Smithwoods RV Rally - Summer 2009

[JohnandLeann]

Morro Bay sounds good  cause it is close to us, and we like the back loop that is mostly by itself, not in the rows like the others.  But if enough people get together at the same time on January 1st or is it the 2nd, we can probably get a good block of sites that are close to each other for July.

If you are thinking about Lake San Antonio and it is an El Nino rain season like they are forecasting, this could be good as well.  Right now the lake is very low.  There are two areas to camp.  North Shore camping is right at the edge of the lake, which is great cause it gets mighty hot in the summer.  There is also some limited hookup sites but not near the water, a bit of a hike if I remember.
South Shore has more hookups I believe but you have to drive to the water also.  All Sites are FCFS at San Antonio.

[cjpoppin]

How do some of you feel about having a rally in the High Sierra Region, near Mammoth or June Lake??

We are going up there in a few weeks. If there's any interest, we could look into it. It's about 300 miles North of Los Angeles, up 395.
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
This would be great we've always wanted to go up there I hear great stuff about that area my aunt and uncle used to go up there all the time and loved it.[/COLOR]

[Recumbentman]

How do some of you feel about having a rally in the High Sierra Region, near Mammoth or June Lake??

I would like to see that area. The only problem is  a lot of sccampers want there hook-ups :eyecrazy:

[wavery]

How do some of you feel about having a rally in the High Sierra Region, near Mammoth or June Lake??

We are going up there in a few weeks. If there's any interest, we could look into it. It's about 300 miles North of Los Angeles, up 395.
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
This would be great we've always wanted to go up there I hear great stuff about that area my aunt and uncle used to go up there all the time and loved it.[/COLOR]

It's really beautiful up there. Our daughter and family live in Bridgeport, which is up in that area. We are going there over Labor Day. OC Campers will be up there too (camping). Maybe Jacqui could look at the CG that they are staying in.

The problem is, most of the CGs up there are pretty small. I will have to check around to see if there is a CG big enough for one of our rallies (where we won't overwhelm the %#&@ toilets........).

You're talking 7,000' elevations too. That may leave out some of the SCAMPERS that don't have TVs that will handle it........The grades are not particularly steep but the elevation kills the TVs HP. Even some smaller V8s (like mine) may have a tuff time of it.

I wonder if it might be time to start a new thread for this.......I think this thread is starting to get "Over-whelmed"

[wavery]

How do some of you feel about having a rally in the High Sierra Region, near Mammoth or June Lake??

We are going up there in a few weeks. If there's any interest, we could look into it. It's about 300 miles North of Los Angeles, up 395.
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
This would be great we've always wanted to go up there I hear great stuff about that area my aunt and uncle used to go up there all the time and loved it.[/COLOR]

It's really beautiful up there. Our daughter and family live in Bridgeport, which is up in that area. We are going there over Labor Day. OC Campers will be up there too (camping). Maybe Jacqui could look at the CG that they are staying in.

The problem is, most of the CGs up there are pretty small. I will have to check around to see if there is a CG big enough for one of our rallies (where we won't overwhelm the %#&@ toilets........).

You're talking 7,000' elevations too. That may leave out some of the SCAMPERS that don't have TVs that will handle it........The grades are not particularly steep but the elevation kills the TVs HP. Even some smaller V8s (like mine) may have a tuff time of it.

[wavery]

I wonder if someone shouldn't start a new thread for this topic.......:confused:

This thread is getting a bit, "overwhelmed".......:rolleyes:

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="Lime"]I learned a new word[/COLOR][/SIZE]......

[miss kathy]

would the new word be " overwhelmed"  

I would have a hard time with the high elevation- part of the reason not going to Bridgeport with OCCamper.  

We really should start a new thread

miss kathy:-()

What about this place??

http://www.olemaranch.com/home

[boncrab]

would the new word be " overwhelmed"  

I would have a hard time with the high elevation- part of the reason not going to Bridgeport with OCCamper.  

We really should start a new thread

miss kathy:-()

What about this place??

http://www.olemaranch.com/home

Hey Kathy,  Olema is North of San Francisco and would make a great NorCal Rally spot but not great for a meet in the middle rally.

[miss kathy]

so when are we going??

miss kathy:-()

[JohnandLeann]

Yes lets set those dates or at least which week in July we are talking about.  Am anxious to hear about some of those areas in the Sierras around Mammoth.  I know someone that goes to Mammoth Pools and I think they are on the west side of the Sierras.  I think I am gonna start looking into some spots too, but it will only be from behind my screen. :-()

[OC Campers]

We love Bridgeport but it is a good 10 hour drive towing a trailer from Southern California.  There is a campground there with hookups at the Lower Twin Lake.  I can check into it when we get there in a few weeks.   Annette's Mono Village is nice also.  Lots of shade and not far from the Upper Twin Lake.  Annette's is also large enough that a rally would be easy there.  They also have cabins you can rent so if you think it is too far to tow you could stay in a cabin.  Unfortunately, it looks like they don't take reservations.  maybe for a group they might

Lower Twin Lakes Resort  http://www.twinlakeresort.com/RV_Park.htm
Annett's Mono Village  http://www.monovillage.com/index.htm

Unfortunately, most of Bridgeports campgrounds are National Forest cg's which you have to reserve on Reserve America.

