End of Summer -- Share your Favorite Moments

The Happy Campers got to thinking - my word, it's the end of Summer!  Labor Day has come and gone and today marks the first day of fall!!  The days are much shorter and a bit cooler - hence the reason we've been hanging on the California coast trying to take advantage of the final days of sunshine on the beach before heading east on the southern corridor!

Personally, we've had an amazing summer and we know friends and family probably have, too.  So we thought this was a good time to share our favorite things from summer 2011 and we'd really love to hear about yours, too!


End of Summer - beautiful west coast sunsets!


Below are some of our favorite things....but tell us your favorite summer 2011 stories using Facebook or the Comment section below (don't forget to sign your name so we know who shares with us :)


Amy's Favorites:

Most beautiful: The view of Lower Falls from Artist Point in Yellowstone National Park, WY

Simply gorgeous and inspiring!

Biggest laugh: Crashing the tandem bike in Santa Barbara

Yes, we crashed, and it's even harder to steer when you're
laughing hysterically

Best activity: Sandboarding in Florence, OR

Such a fun sport - check out the video if you haven't already
Watch -- http://youtu.be/jHHGeyC0xRw

Most inspiring: Spanish Village Art Studios in Balboa Park, San Diego

Cute artist studio

Buildings from a war that were converted into artist studios
and galleries with all different mediums.  Adorable colored
cobblestones line the area adding to the charm.

Best happy hour view: The dolphins swimming by + the ocean crashing on the rocks right beside us at Barefoot Bar in Malibu, CA



Amazing view with waves crashing
up on the rocks













Dolphins strolling by

Most delicious: Dinner at "3 Doors Down" in Portland, OR.  No picture - I ate it all.  :-)



Tracy's Favorites:

Biggest laugh:  The Wild Mouse rollercoaster in Hershey Park, PA

Again, it doesn't look very frightening, but I laughed
so hard at Amy screaming that I legitimately cried!

WTF moment:   Goose in a carriage w/ gun toting Mama in Yellowstone, followed closely by Dog in a Carriage in Napa, CA.  Seriously people, what are you thinking?

Words cannot describe - so
I'll just let you enjoy the photo

 A 75 year old man went into the
bathroom at this beautiful winery
in Napa - and left his "baby" outside
in its stroller.  Hence the reason...WTF

Most amazing:  Buffalo Herd in Custer Park, SD

So amazing - something I'll never forget

Family moment: Getting to see Devin play all his sports for a week in MN

Such great fun to spend a whole week with him

Most surprising:  The Corn Palace in South Dakota - very cool

Yes, we're dorks

Really an amazing thing - thought I'd just laugh at it, but
the story behind it is really quite interesting.

Best overall to date:  Yellowstone National Park, WY

So many beautiful spots around every corner!

And amazing wildlife from Bison, to Elk, to Grizzlies
to our cute little friend the Coyote!

Well, there you have it.  Some of our favorites from summer.  But please....we would really love to hear from all of you, too.  What went on this summer?  Give us the good, the bad, the ugly, the funny, the crazy....share some stories.

Until the next exit...

Amy & Tracy

FUN = NEGLECT

WARNING:  Too much fun on the California coast can cause Happy Campers to neglect blog!

Hello y'all!  Yes, we've been a bit lackadaisical about getting a blog posted lately.  Have been super busy enjoying life on the road in sunny SoCal - this beautiful weather and tons of activities have kept us away from our computer - but isn't that the point of being on this type of adventure anyway?!?  We're taking a "down day" and we don't have any activities planned......feels kind of nice :)  "Down Day" = doing laundry, catching up on the blog, writing out some postcards, chatting about where to head next with 98 square feet and, of course, working on our tans and "working out" our bods and our livers ;)

Since our last post, we've enjoyed visits to Big Sur, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, LA and now San Diego.  But with so much to share due to our lack of blogging lately, we'll tell you about LA and San Diego next go round.  Here are the latest highlights: 


BIG SUR: 

Gorgeous coastal area!  There just isn't much more to say about this place...it's simply beautiful and we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.





