Summer at Camp Bestival

It's still raining. I find it hard to get excited about the summer when the long lighter evenings are so ... damp. The thought of pitching the tent and doing all the fun things that happen at festivals normally fills me with glee but I'm finding even that hard to summon up today. The only solution is to read cheerful blog posts about Camp Bestival. That glorious festivals and holiday camp by the sea in SUNNY Dorset.

So I wandered the interwebs and grabbed the best posts to read, so you don't have to hunt about. Just sit back, sip our tea and click...

First off let's zoom on our festival bus over to You Baby Me Mummy for a glorious look at photos of 2015 that will be a great start, a reminder for us all and a teaser for anyone that hasn't been before! After a few jam jar cocktails we will stagger on ...

and would you believe it - 76 Sunflowers only has a fab set of photos too! Well now I really am getting more in the mood.

Seeing those gorgeous blue skies....

Now I have never taken a toddler to a festival - so struggle to think of the sorts of things that parents of young kids need to know - luckily I found a great blog with advice for you! Hooray! Grab the suncream, wet wipes and juice cartons, pack the trolley and trundle down to the main stage with your little ones. For some tips on taking babies and toddlers to a festival check out Enchanted Pixies hints.

And Louise over at My Gorgeous Boys took her little ones and wrote about her experiences. Some lovely photos there to inspire you too - look at the joy on those little faces!

I have been going to Camp Bestival both as a regular festival goer and as an official blogger every year since 2010. I love it every year, even more now that Rob Da Bank realised that the older kids needed something extra - and they now have the Den for teens, perfect for DD as she's now 16.

And Penny over at A Residence Blog has been going for a fair few years, checkout her video from 2012 here.

Over at The Parenting Trials excitement and planning is the order of the day! As a list of 5 things that are essential not to be missed is emerging...what would yours be? Have you seen the official Camp Bestival Line up? Amazing! I challenge you to only pick 5 'must sees'!

I'll leave you with a list of top tips of things to do see or take to Camp Bestival, have you forgotten anything? Got your glo-sticks?

OK I'm proper in the mood now - sod the rain, grab your wellies (just in case) and join us! Oh and before I go - here is a link to 2012 at Camp Bestival in which I dressed as a horse - I wonder what I should dress up as this year?

Let me know if you are going to be at Camp Bestival - I'm on twitter at @tattooed_mummy or like my facebook page.

The wolf man

So the day dawned cool and overcast, yes really, in california, don't they know who I am!

DD and I showered and dressed, preparing for a trip to Venice Beach. Last time we visited was in 2009 and when we passed the Freak Show on venice beach it was closed, I love a freak show! So I was really sad to miss it. For the last five years I've been dreaming of visiting. This year I checked the times (it only opens at weekends, and only from 12pm - 6pm) and the price ($5) and I told M and DD that we were going to have to visit. 

We drove along highway 1 again, and by the time we left if was sunny and hot, we took the roof down on the car.

We parked right by the beach and the freakshow, and I couldn't pay fast enough! I was not disappointed. We saw oddities such as various conjoined animals, some stuffed or wet preserved but many alive! I have never seen so many two headed turtles! (And I'm fairly sure I never will again!) a two headed snake, and the cutest little five legged dog, Rocky.

There was a show, of fire eating, sword swallowing and some pretty gruesome "hooks through the face" stuff, a guy that let you staple money to his bare skin with an industrial staple gun (ouch), a girl that sat in an "electric chair" and lit bulbs in her hands, and even used a spark from her finger to like a gasoline soaked rag!

We saw the bearded lady, a pierced guy that had no skin un pierced! He was virtually a human pin cushion, several "little people" and my favourite...Larry, the wolf boy. (Well you know how I like a beard)

The whole of Venice Beach is full of freaks though, they are not all in a freak show! We wandered along the boardwalk looking at the shops, the skate boarders, the buskers, the stalls, the sun bathers, the people mediating, and all is pervaded by the strong smell of the "medical" marijuana that is on sale at every corner.

We even went for a quick paddle in the sea before returning to the car and driving to Cronies Sports Bar for curly fries and beer.

What will we do on Sunday? Fish and chips by the ocean is planned, maybe squirrel fishing, and some shopping.

The one with lots of driving

After San Francisco we had the long drive down interstate 5 ....oh poet and didn't know it...anyway, we had the long drive down interstate 5 to the next bit of fun which was Six Flags Magic Mountain, a roller coaster theme park that DD had wanted to visit on our last trip five years ago but we hadn't had time.

The drive was long, straight and easy. I had imagined it would be boring too but as the farming is so different and the views so lovely it wasn't boring at all. We stopped at a viewpoint to admire the vista and take pictures, including pictures of us by the car. I am going to miss my car when I go home!

On the journey we saw tumble weed, huge dairy herds (really huge, thousands and thousands of cows) sheep, vineyards, nut trees (almonds, pecans, walnuts) and mountains.

The drive was uneventful, though later we read about a horrendous accident that happened further north on the I5.

We checked in at our hotel, DD went for a swim and I watched this athletic activity from the hot tub.

I might* have locked us out of the hotel room at one point and had to request another room key, much to DDs embarrassment. 

*did

One misty, moisty morning

Woke early again today, darn time zones, even DD was awake by 6am, so we were up, showered, packed and ready to go before 8am.

Nowhere for breakfast so we set off coffee-less along the highway to see the elephant seals. There was some mist over the sea, it was early, we were almost alone with the seals, just a litter picking guy in the car park ...

