Central California
August 22nd – August 29th, 2021 (7 nights)
This adventure was put together at the last minute after plans for our Mammoth Lakes trip were scrapped due to poor air quality (as a result of summer fires in California). The locations were chosen based on towns showing good air quality on the AQI air quality map, the amount of time we had available for travel (7 days), and campsite availability. We also had just purchased new bikes and a bike carrier for our Scamp 13’ and wanted to go places where we would be able to ride.
Santa Barbara
Whenever we head north, we make it a point to stay over a night in Santa Barbara (a 3 ½ hour drive from our home in San Diego). Not only is it a fantastic location with great scenery and plenty to do, but our cousin Jon lives here and he lets us camp in his driveway! This trip was a little different though. When we arrived, we discovered a car in his driveway. Jon’s son, Melvin, was in Italy and his car keys were nowhere to be found! What to do with the Scamp?!!! Fortunately, my cousin’s next door neighbor saw us and realized what had happened. He generously offered to let us stay on his property (and even provided electric and water hookups)! Phew!
On this trip, we visited the Old Santa Barbara Mission and walked around downtown Santa Barbara to eat lunch at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Taco Pipeye. We also rode our new bikes from my cousin’s house all the way down to the Goleta bike path, past the end of the runway of Santa Barbara airport, and toured UC Santa Barbara! We also had a great dinner with my vegan cousin Jon and enjoyed his ocean view while we ate on his balcony. Overall, we had a very enjoyable and busy 24 hours in Santa Barbara.
Pismo Beach
Just about an hour and a half north of Santa Barbara lies Pismo Beach. Campsites in this beautiful beach town are very difficult to get. However, we got lucky and two of the best possible sites at Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground just happened to show available when I was looking (likely last minute cancellations)! In order to stay 3 nights though, we had to move from site #27 after the first night to site #29 for the remaining 2 nights. Both of these sites are premium sites and right next to each other and directly in front of the beach. The only downside with splitting the reservation is paying the reservation fee ($7.99) twice and being required to completely leave the campground between Noon to 2 p.m. the day the next reservation begins (for campsite maintenance). “Rules are rules” is what we were told by one of the camp hosts! So, we packed up after our first night and headed to a nearby horse lot where we ate lunch before returning to check in for our second campsite at 2 p.m. On our way back to the campground, one of our tail lights on our Scamp 13’ blew out (our tow vehicle gave a warning on the dashboard showing short circuit). Fortunately, there are two fully equipped RV supply stores right across the street from the campground and had the bulb we needed for less than 3 dollars a pair!
Pismo State Beach North Beach Campground is fantastic. The campsites are very spread out and the beach is just over a little hill adjacent to the campground. There are no hookups, but there are water spigots and a central dump ($10 at this time). We had no problem staying 3 nights (even with the two of us taking a shower each night) by using our solar panel briefcase to recharge our batteries during the day and our “Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution” to drain our Grey water tank after a couple of days. The beach in front of the campground is very wide and beautiful with a glorious view north of the Pismo pier. There are some nice walking paths that are on the perimeter of the campground. One goes south above the beach toward Oceano. Another leads into the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove. This site hosts over 10,000 butterflies annually. The Monarch Butterflies flock to Pismo Beach from late October through February, seeking shelter from freezing northern winters. The butterflies cluster in the limbs of the large Eucalyptus trees that tower over the grove. Although we saw Monarch butterflies on this trip, we did not see even one at the Grove (not the right time of year)!
Walking over the sand dunes from the campground onto the beach and taking long walks is a favorite activity for many campers here. We enjoyed walking the sand from the campground to the pier and strolling out to the end of the pier. Exploring the town of Pismo Beach is also entertaining. There are a lot of shops and restaurants and plenty to see. For example, we enjoyed perusing the toys and kites at “The Sky’s The Limit” on Dolliver Street.
Bringing bikes to North Beach Campground is definitely recommended. We had a blast riding our mountain bikes up the coast along streets, bike paths, and dirt trails. We pedaled almost all the way to Avila Beach (stopping right before the steep drop into town) – about 8 ½ miles each way. We used Google Maps for directions and selected “Walking” so we would be off the main roads whenever possible. Every day, we enjoyed cool ocean breezes and sounds of the waves from inside our Scamp 13’ so much that it was hard to leave after just a few nights. We met one nice couple in an Airstream that reserves a spot here every summer for 2 weeks at a time as an affordable family yearly gathering spot!
Solvang
After using the central Dump on our way out of the Pismo Beach North Beach Campground, we drove about an hour south and inland to the quaint Danish town of Solvang. We stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location, a home just a couple of miles from the center of town. Our host location was part of a parcel that was once a large farm. We stayed in their large driveway and the hosts provided us electricity and water ($5/night). Our hosts were very friendly and gave us fruits and vegetables from their farm as well as shared bicycling tips for good routes throughout this wine country. The only noise we heard in the evenings was the loud chirping of crickets!
The days were hot (90 degrees) but the mornings and evenings cooled down considerably (high 50’s). We rode bikes in the early morning and late afternoon and relaxed during the day to avoid the heat. The quiet country back roads of the Santa Ynez Valley are magical and we cycled passed beautiful vineyards and farms. If you are in this area, we recommend these neighborhood streets to bike on: Calzada, Samantha, Robler, and Baseline, with the winery called Bridlewood being the caketopper highlight (on Baseline). We also had a chance to explore the Danish town of Solvang with its Old Mission Santa Ines and Danish shops and bakeries. After a couple of nights and days of exploring, we bid our generous hosts goodbye and headed toward the ocean again.
Oxnard
Our last stop before heading home was to see our friends Cheryl and Hugh. They were scheduled, with us, to go to Mammoth Lakes / Silver Lake before that trip was cancelled. Instead, they invited us to stay in their driveway at their home near the beach in Oxnard (about 1 ½ hours south of Solvang). The temperature really dropped as we drove up and over the mountains down to the coast. The searing heat was replaced with cool foggy air – a welcome relief from the hot temperatures of the Santa Ynez Valley. Our Scamp 13’ easily fit at the side of our friends’ driveway along with our tow vehicle. They even have a Dump port in their driveway which we used to dump our Grey water! Oxnard is a beach community with a harbor with shops and restaurants. Cheryl and Hugh live only a short walk from the sand.
Our friends Cheryl & Hugh are super generous and treated us like royalty. They fed us a great lunch, took us on a tour of downtown Oxnard on their new golf cart (with the Beach Boys music cranking on the stereo), and later treated us to a fantastic seafood restaurant dinner! And, Cheryl made her famous gluten free Lava Cake (dark chocolate cake with molten chocolate oozing everywhere) for dessert back at home (of course there was vanilla ice cream on the side)! To top it all off, they even gifted us plates with images of camper trailers on them for our Scamp 13’! We are always blown away by their hospitality. We had a fantastic visit with Cheryl & Hugh. And, we also thoroughly enjoyed playing with their Havanese dogs, Avatar & Gidget. On our way out the next morning, Hugh made sure we took a couple of King Salmon filets that he caught on his recent trip to Alaska (which we ate a couple of days later and were delicious)! We drove back to our home in San Diego (3 hour drive) early enough to get our Scamp cleaned up and ready for our next trip!
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