Happy eight years of love to my amazing partner, Dave! We just returned from a very special anniversary trip: A Glamping adventure in the San Diego Backcountry, followed by a one night stay at Ocean Beach! Our canine fur babies, Sadie and Harvey joined us for a wonderful dog friendly vacation… Yippee! This was the third vacay we’ve taken with them. We booked the trip back in January and continuously counted down to the final day we’d head off to our paradise of mountains and beaches in Southern California.

Our itinerary took us to Temecula first, to taste what the vino of the valley had to offer. We stopped by some dog-friendly wineries, including Oak Mountain Winery and Falkner Winery.

Then, we made our way to “home away from home” for the next few days, Camp Ribbonwood. Nestled in the mountains of San Diego County (and about 80 minutes from any actual ocean), the safari tent rental had all of the amenities you’d expect in a cozy cabin and more, and would never fathom for a 16 x 20 canvas tent. We loved everything, from the full kitchen, to the heated mattress beneath a cushy down comforter, to the coal barbeque grill with a pizza oven, to the clawfoot tub overlooking the most breathtaking view ever, to the blanket of stars covering us while we soaked in the incredibly therapeutic hot tub, to the property’s charming little hiking trail. We were so spoiled that we spent most of our time at Camp Ribbonwood, allowing us to really get our money’s worth.

This trip was very different from any previous, as we cooked most of our meals and didn’t do too much exploring. Other than learning how to use a coal grill for the first time, hiking the local trail and visiting the town of Julian for their world-famous pie, we were pretty lazy! Usually, I have our entire trip jam-packed with a strict itinerary of things to do, the best food spots, ghost tours to take, state parks to hike, museums to visit, etc. etc. But, this time was all about doing a whole lot of nothing – so much so that I hardly took any photos at Camp Ribbonwood. (However, you can get a better glimpse of this very dog-friendly vacation on their website here. I highly recommend you check it out!)

Here are a few more highlights from the trip…

After three nights at our safari paradise, we headed down to Ocean Beach, San Diego for our next “home away from home,” – Ocean Beach Hotel. Here, we would only be staying one night, so we had quite a bit to pack in. I definitely made up for my lack of picture taking during this last part of our trip. Apparently, my soul REALLY craved the ocean… <3 I think we ALL did.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the tidepools at Cabrillo National Monument. We arrived one hour before the best time of the day (1:00 PM that particular day) – when the tides would be at their lowest. So, the timing was absolutely perfect. And, what an absolutely breathtaking day it was!

We couldn’t have asked for a more ideal breeze or skies. Mother Nature was so good to us. Even when she erupted with a huge rain storm later that evening… it only enhanced the ambiance of our visit to the Ocean Beach Pier and Bombay Restaurant, our favorite Indian joint in San Diego.

All in all, our dog friendly vacation of 2015 was a success, and we made so many wonderful memories!

__Photos taken in Temecula and San Diego County by Gina Mizzoni.__ 

Gina Mizzoni Photography offers custom lifestyle photography services for men, women, businesses and families. Let Las Vegas photographer Gina capture your inner light, your most precious moments, your life. Contact us to book your appointment today. For more information about our many photography offerings, check out About, FAQs and Investment. (Psst! Gina is also a writer-for-hire, so if you need rockin’ copy or impact-makin’ convincing, she’s your chick.)