Two Miles and Four Feet from Home: The Struggle Bus

Of course we slept well in our posh hotel with flush toilets and running water whats not to like........ but we still got up about 6:00 due to the time difference there is just no way to sleep past 6:00. I took Jasper out for a walk and then we packed up, filled our cooler with ice and we are on our way. For those that are interested we budget $125 a day for expenses. That's everything gas, food, lodging. Of course some days we spend more but others we spend less. Anyway so far this trip we are under budget so far. Hotels can really blow the budget due to their cost and the fact that we are more likely to eat out. One thing we did over the winter was to amass a lot of hotel points by using certain credit card sign up bonuses. Anyway if we stay at the right places we can use the points to help keep cost down. Luckily we were able to use them at this hotel and the hotel only cost us $2.36. Add another $25 for eating out and our Vegas stop only cost us $27.36. Anyway we left the hotel at 7:30 got some gas and went due west. Finally we would hit California and with any luck would be camping near Santa Barbara by the end of the day. After about 2 hours I decided that we should swing by Hollywood and walk down the famous strip and maybe if we were lucky we could find Lassie's star and get a picture with Jasper. So several hours later we we were making our way into Hollywood. It was super crowded and even though the camper is easy to pull you really have to think about it as you swerve in and out of traffic and you need at least two to three open parking spaces to park. Finally after seeing that street parking was not going to work I decide to park in a lot. The guy said it wold be $40 for the entire day. I told him we only needed an hour but he said they only had one price. Hmmm nope not going to pay that so we drove on. By now we had another problem....we both had to go to the bathroom I mean really go. I saw a gas station and decided to fill up while Lyn went inside. She came out pretty quick as their bathrooms were out of order. OK so now not parking was starting to be a real problem. We went to another lot and it was $40 as well but this time we paid the price and headed out in search of a bathroom with Jasper in tow. Jasper found a bathroom immediately as there was a telephone pole right by the car. At least one of us felt better. Finally we were on Hollywood Blvd. and saw Hard Rock Cafe. We took turns watching Jasper and finally we were to a point where we could enjoy this place. The street was super crowded with people and most of them were trying to hand you a brochure or sell your something. We decided to get some lunch because by now it was 2 PM and we were starving. None of the places had outdoor seating which is what we needed for Jasper. Finally we found a Subway that did and by now it was almost three and all we had done was parked, eaten lunch and used the bathroom. Anyway I was able to find where Lassie's star was and we walked the 5 blocks there and looked at all of the stars along the way. Finally we decided to go get a picture of the Hollywood sign and hit the road for our Campground which was still about 2 hours away. I had looked on the internet and it told us the best spot to take a picture. It was on top of a hill across the way from the actual sign. We drove through a beautiful park and beautiful neighborhoods. Finally we were getting this day back on track. As we started getting closer we noticed a lot of people had parked their cars and were walking up the hill on foot. When I say a lot I mean hundreds. It looked like they were walking to a rock concert. We kept driving and it just kept getting worse. Finally we reached the top and found out what all of these walking people already knew. There was no parking left at the top. The next thing we knew we were heading down the other side never having seen the sign! By now it was 5 and we were both just tired of the whole thing. I had the great idea to salvage our day we could at least take Highway 1 to Santa Barbara! This way we could have the great views of the beach and try to get this day back on track. Well the GPS started leading me there and took us through all kind of Beautiful neighborhoods. The problem was the streets were narrow and it was trash day so I had to navigate around them and if a car was coming the other way I had to wait my turn. Finally after multiple choice words and some of them being said in multiple languages by Lyn we decided to go the most direct way to the campground. After about 30 more minutes we were finally out on a major highway. We were stuck in traffic and happy to be there. Lyn said it was if California did not want to dance our dance. What ever we did seemed to cause a bad reaction from this beautiful state. Finally around 7 PM we found a cool county campground and decided to stay there instead of the KOA that we had planned on earlier. Lyn cooked dinner and we ended up going to sleep around 9 kind of glad to put this day behind us.

