Hi! We’re back. Ron actually got a call from our friend, Mr. Reynolds, the Master of All Neat Things, to let me know we weren’t posting enough. Now we have WiFi, and while it is not fast enough, it is something. Hopefully we can get some pictures up, too, but that might be tomorrow night.
After we left San Francisco we headed on down to the LA area. We were having a hard time finding a campground because we wanted a place to stay for at least a week. We ended up stopping Saturday night to spend the night. Our goal was to attend Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, where Francis Chan preaches, that Sunday. Ron found out there was a Sunday afternoon service, so that was our goal. Sunday morning we let the boys have some time on the campground playground and then take some baths and head down the road. We went through a section of state beaches and in one section Highway 1 was right along the beach and cars were parked along the shoulder. There were people surfing, swimming, playing in the sand and as we were passing the end I was positive I say two shark fins. Yeah, we didn’t go there. We actually stopped at a campground in Oxnard, about 90 minutes from LA. We knew right away it wasn’t where we wanted to spend a week, but we would stay for two nights while we found a spot in the van.
One reason we wanted to spend so much time in LA was so we could visit Frances Chan’s church for more than one Sunday. We were not able to get there for the morning services, but they have two services in the morning and two services in the evening. We went to the 5:00 service because the 7:00 service did not have childcare. Apparently this service is new and also the smallest. Unfortunately there was a leadership meeting that evening and Francis had to be there so we had to watch the pre-recorded sermon. But, that is how we usually see Francis Chan, so that was okay. It was very cool to be there and to see that Cornerstone that is a church just like ours and they also mess up the slides and the video was not perfect. Francis was there to introduce the sermon video, so it was good he was in town.
Monday we spent the day trying to find a campground. That took all day, but we found one. Tuesday I got up really early to get the laundry done before we moved. Ron got the kids up and everything ready. When I was almost done they headed over to the laundry mat to pick things up and figure out where we planned on going. On the way the motorhome started acting funny. The laundry mat was only across the street, so he didn’t have to go far, but it was obvious it would not make it to a campground. But, God is faithful and after fiddling with this and that, talking to the Good Sam tech (AAA for RVers), Ron found a loose wire that was supposed to be attatched to the alternator. It probably came off in the “earthquakes.” We got that re-attatched, ate some lunch, cancelled the RV tech Good Sam was sending, then Emily, Aiden, and I headed out to do some shopping while Ron and Cameron went to the campground to get set up. During this process we were also talking to Mark Stephens who just happened to be in Long Beach on business. We were very excited to have him coming for dinner.
We had discovered that I did a pretty good job packing for winter, not so much for Southern California. I needed to buy some t-shirts and shorts because it was a lot warmer than I thought it would be. So Emily and I hit some thrift stores in the wonderful little town of Ventura. Main Street is a street loaded with trendy shops and several thrift stores that had great clothes at yardsale prices. Emily decided then and there she was moving out here. We found a campsite at the Ventura County Hobson Beach that was perfect for us. Most places were very expensive or more like parking lots with hookups, but this spot was right on the ocean with full hookups. The campground only has about 10 full hookup sites surrounded by about thirty tent sites. It was the perfect place for Cameron to ride his bike and for Aiden to play in the rocks. Unfortunately there was only beach area when the tide was out and we were there at a time when the tide never really went out very much. But it really never was warm enough to play in the water, anyway.
We had a great visit on Monday night with Mark. Aiden was all over him and so excited to see a friend from home. It was also good to hear about everyone at home . Wednesday morning bright and early we woke up to find the sea crashing into the rocks that border the campground. We had so much fun just watching the waves crash into the rocks. We spent most of our time just relaxing and watching the waves and the surfers. I have more to tell you about, but it’s late so it will have to wait. Check back tomorrow for more!
Meriam… you write nice stories. Even without the photos, I can still picture the campgrounds and events that you write about. Thanks for the update… keep them coming.