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Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lake Almanor, Rocky Point Campground (PG&E)

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Lake Almanor, Rocky Point Campground (PG&E)
June 11th – 20th, 2022 (9 nights)

Summer is the perfect time to head up to the mountains, relax and have fun at beautiful lakes.  The weather is usually nice and sunny and not too warm or cold.  On this trip, we chose to visit a relatively unheard of lake, called Lake Almanor (elevation 4,505 ft.), far up in Northern California near Lassen Volcanic National Park (about 5 hours north of San Francisco).  Since the trip is a long distance from our home in San Diego, we chose to make some overnight rest stops before and after reaching Lake Almanor.  On our way up, we stopped at my cousin Jon’s home in Santa Barbara and spent the night.  Our next stop was at my sister’s house in Oakland, where we spent a couple of nights hiking and relaxing with family.  The final leg from Oakland to Lake Almanor took us about 5 hours and we arrived at our campsite, site #52, by the lake around 1:30 p.m.  Returning home, we stopped first in Oakland and then at my brother’s house in Pacific Palisades.  The total trip cost for gasoline was $544 with our 2020 Volvo XC40 tow vehicle averaging around 20 mpg towing our Scamp 13’.

In the Lake Almanor area, Rocky Point campground is one of PG&E’s campgrounds which the utility shares with the public for a reasonable nightly rate.  We paid $30/night for our no hookup site (no hookups are available here) and $7 to use the central Dump station.  Reservation windows for each season become available at different times in the spring and it’s best to check PG&E’s website for details.  It’s also a good idea to reserve your campsite the first morning PG&E’s online reservations system opens.  We reserved two campsites on April 25th (one for us and one for our friends) (the online reservation system actually opened a week earlier but it was only for those making reservations for stays of a week or longer).  Here’s a video of the lake and campground area.

Lake Almanor is actually a reservoir which PG&E uses to generate electricity through a dam (hydroelectric project).  The lake has 52 miles of coastline and was completed by Great Western Power in 1927 and named after the three daughters of a company executive:  Alice, Martha, and Eleanor.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is a short drive away (we didn’t visit this time because we stayed at its Manzanita Lake Campground last summer) and its towering snowcapped Mt. Lassen is visible in the distance of Lake Almanor.  There are plenty of fun things to do at this under-the-radar location and the nice thing is that there are few crowds to deal with here (unlike at Yosemite National Park).  Water activities on Lake Almanor’s 28,000 acres (e.g. boating, stand up paddle boarding, jet skiing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, and sunbathing on the beach) along with hiking and biking on the paved Lake Almanor Recreation Trail (which goes on for miles) are some of the favorites.

We had plenty of engaging activities the four days we stayed at Lake Almanor.  And, best of all, our friends, Phil & Claudia, were able to join us on this trip which made for a seriously fun time!  On our first day, we took a bike ride on the Lake Almanor Recreation Trail (total length around 19 miles round trip).  The ride is moderately challenging with drops and climbs and goes along the lake through forests.  We only completed about 10 miles round trip and travelled from the campground to Pratville (closest small town to the campground) and back.  This little town is made up of several small businesses which include a general store, Carol’s Pratville Café (all the locals rave about the food and ice-cream here), and some small lakeside resorts and cabins.  There are occasional benches on the trail that look out on beautiful views over the lake which make for pleasant rest stops.  Our ride took us about three hours and we were tired when we got back to our campsite.  After our long ride was the perfect time to try out our new hammock!  Lying in the hammock and looking at the lake and sky was totally peaceful and relaxing.  We also had a chance to play one of our favorite games, Sequence, with our friends.

On the following days at the campground, we took more walks (and even walked to the dam) and played more games.  We watched ospreys feeding and even saw one drop a fish into the lake!  We relaxed in our new chairs on the beach and took our inflatable kayak out onto the lake.  We enjoyed watching movies at night in our Scamp 13′.  The weather was beautiful our entire visit (mostly in the 70’s during the day), but early the morning we left it snowed (mid June)!  We saw snow on car’s hoods and a winter wonderland, with the forest blanketed in white powder, as we drove down the mountain!  With so many things to do at Lake Almanor, our only regret is not having spent more time relaxing in our new hammock!  There’s always next year!!!

