Lake Pyramid / Los Alamos

Los Alamos Campground
Lake Pyramid

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Los Alamos is 1 hour north of Los Angeles, CA on the I-5  grapevine, halfway to Bakersfield. It is NOT on Lake Pyramid, but only a mile or so from it. When you camp here they give you a pass for the lake so you don't need to pay a day use fee.  You also get to enter the lake an hour earlier than the public. Standard Nonelectric sites cost $20/night for up to 6 people.

   The 93 sites here are pretty good size and most sites on the outside of the loops are fairly seperate from your neighbor. I was in site 26 which is at the top of loop 2 and was very pleased, I'll try for that one again. If you don't go to the lake, there isn't much to do here except, well, camp. There are no established trails, but I followed a game trail to the top of the ridge above loop 2, and the views were spectacular. See the pictures below.

 They say there is a store, but I didn't see even a bldg. for one. There are no hook-ups, but there are water spigots and a dump station free if you camp here. The bathrooms were a single room type and well maintained. I did see showers, but I didn't get a chance to see them. I'm sure it can get really hot in the summer and I know it gets very cold up here in the winter, but it seems that there are always spots available year round. There's not much more to say except if you need a place to boat, swim or just kick back, this will do nicely!

Loop 1 very dry and shadeless.
Loop 2 more shade but in different sites. Middle sites very hot and dry. Outer sites more shade and privacy.
Loop 3 closed now but get site 84, 76 or if open, pull thru with lots of shade.

Pros:

• Always available, and easy to get to
• Well maintained
• Clean restrooms
• Nice hosts
• Roomy sites
• Cheap
• Decent AT&T cell coverage

Cons:

• No hook-ups, so probably alot of generator use
• Not enough restrooms

	Middle loop from above [Map]		Spot 26 from above [Map]
	Spot 26 from below [Map]		First loop from above [Map]
	Wildfire starting [Map]		Loop 2 , host and wildfire. [Map]
	Dump station [Map]		Site 22, hookup site (host) [Map]
	Sign [Map]		Spot 8 [Map]
	Spot 84 [Map]		Nice clean single bathrooms [Map]
	26 [Map]		Photo 1 [Map]
	Photo 2 [Map]		Pine forest at the top [Map]
	Photo 3 [Map]		Loops 1 & 2 and the I-5 in the background [Map]
	Loop 3 [Map]		Emmigrant landing beach and picnic area. [Map]
	Photo 4 [Map]		Entrance [Map]

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Carpinteria State Beach

Carpinteria, CA.
Friday, November 4, 2011


Carpinteria is located just south of Santa Barbara, CA. A small town that boasts "The Worlds Safest Beach". I don't know how safe it is, or what it is safe from, it is a VERY nice beach. The park is located at the end of the towns main street, Linden Ave, making it a close walk to all of the towns amenities, (Grocery stores, restaurants, small markets and much more). There is a real nice micro brewery that serves their beer right across the RR tracks.

   There are 4 loops total, the third (Santa Rosa) of which is the most popular but I don't really like it because it is just plain cramped!! It is the only loop with full hookups, but in most spots you can't fit your truck in the spot with your trailer and you are just a couple feet away from the next guy. Also parking the RV is extremely difficult due to the narrow roads, it can be done, but the guy across from you might have to move a little, no fun. 

Loop 1: (Anacapa) No hookups. Single room restrooms. Fire rings and tables.
Loop 2: (Santa Cruz) No hookups. Single room restrooms. Fire rings and tables.
Loop 3: (Santa Rosa) Full hookups. Stalled restrooms and showers. Extremely narrow roads

• Row 1: beachfront medium driveways
• Row 2: longest driveways, small yard
• Row 3: short driveway, tiny yard
• Row 4: medium driveway, big yard
• Golden spot: 124. Corner beach side spot.
• Other golden spots: 76 146 134, see picture

Loop 4: (San Miguel) Wider roads.

• Row 1: Beachfront, short driveway.
• Row 2: W/E hookups, longer driveway, tiny yard.
• Row 3: W/E hookups, shorter driveway, tiny yard.
• Row 4: No hookups, short driveway, big yard.

Site 59, loop 2, close to dump, no hook-ups, good non hook-up spot.

Site 72 has an open area outside your door, but NO satellite reception anywhere on the site.
Site 76 is the best in the back row.