McWay Falls:
Amy's obssessed with how it falls directly onto the beach.
It was pretty amazing! Only bad part is you aren't allowed
on the beach so you had to admire from a bluff

Coastline with crashing blue waves

Cool outdoor eatery with
stadium seating and amazing view.
hmmm, which beer should I get?

This beach was nearly impossible to find with a treacherous drive,
but worth it in the end to enjoy Window Rock

And you KNOW who didn't!

And here's the proof - since she jumped the fences and
accomplished one of her goals of touching a waterfall!

PISMO BEACH:

Oh boy.  We spent Labor Day weekend here with some of the WORST neighbors ever!  Screaming kids and inconsiderate parents AND grandparents.  We kept our mouths shut, but we did get even, since the last night, one of them decided to come out and pee right next to our camper bedroom window.  Yes, a stream of pee WILL wake you up at 3am.  We decided to just mention this to security when checking out....they were polite enough to call us a couple hours later to tell us that our neighbors definitly got the picture when they were told they could be charged with indecent exposure and have to register as a sex offender for peeing in public.  Lesson: Do not piss off (or ON) the Happy Campers!  We may be little, but we don't take any crap (or pee, in this case)! (LOL, I managed to get 2 puns outta that!)

Anyhoo, despite that little mishap, Pismo was pretty fun.  We went fishing, had cocktails on the beach (surprise!), got stuck in the sand dunes in our jeep, had some rockin' campfires, and Amy made a kick-ass chicken corn chowder!  Here's a taste of Pismo:

WATCH our drive down the beach near the dunes - post rescue from being stuck in the sand!

http://youtu.be/IfQTZAAPiZc

Yep, Amy reeled in a whopper!  It fell off the hook on
the pier, and her little friend was there to pick it up for her!
He also took it home for supper! 

Here we are renting our poles

A classic seaside town with a cool sign



Just one of thousands of different kinds of dune buggies
and sand crawlers in the Pismo dunes!  This one was
so cute with the wind-up top!

SANTA BARBARA:

This was always one of Tracy's favorite places when she lived in Cali.  The town itself is starting to show some wear and tear, but the beach, boardwalk and pier are still booming with activities.  We felt we had to partake in some bike riding.  Note:  Riding a Tandem bike is not easy!  First turn we had to make and we crashed the bike right into the sand!  Lots of laughter on this little adventure.  And video to share some of the beauty.

WATCH as we ride our tandem bike along the boardwalk:  http://youtu.be/ZhKGekaJqN4

The pier after a couple of cocktails
at Long Boards!

I'm telling you - it was hard riding this damn thing!
But we had lots of fun!

Palm trees line the beach and the boardwalk.
So lovely and so California!

CATALINA ISLAND:

This was one of our extravagances since the Happy Campers are on a pretty tight budget, and needless to say, it did not disappoint!  We took a ferry on a beautiful morning, rented a golf cart to scoot around the island all day, and then rounded it off by meeting some cool locals, having some cocktails, a nice dinner, and then a lovely sunset cruise home on the ferry.  I'm sure none of our pictures are doing any justice to anything we've done on this adventure, but here are some of Catalina plus a bonus video of us on the island:

VIDEO: See the beautiful island scenery for yourself:  http://youtu.be/zj4463Swm9s

This was so amazing.  Island deer were so tame, they
literally ate out of our hands!

Baby Deer was shy
but so adorable!



Very few cars are allowed on the island
Mode of transportation = Golf Cart



The beautiful city and harbor of Avalon from above

Nothing like a true flavor of the island than drinking with the locals!

Well, there's already so much more to share from LA and now San Diego, and we promise to get that out soon.  Our limited wi-fi capabilities along with our busy activity schedule has us a bit behind.  Hope you stick with us as we start to head back east soon....destinations unknown since we're flying by the seat of our pants these days and enjoying the last days of summer here in Cali!

Until the next exit...

Amy & Tracy