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Observatory Campground, Palomar Mountain

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Observatory Campground, Palomar Mountain July 29 – 30, 2020

Observation Campground is a California State Park located at about 5,000 feet above sea level on Palomar Mountain in the Cleveland National Forest (in San Diego County on the La Jolla Indian Reservation). It’s a popular spot for viewing the stars and, hence, named after the Palomar Observatory at the top of the mountain. There are cement telescope pads throughout the park each marked with N (North) for assisting stargazers by their campsites. During normal Summer times, astronomers set up their telescopes and allow anyone who has a desire to view the stars to peer through their lenses. But, these aren’t normal times and we didn’t see any astronomers with telescopes!

About half of the 1.5 hour drive from our home near the coast in Carlsbad (San Diego) was driving inland on the freeway and the rest of the time was spent winding up the mountain. The small towns at the base of the mountain have an abundance of citrus groves and fruit stands. There are about 27 sites available for RV camping. We paid $23 / night for our site #40 which was perfectly located in the middle of the meadow and a great location to view the stars. It’s a nice long and wide single site. They also had plenty of available sites that were marked first come first serve only.
Make sure to print out your reservation, as we found there is no cell phone coverage at this campground and some people were parked in our spot when we arrived. They insisted the spot was theirs. Fortunately, we pulled out our paper reservation and after some head shaking they eventually admitted they probably had reserved the spot for the day before. This campground is self-serve: no check-in procedures, no visitor center, no clearly marked trails – all on the honor system.

When we arrived in the late afternoon it was hot (in the high 80s) and buggy, but it cooled off quickly once the Sun went down. We watched a couple of Amazon Prime series episodes in the Scamp until after sunset and the temperatures had cooled. The mosquitos came out at night which made watching the stars a little unpleasant, until we started spraying our essential oils! Then, they eventually stopped bugging us (literally)!
The evening happened to have a very bright half-moon; so bright we could see our shadows. So we were not able to see the NEOWISE comet, nor the Milky Way. However, we still had a nice view of meteors, satellites, and some of the planets (Jupiter, Saturn). Next time we go stargazing, a New Moon night is a must. We were the only ones in an RV. Everyone else at the park was tent camping. There are restrooms and water spigots throughout the small park, but no hookups or dumps for RVs. We used our solar briefcase in the afternoon which kept our battery at a good level throughout the night (and filled our Fresh tank before leaving home).

We broke the solemn 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. campground quiet hours by accident when we decided to grab the mattress topper out of our SUV at 11:38 p.m. The meadow was completely quiet until I inadvertently hit the panic button on my remote (opposite side of door unlock). Car horns and flashing lights really amplify in a dark meadow, especially when everyone is asleep! Fortunately, I was able to deactivate the alarm after several seconds (which seemed more like 30!).

We tried hiking the Observatory Trail in the morning (which had tons of annoying flies) and made it about halfway into the 2.2 mile hike until we were forced to climb up to the road (as the trail turned into a dry creek and was blocked by vegetation). We walked the rest of the way to the Palomar Observatory (run by Cal Tech) on the road. Due to the Pandemic, the observatory was closed and we only really got a glimpse of it through the trees on the side of the road (although, our drone captured some nice images).

Perhaps next time we will try visiting in the winter when it will be cooler with less bugs. But, it’s known to snow here in the winter. Beware: many of the Palomar Mountain campgrounds have narrow roads not passable with two vehicles.

Why We Bought an RV and Chose a Small Travel Trailer

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Why We Bought an RV and Chose a Small Travel Trailer

I always thought it would be an adventure to be able to travel around the U.S. and Canada over land and visit State and National parks.  However, making the final decision to actually buy an RV took some time.  There were a lot of considerations such as what type to get, how big it should be, where to store it, and if it really was worth the expense versus just staying at hotels.  This was all before the Pandemic hit which now would seem to make some of these decisions no brainers.

