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bakersfield

California Highway 1

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California Highway 1
October 19th – 25th, 2022 (6 nights)

October is the perfect month to drive up California Highway 1.  The weather is often clear and not too cold and the coastal scenery is magnificent.  On this trip, we chose to stop in Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Oakland, and Bakersfield (on the way home).  The main goal of the trip was to see my sister’s new puppy in Oakland.  Here’s a short video of some of our drive up California State Route 1.

Our first stop after leaving San Diego was Santa Barbara.  We departed on a weekday and purposefully waited until around 10 a.m. before leaving San Diego so that we would be driving through Los Angeles after rush hour traffic.  This strategy worked out really well; we were able to have a mostly traffic free drive.  We parked our 2020 Scamp 13’ in my cousin’s driveway for an overnight in Santa Barbara.  We had a great afternoon exploring Alice Keck Park, which has a nice variety of bird species (e.g. hummingbirds, ducks, geese…) as well as fish and turtles in this pond.  We sat down on a bench near the water and several ducks walked up to where we were sitting and sat down close by (very welcoming).  Some of the ducks are very colorful.  We also observed turtles swimming with their heads occasionally popping up above water.  Some turtles were sunning themselves on top of semi-submerged rocks.  We could have stayed at the park longer walking the nature paths and admiring the wild life, but needed to leave to meet up with my cousin Jon and his wife Ida for dinner.  My cousin, who is vegan, took us to Rascals, a vegan Mexican restaurant which offers tasty food (even for non-vegans!).  We had a great dinner catching up since it had been a couple months since our last visit.  We were treated to a colorful sunset that night as well as a beautiful sunrise the next morning.

We travelled up the 101 from Santa Barbara and joined California Highway 1 (SR1) where it starts in San Luis Obispo.  The four hour drive from Santa Barbara to Big Sur offers magnificent views of the coast and sheer cliffs.  But, be warned, the narrow windy stretches can be very dangerous, so it’s very important to be fresh and aware when driving (especially when towing!).  We passed some beautiful places along the way to Big Sur, including Cambria, San Simeon (Hearst Castle), and Ragged Point (especially windy) before arriving at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.  Note: before arriving at the campground we planned to stop at Julia Pfeiffer State Park (day use only) to see McWay Falls (a waterfall that drops onto the beach sand/ocean).  However, the parking lot is very narrow and doesn’t allow campers or trailers, so we couldn’t stop.  Additionally, since we were only spending one night at the campground, we didn’t have enough time to backtrack the ten mile / 30 minute windy drive to Julia Pfeiffer State Park.  Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park campground is within a lush forest, including large old growth redwood trees.  Our site, #17, is under a dense canopy and almost completely shaded.  Fortunately, we didn’t need to bring solar panels on this trip because we were only staying one night and all our other stops provided power.  There is a threaded shared water spigot by campsite #17, although we didn’t need to use it this trip.  There is very limited cell phone service at the campground (we were just able to send texts without images).  There are lots of trails here and we did a bit of walking before dinner.  Along the way, we met a couple who had just purchased a Scamp 13’.  They came over to our campsite and we filled them in on the updates we had made to our Scamp over the first several years of ownership.  It’s always fun to run into other Scampers (Scamp owners tend to be very enthusiastic about their Scamps as these trailers have a cult like following)!

The next morning, we used the campground’s free central dump station (2 dump stations side by side) before making our way further north onto Carmel-By-The-Sea to visit the old mission.  This drive was much less windy and took us less than an hour.  Along the way, between Big Sur and Carmel-By-The-Sea, we passed several beautiful areas along the coast.  We took some aerial photography at a scenic seaside location on California Highway 1 as well as at the famous Bixby Bridge (built 1932).  The Bixby Bridge is Big Sur’s version of the Golden Gate Bridge!  It’s one of the highest bridges of its kind in the world (over 260 feet above a steep canyon).   We were able to pull over at the north end of the bridge on the side of the road (there is also a small parking lot at the end as well, but it was full and a bit crowded for our setup).  People were trying their best to get good photos of the bridge by positioning themselves at the edge of a steep bluff, which looked a bit risky.  Fortunately, our drone allowed for a safer approach – a flight out over the ocean for some stunning views of the bridge, dramatic cliffs, and sea below.

After our photo touring, we headed north to Carmel-By-The-Sea to visit the old mission.  An aerial video I took can be seen here.  The Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo was built in 1797 and is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California ($13 admission fee).  It’s a beautiful church and one of only three California missions built of stone (made from native sandstone quarried from the nearby Santa Lucia Mountains).  Fortunately, there was plenty of street parking at the side of the Mission for our Scamp 13’.  After a nice visit, we continued our drive to my sister’s house in Oakland (about a two hour drive).

