RE: July/August Trip

[griffsmom]

 Dave and I trying to figure out where we want to go camping in July and August.  We really wanted to give Jalama Beach a go, and we still might, but we re worried about being able to get a site, since it s a first-come, first-serve place.  That s a long drive with Griffy to not get a site. [&:]  We may go there after school starts up again.  We ll have to see...Another idea is Lake Cuyamaca near Julian, depending on amentities and the drive, or maybe Lake Casitas or Cachuma...
 
 The other option we ve been kicking around is going to Pismo Beach.   There are a couple of places we ve been looking at: there s Oceano Memorial CG, which is a first-come, first-serve county park with W/E/S hook ups. However, if you are a group of 6 or more, then you can reserve sites.  This was the reservation set up for when we camped at El Chorro. They ask that you give them about 4 weeks  reservation notice time.  It s about a half a mile to the beach.  Here is Oceano s info: http://www.slocountyparks.com/activities/oceano.htm
 
 The other idea is a private cg called Pismo Coast Village RV Resort.  It looks like it s a Campland-by-the-Bay or Newport Dunes sort of place--upscale RV park--so probably not so " nature"  like, but it is right on the beach and that s a plus.  Here s their site:  http://www.pismocoastvillage.com
 
 Anyone up for a trip in July or August?

[SimiRich]

 griffsmom
Lori,
 
 I have confirmed that Jalama is booked until November 1st. I guess we have to be quicker [&:]
 
 What great info you got about the Central Coast campsites. We are interested in camping Jul/Aug & Oceano Memorial CG sounds interesting. If the weekend is right, then you can count us as 1 of the six needed. That means only 4 more are needed. Anyone else? []
 
 How about the weekend of Jul 25-27th? Does that work for you & anyone else?

[griffsmom]

 SimiRich

 

ORIGINAL:  SimiRich
 
 How about the weekend of Jul 25-27th? Does that work for you & anyone else?
 

 That is exactly the weekend I was thinking of!  []  Dave says he d be up for pulling in Thursday!  Waddya think?  Are ya up for it?  
 
 I left a message with SLO County Parks to see if that weekend is even open.  Hopefully they ll call me back quickly.  If we can get at least 4 more families, I d be willing to reserve the sites.

[griffsmom]

 griffsmom
I just posted a notice to the NNCers so we may not have any trouble reaching our minimum of 6 if they want to join us.

[lkw]

 griffsmom
Hi guys! Hope all is well with you!!! We will be spending july 3rd-July 7th at Newprt Dunes(Not really camping, if ya know what I mean!). I need someplace 1. Close by (so I still can commute to the Restaurant if need be). 2. someplace cool. 3. someplace that has ammenities. 3. somplace that will make Bev feel like a real vacation (this place just about has it all). Unfortuneately it is Soooo expensive!!! I think I got the only site left, which was a cancellation they had at $110 a nite FRI-Sat and$95 a nite the rest of the week with a 3 nite min!!!! They do promise a really great fireworks show this year and a lot of other activities too. This will probably be it til Labor Day(which will probably be at Campland in San Diego/ or Newport Dunes). I am possibly interested in the Halloween rally in October. I wish I had the time to go to your other sites... It sounds like it would be a blast. Larry

 griffsmom
Paul L here:
 
 Griffsmom, if you have any questions about Lake Cuyamaca fire away. That is our standard no reservation required mountain escape. The area is nice with lots of sight-seeing and outdoor activities and the campground has water and electric but no showers. We shower at the state park campground a few minutes south. That campground, Paso Picacho, is often full summer weekends. For Lake Cuyamaca think more RV park than state park for campsite size and configuration. $20/night. You can dry camp in the lake parking lots if you like for $13/night. The later is actually preferable on a non-holiday weekend as you get a great lake view without a neighbor just feet away.

[Cottonwooder]

 griffsmom
That last weekend of July sounds good to us too.  We re interested.

[gsm x2]

 griffsmom
Lori,
 
 As things come together, make sure you get in touch with one or both of the WebMasters so that we can work on the site.
 
 gsm x2

 griffsmom
Soory guys but we can t make this weekend.  That weekend is our annual " bake-off in Palm Springs.  Randy s company lets all the family members come along and play at a ritzy hotel and we " bake"  in the sun.[][&:].  For most of you who love the sun it is great but for us " non-tanning"  people it is a long weekend.  The only really good thing is the kids can swim and mom can lay around being served drinks by the pool[]
 
 Jacqui
 
 P.S.  Lori, we have been to Lake Cayumaca and really enjoyed it.  We stayed at Green Valley Falls.  No hookups but they do have showers.   There is an RV park with hookups just down the street called Pinezanita.  We haven t been there but friends of ours who tow a tt say it is nice.  I remember seeing some full-timers there but they do have hookups.   So it all depends what you want.  As Paul said there is camping next to the lake but there is very little shade from what we saw.  The State park cg s are well shaded and so is Pinezanita.

