Set for a mid-May trip, we finally got a weekend reservation at Sunset State Beach (Map) located south of Rio Del Mar, CA.

Sunset State Beach campground and beach

We’d heard a lot about the campground and looked forward to going there and having a great weekend trip on the coast.

It being mid-May we thought the weather would be no problem, but this is no usual weather year so yes we did run into some not so perfect weather.

We pulled into our campground late on Friday night with little problems (though me backing-up the trailer always involves some level of drama).

On Sat. morning we got up to a little fog but it burned off pretty quickly. So we packed-up and headed to the beach.

It is a short drive down to the beach with some really nice picnic and barbecue facilities.

Sunset State Beach

What makes Sunset State Beach so unique is that it is an extremely long and flat beach. I’m not sure how long it is but it sure looked like you would be walking for hours until you reached the end of it.

But we never really got the chance to walk along the beach for very long.

The trouble was that the wind was howling in from the surf and making our day at the beach a little difficult to enjoy.

First we tried to make a wind break with our chairs and sun umbrellas. But of course the wind was just too strong and we had to retreat to the other side of the dunes where the wind wasn’t so strong, but alas not on the beach itself.

Of course the kids took the weather hiccups in stride and seemed to have a great time no matter what.

Kids at Sunset Beach Campground

Later at the campground the kids had fun in a field of wild flowers just outside our trailer door.

Sunday morning we woke-up to a cloudy and raining morning. All the tent campers were very quick to pack-up and leave at the first sign of rain.

We also left Sunday morning, but stayed cozy and warm in our travel trailer until we were ready to leave.

This campground does deserve another try when the weather is better. But it is hard to get a reservation in the summer.

Also the campground doesn’t have hook-ups but we could dump our black and gray water at the New Brighton State Beach campground.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

What to do when the weather isn’t perfect – Sunset State Beach

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Thanksgiving dinner on the beach So we always go to the Pismo Beach area every...
2. CA State Parks Rally this weekend – Over 100 Parks Could Close These are trying time for all of us as we...
3. Cal State Parks – Closure Details Finally Released Well the last shoe finally dropped on the on-going saga...
4. Avila Beach Didn’t Disappoint We were able to escape to Avila Beach for part...
5. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

We were able to escape to Avila Beach for part of the kids spring break this April. This was another AMAZING experience. Our favorite place to camp is on Babe Lane with the San Luis Harbor RV spots. There has been a lot of improvements just since our trip in November. The highway leading to the harbor has been resurfaced and there has been considerable work done to make sure the maximum number of RVs have the best area to park in along the edge of the bay.

We like to stay up on Babe Lane which overlooks the Highway and the bay, we stayed here last April and didn’t have a problem getting in this April. It is a first come, first serve RV area and we’ve heard from others in the area it is nearly impossible to get in over the summer. What we really like about the Babe Lane location is that there are 1. full hookups, 2. a place for the kids to ride their bikes and explore and 3. very little traffic. We took in a lot of favorites and enjoyed some great weather.

Ben and Star the starfish

The first day we spent entirely at Avila Beach. We got there early and we stayed through the Farmers Market which happens on Fridays. While we’ve experience a lot of wonderful sand castle and kite flying days here, this day brought something even more memorable and will cement us to continue our visits to Avila Beach. While playing in the morning surf and all that an earlier in the week storm stirred up, Ben pulled on a long segment of seaweed and came up with a gorgeous ochre starfish clinging to relatively small stones. The starfish was very much alive and seemed to be really healthy. We noticed that a lot of children were going in to the new Avila Beach Sea Life Center and decided to take the starfish over there to see if they could help us with where we should put the starfish.

We found out that the Sea Life Center was still pending their grand opening which is happening on April 24, 2010. We got a great sneak peak and the director of the Sea Life Center took in our found starfish right into their new aquariums. She asked Ben what he’d like to name his starfish and he said…Star. So now we have a permanent place to visit Star every time we come to Avila Beach.

