Last Day on the California Coast

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

 

Just one more time … just once more …. that’s what we got to do on Saturday.  It was one more time on the beach.  We figured we’d see lots more people.  After all, it was Saturday and lots of folks had the day off.  What better way to spend it than at the beach.  We were right too.  There were lots more people but it wasn’t really packed.  We drove down along the edge of the ocean and found a perfect spot to set up again.  It was another day in paradise.

 

Down by the dunes there were temporary toilets set up and even an RV pump out truck hanging around all the RVs just in case his services were needed.  Horse trailers were there as well as riders along the waters edge.  Then, there were also the little tents that popped up selling ice cream, treats and beverages.  If there was an opportunity to make a buck, folks had probably already thought of it.  If your own ATV or UTV wasn't handy, there were plenty of opportunities to rent one.  It is legal to ride on this beach as long as your toy is equipped with the right accessories and licensed for the California dunes.

We spent several hours watching the waves, the people and walking the beach. It was just another fantastic day. The sun was out , it was another warm beautiful day but it didn’t last forever. Before we knew it, it was time to head back. We were hungry and so was Duchess.

Many times we’ve been in RV parks right along the freeway.  Terry always says when you close your eyes at night pretend that all that noise is really just the surf from the ocean.  However, I can tell you not once did we close our eyes at the beach and think that the sound from the surf was really a freeway!

Saturday night meant the Elks in Oceano would really be full.  I mean REALLY be full.  They were hosting a Blues Festival and their Halloween party.  Not only local members piled into the RV park but folks came from just about everywhere to enjoy the festivities.  The Elks is a great organization.  They do a lot for the communities and they also provide traveling Elks RV parks to spend a few nights on their way to and from other places.

When the RV parks are as full as this one was we don’t like it.  Every spot was full and not everyone fit in a spot.  The accompanying vehicles blocked entry and exit to the park.  We were really, really glad we were leaving.  Sunday morning we had our neighbor move his vehicle and pull in his slides so we could pull out.  That still took a little maneuvering job around the other vehicles.  It’s not quite as easy to fit through openings when you’re in a motorhome and pulling a trailer. 

Finally out of the RV park we could breathe a sigh of relief.  We were on the road again.  Well, first we wanted to top off the tank.   I picked the wrong station.  Going into the pumps the trailer scraped bottom and severed the wires on the back of the lights.  Egad!  Before we could depart Terry needed to splice them back together.  We certainly didn’t want to be on the Los Angeles freeways without turn signals.

With that fixed it was down the road we went.  After several days of the Santa Ana winds blowing up a storm in this area, we figured they would finally have died out.  It was a nice drive.  The road hugged the ocean until we turned eastward.  Some of it was flat and some of it seemed to be up and down and up and down.   Even though it was a Sunday the freeways were pretty packed in the center of the big city but as we moved on through it all was good.  It’s not always the traffic we’re concerned with.  It’s knowing what lanes to be in when the freeways turn off to the left and then to the right.  It certainly wasn’t a problem this day.

We had 300 miles to go.  We were happy when those 300 miles were behind us and we pulled into our park a little east of Palm Springs.  This would be the first time since we left Washington that we would have full hookups.  The Elks parks we had stayed at all had dumps but not at our sites. We had intended to dump at Oceano but there was no way we could get to the one there with all the RV congestion.

We knew our journey for the day was about over when these came into view.  We also knew they had probably been really turning over the last few days with the Santa Ana winds.

We have stayed in this area many times in the past.  We like the area.  There is a lot to see and a lot to do around here.  Our original plan was just to spend a couple nights here.  However, now that we’re hooked up to the electricity, water and even the sewer our original plan just might change.  It sure is nice.  The weather is beautiful and the hot tub and pool are just a short walk from our site.   It certainly feels good to be here … or did I already say that?     We still have to license and register the RZR we bought ….. that might push us on a little sooner than we’d like.  No sense in making plans because we know it’ll change no matter what we decide right now.  Even though we’d like to stay  … we also know we’ll probably head on east in a few days.

‘Tis life on the road.