Sunday, March 18, 2007
California Beaching
From the desert to the coast with a night over on the way.
We didn’t want to arrive at the beach on a weekend so stopped at a freeway-side RV park with a hot tub and WiFi. There were lots of clubs there for the weekend. My favorite thing was a loud party in a house next door which bugged most folks but the music was AWESOME. Latin music is such a thrill after months of bad country/western.
Carpenteria State Beach (3/11)
After this I vowed never to stay in another California state park. Arriving midday Sunday was really zooey in this popular park. The sites were just assigned bits of parking lot—a challenge to back into. But the town was really cute and we had nice exploratory bike ride. And the beach was great. I got so excited to see all the tiny tots playing on the beach after months of seeing only old people.
Refugio State Beach (3/12-13)
Up the road less than an hour this park couldn’t have been more different. Everything was really laid back. We even got to pick our own spot. We chose shade as it was to be one of the hottest days so far. We had a large shady site with lots of privacy. The beach was only a very short walk. It’s a wonderful beach with palm trees –a “tropical resort”. Half of the campground was closed so lots of people crowded in—almost more tenters than RVs. There is a 2 1/2 mile bike trail (up and down and up and down) south to El Capitan State Beach The campground there was closed so we nearly had the whole place to ourselves for our brief visit. WE ended up staying an extra day at Refugio.
Jalama Beach Campground (3/14 - 3/18)
This country park is a long ways off the beaten path. We had a $22 dollar campsite with a $200 dollar view. The fog hung around most of the day. It didn’t clear up until 4pm. Luckily we got here in time for lunch and the famous Jalama burgers at the camp store. This beach is wonderful for walking but barefooted you pick up globs of oil. We planned to spend one night here but when we found out Pasa Robles was booked because of a wine festival, we decided to stay here through the week end. Friday we went inland to warmer place—Solvang, a very touristy fake Danish town. But we had a nice bike ride in wine country and even found ONE fun winery.
We didn’t want to arrive at the beach on a weekend so stopped at a freeway-side RV park with a hot tub and WiFi. There were lots of clubs there for the weekend. My favorite thing was a loud party in a house next door which bugged most folks but the music was AWESOME. Latin music is such a thrill after months of bad country/western.
Carpenteria State Beach (3/11)
After this I vowed never to stay in another California state park. Arriving midday Sunday was really zooey in this popular park. The sites were just assigned bits of parking lot—a challenge to back into. But the town was really cute and we had nice exploratory bike ride. And the beach was great. I got so excited to see all the tiny tots playing on the beach after months of seeing only old people.
Refugio State Beach (3/12-13)
Up the road less than an hour this park couldn’t have been more different. Everything was really laid back. We even got to pick our own spot. We chose shade as it was to be one of the hottest days so far. We had a large shady site with lots of privacy. The beach was only a very short walk. It’s a wonderful beach with palm trees –a “tropical resort”. Half of the campground was closed so lots of people crowded in—almost more tenters than RVs. There is a 2 1/2 mile bike trail (up and down and up and down) south to El Capitan State Beach The campground there was closed so we nearly had the whole place to ourselves for our brief visit. WE ended up staying an extra day at Refugio.
Jalama Beach Campground (3/14 - 3/18)
This country park is a long ways off the beaten path. We had a $22 dollar campsite with a $200 dollar view. The fog hung around most of the day. It didn’t clear up until 4pm. Luckily we got here in time for lunch and the famous Jalama burgers at the camp store. This beach is wonderful for walking but barefooted you pick up globs of oil. We planned to spend one night here but when we found out Pasa Robles was booked because of a wine festival, we decided to stay here through the week end. Friday we went inland to warmer place—Solvang, a very touristy fake Danish town. But we had a nice bike ride in wine country and even found ONE fun winery.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 8:45 PM 