Driving into a big populated city like Oakland while towing a trailer requires special care.  It’s important to be extra cautious as many city drivers in dense urban environments can be reckless.  Fortunately, we managed to arrive at my sister’s home without incident and quickly positioned our Scamp 13’ into its very cozy spot in the driveway (just a couple of inches from the chimney!).  We greatly enjoyed our three days visiting my sister and family in Oakland.  We got to meet the new puppy (and nephew’s new kitten) for the first time and had fun taking walks throughout the city.  We walked on Alameda Island (nice homes and pretty streets), Mills College campus (now a part of Northeastern University’s many campuses), and the Skyline National Recreational Trail (up in the hills with beautiful views above the bay).  We even took a tour through a famous cemetery, Mountain View Cemetery, and walked Millionaires Row (where many wealthy and famous people from San Francisco chose to be buried).  We saw the Ghirardelli Mausoleum where Domingo Ghirardelli (of chocolate fame) and his family are buried.  An interesting story of how he and his family came to rest at this cemetery can be found here.  No visit to Oakland would be complete without lunch at A+ Burger, and our visit didn’t disappoint.  We visited Treasure Island on our last night to take in the beautiful view of the City lights at night from across the Bay.

We divided the eight hour trip home into a couple of four hour segments, with a stay over at the halfway point in Bakersfield.  We selected the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area (our first time here) to spend the night.  Located in the middle of seemingly nowhere (amid farms and dry earth), is a large lake, Lake Webb, surrounded by beautiful trees.  An aerial video I made can be viewed here.  The campground is only about a five minute drive off the 5 Freeway, down a long mostly deserted straight road.  The campground appears as an oasis (very green with trees and water) in the middle of a desert.  There were only a few other campers when we arrived and the late October weather was in the low 70’s.  We were warned at the entrance that the temperature here can get well above 100 degrees during the summer!  We had site #51 ($25/night plus $8 reservation fee) which is right on the lake and is an 84’ long pull through site (full hookups, there’s also a central dump for those sites without a sewer hookup).  We had beautiful wrap around views of the lake inside our Scamp.  There was one bar of Verizon cell phone coverage and plenty of HDTV channels.  Note:  the sewer hookup diameter at site #51 is the same as our hose (which we’ve never seen before), so I had to physically hold the hose over the sewer pipe while dumping.  We noticed on the drive getting to the campground, there is a bike path parallel to the road that provides a nice long ride through farmland.  We enjoyed walking near the lake and watching the ducks, coots, hawks, and other birds swimming on and flying over the water.  This is a popular lake for boating activities (swimming is not allowed).  We were told the busiest time is the Fourth of July (also one of the hottest times of the year here).  We found the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area to be a perfect midway rest stop on the way from San Diego to the Bay area.

So, if you are planning a trip along California Highway 1, consider going in October.  The views are incredible and the weather can be practically perfect in every way!

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. 

Free Stayovers with Boondockers Welcome & Harvest Hosts

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Free Stayovers with Boondockers Welcome & Harvest Hosts

Sometimes things seem a little too good to be true.  The first time we heard about RV membership services like Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts we thought there must be some sort of gimmick to it.  Who would let you stay at their home or on their farm for no money (and potentially even let you use some of their resources like water and electricity)?  We wondered if there would be surcharges or other gotchas.  Or, perhaps it would be very difficult to secure a stay over (like at State and National Parks).  It seemed hard to understand how this camping model really worked.

Since the cost of an annual membership of both organizations is very low (less than the cost of one night’s stay at a typical RV park), we decided to give them a try figuring we had little to lose (especially if we were able to stay at least one night during the annual membership term).  Joining is very easy and is all done quickly online.  Once you complete payment, you can then sign into each of the websites and write up a profile that describes yourselves and your RV.  It is significant to note that both services require the RV to be completely self-contained (meaning sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation are all enclosed in the RV — toilet, sink, and grey tank are required).  Once your profile is set up, you can search the available locations (with descriptions on what is offered).  After you decide on a location and verify it can accommodate your rig length, you can then make a stay request (on Boondockers Welcome, this is done entirely online through messaging with the host and on Harvest Hosts you actually have to call or text the host).

Boondockers Welcome allows searches by location on a map with host sites depicted by a trailer.  When the trailer is clicked on, more information appears about the location which can then be opened to reveal the site details (e.g. number of spots, maximum length of trailer, house rules, utilities available, reviews by users …..).  Incredibly, there are plenty of Boondockers Welcome locations across the US and Canada (and sprinkled throughout the world)!  Most of the Boondockers Welcome locations allow stays of up to 2 or 3 days, but hosts may allow a longer stay if they choose.  Once you find your desired location and verify the space can accommodate your RV / trailer, you enter your arrival date and number of days you want to stay from the pull down menu.  After your request is submitted, you are prompted to message the host and tell a little about why you are travelling.  The host will then view your profile which lists your RV type and make a decision on your stay.  You will receive an email (and text) with the acceptance decision as soon as it’s made.  It’s good to stay in touch with the host through the messages center as your arrival date gets close.