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. 

Secret Planning Tools & Strategies For Long Distance RV Trips

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Secret Planning Tools & Strategies For Long Distance RV Trips
Planning a long distance RV trip with multiple stops can be overwhelming.  Questions such as:  Where to go?  Where to stay?  How much will campgrounds cost?  How long to stay at each stop?  Are there amenities such as hookups?  Where are dump stations along the route?  and many others often arise when arranging such a trip.  Where to begin?!!!  I’ve put together a number of tools and strategies below which hopefully will help answer many of these questions and make the process of trip planning fun.

When and Where to Go?
The answer to this question is often dictated by the weather.  Unless one has an important reason to go somewhere specific, such as a business trip or family gathering, most of us will head to locations where the weather is good so we can enjoy our RV vacations (which usually involve a lot of outdoors activities).   In planning trips for our Scamp 13’ (with San Diego as our home base), paying attention to good weather usually means planning coast and mountain trips in the summer, all types of trips in the late spring and early fall, and coast and desert trips in the winter.  By following this method, we usually avoid temperature extremes, which can not only be extremely uncomfortable, but also damaging to the pipes (e.g. freezing) in small travel trailers.  Living in California, we are lucky in that there are usually locations throughout the year where the weather is favorable for small travel trailer trips.

In addition to the weather, it’s also a good idea to plan trips around locations of interest to you.  It only makes sense going places you will enjoy.  I have a friend who likes to attend the big annual quilting show in Sisters, Oregon every July.  Another friend loves fishing and has a standing reservation at Silver Lake Resort.  Building a trip around these activities is the perfect way to enjoy your small travel trailer and a fun interest at the same time.  Personally, I enjoy going to National and State Parks for the outdoor activities and many of my trips are to these locations.  After all, one of the big advantages of having a small travel trailer is being able to stay within these parks (often where hotels are non-existent or extremely expensive like the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite).  But, I also enjoy going to unique locations of interest, such as farm stays or specialty locations.  For example, I’m currently planning a fall trip through Oregon and hope to stay at several specialty stops including this alpaca farm, airport and airplane museum, small railroad depot, and organic farm.

Lastly, it’s often our schedules that dictate when we go.  For example, families may only be able to travel in the summer.  In these cases, pay close attention not only to the weather but also the potential for crowds when trip planning.  Even if the weather is good at a particular location during the planned travel month, if may not be a lot of fun if there are big crowds (such as at certain National parks).  I’ve found that going to lesser known parks can be equally enjoyable during the summer months.  For example, we had an awesome time at Lassen Volcanic National Park this past July and probably enjoyed it as much as our Yosemite trip two months earlier.

Planning Tools
Once you have decided when and where you want to go, it’s time to utilize some key travel planning tools which will not only help you decide on the best travel routes, best places to stay, and where to dump, but also potentially will save you a lot of money and make your trip more memorable!  The first tool I recommend is using Google Maps to search drive times between your planned stops.  Search “drive time from X to X”.

We try to limit our daily driving to no more than 4 hours per day (and driving no more than 2 consecutive days in a row).  However, we do sometimes make exceptions to facilitate certain trips (occasionally driving 5 or 6 hours if necessary and/or driving more than 2 consecutive days in a row if the drives are 3 hours or less and we want to visit a certain location).  For example, in the summer we go to Mammoth Lakes in the mountains (about a 7 hour drive), but it’s not possible to stay overnight midway as it is the desert and too hot.  However, when we arrive we often stay several days at each location, making the long drive on the first day worthwhile.

