Not many married guys get to go four-wheelin' on Mothers' Day. Luckily for me, I married a lady that likes Jeepin' as much as I do. So, for Mothers' Day this year we packed up the girls and headed to the Pismo Beach State Park.

We'd been there before, just shortly after moving to California, but didn't realize that it was an "Off Highway Vehicle" park. When we went the first time, we unwittingly went to the non-vehicle portion of the beach. We didn't realize that just a few hundred yards down the beach was a giant playground!

A friend told us about the park and recommended we check it out. We sure are glad he did! We packed a picnic and a kite and headed out. It's less than a half hour away from where we live, so we had all day to spend on the beach. (We're really lovin' all the great Jeepin' spots so close to where we live!) When we got there, we couldn't believe it! Big ol' trucks, dune buggies, quads and dirt bikes everywhere. There were at least 50 "toy box" trailers out there too – just parked right on the beach. What a great place!!

We had a great day. Plenty of room to kick up sand and do some dune-jumpin'. If you haven't been, and you get the opportunity, this place is a must. See you on the beach!

Photos:

	We got out and snapped a few photos as soon as we got to the beach. It was a perfect day. Not a lot of wind, nice and sunny, and plenty of sand.
	We had to cross this small stream to get to the real off-roadin' area. Justine took the opportunity to get her Jeep good and wet. Salt water can kill a vehicle, so we knew we'd have to clean them really well when we got home.
	Since Justine had her roof rolled back, she and Aspen got pretty soaked! It's a good thing Aspen likes getting dirty!
	Since this was our first time dune-bustin', we took it easy at first. We found some mild dunes and drove around a bit to see what it was like.
	The truck in the background of this picture gives you an idea of how severe some of the dune drop-offs are. You have to be careful out there, or you'll find yourself dropping off the edge of the steep side of a big dune.
	This is a good shot of Justine's Jeep. Nice wheel stuff on that back tire!
	We found a good spot to get out and take some vanity shots.
	Running uphill in the sand to beat the timer on your camera is harder than you think! We took some good family shots with the Jeeps in the background.
	After taking a bunch of family shots, we took turns driving around and getting photos of each other. I switched lenses to take these because Justine was so far away. There's really no way to show in pictures just how huge these dunes are.
	She drove around for a bit and then came back so we could swap.
	My turn.
	You can see all the other people in the background of this shot. These people are serious beach junkies! They use their big ol' lifted pickups to pull out their "toy box" trailers with their beach toys. They spend the night right there on the beach!
	Another family shot. This time we're all givin' the thumbs up... except Aspen. We're really not sure what she's doing.
	After the vanity shots and our "warm-up" it was time for some lunch. We set up the Jeeps to keep people on dirt bikes and quads from driving right through the middle of our little picnic "camp". We set up our little fold-out picnic table and had some grub.
	Sammiches, Cheetos, string cheese and - best of all - chocolate pudding!
	The wind coming off of the Pacific is really steady, but not too strong. So we took the opportunity to fly our kite.
	Aspen got a chance to pilot the mighty bug kite. Unfortunately, we had to stop flying it. A park ranger explained to us that the shadow from the kite frightens the nesting snowy plover birds (endagered species) out of their nests. She was really cool about it, and very apologetic. No big deal. We had dunes to jump!
	While the kids and I played some more, Justine took the opportunity to stretch out in the back of my Cherokee. Gotta love a wagon vehicle with fold down seats! Try that in a Wrangler!
	After lunch, the girls took the opportunity to scour the beach for treasures. It's really amazing how many perfect sand dollars we found out there. The non-vehicle part of the beach is picked clean. But since most folks down this far are busy jumpin' dunes, there were a lot to be had.
	Justine and Aspen explored the beach and found some nice shells and sand dollars. Aspen spent a lot of her time running away from the waves washing up on shore.
	As we walked down the beach, we came across some guys fishing in the ocean. They had a bucket with a bunch of perch in it. Aspen thought that was pretty amazing.
	After our lunch and estrogen-filled foo-foo beach walk, it was time to pack up and hit the dunes to get the testosterone flowing again. As we headed down for bigger dunes and bigger fun, we saw a ton of folks out havin' fun. We came across this really cool old Chevy Nova with a killer lift. There were all kinds of vehicles out there... Brand new VW Bugs, Lexus SUVs, Hummers, dune buggies, dirt bikes, quads, three wheelers, trucks galore, campers and big diesel coaches.
	I found a really great jump and starting hitting it to see just how much abuse my stock XJ could take. That thing - once again - amazed me. It took that jump in stride - no problems.
	Hitting this jump (a lot of times) sent all the junk in the back of my XJ flyin'. Ambrosia and I were airborn in our seats too. Jumpin' is a lot of fun!
	It took Justine a few runs to work up the gumption to really jump. But, eventually she got the front tires off the ground. She landed with a big smile on her face!
	We dropped off Ambrosia at the bottom of this dune and drove back up so she could take the picture. This picture just can't show how steep and big this dune was. It was scary. A roll-over waiting to happen.
	Another vanity shot of the Jeeps.
	The end of our day. We found a great spot with a few shrubs and the Santa Ynez mountains in the background. We had a great day, and we'll definitely be going back soon!