold weather. Couldn't seem to get my brown bootay out of my flannel sheets and onto the pavement. Yup, I caved but now I'm back. Out of hibernation and it feels really good! 

Weather has been super gorgeous these past few days and it just has inspired me to get out there! I finally put on my running shoes for actual running and hit the roads. I got my ass kicked, really bad. Only did 2.5 miles, but I know that eventually I'll build up my endurance once again. 

Upcoming races that I plan on doing is the 12K Rocklin Run in April and the Cowtown Half Marathon, err I mean Urban Cowtown in October. They had to change its name because in Forth Worth, Texas  there was a race with the same name. 

I'm trying to stick to local races as last year just kinda burnt me out with the traveling out of town and money spent on driving and staying at hotels for races. Plus, I'm finding that the local races are more reasonable in price, too! Can't beat that! 

So what have I been up to? Absolutely nothing. Discovered some really good foods though. My latest obsession: Kellog's Cinammon Pecan cereal. Oooh Yeah. It totally reminds me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and I just love it!