The Adventures of Camp Blogaway – From the hills of the San Bernadino Mountains to Beverly Hills!

I really cannot imagine being able to have a better and more incredible group of people for food bloggers to be able to listen to and ask questions of all in one place in just a weekend. Thank you also to Marvin and his staff for all of the hard work in the kitchen. We had great food all weekend long.
I was hoping to be able to come back and tell tales of snakes in the cabin or bears meeting us at night in the woods, but alas, it is not so. The only encounter with nature was listening to coyotes at night and almost hitting one along with a skunk while driving down the road.
One special addition to the weekend was altitude sickness. I do not think that any of us were prepared for that to occur, but unfortunately, several of us were stricken with a bit of it. I know one camper had to get off the mountain and Roger and I were almost to that point, but Caroline rescued me with a package of electrolytes. The hubs and I took a long ride down the mountain Saturday night after he was feeling pretty sketchy too. Our ears were popping all the way down the mountain.
By the time we reached Redlands (flat land), the headaches were gone, we could catch our breath and we were truly in the camper spirit to tackle the challenge of the high altitude once again, so we drove back up the mountain to finish the weekend.
It was very sad to say good-bye to some new friends. I did not get to speak with everyone, but was fortunate enough to have some lengthy conversations with several people (most of whom are in these pictures). We ended Sunday’s final session with the camper awards and fond farewells. Many of the campers see each other on a regular basis, but for a few of us from other parts of the country, it was a real good-bye.
After packing up our camping gear and leaving Camp Blogaway, we headed back down the mountain and headed to slightly more comfortable accommodations in Beverly Hills at the Mosaic Hotel. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in the mountains, but I was really ready for a cushy bed with real linens and a really long hot shower!
The stay at this hotel was certainly a treat after the big camping weekend. The big fluffy bed with soft luxury linens was totally awesome! Catching up on the internet (for me) and a nap for my hubby was then followed by a delightful dinner at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro. Roger had the Thon Grille a la Nicoise (fancy French language for grilled big eye tuna with accompanying veggies) and I had the Poulet Roti (perfectly roasted chicken with riz rouge, Michigan sour cherries and wilted spinach).
We had a few glasses of wine (now that I could consume alcohol without a headache from the altitude). They were running a bit behind with our entrees so they brought us a bowl of mixed olives before dinner and then sent us back to our hotel with two little packages of chocolate bouchons. They were very decadent with dark chocolate and chocolate chips. The perfect bite of dessert after a delicious dinner.
The next day we were off to see friends about an hour outside of Los Angeles. On the way to see them we decided to stop for breakfast at Mel’s Drive-in (why do they call it that? You can’t drive in!), which is right in West Hollywood (we ate breakfast there once before). The original Mel’s Drive-Ins were of American Graffiti fame. The restaurant happens to be near the Kodak Theater where American Idol is taking place. We were hoping to see Simon Cowell at breakfast, but must have just missed him since it was closer to lunch when we arrived.
The last evening in California was shared with good friends and we had another wonderful dinner. This time I did miss seeing someone well-known for real! Tom Selleck was having dinner where we were, but I looked too late and missed him! I always thought he was the Marlboro man and now I will never know.
We had such a fun time in California and a wonderful experience at Camp Blogaway.
This is an excellent and personal post with fantastic photos! Pretty nice room you scored there Ms. Bunky! Your husband was so sweet and concerned when he approached me about running me off the road (LOL!!) and so cute of you to mention it. =) It sounds like you had an all-together great visit out to California. It was great to meet you and I hope we’ll have the opportunity to meet again.
I’m envious of your dining visit to Bouchon’s!
Thank you Cristina!
Mr. Bunkycooks was terribly distraught when he thought he ran you off the road, so I am glad it was not you!
It was a pleasure to meet you and yes we did have an awesome time in (not so sunny while we were there anyway) California!
BTW, Bouchon was very good, but I bet some of us food bloggers could give the place a bit of competition!
Gwen
Gwen,
What a great post. You’ve captures so many of the highlights (as if altitude sickness could be consider a highlight), it’s fun to read through and think, “I was there!” It was great to meet you. I look forward to hearing about more and more of your culinary adventures!