A second free tool is the AAA Triptik Travel Planner.  It’s free, but you have to have a AAA membership if you want to save your trip (which isn’t really a big deal unless you are plotting out a lot of stops and want to come back to refer to the website map in the future).  This is a fantastic route planner because it gives a lot of great information.  It shows your route on a map along with pins at each stop (which you can print).  You can set a time or distance interval that highlights with a circle on the map each interval.  For example, if you want to limit each day to 4 hours driving, you can set a 4 hour interval and then the tool highlights these intervals on the map with red circles.  The map lists trip total drive time and miles along with complete step by step driving directions (if you want).  There is also a selectable legend that will show gas stations, campsites, restaurants, and other areas of interest on the map.

Sometimes it may be necessary to find an RV DUMP Station along your route.  Having this information in advance can be very useful as it may allow you to stay at free locations (such as Boondockers Welcome or Harvest Host sites) without having to spend money for a campground just to have access to a dump.  This RV Dump Stations Map by Roundabout Publications (publisher of travel books) is a third free tool which shows Dump stations all over the country (note:  I have not verified the accuracy of this map so use at your own discretion).  In addition to showing dump station locations, the map also has a legend indicating the cost of the station (some are even free!).  In our experience, private dumps generally charge between $7 to $10 per dump.

State and regional parks often have websites and maps showing state and regional campground site locations (the 4th free tool).  For example, on the Oregon trip I’m planning, I referred to the Oregon State Parks “Find a Park” map extensively.  And many regional parks have campground maps that provide campsite locations.  For example, Sonoma County has this regional campground map.  I’ve found that state and regional parks campgrounds often offer very generous amounts of campsite space and tend to be an excellent value.

If you think you might enjoy some niche stays, such farms, wineries, museums, or people’s homes/driveways, consider joining both Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts (inexpensive annual memberships).  With this 5th tool, just a couple of stays will offset the cost of the annual subscription.  Before signing up, go to their websites and view host location maps.  The Harvest Host map even lets you plot your route and shows stay locations on the map!  If it looks like there are many places to stay on your route, perhaps give it a try.  We’ve had great stays using these memberships and enjoyed meeting the hosts.  Also, memberships can allow you to save a lot of money if you stay at multiple locations throughout the year (as individual stays are free / although we generally give a small gift or make a purchase).

Power Tools:  Using All Tools Together
I’ve found it incredibly efficient to use all of the above tools simultaneously together to review maps regarding the route and stops (Google Maps / AAA Triptik), Dump station locations (RV Dump Stations Map) , available campgrounds (AAA Triptik / State & Regional Parks map), and boondocking sites (Boondockers Welcome / Harvest Hosts).  To do this, just open up multiple browsers so you can jump back and forth comparing all the information.  Doing this allowed me to quickly see driving times and possible campsite locations on my planned trip.  I was also able to identify some interesting boondocking possibilities without being concerned about a lack of a dump station at these locations (since I also had the Dump Station map and knew there were dumping options on the drive).

Fun Things to Do
Now that you have figured out when and where you are going, made a map of your trip (and chosen stops so you aren’t driving much longer than 4 hours per day and limiting travelling to no more than two consecutive days of driving), it’s a good idea to get some insider information on fun things to do at your locations.  A few sources I’ve found helpful (beyond just Google searches) are campground reviews, State tourism commission websites, and a couple of travel websites.  For example, when I searched Wallowa Lake State Park campground reviews, along with actual reviews of the campground, I found some great tips.  There are recommendations for things to do and places to go, like taking the tramway to the top of Mount Howard, trails to hike, great restaurants (like the Wallowa Lake Lodge), good shopping (including art and bronze galleries) in the town of Joseph, and fishing.  State tourism commission websites are also good sources of local knowledge.  I checked Oregon’s “Travel Oregon” website for our upcoming trip and found some interesting things to do that I didn’t see anywhere else.  For example, I definitely plan to reserve a pedal train car with Joseph Branch Railriders!  I did something like this in Sweden and it was a blast!  Tripadvisor and TripSavvy are a couple of travel advisory websites that are good for providing lists of fun things to do.  Here is the TripSavvy list for Joseph, OR.

