Tag Archives: Pismo Beach

Labor Day Trip

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Ok, a late post here.  It is now a bit past Labor Day 2013 but I am here to talk about it nonetheless.

After coming back from our previous 17+ day trip this was a quick turnaround (2 weekends).  We thought about just cancelling our reservation and staying home but there was one thing that kept our commitment.  Our granddaughter!

I made the reservations at Oceano campground at Pismo State Beach on the coast months ago and we told our granddaughter that we would take her along.  It was a good choice and we are glad we went through with it.

One of the things that I was working on was a front hitch for our bike rack (I talked about it in our Alumafandango threads).  I purchased one but part of the task was to remove the nuts off the front leaf springs and put on a helper bracket.  I could NOT get those nuts off!  I had to take it to a suspension shop but eventually got it on:

Front Hitch

Bike Rack 1

 

We went through Cholame, near where James Dean was killed.  We told our granddaughter about it and she was mesmerized about it and kept talking about it.  We told her we would stop on the way back so she could see the memorial.

We got to the campground just around dark.  Here was a shot from next day:

Oceano Campground

 

Our granddaughter, Paige, thoroughly enjoyed herself.  We went to the beach both days and she spent at least 3 hours in the water each day.  We don’t know HOW she did that as the water was so cold but there were many others that did so also and she made a few friends.  We also had a campfire one night with her cooking ‘Smores.  She really liked to ride her bike around the campground which kept her busy.  We rode with her a couple of times.

On the last day we took a walk around the pond that is by the campground.  It turned out to be longer than we though and here are a few pics:

Roger and Paige

Roxie and Paige

 

One evening Paige told us that she had never seen the sunset.  So what did we do?

Sunset

 

It was just a short walk from the campground to see the sunset.

It all comes to an end as usual.  We did stop at the James Dean memorial on the way back to show Paige.

One more thing about the bike rack on the front.  It performed well, but it did scare us from time to time because it sure did bounce at times!  Here is what we saw:

Bike Rack 2

 

We are very glad we went because it meant a lot to Paige.  Roxie turned around in the truck and told her, on the way home: “We did this trip just for you”.  Her positive reaction to that statement was all we needed.

Roger

A few side trips…

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We don't only travel with the Airstream.  Sometimes it is cheaper to actually stay in a hotel.  I figure 2 nights is about the break even point.  It would cost about the same to take the Airstream or not.

The weekend after our last trip (the Death Valley one in the previous post), Roxie was working and on a home visit.  She went into a clients house and proceeded to severely twist her ankle not seeing the sunken living room in the darkened house.  A coworker and her supervisor were present also and witnessed the incident.  This made it a workers comp claim (we won't start down that path).  She was off her ankle for weeks and there were thoughts that she broke part of it.  Luckily we did find out it was NOT broken but she had to wear a 'stylish' ankle boot for quite a while.

This affected our traveling also.  I didn't feel that Roxie could manage in the trailer, especially getting up and down the steps, so our next 3-day (remember she gets one every 5 weeks) was in February.  This was to be a hotel trip.  We went over to Pismo Beach and stayed in a hotel there for the first time ever.  We picked the SeaCrest.  This 3-day happened to fall on President's day so she got an extra day to make it a 4 day.  We went over on Sunday and came back on Tuesday.  Late Monday was really nice because all the 3-day weekend people had left.  Roxie's ankle did well but she was still in pain.

The next three day weekend, in March, was Roxie's pick.  She chose Bakersfield.  Bakersfield?  Wow.  I thought it was a bit strange, especially since it is only 75 miles away and it IS Bakersfield.  She wanted to try the Padre Hotel.  Some relatives had stayed there and enjoyed it.  They have totally revamped this hotel to make it more upscale.  They definitely achieved it, now if they could only upscale the downtown neighborhood a bit more.  One of the pluses is that we were able to discover some different restaurants there.  My favorite was Sunday morning.  We went to the 24th Street Cafe.  They had an amazing breakfast:

Makes me want to go back for more!

Next comes April.  This time we decided to go to Arizona to see my mother.  It had been MANY years since we had been to her house.  Again, no trailer.  This one broke the 2 night rule but three of them were free at my mom's house so it was really only one paid night.  We stopped in Desert Hot Springs on the way back.  I like to stop there on long trips because it is a good distance from home and there are a lot of naturally heated hot water pools.  I looked on TripAdvisor for hotels to stay at.  The top rated one was a spa that seem to be a bit snooty.  The second one was a 'clothing optional' locale.  Pass.  However the third was just right.  El Morocco Inn.  There are only 12 rooms, only 2 adults allowed per room.  The pool and jacuzzi were always open, they figured everyone was adult enough to be quiet when it was late.

I didn't tell Roxie where we were going until we drove up.  It is located in a neighborhood of houses which has a bit of an odd feel.  However, once you get inside you forget completely about the surroundings.  The owners have done a fantastic job of the Moroccan feel.  Fabrics hanging everywhere, fruit and other foods always available, our room even had a round bed.  The movie Casablanca is constantly playing in one of the common rooms.  We will be back there when winter comes around.

The way the calendar goes we did not have a 3-day getaway in May, although we did head to SF and help Hannah move out of her loft at the end of the school term.  The next 3-day getaway happened in June.  That is the subject of the next entry.