[SimiRich]

 griffsmom
So far it sounds like 3 families are interested in that weekend. We need at least 3 more.
 
 Anybody else? []

[RTurner]

 griffsmom
Hi our Southern Friends,
 
 As I was cruising around I saw you mention Pismo Coast Village.  We just stayed there over spring break in April.  It is a " resort"  in the campground sense.  FULL hookups, camp sites are close to eachother.  BUT it is just steps from the beach, a short walk to town and lots of stuff to keep kids busy.  It was clean, the staff helped alot and we plan to go back next year.  
 
 Griffsmom, email me offline if you want and I can pop over a few pictures of the site/area we stayed in.

[Camping Coxes]

 griffsmom
Lori --
 
 We were at Jalama Thursday night.  My BIL lives about 1.5 hours north of there and went in the early AM to get us a site.  However, we huddled in our PU for warmth and left Friday morning [].  It was beautiful, but it was cold and windy.  We were told summer is a windy time, and it s calmer in the winter months (sounds odd).  We had such high hopes after Mr. Flinders telling us how beautfiul it was.  He was right about the beauty.  
 
 Anyway, it was so cold and windy, we headed out for parts north and went to Lopez Lake.  It s about a 4 hour drive from home, which is too long for us normally, but we took an extra day this trip and were already close enough to justify going on.  We got in with no reservations.  It s a dirt and dry brush and trees type campground.  We had deer meandering around the campground at night.  Paul saw skunks while I was away from the site.  We saw wild turkey(not the drinkable kind!) while driving about.  There is a waterpark in the CG.  There is a playground near the waterpark and there is also a swimming area of the lake, if you re so inclined.  You can rent boats for the lake also.  
 
 If you re up for a little mountain driving, try William Heise in Julian.  It s beautiful.  County of San Diego Parks takes the reservations.  Nice side trip is the town of Julian.  There are no hookups, but it s worth dry camping for.
 

 griffsmom
I have to agree with the Camping Coxes: Heise is a nice campground. The main bathhouse is still fairly new and in good shape. This campground is about 15 minutes from Julian. Since it is a county park it is often overlooked so summer weekend campsites are easier to come by. There is wildlife (wild turkeys and deer) and even some hiking.

 griffsmom
Hi this is Hollypop. We camped at Pinezanita near Julian just this last weekend. I d give it a mediocre rating. For $32/night for the four of us and the dog they could have sprinkled a few real bathrooms throughout the grounds. There are only outhouses unless you want to hike to the office. We were on the outside loop, with highway 79 running kinda around our site, but this looked definitely better than the other sites. We didn t have anyone in front of us and had lots of shade.  The fishing pond is pretty gross. No hiking trails, etc. It looked like well over half the campground is permanent residents. We had fun but I m not keen to ever go back there. I d suggest Heise or Cuyamaca over this. There is a private membership campground down the road called KQ Campground. They were in Julian on Saturday offering a free 2-night stay if you listen to the dog and pony show. The rep wouldn t tell the price of a membership. It does look like a nice place, if anyone is interested.  We won t be camping again until July 17-20 in San Mateo campground of the San Onofre State Beach. Then again, our friends want us to go beach camping in Baja, which sounds really fun. Until then, Dave and I are off to Hawaii next week!!!

 griffsmom

Until then, Dave and I are off to Hawaii next week!!!
   

 Hollypop,  What island are you going to? We are off to Maui on Saturday, Yeehaaaa!  Not exactly a camping trip, but we don t mind.  
 
 As far as camping plans for the rest of the summer, we already have an extended family hotel trip to Pismo planned for early August so we aren t really interested in Pismo in July.  However, we are thinking about Newport Dunes in mid-July (the kids love the movies on the beach), maybe a trip to Casitas before Labor Day and a trip to Lake Isabella for Labor Day weekend.  This is all tentative as I haven t even checked for availability yet.  After we get back from Maui I ll check in and see what is going on here rally-wise.
 
 ALOHA!!!!