We have been wanting to visit a Camping World ever since we got into RV’ing. Unfortunately there isn’t one in our home town. The closest one is about an hour away and we hardly ever drive thru that area. Interestingly enough, there has been a sign off of the freeway a few miles from our house that reads ‘Camping World Ventura! Coming soon!”. That’s great! I thought when I first saw it. But that was over 2 years ago. I have given up the idea that there might be one coming in anytime soon.

This last weekend we went up north to visit my brother and mom in the bay area. On the way back, we stopped in San Martin, CA where a Camping World is just off of the 101 freeway. We could not have been more excited to go inside and check things out.

I think I was expecting it to be a lot bigger than it actually was. After all, it is supposed to be an entire world of camping! Well, it is not the Costco sized building I was expecting but more of a grocery store. But that was actually big enough to have lots of products I had wanted to see and touch.

(more…)

Hmmm. I bet you are wondering how we did without any hook-ups last weekend at Thornhill Broome State Beach, huh? Well, we did just fine! I’m still alive and blogging, ain’t I?

We tried our best to be Mr. and Mrs. Conservative on this two-night trip.

Water
Water-wise, we did great. We washed our dishes and brushed our teeth in gentle streams of water and we didn’t take showers in the Airstream. But we did take showers at home. No, we did not go home just to take showers. Geez. We aren’t huge wussies. We went home because we forgot to pack Ava’s sleeping tent and I could no longer take her sleep kicks and punches at night… and Dan was sad that he was banished to the couch. So, I guess, that makes us little wussies. I’m okay with that. Our gray water tank was still empty after three days according to our usage indicator. I think I may pat myself of the back right now.

Power
Electricity-wise, we didn’t do as great. I did my very best to not turn on lights. We used Ava’s mini-lantern when we could and I even washed our dishes in the dark. I must have really looked ridiculous because our new friend David stopped by and offered his generator so I can wash dishes with the lights on… like normal people.  I kindly refused because I was on a mission to see how long we could last on our own. By the end of the second night, our usage indicator was flashing red. Bad news.

Summary
The overall experience was great. I think we can last a long time water-wise but our two batteries will only allow us to boondock for two nights before we need a recharge from the van… or those generators and solar panels that Dan keeps sending me links to from Craigslist.

The next time we need to boondock for more than a night, we won’t be as apprehensive. I just hope the view from our Airstream is just as nice.

the end,
marlene

Last week we were graciously approached by a fellow Airstreamer from our home town to tag along with them and some others in the area on a trip to a local beach for the weekend. We were at the right place at the right time to get in on this trip as it had been planned for some time and one of the campers dropped out in the last moment with a non-refundable fee which we were happy to fill in for them.

(more…)

We ended up camping at the San Mateo Campground in San Onofre during New Year’s week for 5 nights. If I had to rate this campground, I would probably give it just an average score. We haven’t been to too many sites so far with the Mali Mish Airstream but Catalina State Park in Tuscon, The Shady Dell in Bisbee and El Capitan State Beach just outside of Santa Barbara are still my top three campgrounds so far. And if these are my references, San Mateo is just “alright”.
(more…)

This week we are finally back on the road again. This time, we are headed down to the border of San Diego and Orange County to camp at San Onofre State Beach. Actually, the beach campsites are closed in the winter time so we settled for San Mateo Campground a mile inland from the beach. I know, it’s difficult.

(more…)

over and out,
dan