Camping bookmarked by birthdays

The weekend started with Marine's birthday party. She liked her pomegranate tree I had bought earlier in the week from the group, and she had provided some nice French food and drinks. We sang some karaoke, played some Just Dance, and had a good time. 


In the morning, the two of us got packed up and drove out to Leo Carrillo State beach for our camping weekend. On the way, we stopped at the Getty Villa, a museum in a Roman style villa, with gardens and ancient sculptures. It's based on Herculaneum in Italy (which we have actually visited!) and they describe it as being able to walk around what the city would have really been like 2000 years ago.

Our first stop was lunch after the long drive, and then we went for a walk around the grounds. From the top of the hill you could see the ocean, and there was a salty breeze cutting through the hot sun. 

There were several gardens, with pools and columns to wander around. We also went to look around the museum inside which had lots of artifacts and sculptures from ancient Rome and surrounding areas. 




After the museum, it was time for camping! We drove another half hour along the coast, the sea to our left, until we got to Leo Carrillo State beach, just a little further along from Malibu. We pulled up into our shady camp site and unloaded. We walked down to the beach and watched the sunset before heading back to make a fire and cook dinner. The campground was right next to the beach, just a little walk under a tunnel and you were there. 



In the morning, we tried to find the Wishtoyo Chumash Village just along the coast, but we drove past several times, and could not find the entrance. We even pulled into a park which should have been right next to it, but there was nothing there. We decided to head back to the beach instead and had a lovely beach day. We did attempt to take the surfboard out and do some surfing, but the rocks were too big to get over and Mitchell is still a little wobbly on his knee, so we bobbed about a bit before lying back down. 

We made another campfire that evening and had a lovely night under the stars. In the morning, we left our food unguarded for maybe twenty minutes while we went to go and brush our teeth and use the bathrooms, and when we got back three crows and several squirrels were trying to find snacks. They definitely managed to get into the remaining banana. 

Our last day there, we packed up and then went back to the beach for one more day by the shore. 

It was still warm in early October, but no longer scorchingly hot by the coast. We drove back through LA and on a Tuesday, it took us an hour longer than it had on the way out on Sunday. But we made it back in time to shower and reset before going to Natalie's for her birthday cheese and wine party. 

Lots of love,

Emily and Mitchell

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