In considering the different types of RVs, I long thought I would enjoy travel trailers the best.  I didn’t really want to drive a motor home around and have to find parking places and storage for it or have to deal with the engine / transmission maintenance.  I also wanted to easily be able to drive around the area after we arrived somewhere without having to navigate and park a big rig.  I considered a Sprinter type van but knew I didn’t want that as my daily car and didn’t want to have the van sitting out in front of my house since it wouldn’t fit in the garage.  Additionally, the Sprinter would need registration and insurance similar in cost to another car (and possibly even more expensive as the Sprinter can cost over $80K).  Also, I didn’t want to risk paying a lot of money for something that we might not want to keep for more than a few years.

I always thought Airstreams were outstanding designs.  Its streamlined aerodynamic metallic look as well as its history with NASA seemed very appealing for someone into aviation and design.  My wife and I went to a couple of Airstream dealerships and sat in some of them.  The designs are sleek and the interiors very appealing.  We spent time considering different models and doing more research on them.  A friend of ours had a 27 footer and sold it a couple years after buying it new.  He said it was just too much to pull and navigate around towns.  After taking a closer look at a 25 foot International and considering the cost of the Airstream, the weight of the trailer, and the price of a capable truck to pull it, the total would be well over $100K; we shelved the idea.  We wanted something reasonable in cost and light weight since we didn’t know if we would like camping, and also something that would be easy to tow and welcome at the smallest parks.  It would also be nice to have something that would fit in driveways for stayovers at friends and family.

After a lot of online research, I identified a trailer called Safari Condo Alto as being something that would maybe meet our criteria.  This Quebec City manufactured trailer is super stylish, extremely light, and has a great interior layout.  We would be able to tow it with an SUV.  They even have a model with a retractable roof to allow for additional height and window area.  We flew to Quebec City for a mini vacation and visited the showroom.  The people were very nice and we really liked the Alto (non-retractable roof version).  We put a deposit down on one, but ultimately decided that since the trailer was fairly unique and the only place that could provide factory service is in Quebec City and we live in San Diego, California that it would be better if we purchased a trailer made in the USA which could either be serviced locally or within the US.  Safari condo was very nice in refunding our deposit.  I think we would have been very happy with the Alto and we have seen a number of them at campgrounds at which we have stayed.

I noticed a stylish little trailer on a ferry in Canada and decided to visit Little Guys Trailers in San Diego to check out the model.  The NuCamp TAB trailers are tear drops and are light and easy to maneuver while towing.  Additionally, they will fit in small spaces.  At about this time, we thought it would be really cool to be able to store a trailer in our garage and these TAB trailers would qualify in this regard.  That way, we could avoid storage costs and also have access to the trailer for doing anything we want to it such as adding things, and decorating.  And by having it at home, we could prep the trailer so it would be ready to leave the next day without having to run out to a storage facility first (including filling up the Fresh tank and dumping using our existing Sewer cleanout).  We really liked the TAB 320S as it had everything we wanted in it including kitchen, bathroom, and dinette which converts to a bed.  The sales people at Little Guys were great and explained that any trailer in California 16 feet or under avoids the annual registration (saving hundreds of dollars per year) and qualifies for a PTI (Permanent Trailer Identification) instead, which only has to be renewed every 5 years for $10!!!  With a couple of more visits and careful thought we ended up scrapping our plans for a TAB 320S.  The deal breaker was that the interior height is only five feet nine inches, which meant I had to bend my head whenever standing up in it.