Best,
Casey
Hi Casey,
It is fun to look at the pics and remember the weekend. It was a really great experience! I hope I get to see you again sometime in my old Philly stomping grounds!
Gwen
Dear Gwen – Thanks to your post it feels like I am able to experience the camp right there with you. What thoughtful writing & a lovely personal journey.
Thanks for the pointer on the burger place ‘coz I’m going! How wonderful to be able to make such connections with other foodie bloggers. I can’t wait for the next event so we can meet up 🙂
Hugs, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Oh! Before I forget – You look gorgeous in the pics and Mr. Bunky & you make such a cute couple…ADORABLE!
Smiles, Devaki
Amazing, incredible, I felt like I relived the whole weekend! TKS. It was an honor meeting you both. Do you think you will fly out for The International Foodbloggers Conference in Seattle in August or the Foodbuzz Festival in San Fransisco in November? GREG
Thanks Greg! It was delightful meeting you as well! I miss everyone already! 🙁 I would love to attend either event coming up. Maybe I can round up a sponsor!
Glad you enjoyed the post!
Gwen
Well done, camper! We Californians were excited to host you and am glad you survived our wilderness adventure. Mr. Bunkycooks was a great contributor to our weekend, too. Hope to see you again.
Fun recap. I too, will never forget Knockers Up. And I was probably one of those people you ran off..oops, let pass me by on the road.
Oops! I hope it wasn’t you! It was nice to meet you Cynthia. Thanks for bringing all the yummy golden kiwis! We are addicted! Now I just need to find them back home.
Hi Gwen
what an incredible trip, it looks like you had such a good time!!! I would love to attend one, maybe we should try to have one in Virginia, kind of between the two of us!
thanks for sharing you trip!
Dennis
Hi Chef,
It would be nice to have an event closer. I have been thinking about that for some time now. You never know…
Gwen
Way to go to make a girl jealous!!! What a great recap – I nearly felt like I was there – altitude sickness and all!!
Thanks, Mardi. You didn’t have to go after all! Sorry that you couldn’t make it, but I know you will have fun at some of the other food blogging events going on later this year. Now I need to try to find a way to go to one of those! 🙂
what a fun weekend, i am so glad you were able to attend..loved all the pics..
sweetlife
Thanks! It was a fun time.
holy cats and jammer kids – what an event ……whoa – hoa….
LOL! It wasn’t quite that exciting, but I am happy that it looked that way! We did had a great time meeting everyone and it was truly a jam packed weekend.
Looks like you had fun and you lived to tell the tale! Nice to see all the pictures, it reminds me of girl scout camp, did you have a camp name? Did you make lanyard keychains? I hope you come out to SF in November, you might find a room with a real fire place(lol) loved the one in your room at camp!
We had a camp song (ugghhh) and decorated cakes and cookies! Does that count?! 😉
What a fun event, thank so much for sharing your experience and pictures!
It was fun Natasha!
I am so glad that you posted this wonderful event, I had no idea what it was all about and now I am so excited to hear all about something that everyone can share their passion on. You captured the moment completely… so lucky all of you. Thanks for a great journey and recap, you did a great job. So glad you got to be part of this magnificent adventure~
Gwen – Excellent post on Camp, and congratulations on your 6-month Blogiversary! Keep up the good work. I was hoping to see some photos from Bouchon 😉 I’m planning on preparing a Salad Nicoise for our first Concert in the Park “Taste of Provence” theme and would love to see Keller’s take on it! Looking forward to visiting BunkyCooks often – it’s so nice having met the wonderful people behind it! Take Care.
Gwen, Congrats on your 6 month blogiversary and a wonderful post on camp.
It was a delight to meet you and Roger. I look forward to following your post.
Hey Gwen!
Lovely Camp Blogaway recap! Since I never got around to mine, maybe I’ll just do a quickie recap and do links to all of yours.
So nice to finally meet you and Mr. Bunkycooks! Please tell him I liked his custom t-shirt. 😉
Hope we’re able to get together again soon!!! I miss y’all already!
[K]
I have actually never heard of Camp Blogaway, it looks like an awesome time and I am totally jealous of your mountain fun! Look forward to reading more about it!