Sammy enjoying the pool

On Saturday we checked the weather and saw that it was going to be a mid 70s day which is wonderful in the area and perfect for swimming at the Avila Hot Springs Resort which has two water slides that my kids would be happy to go down even in low 60s temps. There is also a sulphur hot springs pool where adults and kids 8 and up can warm up! We were pleasantly surprised by the cafe that is now at the resort and they took our orders and brought our food poolside. We stayed from 11 am to 4 pm.

We visited the Fisherman’s Beach which is directly below Babe Lane and the kids helped a friend they met dig a huge sand bunker while the tide came in. In their digging they uncovered a sea slug. These enormous slugs of the sea usually are trollers of the deep and a retired fisherman said we should drop it back out in the ocean as far as we could take it. There was a kayaker there who did the job. I wasn’t able to get a picture of the Sea Slug because I didn’t have a camera but I did find some pictures on line which sort of resembled it.

Sea Slug

After the beach we realized we didn’t have anything to BBQ so we decided to treat ourselves and try out The Custom House restaurant. There was a live band playing at the adjoining Rick’s bar and we enjoyed a great dinner of shrimp and scallops. The kids then enjoyed winding down the evening by flying kites on the beach.

Though our time at Avila Beach was considerably shorter than we would have liked, it is one of the trips we’ll likely be talking about for years!

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Avila Beach Didn’t Disappoint

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Thanksgiving dinner on the beach So we always go to the Pismo Beach area every...
2. Our Holiday Trip: A Ton of Fun, and one Little Doh! Well we’re back from our big holiday two week trip...
3. Wrights Lake: It was a beautiful week Well we just got back from Wrights Lake and boy...
4. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

The big tank at SeaWorld

Tomorrow we take-off for the longest (by distance and time) of our family RV trips this year. We are going to San Diego for two weeks. My wife is off work and the kids are off school, so we are going for it. I will have to do a little work during the trip, but when you work for yourself your time is never really your own.
photo credit: kwalk628

We are going to try to be as economical as possible. Our trips to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo and Animal Park are already paid for because we bought a year membership to both last year (yes we did this same trip last year).

Panda at the San Diego Zoo

But unlike last year we are trying to stay at county parks and other more economical places. Last year we stayed a really special RV park, Campland on the Bay. It was a little expensive (but very cool), so this year we are going to be staying at three different campgrounds and they are all under $35 per night.
photo credit: PedroCancion

We only considered doing this again this year if we could keep expenses way down. So we won’t be eating out much and we are really going to watch everything we buy. Needless to say our biggest expense will be gas. And the next biggest expense of course will be food. I will be using every trick I know to keep our fuel use to a minimum and most meals will be at the RV. Also the trip will be one of the kids Christmas presents, as we keep telling them.

I think it will be fun to see how cheap we can be. So I will be tweeting along our trip (twitter username: FamilyRVFun).

Follow our exploits in family fun and economy. I will let you know the nitty-gritty on what we spend on and how much. And also I’ll try to pass along anything we learn on economical RV travel.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

The Big Holiday Trip: On the Road in Economy Class

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Thanksgiving dinner on the beach So we always go to the Pismo Beach area every...
2. Wrights Lake: It was a beautiful week Well we just got back from Wrights Lake and boy...
3. Cal State Parks – Closure Details Finally Released Well the last shoe finally dropped on the on-going saga...
4. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

So we always go to the Pismo Beach area every year for the long Thanksgiving weekend. This has been the second year with our trailer. Before that we rented a house. And before that we rented an RV and spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at a Pismo RV park (we couldn’t get a reservation for Thanksgiving). This was the start of our RV bug.

Thanksgiving dinner at Avila Beach

The weather is always really good during Thanksgiving. The locals call November their Indian summer. And I have to agree with them. We have spent many a sunny afternoon on the beach. And this year we had Thanksgiving dinner on our favorite place Avila Beach, which is just a few miles south of Pismo. We had a really fun time and went to the beach every day that we were there.

