It’s been over a month since my birthday (oops!) but I’ve really wanted to share it because it was action-packed and involved travel, the beach, camping, hiking, great food, the puppy and I was so prepared this time around!
Josh and I spent the day at the beach in Malibu the day of my birthday morning and it was just lovely!
^^ beautiful California drives .. anywhere … make me happy ^^
^^ beautiful sky reflections… ^^
^^ puppy got a bath! ^^
^^ epic work outs vs epic reads 😉 ^^
Last year I started my first birthday tradition: camping in California!
Last Year, let’s call it: Year 1, Josh and I had never camped before, and for some reason didn’t really research anything about camping before we walked 5 miles up (and down) a mountain, set up our tent, and realized when it was pitch black that we didn’t know how to make a fire and had barely brought any food! We had also brought the dog, dog food, and plenty of water for her, but we forgot to bring her any toys or treats! Thanks to the kindness of strangers (Bear, we will never forget you) not only did we get taught some kick-ass wilderness skills on the fly (seriously… it was pitiful) but we were forever grateful and were sure to do our due diligence this time around.
We’ve hiked quite a bit since then, and we now live in the same mountains that we camped in last year. I’ve started more fires in my fireplace in the new house last Winter than I care to even remember (it’s not so fun when you actually really need it for heat!), so we were much more prepared for Year 2!
The first perfect thing Josh found was the camping spot itself. Point Mugu is listed on almost every “Best Hiking Trail” list, not only in California, but on practically the whole internet. The amazing reviews about this place just go on and on!
It’s located in Malibu in the Santa Monica Mountains, features five miles of ocean shoreline, with rocky bluffs, sandy beaches, sand dunes, rugged hills and uplands, two major river canyons and wide grassy valleys dotted with sycamores, oaks and a few native walnuts. There are more than 70 miles of hiking trails. The beach also features swimming, body surfing and surf fishing. The park includes the jagged pinnacles of the Boney Mountains State Wilderness Area.
Plus, it’s dog friendly!
Basically, it’s right up my alley. 🙂
There must have recently been a forest fire, because all of the trees were black and burned up, but in this absolutely breathtaking way there was greenery growing on the underside of every plant! So, so amazing! I love seeing signs of new life!
There are infinite hiking trails to go on, so we were always on some kind of epic adventure! Josh wandered off a time or two to tackle some hikes I was just plain not prepared for, but we both ended up with crazy beautiful views over the mountains and to the sea! What we planned to be a surveying hike took us over an hour, and I could have gone for way longer if we weren’t getting so hungry that we eventually turned around for the sake of filling our bellies! A Park Ranger wagged their finger that you’re not technically “supposed” to bring the dog (oops again!) but we did anyway, and she was fabulous and we had a wonderful time.
^^ more signs of new life! ^^
It’s incomprehensibly vast when you get up the hiking trail and realize how far you are up the mountain. Especially incomprehensible when you first see the sea. Before that it just looks like layers and layers of mountains. One of the first things we mentioned was “Can you imagine what it would be like for the first people who ever discovered this?”
Just. Wow.
I am so grateful to have had the adventure!
After our hike we cooked up some grub and went out to get some last minute supplies. On our way back we saw the most amazing neon pink, orange, blue, purple, green gorgeous sunset and stopped along the way on some adjacent sea mountains to get a good view and watch it go down!
As if the night couldn’t get any better, we cooked up some s’mores for dessert, played guitar and fell asleep under the stars to the sound of the waves!
The next morning we woke up super early and headed down to the beach with puppy.
^^ these two just kill me… ^^
There was no one down there, and she loved it! She chased the waves… the waves chased her… we chased her… she chased us… 🙂 A dog’s paradise!
When we got in the car Raelie immediately fell asleep so fast her face was hanging over the edge of the seat like this:
Too cute! 🙂
I really had an incredible, amazing time and I can’t wait to do it again! I hope to go back many times before the year is up and I can’t wait to recommend Point Mugu to everyone living! I really had the most incredibly beautiful birthday and I feel very grateful for it.
Happy and healthy life!
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