1/9 - 1/14/05 Outlasting the Storm at Pismo Beach
Arriving in mid-afternoon and setting up in the daylight was a pleasant change from prior after dark experiences, though it was in a steady drizzle. Maybe that's my excuse for missing the water & power post by less than 1/2" when extending my slide-out. Could have been bad, since I couldn't see it & would only have become alerted by the sound of my mangled slide crumpling. One more thing to check during setup.
Near sundown the rain subsided and Timmy & I headed toward the beach.
I tried the nearest path into the dunes, but it turned out to lead into
a maze of trails, all of which ended up in dead ends. So we started over,
walked out the entrance of the Oceano State Beach Campground, down Pier
St, past at least 3 ATV rental shops and to the beach. Oh, this part of
Pismo State Beach is open to vehicles & there were a lot of 4-wheelers
of various description in action, although since it was Sunday evening,
many were now headed home. It's a really broad, flat beach, ideal for
vehicles. And since the dunes are off limits it seems pretty innocuous.
As we get onto the beach the gray clouds part in one corner of the horizon
and we are briefly treated to a lovely orange & gold sunset.
It's a nice campground, maybe only 1/4 occupied, so pretty quiet. There are pine, cypress & eucalyptus trees among the pads & each has a picnic table & barrel type fire pit. We're nestled between the dunes and Oceano Lagoon, so it's quite pleasant. The lagoon has ducks, geese & beavers(!?!), with various nature trails. The sign at the main dune trail warns of mountain lions. Wow! Turns out this area is also a monarch butterfly winter sanctuary & I notice several at different times.
Monday is cool & that night it rained hard again, the last act of
the great California deluge of '04-'05 that had been my constant companion
for now over 2 weeks. Tuesday is still cool and when we go to the beach,
the wind is cold & hard. We went a different way this time, a park
service access road that goes right through the dunes. We'll use this
for all of our strolls to the beach. With the departing rain a number
of campers pull out, maybe having been just sitting out the storm. There
are just a few of us for the next couple of days, though by Thursday the
crowd for the MLK 3-day weekend starts arriving.
Wednesday is a delightful day, clear, sunny & warm. Great beach weather. We walked down at lunch time & later drove eBoy out onto the beach. So much sand and so few people. Timmy loves it. So apparently does the pig.
This campground has electrical and water hookups, but none for sewage,
so I'll get to work on another aspect of RV life: managing my waste
water tanks. I've been working on water conservation showers all along,
mostly because the water heater isn't that big & I like to finish
showers with the water still warm. But I find that after only 3 days
of brushing teeth & morning showers, my bath gray tank is ready
to dump. I'll need to cut my showers even more & maybe brush my
teeth in the kitchen sink, where I'm still only 1/3 full on the kitchen
gray tank. I also get to try out the port-a-dump: hauling my waste water
to a dump site so I don't have to pack up Gypsy & take the whole
shebang there. The port-a-dump
in my case is a 30 gallon portable dump tank that I drain the gray water
into, tug into the back of eBoy & haul. Not too bad, but not looking
forward to doing it with the black tank. Oops, next day the black is
full, so repeat, with maybe a little extra care. Still not too bad.
Guess I'd better get used to it; it's going to be part of my life since
I plan to be off hookups a lot.
I'll be heading south soon, then east to the desert; but I'm keeping an eye on the news, both for weather forecasts & to find out when they are going to re-open 101 after the La Conchita disaster.
Thursday is cool & overcast, but by Friday it's clear & warm again, shirt sleeve weather during the day. In the afternoon we make a run to Santa Maria to pick up a 55 gallon poly barrel from the Culligan plant to use for hauling fresh water when we run dry in the boondocks. We return by Hwy 1 through lush farm land. Highway 101 is re-opened today south of Santa Barbabra, so we'll pack up & head out in the morning.
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