We stayed at a really family-friendly RV park in Oceano Beach (just north of Pismo). It is a small county RV park called Oceano Memorial Campground. It has a little kids park at the center and it also has a very large kids playground down the street. For families with kids you can’t ask for a better place to stay. And we are definitely coming back to it next year (we made our reservation for 2010 while we were there).

So if you want to stay at the beach and be at a really family friendly RV campground. Check out Oceano Campground

A really good playground by the RV park

Having fun at Avila Beach

Ben is having fun on the beach. I think he is digging to China.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Thanksgiving dinner on the beach

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Wrights Lake: It was a beautiful week Well we just got back from Wrights Lake and boy...
2. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

With a couple of days off in the middle of the week for Veterans Day, we decided to take a short trip to the Pinnacles National Monument for some hiking, cave exploration and family fun time.

Pinnacles is a funny place. Driving up highway 25, the area seems unremarkable with a lot of farm and ranch land. Even when you turn off to the park area on highway 146, it just seems like there isn’t much there: Oak trees, grey pines and rolling hills. Ok. so why is this a national monument? Teddy Roosevelt made it one over 100 years ago for gosh sake.

When you get to the campground, there still isn’t much to look at. And right now the campground is in a state of renewal and repair. They are currently building a new RV campsite area in what is currently the group campsite area. They are also building a beautiful new wood rail fence along  the park road – I think they got some Obama money.

The rock formations of The Pinnacles National Monument

The yellow billed magpie

Having fun on the trail

But when you get to the hiking trails it all starts to make sense. When you look up at the rock formations, you’ve just got to say WOW at just about every turn on the hiking trail. It almost seems like you are in the Utah hills with the red rock formations that rise above you. Also the wild life is incredible. We saw tons of deer and an interesting bird, the yellow billed Magpie.

Once the new RV camp site is complete (probably by late spring), we will be coming back to enjoy the hiking trails and spring flowers.

One thing you should know is that there is no water hookup for the RV sites. As long as you bring your own water can to fill-up your tank (we have a six gallon one), you will be fine.

Below is a video of some deer that were grazing right by our campsite close to night fall on Nov. 12th.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

A Trip to the Pinnacles National Monument

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Wrights Lake: It was a beautiful week Well we just got back from Wrights Lake and boy...
2. The National Parks PBS Documentary Starts Sunday Night If you love our national parks like I do, you...
3. The National Parks Documentary was Amazing Ken Burns did it again. The National Parks documentary was...
4. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

Watch this impassioned speech by the President of the Cal State Park Foundation, Elizabeth Goldstein.

She lays down the law on what we need to do to save our parks.

The closure list has been delayed until late next week.

Make a donation to the Cal State Park Foundation fight to stop the park closures.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Cal State Park Foundation President Speaks

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. CA State Parks Rally this weekend – Over 100 Parks Could Close These are trying time for all of us as we...
2. Cal State Parks Still in Way of Govenor’s Cut Cal state parks are still at risk, but there is...
3. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

Cal state parks are still at risk, but there is some good news.

Senate Bill 679 passed the Ca State legislature and waits for the Gov. to sign. It requires that no land acquired for the state park system may be used for non-park uses without the express authority of an act of the Legislature and without a plan to replace those park lands with lands of equal environmental and fair market value.

Let’s hope the state gets creative and works with private business to keep the parks open.

But senate bill 679 insures the state won’t lose State park land.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Cal State Parks Still in Way of Govenor’s Cut

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. CA State Parks Rally this weekend – Over 100 Parks Could Close These are trying time for all of us as we...
2. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

These are trying time for all of us as we weather the economic downturn.

California has been hit extra hard.  The State is trying to cut its budget deficit where ever it can and it has turn its red pen to the state park system. There is a proposal to close up to 100 of the 200+ state parks.