We met a helpful neighbor who lived next door while we were on a house sitting trip to Northern California.  She had a trailer in the driveway and we started a conversation letting her know we were looking for a trailer.  She immediately recommended the “best trailer” she ever had, a fiberglass “egg”.  Her favorite trailer she had owned was a Casita (made in Texas), but she said a very comparable trailer was made in Minnesota called the Scamp, and she encouraged us to look at both models.  Because these “eggs” are fiberglass, they tend to last much longer than most other types of trailers and may have fewer issues (e.g. not prone to water leaks).  They are extremely light and easy to maneuver and set up.  We researched both and picked the Scamp because of the more generous interior head room (6’3”) as well as the 13 foot length option.  The 13’ Scamp is also considerably lighter than the shortest Casita model.  We also learned that the Scamp is a cult icon and Scamp trailers built in the 1970s are still on the road!  There are Scamp camping meets every year and many Scamp owners who attend these events become lifelong friends.  Another great aspect with these “eggs’ is their price – which generally run below $20K for a nicely outfitted new model and tend to hold their value really well.  In addition, they can be towed with most SUVs and even some cars so an expensive heavy duty truck is not a required additional purchase.  Although not dirt cheap, these eggs are still modestly priced when compared to other types of trailers.

After finally feeling like we found a trailer that would suit us, I called Scamp and placed our order in May 2019 (about a 7 month waiting time is usual).  The salespeople were very nice and walked us through the entire process, which included picking options from a long list since all Scamps are custom orders.  We pretty much got most options except for the AC which would sit too high on the trailer’s roof to fit into our garage, which we still had to modify (I will write about this in a future blog post).  Note:  there are now low profile ACs that may allow the Scamp trailer to fit under an 8’ garage height opening and Scamp usually is willing to work with the customer on special requests.

I received an email from Scamp in September 2019 advising that our trailer was about ready to start production and to confirm options choices.  I called on the phone and we reviewed everything along with things like outlet placements.  I also wanted to add a digital tank monitor so we could see what percentage full our tanks were and they did this as well for a small service fee (I had the part shipped from an online store directly to Scamp).  We opted to pay a Scamp driver to deliver our trailer from Minnesota since we didn’t have the time right before Thanksgiving to make the trip (although I’ve read many owners highly recommend visiting the Scamp factory).  Our 2020 13’ Standard Scamp trailer with bathroom and larger bed showed up at our door right before Thanksgiving 2019!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

San Diego to Lake Tahoe (9 Days)

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San Diego to Lake Tahoe (9 Days) June 19th – 27th, 2020

This third Scamp adventure would be our longest trip to date and one in which we would test many of the Scamps systems.  We designed the trip so we would keep overall daily drive times to around four hours or less.  We packed the Scamp with enough food, drinkable water, and clothes so that we wouldn’t have to go shopping or eat out during the trip.

Our first stop, a 3 ½ drive from home, was at my cousin Jon’s house in Santa Barbara which is close to the beach.  He has a long level driveway on which we would park the Scamp and stay overnight.  But, upon rolling into the sloped driveway entrance, the bottom of the jack plate scraped the concrete.  We spoke to a helpful neighbor who works at a Sprinter conversion company and he recommended we flip our hitch (so instead of a 2 ½” drop it would have a ½” rise).  It appeared the hitch was rated for using it both ways and it does have “Drop” and “Rise” markings on it, so we took the hitch off the SUV and had a local shop remove the ball and flip it (as the nut was extremely hard to remove and pneumatic tools made it possible).  After the hitch was flipped, we found the jack plate easily cleared the driveway and actually made the Scamp level with the tow vehicle and easier to tow.  So, this turned out really well.  Once nicely in the driveway, we were able to hook up the Scamp to electric (make sure to bring your 30A to 110V converter cord!) and also City Water (hose).  We had a great time visiting my cousins Jon and Melvin.  We went for some long trail walks overlooking the ocean with my cousin Jon and Charlie (labrador) and had some nice meals in the Scamp (like salmon tortilla wraps).  It was a relaxing quiet evening and good night’s sleep in their driveway.  After breakfast, we took a long walk through Hope Ranch in the morning and tried to locate my old family home (but we think it was scrapped and rebuilt).  Our plan was to stay over again in a week on our way home.  We filled up our Fresh tank before leaving.  And to be conservative, we dumped our Grey and Black tanks at a 76 station on our way out of town since we didn’t know when we would have a chance again in the next several days.

