Blue Jay Campground

Dale and I and our neighbors Greg and George all decided to go camping up at Blue Jay campground in the Cleveland national forest. It is about an hour drive from Long Beach up in the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County. It was a Friday and I was off work early, so we packed up the SUVs and high tailed it up the Ortega highway to the mountains. We did not realize that there was road work on the windy mountainous Ortega Highway, and the road actually closes at 8:30pm to all traffic. We made it with only 10 minutes to spare to the top of the mountain before the road was closed, and found our way to the campsite just as it was getting dark. We set up tents, and cooked a great meal and went to bed after a nice evening around the campfire. The weekend was warm, up to 96 F and sunny, but there were some nice cool breezes and we had plenty to drink and keep us cool. We also took a run into the nearby town of Lake Elsinore for some more ice and supplies. We also tied up our nice solar shower to a tree and we all had refreshing showers in the evening before our dinner. It was very dry and dusty, so no matter where you turned, you got dirty. We had a 2nd evening of a great fire, meal and meal around the campfire, and went to bed for a nice rest under the stars. We packed up on Sunday morning after a hearty breakfast and headed back to Long Beach. It was a perfect weekend get away that made is seem like it was a mini vacation. It was fun, and back home in time to do some laundry and dinner.