It has been a while since I have posted and, therefore, it has been a while since we visited the San Clemente State Beach. It was during the first weekend of February. It was with the California group from AirForums, the rallies are discussed in this thread.
We got there on Thursday and stayed in the full hookup loop, others were in the no hookup sites. The weather was not too bad during the day but it did get cold at night. We did the tourist thing on Saturday and went to the San Juan Capistrano Mission. It was one of the first times that we had been to a mission without a child’s project riding upon a visit.
The saturday night pot luck was fun. The weather was managable with the bonfire. We had it at a campsite that was on a plateau overlooking the ocean and sunset.
After leaving San Clemente we took an extra day and went to Bolsa Chica State Beach. They have a policy of not allowing you into the spots until 2pm. They do enforce this. So, since we were there early, we ate some lunch until we would could go in. Essentially it is a parking lot(s) with hookups. We had a spot that backed up to the beach. We could see the Catalinas and oil rigs from our back window
The primary reason to extend the stay was to visit with my birthfather who lives nearby.
All in all it was a fun trip but it is pretty exciting driving around the LA basin with the trailer.
We made it back from our week’s long excursion. We started on Thursday and, as I was hooking up, I noticed that one of the trailer tires was starting to split in the tread. Time to get another. Luckily a local tire store had a tire and said it would take 20 minutes to mount it. Sure enough, that is all it took. Removal and reinstallation on the trailer was speedy due to my TrailerAid. We got on the road, got some supplies and lunch in Oakhurst at Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ. The drive through Yosemite and down Tioga Pass took a bit of time due to the speed limits. Roxie did not like the downhill part of Tioga since she was right by the dropoff. Arrival at Obsidian Dome was about 5pm.
The Sierra Nevada Unit of WBCCI is a very likable group. We had a total of 8 trailers there. The evening turned out to be a bit too cold to sit around and talk much. The recent fire limitations did not allow a campfire which put a bit of a damper on things. The next day some of us helped out the Forest Service to remove some fire rings in the area and make the area look like they never existed. This is to try to deter people from camping in areas where they should not. We took a much needed nap that afternoon and then went into Mammoth Lakes for some supplies. On the second day we were welcomed with a waffle breakfast which filled everyone up. The planned potluck at lunch was pushed back until dinner. We decided to go to Devil’s Postpile National Monument. I hadn’t been there since 1974, Roxie never.
We were going to stay one more evening but decided to go visit my sister in Bishop, since we were over that way. After that we headed back through Yosemite to the Yosemite Pines RV Park, our stop for the next 3 nights. The park is OK. They say they are rated #8 from the Travel Channel but I don’t agree. It is not very lush, all dirt. Our sewer hookup was uphill from the trailer which made it hard to empty the tanks. What is does have going for it is that is close to many things.
The first day we decided to go through some Gold Country towns along Highway 49. We went down the CA-120 grade, past Lake Don Pedro and through Jamestown. We stopped for lunch in Sonora at a very good Chinese restaurant, the Hong Kong. We then decided to go to see a movie. We saw “Live Free or Die Hard”. I always liked the Die Hard series but a added benefit was how many Nokia cellphones were used in the film. I saw an N76, E61 (the one I have) and an E90. After the movie we went to Columbia and walked around a bit. Not much to see so we continued on. We ended up in Jackson and had dinner at a forgettable Mexican restaurant. We then returned home via a different route.
Day 2 was in Yosemite, we went into the valley and took the 2 hour open tram ride. We have only lived for 22 years about 90 miles from Yosemite and have been there a scant 4-5 times. I have seen the trams and thought it would be fun. It was. I usually do the driving and therefore don’t get to see all the scenery. This time I could just relax and enjoy things.
The next day we headed home. We went a bit of a circuitous route to get back. Groveland, down 120 to 49, south on 49 to Coulterville, west on 132 to the Merced Falls turnoff, then south to Merced Falls and on to Merced.
This just added. I forgot to show my favorite place to dump the holding tanks. Click on the photo for more information:
It was nice to get out with the trailer after such a long time.
