Spring Training Trip - Day 10

Since we had a short drive today, we slept in again and left the RV park about 10:15 am.  We then decided to check out the other RV park on Camp Pendelton.  This area, called Del Mar Beach Resort, is near the main gate to the southern end of the base along I-5 and adjoining the city of Oceanside.

The beach resort is a beautiful modern resort with about 115 RV sites, many with full-hook-ups.  There are also 62 “luxury”, “deluxe”, and “standard” villas.  The villas are one-bedroom duplex cottages right on the beach.  All are equipped with full kitchens, dining and living rooms, and furnished patios with BBQ grills. We didn’t go in any of them, but they appear to be almost new and very attractive.

The RV spots are in three rows, facing the beach and set-back from the ocean a bit. There is not a lot of vegetation or trees around each site but the spaces seem to have plenty of room in between them.

The beach is very wide with lots of sand, no rocks, and a gentle slope into the ocean.  The beach is perhaps a mile long, with a jetty to the south and restricted beach access to the north.  The beach area to the north is restricted to active duty military only while performing official military duties.  In other words, it is an amphibious training area for the Marines.  There also protected dune areas for Western Snowy Plover and California Least Tern nesting areas in the restricted beach areas.  Like Vandenberg AFB, most of the 17 miles of Camp Pendelton coastline are restricted from public access for national security reasons.  The base coastal areas however, are carefully protected and preserved in essentially their natural state.  In fact, the Camp Pendelton coastline is the last natural coastline left in Southern California.  The base is also home to over a thousand species of plants, fish, and animals, some of which are either threatened or endangered.

We then drove to San Diego for our stay at the San Diego RV Resort.  The park is located on the north side of San Diego, not too far away from Qualcom Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers NFL football team.  The park is in an urban setting just off of I-8.  The area of the park we are staying in is nice, but there is a lot of highway noise we will probably get used to in our 4-night stay here.

After checking in to the park and setting up the RV we met Dick, Susan, Dennis and Julie for lunch at a nearby Denny’s restaurant.  They are both staying in the same area of the park as we are but we do not have adjoining sites.  Susan and Dick are doing dinner for everyone tonight in their RV. (More to follow)

Day 10 Pictures