Conclusion
Now that you are armed with these Secret Planning Tools and Strategies for your future long distance RV trips, you can rest easy knowing that “you’ve got this”!  You can now plan RV trips like a pro and have fantastic experiences without the stress which typically comes with figuring all this stuff out!

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. 

How to use Magnets to Create a Comfy Dry Bath

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How to use Magnets to Create a Comfy Dry Bath

***WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD – Small parts (magnets). Keep away from children and pets.***
***WARNING: Magnetic Field – magnetic fields may interfere with pacemakers / other health devices.***

After you have converted your Wet Bath into a Comfy Dry Zone (see “How to Turn Your Wet Bath into a Comfy Dry Zone” if you haven’t done this already), turn toward magnets for a better way to secure your shower curtain to the walls rather than using hooks.

We initially used plastic hooks attached to the wall with Velcro in our Scamp to secure the shower curtain so we could pull it across the front of the toilet area to keep it dry while showering.  However, after using this system for a while, it became frustrating because the shower curtain often would slide off the hooks.

While considering a number of different approaches, the idea of using small magnets to quickly attach the shower curtain to the side of the wall stood out.  I have worked with small rare earth magnets on numerous projects in the past for securing hatches in model aircraft, so I felt comfortable that they might work well for this application.

The basic approach is to use the existing PVC rod in the Scamp (above the inside of the bathroom door used to hold the door curtain) to secure the door side of the curtain by putting a ring on it at the end.  Then, it’s just a matter of pulling the curtain across the toilet compartment and securing it on the other side of the wall with magnets (which quickly hold the curtain securely in place).  Because the Scamp has a rat fur type of headliner, the magnets are applied directly onto the fiberglass wall for a more secure attachment (top and bottom of the wall and along the wood door frame on door side).

I decided to use small inexpensive rare earth magnets which I purchased at Harbor Freight for less than $3 for a ten pack.  I ended up purchasing three packs (30 magnets) so I would have plenty of magnets to work with (remember, each connection uses a pair).

I chose to use hot glue to secure the magnets to the fiberglass because it is quick to apply and can easily be removed if necessary.  The downside is that the magnets can pop off if enough pressure is put on them. I purchased a mini glue gun at Michaels Art Supply for less than $3 along with some extra mini glue sticks.

I selected three mounting points at the top and bottom of the wall for the curtain to attach along with several points on the door frame to hold the curtain.  I used a pair of angled needle nose pliers to hold a magnet while I applied a bead of hot glue to the back and then, using the plier handles, pressed each magnet against the fiberglass (or wood) and held for a few seconds until the glue dried.  Installing the magnets is quick and easy!

To secure the shower curtain, just pull it across the toilet area and, using magnets, secure it to the wall along the areas where there are magnets glued to the Scamp’s fiberglass wall (and also along the wood door frame).  When the curtain isn’t in use, I leave enough magnets stuck to the door frame on one of the magnet locations so they are easy to reach when needed.  The idea is that the shower curtain is used when showering and then simply detached and rolled up and tucked on the door side when not in use.  You will find that this method works well for keeping the toilet area dry (along with the toilet paper).

We had a chance to vigorously test the new magnetic system on our recent 11 night trip from our home in San Diego to Lassen Volcanic National Park (see our recent trip report).  We found that the magnets work really well, but care needs to be taken when removing the magnets after showering to prevent the underlying magnets which are attached to the fiberglass wall from pulling off.  After a little experience, we learned that it’s best to slide the top magnet to the side rather than pull straight back.  When we adopted this approach, we stopped having any problems with magnets popping off.  However, when we returned from our trip, I glued secondary redundant magnets next to each magnet so that even if one pops off during a trip there are still plenty of magnet points to attach to.  9/4/2021 UPDATE:  I found the small round magnets pop off too easily from the fiberglass, so I switched to these bar magnets for the ones attached to the Scamp.  This seems to be much more secure.  Overall, we have found that this is an excellent solution to securing a shower curtain in the Scamp as it quickly creates a great comfy dry bath.

