So where do you wake up in the morning?

I was surprised when a close friend recently commented that RV parks are not in prime real estate. Really? Have you not been looking at our photos?

The entry below is where we woke up this morning. OK, it is a parking lot. With electricity, water, TV, and wifi hookups. A little store with amenities, a book exchange,a hot tub, great showers and did I mention -- OVERLOOKING THE PACIFIC OCEAN? Sitting just above Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway).

I enjoy watching the sunrise over the ocean. I thought about journal writing outdoors this morning at an empty picnic table a couple of tiers up in the park. But instead I strolled about with my coffee and camera.

I often enjoy watching campgrounds wake up...how people start their mornings. Those who come out to enjoy the quiet, some walking their dogs (or cats on leashes), others cooking, a few radios tuned to NPR (the country music crowd usually turn it up at night).

Then there are the setups. The short-termers like ourselves may be spread out a bit. A couple of chairs. Bicycles. But it is the longer-termers of most interest. In the last campground, outside Joshua Tree, there were a lot of plastic outdoor furniture and Walmart-type Christmas decorations, including those large imitation snow globes along with santa's and elves and wreaths. That whole place had the feel of a FL retirement community. Pleasant people mostly enjoying rounds of golf and 4 PM BYOB happy hours.

I can't say what people do differently here in trendier Malibu Beach but the "yards" that some have created outside their rigs have little in the way of holiday decor. Instead, at the site of the "Night Host" -- the third photo below --(the person who checks you in if you arrive after the main office is closed) has an extension to their vehicle, a sunroom of sorts (a "moonroom"?) with a scramble of stuff inside. The room is lit up and so at night, you can see the host on her directors chair watching TV with piles of papers and equipment surrounding her.
And a couple of spaces over, the patio of another big rig is setup with Buddha altars, plants, and an exotic hand-beaded birds nest.

Where did you wake up today?