There are events at many CA state parks over the labor day weekend. We will be at the New Brighton Beach State Park to show our support.

Show your support if you can and make a donation or paricipate in a rally.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

CA State Parks Rally this weekend – Over 100 Parks Could Close

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. RV Solar Panel I’ve just started a new project and I wanted to...

The kids are loving life at Wrights Lake

Well we just got back from Wrights Lake and boy did we have a good time.

If you don’t know where it is, Wrights Lake is located 30 minutes South of Lake Tahoe in the Eldorado National Forrest. The lake looks up at the majestic rocky peaks of the Sierra Nevada and Desolation Wilderness.

We left early Monday morning from our home in San Jose and were up at the lake by 2pm.

The road coming in to the Wrights Lake Campground

When we saw the Wrights Lake campground sign and then caught a glimpse of the lake, we were beside ourselves to find our camp site and get out on the lake.

This is the place where we caught the RV bug last summer when we tent camped here. We thought, wow this is great but sleeping in a tent and cooking over the campfire is just ok. So one month later we bought our Thor Cal travel trailer and yes the rest is history and being chronicled in this blog.

So we spent a full week at Wrights Lake this year, six nights and seven very full days coming home late Sunday evening. We filled our days canoeing on the lake, playing on the beach and trying our luck at fishing up the filler stream for the lake (no we didn’t catch any fish, but we saw a lot of them). Wrights Lake is a totally non-power boat lake. You can only have canoes, kayaks and sail boats on the lake. So this means the type of people who come to the lake are the more “environmental” types and also the campground is quieter in the evening. If you have a power boat I recommend you go to Icehouse reservoir which is on the road to Wrights Lake (about 10 miles below the lake).

The family canoeing on Wrights Lake

We also met a lot of friendly people. And many of them with children the same age as our kids. Our last night we were invited to dinner with a family who were having a sort of family reunion. The grandfather has been going to Wrights Lake since the 1940s!

Camping Recommendations for Wrights Lake
If you are passing through Placerville on your way to the lake (and your a Safeway shopper), I highly recommend you stop at the Palcerville Safeway (at the Missouri Flats off-ramp).  Buy your food there and then fill-up at the Safeway gas station. You can save up to 60 cents a gallon.

Check-in at the campground isn’t until 2pm, so plan a late afternoon arrival.

There are two campgrounds. The one closest to the lake is for tent campers only (sites 1-19). The campground for sites 20 -68   inlcude spaces for RV camping (though no power or water hookup. It’s dry camping only).

One note about water: It isn’t allowed to hook a hose up to the facet to fill your water tank. So bring a large water bucket to fill you tank (I bought a six gallon jug for future trips).

The best spaces for RVs are on the side of the campground of sites 38 – 68 . The campground road is wider and easier to maneuver.

The picture on the right is of a tree on the side of the campground with the narrow road. As you can see many an RV has made its mark.

So we had a great time and will be back next year. And next year we plan to do some hiking up in the hills above the lake. There are many small alpine lakes nestled up among the granite cliffs.

Reservation Information
- CALL 1-877-444-6777, four days to six months in
advance of your first night’s stay.
- WEBSITE: www.Recreation.gov

The campground is generally open between late June and mid-October. These dates are affected by snow conditions. The campground is at about 7,000’ elevation.

Location: 23 miles east of Placerville on Highway 50, 11 miles north on Ice House Road (Forest Road 3), 9 miles east on Forest Road 32 (Wrights Lake Tie Road), and 2 miles north on Forest Road 4 (Wrights Lake Rd).

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Wrights Lake: It was a beautiful week

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. RV Gas Mileage – My little Secret As we get ready for the last big trip of...

We spent the weekend at a local county park that was a surprisingly great place to RV.

We wanted to go somewhere close to save on gas. So we settled on Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park. It is a park in the foothills above Gilroy, CA and managed by the Santa Clara County.