After doing everything in this article, you should have a reasonably dry toilet compartment after each shower!

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. 

Lassen Volcanic National Park (with lots of fun stops)

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Lassen Volcanic National Park (with lots of fun stops)
July 3rd – July 14th, 2021 (11 nights)

This was one of those epic Northern California summer adventures with the highlight being a stay at an otherworldly campground high up in the mountains surround by volcanoes and set on a beautiful lake.  Throw in some underground lava tube exploration and geothermal boiling sulfur pools and this trip is a recipe for a lot of fun!  And, best of all, it’s only about four hours north of San Francisco, right here in the United States!

Whenever heading north, our first stop is usually Santa Barbara to visit my cousin Jon and family.  The ride from our home in San Diego is usually about 4 hours.  But, on this strip, since it was the start of 4th of July weekend and a Saturday morning, we decided to leave really early to beat traffic.  We left at 5:30 a.m. and arrived in Santa Barbara at 9 a.m. making record time (3.5 hours)!  It seems not many people are on the roads this early!  We had a great day with my cousin Melvin and even tried an excellent Mexican restaurant called Tacos Pipeye which serves fantastic tacos, mole chicken, and enchiladas, for a very reasonable price!  We missed my cousin Jon and his wife Ida on this stop as they were on a Tesla drive trip out to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but we would see them at the end of the trip on our final stopover.

We usually break up the drive from Santa Barbara to Oakland with a middle stop in between (following our rule of driving no more than 4 hours per day), but since we wanted to experience 4th of July at my sister’s home in Oakland this year, we did the trip straight with just short breaks for gas.    We arrived in Oakland at around 12:30 p.m. (after a 6 hour drive) and used wood boards to raise the rear of our tow vehicle so that our hitch cleared the driveway transition, allowing us to get our Scamp tucked away in the narrow side yard space between my sister’s home and the bordering neighbor’s fence.  Since it was expected to be a very rowdy 4th at night, we felt like it would be safer in the driveway than sleeping on the street.  And, East Oakland did not disappoint – the mostly illegal fireworks started even before sundown and exploded all night long!  People were out on the street right in front of my sister’s home exploding firecrackers and igniting other illegal fireworks, so we were glad we weren’t sleeping in our Scamp out there this trip. Thankfully, with our ear plugs, white noise app, and the Scamp’s insulation, we were able to sleep soundly!  We had a great time with our family in Oakland, including a nice walk on Alameda Island the next day.

We met our San Diego friends Alexis, Chris, and Ben at Anthony Chabot Campground on Sunday (only a 30 minute drive from my sister’s house).  They rented a camper van and we arranged to have two adjacent campsites (#11 and #12) at this really woodsy campground overlooking Lake Chabot in East Oakland.  Although the campground is very close to Oakland, it feels very remote (a 20 minute windy road entrance).  Many sites are full hookup and under tall trees.  There are nice trails for walking and bike riding, including some that go down to the lake.  There is no swimming in this lake due to algae.  We had fun with our friends, went on a hike down to the lake, and even had some s’mores by the fire!  The next morning I was surrounded by a big group (rafter) of wild turkeys while I was writing my travel log at the picnic table!  They didn’t mind my presence and were just intent on looking for food on the ground.