We did sleep well in the cool temperatures and decided that we would get back on track and make this an easy day. I had read about a State Park in Malibu that had a trail that led to what remains of the TV show MASH set. It looked really cool and I grew up watching that show so I thought it would be super fun to do.The hike would be 3.5 miles which would be a great way to start the day. It was 45 minutes south of where we camped and Pismo beach where we planned to camp was about 2 hours north so that would be about 3.5 hours of driving. Easy peasy! We arrived at the park without too much trouble and pulled up to the gate. I told him what we planned to do and that we needed a two hour parking pass. That is when he informed me that the hike was easy but it was 7 miles. 3.5 out and 3.5 back. Wait what. This was supposed to be an easy morning jaunt to a really cool place. We decided not to even think about walking 7 miles and headed out to the campground. As we left the park we headed towards our campground and I called to make a reservation. Well you guessed it no sites for the night. In fact they were booked all the way to the middle of August. We found another campground that was further east and they said they could take us so we booked a site. This would add another 45 minutes to the trip but we had a site so we were pleased. As we were going to up highway 101 we saw a place where we could make an easy exit and go actually look at the beach. They had ample parking and it was only $2 for an hour. Wow great views easy parking and only $2. We walked on the beach took a few pictures. Was California finally playing nice with us?!?!? It sure felt like it! After an hour we got back in the car and headed to our campground. While driving there Lyn found a description of the campground in one of our KOA books. It said rustic camping with dusty dirt roads, steep stairs to the bathroom and oh by the way it even mentioned that they had insects! Remember this is their own review of their place. This is their one chance to brag on their place and this is what they had to say. We kept going further off the beaten path the temperature rose to a 100. I fully expected to hear the dueling banjos played as their theme song when we pulled in. Finally we arrived and their was dust clouds everywhere. I went inside and they were all very nice but they noticed my Prius. The first thing she said was that you did not tell us that you had a Prius." I said well usually its all about the camper and what type of site you need to fit it. She said the problem was the site was at the top of a hill on a gravel road. (She also said I had to sign a waiver that if a tree fell on our camper or car they were not responsible.) She offered to drive me up, so I could check it out in her car before giving it a try. Next thing you know I am in her car which has a thick coating of dust everywhere by the way and we are heading to the site. This is when it gets crazy. She said OK here comes the hill. It is around the blind corner so you have to beep your horn as you gun it so you have enough speed to make it to the top. I promise you none of this is exaggerated in the least. Finally we got back down to the store and I told her that I could not do that with my car. She gave me a refund and we were on our way. We tried to make a few calls to campgrounds but either they did not take tent campers or they were booked. We decide to keep driving north and see what we could work out. Finally we stopped at a grocery store bought a few supplies and while Lyn made lunch I started making calls. Always the same answer no sites. Finally on my last call to a super nice KOA that was right on the ocean the lady said they had one luxury RV site that we could have but we had to take it for two nights. They were $80 a night but they were just a few sites away from a great view of the ocean. Shut up and take my money! This would mean 3.5 hours more driving time but then we could relax for two days in a beautiful area. Finally we got off the main highway and actually followed Highway 1 for about 15 miles. Absolutely beautiful! We pulled into the campground and were greeted with an oasis. Lush grass big trees and even by 6:30 it had already reached 59 degrees. This place was awesome. It is a true destination campground. After checking in we pulled down to our court. It was filled with huge RV's and huge trucks to pull them with. We backed into our spot and met a huge family that were about to have dinner. I told them that the Beverly Hillbillies had arrived and they just laughed. Anyway they were amazed that we had pulled that camper all the way from NC. He asked if he could take pictures of it. We really look funny in with the big rigs but somehow we seem to fit in anywhere. Come to find out this family was originally from Portugal and they had a big spread of that style of food. Lyn fixed dinner and I went and took a shower in the luxury hut that included a huge fire place and a sauna. While we were eating dinner he told me that his deceased grandmother use to make a special moonshine and they still had bottles that she made in the 90's. He offered me a shot of the non flavored one and lets just say even though it was 55 degrees I was plenty warm. After dinner the grandfather came over and gave me a shot of a special mix that was blackberry flavored. As he poured it he told me that he had to give it up 22 years ago due to getting night tremors. What an ending to such a crazy day! California I think we can finally dance our dances together.