February 2021 – Small Wanders

Dry-camping at Joshua Tree

Feb 23-24 2021: Our grandson Ronan wanted to go camping to celebrate his 5th birthday. His Mom & Dad booked a site at Indian Cove Campground for a tent & trailer, without hookups. There are fewer sites available at Indian Cove because their Covid-19 strategy is to closed every other site. There is an empty campsite separating the occupied sites. This made for a less crowded and much quieter camp-out.
This was our first campground without electricity or water but we knew our Geo Pro is well equipped for dry camping. Before leaving home, we added ~12gals to our fresh water tank since we were only there for one night & wanted to keep out tow weight manageable. This was plenty of water for our washing & flushing needs. We also brought a couple gallons of bottled water for drinking & cooking.
Since our Geo Pro has 190w of solar and two deep cycle 225ah 6v batteries, we had no issues using the interior or awning lights. We used our propane griddle to cook burgers for dinner, bacon & pancakes for breakfast. We’ve been debating about whether to keep the relatively heavy 17″ Suburban griddle or replace it with a propane bbq. Weight-wise there isn’t much gain and the grill does work really well if kinda a pain to clean. I guess a bbq grill could be a messy cleanup as well.

18 Feb 2021, Leg 3: Carpinteria State Beach

by JRWilkinsonFebruary 18, 2021April 16, 2024California / Campgrounds / Central California / RVing / Sightseeing

Since towing Howie is still new to us and stressful, we prefer not to drive more than a tankful of gas. As we gain more experience and fuel at rv-friendly stations, we’ll consider driving longer distances. For now, keeping our drives under 200mi is good. Since Pismo State Beach campground did not have full hookups, we reserved a full hookup site at Carpinteria State Beach. We only stopped for one night to break up the drive home. We considered boondocking since there are no Harvest Hosts in this region. But having a full hookup site allowed us to bypass the dump station at Pismo Beach campground.

Carpinteria State Beach campground has sites right on the beach and we reserved one of the few sites available. Since our trailer is only 20ft, there was one site available. If you want a campground with full hookups right on the beach then this is the place. We were only here one night but we made the most of our 24hrs. There are natural tar sands, resembling black lava flows, oozing throughout the beach front.

17 Feb 2021: Pismo Beach Area

by JRWilkinsonFebruary 17, 2021April 16, 2024California / Central California / Day Trips / Hikes / Sightseeing / State Parks

We had clear sunny windy weather most of our week in Ventura. Today was supposed to be a calmer day but everything is relative. We stopped at the Butterfly Grove where Monarch Butterflies are abundant Oct-Feb. This February, there were only several but the grove is free, easy to access so worth a visit. There is beach access, dunes, coastal trees, birds & trails we enjoyed. The section of campground adjacent the Butterfly Grove was closed due to recent flooding, perhaps from recent King Tides.
Later, we took the coastal drive up to Avila Beach, hoping to check out the lighthouse. Turns out the only way to see the lighthouse is by tour group so we stopped for lunch by the beach. Avila Beach has a similar ambiance to Catalina Island.
We ended the day by driving on the beach at sunset. We later learned there are petitions and the Sierra Club lobbying to stop the vehicles on the beach. There is only ~4 miles of driveable beach but I understand, as an oceanographer, the potential environmental impact.
We are heading south tomorrow and this is our last evening at Pismo Beach. We considered driving all the way home tomorrow but booked a single night in Carpenteria, about 110mi south.

16 Feb 2021: Day-trip to Morro Bay

by JRWilkinsonFebruary 16, 2021April 16, 2024California / Central California / Day Trips / Hikes / Sightseeing

Morro Bay is a great scenic destination to get out and stay socially-distanced. We had a beautiful clear windy day, thankful we were not towing. Morro Rock is the cornerstone of Morro Bay. There’s a wide beach & plenty of free parking, large enough for motorhomes. Just south of Morro Rock in Morro Bay, is a small wharf with several excellent seafood eateries & fish market. There is also a salt water taffy stand that has a wonderful selection of some of the best taffy we’ve ever had.

After lunch, we headed 5mi south to El Moro Elfin Forest in Los Osos. A mile of wooden boardwalks that take you through 90 acres of coastal dune scrub & pygmy oak forest.

15-18 Feb 2021 Leg 2: Pismo Beach

by JRWilkinsonFebruary 15, 2021April 16, 2024California / Campgrounds / Central California / State Parks

After 3 nights at Ventura Beach RV Resort, we headed ~110mi north to Pismo Beach State Beach in Oceano. This is a California State Beach campground with electrical & water hookups. It’s adjacent to Oceano Dunes beach, where you can drive your vehicle on the beach (may be banned soon). At the campground, there is a lagoon to hike around with a variety of waterfowl. We considered staying at Morro Bay State Beach but none of the available sites had hookups. Being RV-newbies, we are still trying to gauge our dry-camping capabilities. Morro Bay is 25mi away so we made it a day-trip. Avila Beach is also nearby so we spent our third day exploring it. I had disembarked an oceanographic cruise in Avila Beach many years ago & always wanted to revisit this coastal town.

12-15 Feb 2021, Leg 1: Ventura Beach RV Resort

by JRWilkinsonFebruary 12, 2021April 16, 2024California / Campgrounds / Central California / E-Biking / Hikes

Our first trip of 2021 was a one week trip up the West Coast of California from Oceanside to Ventura Feb 12-15th. We’ve been wanting to visit family that live & work at Ventura Beach RV Resort since Oct 2020. It’s about 161mi from home and our first outing since our short shakedown trip in San Diego. A Tacoma’s estimated towing gas mileage is ~10mpg. So we wanted to keep the first leg of our first trip under 200mi until we have a better idea of our range.

Our mileage turned out to be ~11.5mpg, driving in S4 with ECT Power on. The elevation changes along the coast were minor so we were not tested towing up any serious inclines.

Ventura Beach RV Resort is urban camping near Emma Wood State Beach. They have full hookups, tight spaces, and the continual drone of the nearby 101 highway which ends up being white-noise similar to ocean waves. The RV resort is north of Ventura proper & the Ventura Pier. Having a bike is highly recommended & makes getting around more convenient. There is a bike rental place (Ventura Bike Depot) within walking distance with a great selection of bikes & e-bikes to rent. The coast is scenic, flat and very bike-friendly. At the base of the pier, there is an excellent taco stand with outdoor seating.