We left for Russian Gulch State Park the next morning, a campground along the Mendocino coast about four hours north of San Francisco.  On the way, we stopped at the picturesque town of Healdsburg (just north of Santa Rosa in Northern Sonoma County) and had lunch in our Scamp.  We spent a little time walking around the charming town center and window browsing the quaint shops.  When we arrived at Russian Gulch State Park later in the day, we found our site #17 in an empty meadow, as it turned out the surrounding sites in the same meadow were closed during our visit.  There are no hookups at this campground, but there are water spigots close to each site.  There are great hiking trails here and we hiked the North Trail and Water Fall Loop Trail in the morning (which took us 3 hours for the 8 mile hike).  The trail goes through redwoods and fern forests and features a small waterfall.  In the afternoon, we walked the less rigorous Headland’s Trail (along the bluffs with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean) to view the Devil’s Punchbowl.  This is a 100-foot by 60-foot sinkhole basin created when a tunnel penetrating inland from the ocean collapsed.  When the tide is high, the sinkhole becomes an explosive cauldron of sea water.  Although our friends Alexis and her family couldn’t get a spot at Russian Gulch State Park, they did find accommodation at nearby Caspar Beach RV Park (just a few minutes’ drive from our campground).  We enjoyed s’mores and hot dogs (and steak) with them (in that order)!  They are great chefs and provide fun company!  The next day we explored the coast including walking the quaint seaside town of Mendocino village, where I purchased a “Been Squatchin” tshirt (Big Foot / Sasquatch is a local legend in this area).  We did not spot Sasquatch on this trip though.  Note:  we had no HD TV or cell phone service down at the Russian Gulch SP campsite.  Instead, just a short drive up the hill to the parking spots next to the Ranger entrance booth provided cellphone service.

After a couple nights and fun times at Russian Gulch State Park, we left for Lassen Volcanic National Park (a 5 ½ hour drive:  7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.).  I find if we leave early in the morning on long drives and still arrive early, then it doesn’t feel like we’ve spent the entire day driving.  There were a lot of curves and climbs driving from the coast, crossing the mountains, descending into the Central Valley (Redding), and then ascending again into the mountains to get to Lassen.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is at over 6,000 feet above sea level.  We stayed at Manzanita Lake campground which is right on a scenic lake with volcanoes in the background (including Lassen Peak).  The first thing we did on arrival was dump ($8 honor system) because we had just stayed at Russian Gulch State Park without any dump station there.  The dump station is right before getting to the entrance to the campground and was empty whenever we passed by.  The weather was warm (in the 80’s).  After we first arrived and had lunch, we went to a ranger talk close to the Loomis Museum (at the entrance to the park).  Our site (#A17) was completely shaded with very limited sunshine (which helped tame the heat).  This meant that we needed to move around our solar panels during the day to maximize our charging.  We left the solar panels out overnight and did not have any issues with them being disturbed (or getting wet since the air was very dry).  The spots are nicely spaced out, and although the campground was full, everyone seemed to have a good amount of room around their own campsite.  We had to drive up the road about a mile to Mile Marker #14 in order to get a cell signal (there is a turn out with usually a few cars parked making calls).

There is a little trail to the lake from the campground and a nice walking path that goes all the way around its circumference.  It takes about an hour to walk the full lake loop, which is a nice easy flat walk along the water.  People were swimming, kayaking, and fishing on the lake and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  We weren’t able to bring our inflatable kayak on this trip as our tow vehicle was full due to having to haul items up to Oakland for my sister.  Although it was warm during the day, the nights were cool (60’s) and sleeping in the Scamp was very comfortable.  We enjoyed watching movies at night (see article “How to Watch Movies in the Wild”).  Our “Holy Grail Portable Grey Water Tank Solution” saved us a lot of hassle and money during our three days at Lassen.  Instead of having to completely decamp in the middle of our trip and drive the Scamp over to the Dump and spend and then set up our Scamp again at the campsite, we stayed put by using our portable jugs and dumped them along with our regular Black and Grey water on our way out of the park!

One relaxing and really fun thing to do at Lassen is to drive the 30 mile Northern – Southern route to the other end of the park, stopping along the way at various mile markers which have different scenic activities (it’s about an hour without stops each way, so allow at least several hours and take your time).  It’s recommended to download the NPS (National Park Service) app at the Google Play store for free before you go and also download Lassen Volcanic National Park from within the NPS app into your phone so you won’t need an internet connection to access all the park information.  It’s also a good idea to download audio files you can play on your phone about the park here.

