We stopped for two nights in Gilroy, California, a drive of just 80 miles. We did our major WalMart shop, we both got haircuts, and then hooked up for the night. We took long showers and just relaxed the rest of the evening. The next day we did our laundry, cleaned the inside of the rig, the outside will have to wait for now, and we took some time to rest our weary bones. We once again chose to stay at Gilroy Garlic USA RV Park, be sure to check out the reviews of all the parks we are staying in while traveling California.
We are noticing outrageously high rates that many of the RV Parks, Resorts and Campgrounds here in California are charging…unbelievably ridiculous. Some worse than others, but for all of them…NO RV site is worth, 60 to 70 dollars per night, but unfortunately that is what we have been paying for many of them.
We decided to wait to visit San Diego some other time, just too much traveling when we are trying to get some rest. Instead, we plan to meander around Central/Northern California, looking for exciting things to visit and play at some of their casinos…we love play days and possibly visit some of the local wineries!
Since we had already made a reservation at the Flying Flags RV Resort & Campground in Buellton, we decided that would be the furthest south we would head. One of the main reasons we chose this resort was they offered a free shuttle to the Chumash Casino Resort and nearby wineries. After checking in, we found out that they still offer this service but they only ran every 4 hours…what an inconvenience. The wineries in the area, were actually wine tasting rooms, the actual wineries were miles away. We do not like wine tasting rooms, we prefer to do the winery tours with free tastings.
We did stop at the Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant and had a bowl of their famous Split Pea Soup in a Bread Bowl. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but my mom made the best split pea soup ever. Her soup was thick from soaking the peas overnight, and she boiled the peas along with the ham bone from our Easter dinner for hours, then she threw in all the leftover ham, then chopped up onions and potatoes into small pieces so they all sort of merged with one another. It would take a miracle for any place to beat her soup.
Then we decided to take a very scenic drive along the Pacific Coast, Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Monterey, stopping in San Simeon to view the Hearst Castle. We took the first time tour, which gave us an overview of the entire estate. First, let me say, the bus ride alone is worth the $25 per person we paid. It takes you up the windiest roads with a fantastic view with every twist. My camera was going non-stop for the entire ride, as well as when we arrived at the top to the castle.
Wow, to have that much money to one day decide that he had all this land and was tired of living in a tent, decided to create this castle…28 years later it was completed. Truly it was never completed, as he always found new and different things to build or add to this magnificent creation. We, on the other hand after being out here the first year full-timing in a tent decided we were tired of living in a tent and bought Maggie. Not the Hearst Castle, but we love her just the same. Can’t even imagine living like that…maybe that is why we struggle so much, we think we want to live high on the hog, then we realize we are not cut out that way.
When we set out on the drive, we hadn’t made any plans where we would stop for the night since we didn’t know how long it would take, we were very surprised with the twists and turns of the entire highway and it was almost dark when we finally hooked up at the most outrageously priced RV site at the Marina Dunes RV Park in Monterey. Check out the separate review for all the details.
Since we had to wait until the office opened in the morning so we could pay them, we took a walk on the dunes to the ocean. It was a great morning walk, the ocean, lakes and most water really puts me into a great frame of mind, almost a meditative state of mind that leads me to better decision making and a very productive life. A few moments on the water make up for months of no time on the water.
We took a ton of photos, we have them in separate albums, one dedicated to Hearst Castle, another from the scenic drive up the coast as well as each of the RV parks we stayed. We also did separate reviews, so please check out our photos at our Picasa Web Albums page and our reviews on separate blog entries.
4 comments:
Sounds like a great trip--sorry everthing is so expensive. Even the state parks in CA are now outrageously priced. Seacliff State Beach is now $65 per night.
Our favorite place is in the CA Central Coast is Pismo Coast Village RV Resort in Pismo Beach. We are shareholders there but it's also open to the public and is as reasonable as any other park in that area, especially considering its great location. The state park next to PCV (North Beach Campground) is reasonable at $25 but doesn't have any hookups. Oceano Campground is another good choice and offers partial hookups for $30.
Hearst Castle is on our list of places to see. $70 a night is something we rarely see. IN Key West, the few campgrounds charge a fortune.
I guess it is not crazy if they can get enough campers to pay that rate.
If you like wineries then you should sign up to Harvest Hosts. There is a link to it on our bog on the right hand side. They charge $20 (I think) for a year's subscription and they will give you a list with all the wineriers, orchards, farms, etc where you can park free overnight. We have used it many times and love it. Just a suggestion so that you don't have to pay those high prices. We never would!
Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
We were just talking about that, but neither of us could remember where we heard about that option. We will go to your blog directly and sign up...thanks!
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