Weekend Road Tripping- San Onofre

Happy Wednesday my friends!  How did we even get here, was it not just Monday?!  This summer is going by far too quickly for my liking, I can’t believe September is creeping up on us so quickly!  All the more reason to enjoy every minute of it I suppose, which is exactly what I intend to do.  Beach days, eating outdoors, and soaking up all the sun I can get.  You may have seen here that Lou and I bought an RV!  It has been a lifelong dream of mine- it satisfies my wanderlust in major ways, and feels like a bucket list dream come true!

We took her on our maiden voyage over the weekend to San Onofre State Park.  We wanted to go someplace close to home for our first trip- dipping our toes in the experience so to speak.  And…. it was incredible!  I couldn’t love the RV life more, I was pinching myself all weekend long!  It was so fun traveling with our pack of animals (yes, Pepito came along too!) and waking up early and taking Bean for a run on a beach that was entirely empty filled my soul right up to the top.  I’m going to share our travel adventures here, and of course we’ll be posting on our Instagrams here and here as well.  We’re planning on renting out our house on airbnb for the times when we go on longer adventures, so stay tuned for that as well if you have any trips to SD in the works.  Cannot wait to explore this incredible country (and maybe a couple others) and share it all with you here!  Hoping I’ll inspire your own adventures, in summer and beyond.  I like to imagine that I’m taking you all with me in my pocket!  More on San Onofre below…   xx- Sarah

San Onofre State Beach is beach is a madhouse on a Summer weekend, for good reason.  It’s a great place to find a little surf during the summer months when the waves die down and it couldn’t be a better spot for beginners to learn!  I love the energy there- it’s Southern California beach culture at it’s best- so many sprinter vans and VW buses outfitted for surf trips, so many little kids who can ride waves with the best of them, and so much mellow energy.  Even though the beach is crowded and chaotic, the people are friendly and everyone is there with a common purpose and a common love of the ocean.  It’s really quite a special spot and holds a place in my heart.

As far as outdoor adventure goes- I love it but I’m rarely willing to sacrifice in the food department.  I have a hard time an enjoying an experience if I’m not well-fed!  So we packed up our trusty Weber grill and all sorts of delicious ingredients before we headed out.  We grilled Branzino and ate it with a sauce similar to this one and served it with the salad below (butter lettuce, mache rosettes, purple cabbage, carrots, cherry tomatoes, avocado, garlic roasted pistachios, watermelon radish and a dijon balsamic vinaigrette).  It was heavenly!  Everything tastes better when cooked and eaten outdoors, doesn’t it?!  This is how we intend to camp/travel- deliciously!!!!!

I don’t think I’ve worn a matching bikini set all summer- I’ve been all about mixing and matching patterns and colors.  This top is Mara Hoffman from a couple of years ago and the bottoms are Athleta (on insanely good sale marked down 10 $14.99 from $49!  Now is the time to take advantage of those end of summer swimwear sales!  Here are a bunch I’m loving:

This is the beach I discovered the morning I took Bean for a jog.  It’s just south of San Onofre- I believe it’s the San Onofre State Park campground- at the San Onofre bluffs.  The camping is parking lot camping, essentially.  And the highway noise was a bit of a bummer.  But all was forgiven when I woke up for my morning jog with Bean and discovered this beach.  It was early enough that it was just the two of us and a long stretch of sand.  Magical!!!  That’s one of my favorite parts about camping- being able to find spots where you’re alone in the world, even if for just a moment.  (And yes, I use the word camping with full awareness that what we’re doing in that RV barely counts!)  More of this beautiful spot below….