There is a reasonably priced gas pump at the campground store (Regular Unleaded only), so it’s best to fuel up before taking the Northern – Southern route drive since there are no other gas stations anywhere close by.  Along the way you can see Choas Crags (an area with volcanoes and rocks covering the ground due to a volcanic eruption 1100 years ago), the Sulphur Works (hydrothermal pit of bubbling stinky mud), various lakes, great views, …..  We spent a little time at the visitors center at the South side of the park relaxing before heading back (there are refreshments and food for sale inside the center).  Another fun activity which doesn’t take too long is to drive to Subway Cave Lava Tubes (just about 20 minutes outside the campground).  It was 102 degrees when we arrived at this lava tube but, after walking down the stairs into the cave, we experienced very cool temperatures (the temperature inside the cave remains a constant 46 degrees year round!).  The night before leaving for our next campground, we hiked around Manzanita Lake under no moon to take some Milky Way images!  It was pitch dark and we wore headlamps.  We saw deer and some other night creatures along the lake trail!  We were rewarded by a stunning Milky Way which rose above Lassen Peak and Manzanita Lake at around 10 p.m.!  We dumped (including 3 Grey containers) before leaving early in the morning for Oakland.

After a four hour drive to Oakland, we reached my sister’s house around lunch time.  We decided to set up the Scamp in the driveway again since it worked out so well on the 4th of July.  After lunch we took a long walk along Alameda Island beach (watching some kite surfers) and then had A+ Burgers for dinner at my cousin Rebecca’s house in Oakland.  We also played some card games and Qwirkle with our family before leaving for Washburn Campground in San Simeon the next morning.

Washburn Campground is about a four hour drive from Oakland and is located in the San Simeon / Cambria area on the coast.  It is a “primitive” campground (only $20/night + $8 reservation fee), although there are water spigots here.  For us, since our Scamp has a bathroom and we have solar panels, the type of campground really doesn’t matter too much if we are only staying two to three days.  In any case, we filled up our Fresh tank at my sister’s house in Oakland before we left.  We had site #W264 which had plenty of sun for our solar panels!  The sites are well separated and the area did not seem crowded.  The campground is high up on a hill with a nice view of the mountains and ocean below.  We walked down to the beach from our campsite along the road and it’s only about a mile each way.  There are also trails but signs warned of ticks with Lyme disease and recent mountain lion sightings so we stayed on the road.  The campground area was overrun with “cute” ground squirrels and they were not very shy.  Some even jumped up into the undercarriage of parked tow vehicles (not sure what they were doing under there).  We made sure to keep our Scamp door shut so as not to discover any unwanted guests inside.  Our San Diego friends were camping in the adjacent campsite (San Simeon Creek Campground) and we met them there in the evening for some excellent chicken burritos and salad!  Washburn Campground / San Simeon Creek Campground has a Dump Station at the entrance and the charge is $10.  Since our Grey tank was only 50% when leaving and we only had one more night left on our trip (and we also had our Holy Grey solution just in case), we skipped it and saved the money.

Our final drive before heading home to San Diego was back to my cousin Jon and Melvin’s house in Santa Barbara.  After the three hour drive, we decided to go to Tacos Pipeye again with our cousin Melvin since we enjoyed it so much at the start of our trip!  Once again, it did not disappoint!  We also had a nice walk through downtown Santa Barbara before and after lunch.  My vegan cousin Jon and his wife Ida were back from Santa Fe and treated us to a wonderful homemade dinner (risotto and Beyond Meat burgers) that night.  And, we also got to see our cousin Carolina.  The next morning we drove back to our home in San Diego (4 hour drive) and arrived early enough to get our Scamp cleaned up and ready for our next trip!

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. 

Wonder Valley (Twenty Nine Palms)

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Wonder Valley (Twenty Nine Palms)
December 12th – 14th, 2020

About a 3-hour drive from San Diego and close to Palm Springs, Wonder Valley is a desert oasis in Twenty Nine Palms, California boasting wide open views and dark skies filled with billions of stars.  It’s located very close to Joshua Tree National Park, which borders the Colorado and Mojave deserts.  The main features of the park are the magnificent Joshua Trees which stand over 20 feet tall and the massive boulder formations which take many shapes.  This is one of the few, if only, places Joshua Trees are found (some say they are also found in Jerusalem).