The next leg was only about a two hour drive north to CP Farms in Paso Robles (an olive oil farm and Harvest Host site).  We arrived in the late afternoon and it was hot (95 degrees).  Harvest Hosts is an annual membership website where Hosts (mostly wineries, farms, and museums) provide “free” overnight stays with the expectation you buy something when visiting (we purchased a $22 bottle of olive oil from the farm).  Our Scamp doesn’t have AC, but the MaxxAir Fan is very good and although it was warm it was tolerable with the fan blowing hard, parked in the shade.  We opted not to pay for electric and water at CP Farms and found that our briefcase Solar Panel provided enough power for our electric needs (fan, water pumps, LEDs, etc.).  We used our propane for the refrigerator and hot water heater.  The WiFi here was also very weak.  There was a very friendly semi-feral cat named Nick who snuck into our Scamp when we weren’t looking (the door was left open for less than a minute) and when we returned we found him asleep on our dinette cushions!  The stars were brilliant here at night.  We checked the Scamp thoroughly to make sure Nick was not onboard before closing up and heading off to our next stop, Oakland.  We dumped at a Valero Station on the way out of town.

We headed next to my sister Hilary’s house in Oakland, about a 3 hour drive north from Paso Robles.  The entry slope on her driveway is very steep and even the rear bumper would have hit the driveway if we attempted to back in.  Instead, we parked on the street in front of her house.  But, the street is very sloped, so we used our special plastic ramp to level the trailer side to side.  Otherwise, being inside and sleeping in the Scamp would not have been too comfortable.  We set up our electric with an extension cord and adapter cable.  Instead of running a water hose across the sidewalk which could have created a tripping hazard due to the large diameter of the hose, we filled up the fresh tank.  Hilary made us a nice pizza lunch and our Nephew, Ro’e and his girlfriend Soph, made an excellent BBQ chicken salad for dinner.  We walked around the neighborhood in the evening and heard a lot of fireworks (which had been a nightly event for the past several months).  After breakfast, we walked at Redwood Gate Regional Park on trails in the woods.  We planned to return to my sister’s house in a few days after our time at D.L. Bliss State Park in Lake Tahoe.

The drive from Oakland to D.L. Bliss State Park in Lake Tahoe was about 4 hours.  We used the central Dump station upon arrival near the Ranger’s station before driving down to our spot at the lake (Site #160, a Premium site which costs $45 / night + $7.99 reservation fee).  All sites at D.L. Bliss are without hookups, although there are the central Dump station and water spigots around the park.  Our spot #160 was the closest to the lake and has a water spigot close by.  In order to back into the spot, we needed to drive past the site and down to the upper beach parking lot and turn around so we could have the right angle.  D.L. Bliss is a beautiful park and we could see the lake while sitting inside the Scamp!  We used our solar panels to charge our battery daily and had no issues with keeping our battery at 12.5 Volts the entire three day stay!  We did use the Dump station once in the middle of our visit and again on the way out.  There are plenty of fun things to do at Lake Tahoe.  We hiked part of the famous Rubicon Trail.  There are Aleutian Canadian Geese on the beach and they are very friendly. There are giant Jeffrey Pinecones under the Jeffrey pines. If you smell this pine’s bark it smells like butterscotch and vanilla with a smidge of pineapple!  We also hiked the higher Lighthouse trail to see the highest Lighthouse in the U.S. (no longer working and looks like an outhouse).  After breakfast one morning we tried out our new 2 person inflatable kayak. It was awesome launching from the beach right below our campsite and paddling along the coast. Sitting just above the water on a kayak gives another perspective of the lake’s natural beauty.