We weren’t expecting much (it’s a county park after all). But what we found were new and well designed facilities and a near-by lake that was a great place to go boating.

They seemed like almost brand new bathrooms and showers

They supply power and water but sadly no sewer. Though there is a dump station avalable to RVers

The best part of the trip was the friendly people we met who were looking for the same inexpensive, close weekend get away. The kids made quick friends with many of the other kids camping at the park. And we also met other family RVers who we share kids of the same age and a love of RVing.

Another pleasant surprise was that the county park rangers put on a little presentation on Sat. evening complete with a video showing all the wild life that live in the hills around the park. It was very entertaining – and surprising to know the variety of animals who live in the park.

During our stay we saw wild boars (yes there were and a lot of them but they always kept their distance) wild turkeys and deer.

Remember to bring your own shade in the summer

Though be warned: You need to bring your own shade to this park when you come in the summer. The RV campground area is fairly new and void of mature trees for shade. So you’ll need a portable canopy to make shade around your camp area.

Here is how to get there – From U.S. Highway 101 in Gilroy., take the Leavesley Road exit. Proceed east on Leavesley Road 2 miles to New Avenue. Proceed north on New Avenue .5 miles to Roop Road. Proceed east on Roop Road 3.5 miles into the foothills. Turn left into the park and proceed one mile north to the entrance station and visitor center.

The kids put together a talent show on Sat. evening

To reserve a space you can call (408) 355-2201 to make a camping reservation or go online at https://gooutsideandplay.org.

Below is a campground map of the area we camped at.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

CA Camping: Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park

My family and I spend the long weekend (from 6/19- 21/09) at Calavaeras Big Trees Stat Park. It is located 10 minutes above Arnold, CA in the Southern Sierra Nevada.  Below is the account of our stay and some tips on how to make your stay there more enjoyable.

Getting to the Campground – No Wide Turns
Upon driving into the park, we were so stunned by the beauty of the forrest that we missed our turn for the campsite and we ended up on a dead-end road, which once had been the RV dump station area (now not in service). However, that was blocked off by some very heavy logs, yes, we did try to move them but couldn’t, because making a U-turn was impossible.

As we worked on trying to turn our travel trailer around in the dead-end road, we attracted the attention of a state park ranger who came to assist us in backing out of our mess (which was about 5 car lengths out with cars parked on either side).  It was a real nail biter and we were tired of driving so it just added to the frustration of being at the camp and not yet at the campsite.  We made it though and the Ranger followed us in and helped us back into our wide and expansive site.  He was great!  Thank you Barry!

About the Sites
The sites at Big Trees are expansive and that is a plus, however, many are close to Highway 4 so they suffer from highway traffic noise (not what you want to hear at a high sierra camp site).  We have done a bit of legwork and we’ll recommend the sites we think you should look for when you go.

What we didn’t expect was a spigot that wasn’t set up to accept a regular water hose.  So while there is water…you have to find a way to actually get it into the RV.  We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy fix.  On the second day we did buy an extra water hose and we cut off one end in order to make it larger to fit over the spigot.  That helped us out but we weren’t able to really cut off all the water from spraying out all over.  We will keep this modified hose and a few clasps within our trailer in case this happens again.

We didn’t have electricity and were a little concerned if we could make the two days on the battery power we have with the trailer.  We also did not have a sewer hook up at the site and had to conserve water and how we used our bathroom.  We decided it was only for those nighttime, and early morning nature calls and that by no means would we ever be doing number 2 there.  We used the nice bathrooms that were there at the campgrounds. We did great!  We washed our dishes outside with a collapsible plastic side-by-side sinks and used our outdoor shower to clean up under so that our water usage did wash way into the ground…versus into our tank.  We left with only 1/3 full tanks and drove all the way to where we store the trailer where we can use their dump station.

