Casper's Wilderness Park and Other Adventures

About 10 miles east of San Juan Capistrano, where Gail and I met up, is a wilderness campground for tent camping. The terrain is almost desert-like, and there are miles of hiking trails and a top-notch visitor center.

This was our tent site, on the edge of the arroyo. I brought the trusty Schwinns along.

After setting up camp, we drove up the coast to Newport Bay. The back bay has an extensive marsh where we saw large fish jumping, herons, and egrets. There were fine bike paths for us to ride on.

Gail scans the marsh.

We stopped in Laguna Beach at Husky Boy Burgers to recharge. One of the employees gave us an inside tip about a beautiful cove where the locals go. He said if we carried a Husky Boy bag with us there would be no problem.    The burger man was right.  Shaw's Cove, above, had crystal clear water and fun waves to body whomp in. Unfortunately, following my instruction, Gail caught a wave, or make that "the wave caught Gail", and she went heels over head, getting a fair sized raspberry on her back. She just laughed it off as I sheepishly suggested that maybe the waves were breaking a little too hard to continue bodysurfing.

Nothing like Southern California beaches. The Laguna Beach stretch was magnificent.

We went for an evening hike that became almost totally dark. We went further and later than we realized, and failed to bring a light.  We broke a number of rules over a few days, but lived to laugh about it.

The flowers must be spectacular in spring judging by all the different dried flowers. Even they were beautiful in the evening light and shadows.

Twilight sets on the Ridge Trail.

Foot, Bottle, and Potted Cactus

Yes, I brought a cactus to the desert. Actually, it was a gift for Gail and her family in Escondido.

One highlight that we couldn't get pictures of was stand up paddle boarding in Dana Point Harbor. It was a blast checking out all the fancy yachts, other paddlers (one guy had two dogs on his board), birds, and seals. Gail scored an A+ for not falling in, even though it was her first time.  We had a wonderful four days of spontaneous fun, which we truly deserved.