Rincon Parkway

Rincon Parkway is located between Ventura, CA and Carpinteria, CA. This isn't really a campground, but a strip of the coast highway designated for RV camping. There are no bathrooms (other than portable toilets), no dump station, no water, no electricity or any hookups of any kind here, also no shade, so bring what you need. If privacy is an issue for you, be aware that people walk right through everyone else's sites for beach access &/or the view walk. Also I should mention that it isn't a quiet place to camp, between the road, the 101 freeway and the train tracks about 40' from your spot, it may get very loud at times, but it's all totally worth it for the beautiful weather and the killer beachfront view! Currently it costs $28 per night. You can't reserve here at all, any time of the year. It's always first -come, first-served! Some people, myself included, come earlier in the week to park the trailer and pay for the week and come back for the next weekend. This is really the only way to secure a spot - you cannot save spaces here, this is strictly enforced. See the rules picture.

                              Ifyou walk to the North, you will come to Hobson Beach Park. This is reservable seasonally, as is Faria Beach Park to the South. Both of these campgrounds have some spots with full hookups as well as some year-round first-come, first-served spots. They both have small cafes, and sell ice and sell firewood. Nice if you can get in.
The beaches here are awesome, long and very wide at low tide. Virtually rock free, so great for surf fishing, (and those long walks on the beach your woman loves...).

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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

	Rules and instructions [Map]		Dump service [Map]
	The whole enchilada [Map]		Faria menu [Map]
	The site [Map]		If you like to ride bikes, the new bike path start [Map]
	Start of the bike path. [Map]		FIRE!!!!!!! [Map]

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Montana de Oro -Morro Bay, Ca

This was our first trip to Montana De Oro State Park, having heard so many great things about it we had to try it. Since there was not alot of available campgrounds for The 4th of July weekend, this was our chance. While the beaches, trees and cliffs are breathtaking, the campground was pretty average. We camped here in our trailer, thank goodness, the bathrooms here are not great. They are what is referred to as vault toilets, meaning a hole in the ground, which are better than nothing, yet, well, maybe not. They did clean them every morning. The camp host was kind of nice in a sinister fashion, I think she got her training from Naziteria, I mean Carpinteria State Beach. Very nosey and all up in yo face! Everything is her business and every little noise echos throughout the campground, so SSHHH!

The sites are fairly close together, but if you get a spot on the outside of the loops, you have lots of space. Spots 23 and 25 seem to be the golden spots. The creek is not visible from the camps, but you can hear it way down the canyon at times. There are trails galore if you like to hike, there are a couple backpacking camps up here, although I didn't get a chance to see them. There is also horse camping with corrals and trailer parking.

There is water here, you will find the spigots on the tall wooden vaults, which hold huge water tanks. It doesn't come out very fast, but it is there. It took about 5 minutes to fill a 5 gallon jug, have patience! There was no AT&T cell service in the campground, but if you walk down toward the beach, you can at least make calls.

Pros:
Beautiful coastline
Quiet and peaceful
Awesome beach and hiking
Firewood sales
Great bike riding trail at the coast

Cons:
Nosey host
Far from stores
Noise TRAVELS!

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	Anyone up for it? [Map]		The sign [Map]
	Spooner house, visitor center. [Map]		Sign [Map]
	Crazy awesome coastline [Map]		More coastline [Map]
	The native plant garden [Map]

	Water stations [Map]		Amphitheater with a podium, movie screen, benches [Map]
	Bathrooms and water tank in the middle of the loop [Map]		My spot, #4 [Map]
	Typical spot on the outside of loop, south side, a [Map]		Typical spot on the outside of loop, north side ( [Map]
	Restrooms, no sinks! Bring hand sanitizer. [Map]		Uh oh! [Map]
	Cove [Map]		Photo 1 [Map]
	Photo 2 [Map]		Nice picnic spots on the Bluff Trail [Map]
	The cove [Map]		Near the estuary [Map]
	The estuary [Map]		Photo 3 [Map]

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Two Harbors Campground

Two Harbors Campground

Catalina Island, Ca.

October 20, 2012

We decided to go to Two Harbors camping for my birthday because, why not, it's Catalina Island, and secondly because you get a free boat ride over and back. We have been to Avalon but never to Two Harbors and now that we have been here, Never again to Avalon! I LOVE TWO HARBORS! I did a lot of googling for this place, and really didn't come up with much with the exception of a few photos and whatever their website had to say, which wasn't very helpful, in all reality. 

Here is what you NEED to do to camp at Two Harbors.