On our final day at D.L. Bliss, we went for a hike to a famous house called Vikingsholm (home of the Vikings): a 30 room mansion Summer home built overlooking Emerald Bay in 1929 by a British lady (Mrs. Knight) and designed by her brother in law, Lennart Palme (a famous Swedish architect). There is a steep 1 mile walk down to the beach where the home sits near the lake’s edge. Scandinavian architectural influences can be seen in the sod roof and unusual wooden eaves and carvings. The owner had a tea house constructed on the only island on the lake opposite her house that she frequented daily for her afternoon tea.  Angelica made gnocchi pasta with pesto sauce and veggies on the stove for lunch which was excellent. Following lunch, a freak thunder and lightning storm with pea sized hail hit. We were ok in the Scamp, but everyone else here had tents and we could see people frantically trying to weather protect them. We hiked to Balancing Rock after the storm in the evening. It’s a magnificent large rock that appears to be teetering on a small base.

We returned to Hilary’s house in Oakland and spent the night on the street again after our time at D.L. Bliss.  The next morning we drove from Oakland to Morro Bay, about a 3 ½ hour drive.  We stayed at a private park called Morro Dunes RV Resort which is across the street from the beach within sight of the famous Morro Rock.  We had a $55 / night premium spot (facing the beach) with full hookups (including cable TV – although we didn’t bring the necessary cable to hook up to our Scamp).  The WiFi at our spot was non-existent and the park was over crowded.  Although we really didn’t enjoy this place due to the crowds and proximity of RVs next to each other, we did have a great hike at Montana de Oro trail – a bluff trail overlooking the Ocean with plenty of wildlife to enjoy at every turn.

Drive time down to Santa Barbara from Morro Bay was around two hours.  We were back at my cousin Jon’s house and his nice long private driveway.  We fed lunch to my college-age cousin Melvin and took a long walk with Jon & Charlie (lab) along the shoreline’s bluff with fabulous views of numerous kite surfers down below.  We had another nice quiet night along with a relaxing morning walk within the Douglas Family Preserve.   The drive back to San Diego was about 3 hours and we were already thinking about our next trip!

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

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Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Date of Visit:  February 24 – 27th, 2020

Our first multi-day trip in our Scamp was in the desert at this beautiful State Park about a 2 hour drive from our home in San Diego. Our neighbor and friend Dewey organizes a trip here every February with a bunch of friends and invited us to come along this year.

We stayed in Borrego Palm Canyon campground within the park. The campground is surrounded by mountains, where the big horn sheep (borregos) can be spotted. We chose site #14 next to Dewey and we had full hookups. The full hookup spot cost us $35 / night plus a $7.99 online reservation fee through the California State Parks website.  If you are good with dry camping, less expensive sites can be reserved as well. There is a central dump and water available for dry campers.

The campground was very quiet and well organized, despite being very popular. We had some cell phone service with Verizon. It can be very hot here during parts of the year (e.g. Summer), so best to reserve Late Fall, Winter, or early Spring. There are nice trails (e.g. Surprise Canyon) and a great visitor center (with some nice t-shirts and other Anza mementos). The visitor center also provides short films on the desert as well as information on Ranger guided hikes.

Our days were spent relaxing in the Scamp, making meals, hiking on the trails, shopping in the visitor center and watching some nature movies there, going into town and visiting shops and restaurants, exploring the metal sculptures at Galleta Meadows, sitting by the campfire and enjoying nightly shared dinner with our bunch of friends, and watching the stars at night. With no moon, the heavens are incredibly bright and one can spend hours looking up and pondering the universe on a dark night.

The little town of Borrego Springs (a few miles away from the campground) offers some nice restaurants and some nice camping supply stores. It reminded of us of an old Western town lost in time from decades ago. We purchased some UV sleeves, UV buff, and a multiple stage metal canteen at one of the shops.

The things that we really enjoyed at Anza Borrego were the dramatic starry nights (pitch black space with millions and millions of stars), hiking on the desert trails, the desert metal sculptures at Goleta Meadows just outside the park, the great Mexican food at Carmelita’s,… and making new friends!