The reality of life intrudes and once in a while we have to do laundry. Going a mere 30 miles down the road to our next place, Pismo Beach, gives us plenty of time to take care of business, so we stop at a laundromat and take turns babysitting our laundry and getting lunch. Driving through town to our campground we get the feel that this is much more of an old school beach town with the beachside condos, restaurant, bars, etc.
We get settled at the Oceano RV Park. Site #34. A very small campground with pull-through sites – electric and water hook-ups, and restrooms (token showers), and a dish washing station (again no soap or dryer in the restroom -seems to be a common “problem” here). First impressions – there is debris (twigs & leaves) everywhere from a storm they had 2 months ago and haven’t cleaned up – and the staff at the gate, not very competent. A five minute walk to the ocean we find a surprise! This beach allows vehicles – and it is a big business here – several big rigs pass us, carrying dune buggy’s and the beach is full of trucks. There is a State park gate and patrol vehicles, so it is monitored. Seems like it would be great fun for a weekend evening BBQ and party on the beach. We took a nice walk along the beach toward the town- where no vehicles are allowed except state park vehicles – to the newly built pier. Again, a popular surfing area.
A day trip to Oso Flaco Lake (which means Skinny Bear) to visit a quieter area with lakes and dunes. There is a $5 parking charge but we noticed many people park on the road and walk in. We are balking at paying all of the California State Park day use rates and this has worked to our advantage. When we say thank you and turn around to leave we are quite often invited to stay as a friendly courtesy to Canadian guests. Very friendly staff. The path to the ocean is a wide dirt road then becomes a trail and boardwalk leading to the lake (called the Riparian area)- a birder’s paradise, and we saw many species. Continuing on from the lake, the trees and marsh becomes dunes that go on for miles. Quite something to experience. At the ocean we saw a few guys fishing, miles of deserted beach and large dunes. We walked for miles – stopped to have a picnic and enjoyed the solitude.
Fun Fact: The Ten Commandments was filmed on the dunes.