All the Fun
Big Trees State Park has a wonderful camper activity program.  On Friday night we took in a sing along at the campfire area. It was quite good.  The two who were leading the sing along seemed to be regulars and had strong voices.  They did a lot to involve the children in the audience and had a round of jokes, which both our little hams (Ben 7 and Sam 4) had to participate in twice!  Though we still can’t quite figure out their jokes, they both thought they were hilarious!  The evening finished off with marshmallows over the campfire! We made smore’s as we always have to do at least once on our trips!

On Saturday morning the kids took in the Jr. Ranger programs and they were great!  Ben got to explore and find bones of little creatures that were eaten by owls and Sam learned all about butterflies and made a butterfly kite.  In the afternoon we took out our new Rockport Old Town Canoe and had fun on a small man made like called White Pine Lake, which is just a few miles from the park.   This was fun and we enjoyed breaking in the canoe and finding a nice beach to picnic on.   On our way back we went ahead and drove up to the Stanislaus River and sat along the riverbank where the kids could throw in rocks and just enjoy the sound of the rushing water.

Though not all of us got to go on hikes, I did manage to get in a walk and was amazed by the Big Trees for which this park is named.  The trees are over 2000 years old and massive giants. It was very peaceful and tranquil and would be an enjoyable 1-mile hike for any family.

On our trip the campsites were full of families enjoying the first few weeks off of school.  Our neighbors all had kids and that is where our kids chose to spend their time, playing with the other kids and that really what camping is all about for the kids… meeting new friends who are enjoying the great outdoors as well.

When we go to Big Trees again….
We’ll be sure to turn into the campgrounds….very important.

We’ll also try to go to one of the campsites 4-12 (See North Grove Campground map below). They are far enough away from the traffic noise, but close to activity areas. If you want to get really away from it, you can stay at the Oak Hollow Campground in the park. It is a few miles into the park through a narrow paved road. Though if you have a large RV (28’ plus) I wouldn’t recommend it.

We’ll seek out more hiking, be sure to take in the Campfire singing on Friday nights, go canoeing, maybe at another lake (Alpine and Spicer Lakes are close by).  Be prepared with the modified hose contraption.   We know our battery power can handle a 2-day trip, we only used 1/3 of our battery power.  All in all….we’ll be ready to have a nice, relaxing time at Big Trees again!

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

CA Camping: Calaveras Big Trees State Park- June 19 – 21, 2009

We had a really good time at the New Brighton State Beach park. The state park is located off of Highway 1 just outside of Capitola, CA.

It is a state park (though its not threatened of closing with the Cal budget crisis) sitting on the bluffs above the beach. We had power and water, but no sewer (there is a dump station at the entrance to the park).

A nice campground, though the sites were a little close together. The best sites, the ones with a great view of the ocean, don’t have power and cost extra ($10 more a night on top of the $35 a night).

New Brighton is one of the best camp sites you can stay at in the Cal state park system. It has a nice beach below the buffs and it is 10 minutes from the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk.

See the video for the highlights of our trip.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Camping at New Brighton State Beach

We just got a new canoe last week and we can’t wait to use it.

Luckily we only have to wait until this weekend. We have a trip planned to the Calaveras Big Trees National Forrest in the Southern Sierra Nevada.

It is along the Stanislaus River, so I’m sure we will have a chance to use it. (Video to follow after our trip).

Also in the picture is our two bikes. They just barely fit on the rack with the canoe.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

A New RV Camping Accessory

You may have heard of the budget problems with the state of California (my home-sweet-home). It seems we are $20 billion in the red.

Well the governor is proposing some prettry draconian measures with the State Park system. He wants to close up to 220 state parks with over 50 in Northern California alone.

This could mean that Big Basin State Park (one we plan on camping at this year) could be closing.

There is something we can do about it though. Go to the calparks.org web site and sign the petition to tell the govinator that we don’t want this.

photo credit: jeffk

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

California Camping in Danger by State Budget