Although the overnight campgrounds were closed at the time of our visit due to the mandatory pandemic California shut down, the park was still open for day use.  We really wanted to go not only to see Joshua Tree National Park for the first time, but also to witness the peak of the Gemenid meteor showers.  Fortunately, there is a Boondockers Welcome location very close to the park entrance in Wonder Valley and the owner was very nice in accommodating us for a couple of nights!  The boondocking campsite we stayed at is a very large flat paved 2 acre area butting up to the desert.  There was one other travel trailer on this site when we arrived, but the area is large enough to fit 10 rigs, so we had plenty of space!

When we arrived it was very windy, but still clear and sunny.  We were careful to position our Scamp 13’ small travel trailer directly into the wind to minimize buffeting of the trailer.  The wind was very strong, but just blew right over us from the front of the trailer and we didn’t feel or hear much of it.  Since there are no hookups at this location, we made sure to fully charge our Scamp’s batteries the day before leaving, fill our Scamp’s freshwater tank with 12 gallons of fresh water and the hot water heater with 6 gallons of fresh water, bring one full 4 gallon jug of drinking water and 2 x 6 gallon water jugs to refill our freshwater tank, bring our Jackery 500 auxiliary power bank, as well as pack our refrigerator and storage box with enough food for a few days.  We found out later there is a free water spigot to supply campers’ water jugs at the Visitor’s Center at the entrance of the park on Utah Trail road.  We also made sure to bring our solar panels since we would need a little help from the sun to keep our Scamp 13’ batteries charged.

We had a nice late lunch in the Scamp after arriving (some pasta cooked up on the stove) and decided to check out the Visitor’s Center.  We found some really cool Joshua Tree t-shirts and spoke to some park rangers a bit.  They told us the park would be closed from 10 p.m. – 5 a.m. in honor of the coronavirus curfew now in effect.  Darkness falls early in December in the desert and we decided to wait until the next day (Sunday) to go into the park.  It was very cold and windy in the evening (early 30’s at night), so we decided to watch a movie hoping the wind would settle (see how to watch movies in the wild).  Our Scamp furnace kept us nice and toasty.  The wind did quiet eventually and we were able to see some meteors!  The sky at night here is very dark and the stars sparkle!  The location feels very remote.

The next morning we took a little walk around our campsite in the desert.  There are many interesting dilapidated shacks that dot the landscape – our Boondockers Welcome host explained to us that they are the byproduct of the Small Tract Act of 1938, a federal homestead act that deeded mostly 5-acre plots of land to distribute 457,000 acres of desert that the Bureau of Land Management deemed useless (the act was repealed in 1979).  Under the guidelines, homesteaders were granted the land if they built homes no smaller than 12 x 16 feet (192 square feet).  Most of these structures are tiny, currently in terrible condition, and many still have original old furnishings – we saw one with an old oven and a tea kettle still on the stove!  However, some of these shacks have been renovated and we also saw the new construction of a mini-home (supposedly by a man from Texas building his “dream” home)!

After a decadent pancake breakfast in our Scamp, we headed back to the Visitor’s Center to purchase an America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80) which allows unlimited entry into National Parks for a year as well as other government lands.  We are planning on going to Death Valley National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, as well as other National Parks this year, so having the pass will save a lot on entrance fees (currently $30 per car at Joshua Tree National Park).  Driving into the park was easy and there are places to stop along the roads.  Based on the time of year and the strict pandemic orders, there were hardly any visitors during our trip.  There are a lot of very interesting trails, plants (including Joshua Trees), and rock formations to keep one busy for days.  We saw Skull Rock which looks like it sounds and completed an easy 2 mile hike to Split Rock.  We really didn’t have enough time to see everything and, in turn, we plan to come back in April with friends and will stay inside the park at Jumbo Rocks campground. Joshua Tree National Park is definitely a must visit if only to see the curiously interesting and one-of-a-kind Joshua trees!

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.