Jacqui

[Chez Way]

Wow!  Sounds like we missed a wild time at Smithwoods.  I think this is the first time the ScCampers have been banned. Although we have been known to get some polite suggestions that we quiet down after 10 i don't think we have ever been accused of overwhelming toilets.  Sounds like we have something to be proud of  :yikes:
 
We stayed at Wine Country RV in Paso Robles over Memorial weekend and I would have to give it a thumbs up if you are looking for an RV style campground with all the amenities that also happens to be walking distance to a winery and next door to a deluxe waterpark.  :! (supposed to be wine glasses)
 
Morro Bay State Park is a great meet in the middle spot--more of a traditional campground style park with lots of trees and plenty to do in the area--shopping, museum, fishing, kayaking, biking, etc.  
 
We also love Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Lodgepole in Sequoia, Lopez Lake (what's a yellow jacket or 2 if you have bug spray?) and of course Yosemite (do we still have a connection to that park outside the gate?
 
What about Flying Flags?  Not quite in the middle but it seems to be pretty popular with this group with both hook up and non-hook up options.
 
I'm just hoping that we'll be able to make it in 2010--it seems that the annual rally almost always conflicts with our summer family reunion in Pismo.

[Dee4j]

Wow!  Sounds like we missed a wild time at Smithwoods.  I think this is the first time the ScCampers have been banned. Although we have been known to get some polite suggestions that we quiet down after 10 i don't think we have ever been accused of overwhelming toilets.  Sounds like we have something to be proud of  :yikes:
 
We stayed at Wine Country RV in Paso Robles over Memorial weekend and I would have to give it a thumbs up if you are looking for an RV style campground with all the amenities that also happens to be walking distance to a winery and next door to a deluxe waterpark.  :! (supposed to be wine glasses)
 
Morro Bay State Park is a great meet in the middle spot--more of a traditional campground style park with lots of trees and plenty to do in the area--shopping, museum, fishing, kayaking, biking, etc.  
 
We also love Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Lodgepole in Sequoia, Lopez Lake (what's a yellow jacket or 2 if you have bug spray?) and of course Yosemite (do we still have a connection to that park outside the gate?
 
What about Flying Flags?  Not quite in the middle but it seems to be pretty popular with this group with both hook up and non-hook up options.
 
I'm just hoping that we'll be able to make it in 2010--it seems that the annual rally almost always conflicts with our summer family reunion in Pismo.

maybe we should crash your family reunion we all like pismo....:p

[Hoagie]

We just stayed in the Mammoth Lakes region (Coldwater CG at Lake Mary) for 4 nights after Smithwoods. Made the drive through Yosemite and over Tioga Pass. This might deter some of the NorCal contingent if they are coming through the Fresno region as you have to pay $20 to drive through Yosemite and then get pushed by your trailer down the incredibly steep Tioga Pass to Hwy 395. Or you could avoid this by using Hwy108. We went Hwy120 and I don't know that I'd do it again.
 
In the Mammoth area there is one private RV park. We stopped at the office to check on group camping, but the park is in the process of being sold and the clerk did not know anything about group rates or accomdations. They had a partial hookup area that is basically a parking lot -- all pavement with rigs parked right next to each other. The full hookup area was better with trees and you are parking on dirt. If I can find the link for the current ownership I'll post it.
 
There are also numerous NSF campgrounds throughout the Mammoth area and up into June Lakes. None of these have hookups. Most have water spigots and flush toilet bathrooms. Dump stations are only at limited CGs and charge $7 or more. Some of the CGs have upwards of 100 sites or more, most of which are ReserveAmerica.
 
Further south on 395 there are "RV Resorts" in Bishop....basically sections of mobile home parks or just parallel parking spots. There are two right in the middle of town that didn't look like anywhere we'd want to stay.
 
Still further south there are two resorts: one near Big Pine and another at Lost Lake. Didn't have a chance to check out either one of these. They avoid the hill climbs that the southerners would need to do to get to Mammoth and points north, but they are in a very hot section of the Owens Valley.
 
HTH

[kimrb266]

Morro Bay seems too risky on us getting sites.   In my opinion, we should get group reservations where it is guaranteed that we have a campground to go to.
 
I Really like Flying Flags.