Harvest Hosts, like Boondockers Welcome, provides a search map to find locations.  The map is color coded with icons denoting if the location is either a winery (red wine glass), farm (yellow barn), museum or other attraction (green building), or brewery / distillery (brown beer mug).  You can enter some preferences such as RV length, if the location is pet friendly, and the type of location when you conduct a search.  Once you find a location that looks good, and click on it, you will see a description, including the address of the business along with how many spaces are available, the maximum RV length allowed, and if the location is pet friendly.  To reserve the spot, a number is provided to either call (or sometimes text) the host.  Generally, acceptance is given on the spot over the phone or via text.

While both Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts provide places to stay for your RV adventures, they are oriented a bit differently.  Boondockers Welcome locations are usually provided by fellow campers or those interested in travelling by RV.  The properties are generally the hosts’ homes (which could be driveways in cities or spots on large parcels of land or farms outside the city).  And, it seems like the primary motivation of many Boondockers Welcome hosts in providing overnight stays is to meet and help out fellow travelers as well as socialize with them.  Hosts also get discounts on guest memberships and credits when guests stay (another incentive to become a host).  These hosts generally don’t expect anything in return for your stay and are often very generous in their time and resources.  So, it’s important that guests are well-behaved and appreciative to keep this system working.  Harvest Hosts locations on the other hand are mostly businesses which have space to accommodate certain size RVs.  In general, the Harvest Hosts location does expect the guest to make a purchase.  Since Harvest Hosts locations are mostly wineries and farms, this often means purchasing a bottle of wine or other product from the farm.  From our experiences in California, the Harvest Hosts locations seem to offer less in the way of utilities (e.g. water, electricity, dump) than Boondockers Welcome locations.

Our overall impressions of both memberships are extremely positive.  After signing up and logging in, we found that it is usually very easy to secure reservations (often with very few dates already blocked for any given location).  And, given the extremely low annual price of each service, joining both seems a no-brainer.  There really isn’t much of a gotcha in these services (beyond the expectation of buying something when staying at Harvest Hosts locations).  Boondockers Welcome seems to be the better value if your goal is to have plenty of places to stay on your travels and aren’t looking specifically to stay at a farm or winery.  For example, if you are doing a cross country road trip, Boondockers Welcome provides great opportunities for free stops all along the way (and many in scenic locations).  And, there seem to be more Boondockers Welcome sites within big cities, whereas Harvest Hosts locations, being mostly wineries and farms, are often out of the city.  For those who love wine, joining Harvest Hosts would be a must.    Staying at a vineyard and having a wine tasting can be a special experience.  Boondockers Welcome locations also include farms and other special properties as well, so unique experiences aren’t just limited to Harvest Hosts.

We recently had a memorable Boondockers Welcome stay on our way home back to San Diego on a 10-day trip up to Coos Bay, Oregon.  We were looking for a stayover at a halfway point between Oakland and San Diego.  We found a miniature donkey farm on the Boondockers Welcome map and messaged the host.  She was especially gracious and we booked an overnight stay right away through the online messages center within the Boondockers Welcome website.  We did have to drive down a long dirt road to get to the farm, but it was well worth it.  The farm is situated on over 20 acres and we were told we could park anywhere!  We parked high up on a hill on a nice quiet space overlooking the valley below (near one of the miniature donkey enclosures).  We had access to water if we needed it.  The host was really nice and spent the afternoon with us showing us her animals and allowing us to feed and pet the miniature donkeys.  We gave the host a small gift (Peanuts oven mitt with kitchen towels set) to show our appreciation.  The night was extremely quiet and the stars were out.  After breakfast, we said goodbye to the donkeys and drove off.  It was one of the best stops on our entire trip!

Our first Harvest Hosts stay was at an olive oil farm in Paso Robles.  The host had one spot behind their barn facing a grove of olive trees.  The location was on our way from Santa Barbara to Oakland and, therefore, wasn’t too far out of the way on our trip.  Other than a quick greeting from the host (and purchasing a $20 bottle of olive oil), we were on our own in a very quiet location (the main house was a far distance up the hill).  There weren’t really any hookups (although we were offered a $40 / night electrical hookup which we declined).  We had our solar panel and plenty of water (and propane gas for our hot water heater and stove), so we were fine without hookups at this location.  We enjoyed being out in the olive orchard and seeing the stars at night.  The experience was very tranquil and felt much nicer than any RV park we had visited.  After breakfast the next morning, and then a long walk in the country, we just drove off having gotten our money’s worth out of the annual Harvest Hosts membership in just this one stay.

Based on our great experiences and the low cost memberships of both Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts, we highly recommend both subscription services and think it’s very easy to get your money out of them within just a visit or two.  The current subscription price for an annual guest pass at Boondockers Welcome is $50.  If you want to join Boondockers Welcome:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN BOONDOCKERS WELCOME

The current subscription price for an annual guest pass at Harvest Hosts is $70.  However, currently there’s a 15% off promotional coupon for Harvest Hosts if you would like to join and give it a try.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN HARVEST HOSTS

 

Disclaimer:  You will be supporting the continuation of this website by buying here as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are services, 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 service or product and cannot guarantee that the services or 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.