Pros: 

• Walking distance to town
• Great beach
• Nice restrooms
• Great ocean and island views
• Good AT&T cell coverage

Cons:

• "Prison guard" like rangers and old & ugly, power hungry, camp "Hosts".
• Tough to get a reservation
• Cramped RV loop
• Sewage smell in loop 1

	Visitor Center [Map]		Hike 'n Bike [Map]
	Entrance [Map]		New play area near Linden. [Map]
	Raccoon prints coming out of fire ring. [Map]		To the north. [Map]
	Oil platforms and an island [Map]		To the south [Map]
	2 laned dump station [Map]		River [Map]
			Spot 76 [Map]
	Spot 146 [Map]		Spot 134 [Map]
	Loop 3 spot [Map]		Wildlife [Map]

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Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area (BVARA)

Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area, Lake Webb (Website)

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This HUGE campground is located in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles off of the I-5. Theoretically this is a perfect campground, however there is a problem that I will describe later. First off let me say that the sites are HUGE here. My site had full hook-ups, a pull thru driveway, a concrete pad with fire pit, table and tree as well as a huge lawn and even a small beach. Very nice for the RV'er. If you are tent camping, you are in for trouble. Here is a camping map.

   There are boat launching facilities, a land and water gas station, what looked like a nicely stocked store/food bar, TONS of overflow parking, dump station, a playground and lots of room to roam. You can ever moor your boat at the campsite, some people were sleeping in theirs. I drove around the place in the morning at it looked like there are hundreds of sites here even though their website doesn't show it, see this.

***WARNING! This video is near site 15, the noise is deafening!***

I was in site 47, which I would shoot for next time. The sites across the st. had the hookups on the wrong side. Don't camp anywhere near site 15, there was some kind of pump , a REALLY loud pump going non-stop. 

   The restrooms are worse than in most inner-city parks, one toilet, (some with a door), one urinal and one, well kind of a sink thing, this can was disgusting! And there is one restroom for about 30 campsites, good luck with that. The problem I had with this place is the bugs. I was there at the beginning of September, hot but still not in the real heat of the summer, however the flying insects made it miserable. We arrived just after dark, set up camp and had to rush inside the trailer to escape the flying, gnat type things, ALL LIGHTS OFF!! They still got in but I was able to get rid of them by removing a vent screen and turning on the exhaust fan in that vent. After I started a fire, they thinned out a little with the smoke. In the morning there was a breeze coming off of the lake and there were no bugs out, well, that I could see. When I walked around my trailer, the side away from the lake was COVERED with flys hiding from the wind. When it stopped, the swarm was on! Hopefully this is only a summer problem.


Pros: 

• Nice lake
• Close to home
• Huge spots

Cons:

• Horrible restrooms
• Flying insects

	My site, they are HUGE!! [Map]		Sunrise over the lake. [Map]
	The "beach" and an island. [Map]		My entire site, I've seen group sites that are smaller [Map]
	The cool 20' concrete slab with table and fire ring [Map]		Restroom and playground [Map]
	Backward hookups on inner side of road [Map]		Inside, a 1 holer for about 30 HUGE campsites. Bring an RV! [Map]
	Rules [Map]		What happened to rule #9?? [Map]
	Land and water gas stations. [Map]		Store and gas. [Map]
	Sign [Map]		No shortage of overflow parking, ACRES! [Map]
	Islands, palm trees and silos. [Map]		You can keep your boat in the water at your site. [Map]

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Wine Country RV Park

 

Wine Country RV Resort  (Website)
Paso Robles, CA.
Friday, September 2, 2011

While not really "real" camping, this place is really the only place in El Paso De Robles to stay in a RV, with the exception of the one north of town which does not look like a place I would want to stay. I believe it was about $75 a night for a nice spot, all full hookups and not unlike any other place, there are good and not so good spots. They have premium spots, pull thrus, concrete, decomposed granite and a couple dirt spots. Some up against a block wall, on a hilltop, right next to the next guy or up against the vineyard next door with an awesome view and great sunsets! Our favorite is spot 87 because it is one of the few vineyard spots where the vegetation  is minimal leaving an unobstructed view of the grapes, but that may change in time (See picture of spot 87). There are no fire pits in the sites and I don't know if you can bring your own.

        We like to go here in October because of the harvest festival, lots happening at various wineries as well as wine tasting at the RV park in the clubhouse. The pools here are nice but usually full of kids, however the jacuzzi is AWESOME! A fairly new spa built amongst concrete rock formations complete with a waterfall and a gas firepit. And best of all, NO KIDS ALLOWED!

    The winery next door is Eos, formerly Firestone. The people there are quite bitchy but the wine was good and you get there by going through a gate from the RV park and walking up in between the vines, it's very cool. There is also a nice waterpark across the street. The also have a small store on-site with all the usual stuff, but this store has lots of wine and wine accessories.


Pros:

• The jacuzzi 
• Close proximity to wineries
• Not too many screaming kids
• Friendly staff
• Good AT&T cell coverage

Cons:

• Reservations can't be made online
• Some highway noise

	Trail to the winery next door. [Map]		Love it! [Map]
	The awesome adult spa. [Map]		Grillin!! [Map]
	Squee chillin near the vineyard. [Map]		Tasting all weekend in the clubhouses. [Map]
	Local wildlife [Map]		Sign [Map]
	Spot 87 [Map]		Grilling in a vineyard [Map]

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