We watched their amazing wobbling wallows up the beach, their grunts and bellows, their play fighting (they were mostly juveniles) and the occasional swim. DD said it was the best bit of the trip so far, we hung around for a while just watching, videoing and being amused by the seals. We then carried on driving, looking for a cafe

We were not disappointed as we discovered a lovely coffee shop, gas station and mini mart at Ragged Point, the coffee shop guy was really friendly, we had apple pie (and DAMN it was fine pie) for breakfast. Then we used the restroom and bought some snacks and on we went.

The highway along the coast is gorgeous, nice to drive, almost empty. Our views were sometimes obscured by the mist rolling in, but even that was beautiful. Sadly some of the larger bridges were totally in mist.

We saw buzzards and loads of turkey vultures too, dd was nervous they would eat us!

We took the top down on the car again, despite the mist making it cool, and despite, my *ahem* sun kissed arm, we drove for over an hour with the top down and heater on! Haha

Long story short....we made it to San Francisco.

Cruising along in my automobile...

So, how's my trip going? It's 3am and I can't sleep, so I'm blogging for a bit, hoping to nap again at 4!

The flight was great. DD has only eve flown with budget airlines before so she was delighted to discover that Virgin Atlantic provide personal TVs , with movies, tv shows and games, and also that all drinks are free, and food and snacks, including ice creams, are provided at regular intervals, very regular, I felt like I gained ten pounds on the flight! There was a good choice of movie too, I watched Twelve Years a Slave, terrible subject but an amazing film with great acting. I also watched Enders Game, I found it actually pretty good, and as I knew the ending I was quite moved by what happened in places. Then I watched Gravity, not my sort of thing at all, I found that of course the special effects were great but the movie just didn't grab me, I felt very "meh" watching it, didn't care if characters survived or not and was bored by the end, very glad I didn't pay money to see it!

We arrived safely in LA and despite me not having filled a form in correctly we were allowed onto US soil. DD enjoyed watching a beagle working at the airport, keenly searching everyone's carry on luggage with his nose.

We picked up our car and I was excited to find we'd been given a Mustang. It's a convertible, silver and very nice. Driving through LA in the dark in an unfamiliar car, chanting "drive on the right" was a fun experience, but we made it safe to the Hollywood Historic Hotel, a gorgeous hotel, full of gilt and wood and red carpets and faded glamour of the Hollywood of yesteryear. We took photos of the Hollywood sign from the street ( a standing joke with DD and I, last time we visited we seemed to never be able to find a spot to see the sign and this year we picked a hotel with views of it for our first night)

On Monday we set off to drive up the coast, the gps that I paid extra for has a dodgy connection and won't charge! There was swearing .... We moved on to our paper map, put the top down on the car, put the driving cd on LOUD and drove with DD map reading and both of us singing at the top of our voices. 

The weather is beautiful, sunny and hot, so of course I'm slightly sun kissed (even though dd warned me to wear sun cream .... I forgot)

After filling up with "gas" we have made it to San Simeon, I've downloaded a free US sat nav to my galaxy tablet and with the power of that and DD's map reading skills we'll be setting off for San Francisco in the morning...well, later in the morning.....

And this time we have head scarves and sun screen at the ready.

Why I love camping

I adore camping.I love tents. I'm fairly sure that many of the reasons that I love camping will be the reasons you hate it.

I'll start at the beginning, I love the smell of a canvas tent, I like the anticipation of packing for a camping trip. The look at the list,checking the food and the booze. Packing the car,(I have a Fiat Panda so it's car Tetris every time)

And then the drive, either to a site I know and love or to a new exciting site where who knows what I will discover.

Arriving, unpacking, laying out the tent, pitching, happy in the knowledge I can do it all by myself! Sending DD to fetch water, and other small chores. The sun (or rain) and the knowledge that as soon as we are finished I can cool off with a beer or warm up with a tea.

Sitting in the fresh air,watching the other campers, listening to the sounds of nature, the wind in the trees, bird song, bees. Walking around the area seeing what is going on. Snoozing on a rug, reading  a book, sipping a Pims. Playing Frisbee with DD...

And later cooking outside on a BBQ or my camp stove, eating sausages or stew, more booze, more tea, hot chocolate and then bed...

Snuggled warm (with many layers plus hat) in my mummy style sleeping bag, on the mattress next to DD. Listening to the animals outside, the tent flapping, rain on the canvas, the smell of the tent.So peaceful, sleeping from dark until dawn. Waking to birdsong and the thought of a fully cooked breakfast, with local produce if I'm lucky...

And sometimes all of that is combined with the added fun of a festival. Sitting here now I'm making myself yearn for my tent...

Camping, total relaxation, and always plenty for kids to do, from exploring to chores....what's not to like?

Not a rant - a nice post about my holiday, sorry

I know you'd all prefer a rant but I honestly don't have one! well I do, I have lots but nothing that would take up a blog post, just lots of tweet sized (140 characters for those that don't tweet) ones that are over in a jiffy, so if I blogged them this would just be a repeat of the 'I am Grumpy' Meme that I did a while ago.......

So I shall share a few pics and a comment on my recent Holiday to Port Aventura in Salou, Spain, where I stayed in a lovely hotel, ate lovely food, drank too much beer, went on awesome rides and met the lovely Very Bored in Catalunya, who was not boring (and hopefully not bored by me!) she was in fact delightful, as was her tiny boy.

  Here we are! trying not to look like the same person!

So....

We (my DD and I)  stayed The Hotel Vil La Romana, a great hotel that I've now stayed in twice, I always enjoy the food and the staff are very helpful and it's only a 10 minute walk to the PortAventura theme park, which is pretty much why we are there at all!

One of the things they are good at is decorative food!

There was sea

There were cocktails

There were theme park rides

Including 8 loop roller coasters :-)

Really there was just WAY too much fun ;-)

and we can't wait to go back.