1. Check their website (HERE) as well as The Catalina Express (HERE) website simultaneously to make sure both are available. Reserve now.
2.  Pack what you can, each passenger is allowed 2 pieces of luggage, no larger than 37x23x23 and weighing no more than 50 pounds each, to be stowed in the luggage compartment. You also get a carry-on, however the time of year we went, we could have brought LOTS more. We had a wheeled cooler (loaded our beer directly from a cold fridge and our food in a small insulated bag with small ice packs, so no ice weight, we bought it there), a large tupperware container, two large backpacks and two carry-on day packs. I strapped the tupperware to the cooler which they rolled onto the rear deck of the boat. They put the backpacks down below, very easy.
3. When you get there, roll your cooler off of the boat and wait for them to bring up your backpacks (or whatever you brought). Walk to the head of the pier to the visitor center and wait in line if there is one. They will check you in, give you your camping/hiking permit and send you to the truck just to the right of the bldg. as you face the pier. Leave your luggage by the truck, but DON'T load it yourself, one guy got an ass chewin' by the driver. They will take your luggage to the camp and drop it very near your site. If you reserved wood, charcoal, tents or anything else, they will bring these later. I asked him if I had time to get ice for the cooler before he left, so I ran to the store, bought the ice and charcoal, returned to the truck and loaded it up before he left which save us having to carry it.
4. Go to the Bar/Restaurant and have a drink and/or something to eat. Despite the descent reviews, the daytime "restaurant" ain't that great, in my opinion, but I have had worse. Next we bought any remaining items from the store and walked to the trail to the camp.

The Campground:

  The real only downfall of this place would be the porta-pottis, but in my job I have to use these daily. Let me say that despite all the reviews that state how bad these are, they are the cleanest of these types that I have used. Granted no one likes to use them, but I was impressed.

    Each campsite has a table, sunshade, raised charcoal grill and a fire pit. The sunshade doesn't completely shade you, but the few sites that were missing them looked lacking. It did get a little misty here our first night and the table got a little wet, so the next night I attached a tarp under the sunshade with some cord which at least kept the table dry from falling rain, if you can rig it up, see picture below. I can't say which sites are the best only staying here once, but I can say that all sites rule and only a couple lack a view. Some reviews say that the tent cabins are anything but desirable, but I would stay in them anytime if they were cheaper. They were clean as far as a tent can be, these would be advantageous especially when the weather gets worse, however I think that they don't rent them during the winter.  

   Like any other campground, this one empties out on Sunday morning at 11 AM, and at $9 a tiny bundle, firewood is at a premium! One quick walk around this place we picked up about 4 bundles worth of new wood and several logs that were started the night before and quickly put out. Lots of free wood for our Sunday night AND a $2 fire-starter. 

The Wildlife:

Beware of these GIANT ravens!! You can actually hear the wind that their huge wings make all night long, "FOO, FOO, FOO", an unforgettable sound. When we came back from our hike that day the fire-starter was gone! After further investigation, I found that something had removed the wrapper and started to eat the mini-duraflame, had to be a crow. WATCH YOUR FOOD! These monsters are FAST, HUGE and RELENTLESS! All day AND night we saw deer running wild, you could actually throw a rock and have LOADS of venison jerky! Our last night we heard a bizarre squeaky sound, turned out to be a baby deer calling for the mama, such a sad sound. Apparently there is a real problem with raccoons, they shouldn't be here! There are loads of posters with a hotline number if you see one (I wonder if they actually return your calls on this VoiceMail??)

My Suggestions of what to bring:

1. A tablecloth and cord to tie it down.
2. A tarp and cord to weatherproof your sunshade
3. Camp chairs.
4. Your own TP!
5. Ice chest.
6. Cell phone charging apparatus.

Pros:

• Great views from most campsites
• Ease of travel and luggage transfer
• Clean, spacious and awesome sites!
• Water spigots every few sites
• Great wildlife sightings

Cons:

• No flushing toilets
• Loud partiers at night
• Expensive supplies

5 Star AT&T 3G Coverage Everywhere! (Almost)

	Spot 29 [Map]		Dinner! [Map]
	Bathrooms near spot 29 [Map]		Deer [Map]
	Ranger view [Map]		"Comfort" Station [Map]
	From the top of the campground [Map]		On the upper road [Map]
	The sign [Map]		Ranger station [Map]
	Shower [Map]		The trail above, higher and steeper than it looks [Map]
	At the bottom [Map]		Front 3 spots [Map]
	Sink, shower and toilets at the bottom [Map]		30, 31, 32 & 33 [Map]
	Tarp [Map]		Scavenged wood [Map]
	About $36 worth of wood, scavenged [Map]		Steep trail [Map]
	Fork in the trail [Map]		The town [Map]
	Beach area [Map]		Restaurant menu [Map]
	Pier, express and camping check-in [Map]		8 bucks a gallon! [Map]
	The other harbor [Map]		Didn't see any, but saw lots of buffalo prints [Map]
	From the trail [Map]		Spot 29 approaching twilight [Map]
	Dinner view [Map]		Trail and campground from the boat [Map]

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