See...I'm a hotel kinda girl. I like hot water and soft beds and room service and someone to come in and make the bed for me the next day and leave me clean towels. It's just all so civilized right? But Lisa said that I would have to go at least once with her because she just knew that I was going to LOVE it!
She set the date for February. Now while the rest of the country is in a deep freeze, here in Sunny Southern California we're in the mid 70's, but regardless it seemed crazy to me to contemplate going camping in February. I mean...it's winter!
But my sister does so much for me that I figured the least I could do is to go along with her plan and I have to tell you, I am so glad I did. Did I like camping? Yes! Do I love camping? No! Would I go camping again? Yes! Would I prefer to stay in a hotel? Yes...and No! Both have their strong points.
So I'm just going to post photos of what we did. We left home on Friday morning and stopped and did a bit of shopping along the way and finally got to the campsite which is a very fancy place. Not just a state campground with no amenities. We had amenities up the wazoo! Wifi included people! This is my kind of camping!
We took our friend Lupe with us and it was great to have a girls weekend! Here's Lupe and Lisa opening up the RV or as we kept calling it, the trailer.
Here's where we spent most of our time, the little kitchen and kitchen table.
Pretty nice right? That kitchen table there, it turns into a bed. the couch that you see on the bottom left that is blue and beige, another bed. And this trailer has it's own bathroom with a shower and a bedroom. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of that.
And this RV park was awesome. They had a heated swimming pool, a recreation room with games and books and ping pong and TV, an on site restaurant and bar and grocery store. Super nice!
So what all did we do? Well you have to know that the most important and fun thing had to do with food and drink!
We had our Margaritas! You can get this bottle already pre-mixed for just $10 at Costco! And it is delicious! It's huge too, we barely made a dent in it and I don't think we even finished half.
We had our Noshing food. Just a bit of this and a bit of that. We stopped at a fruit stand that my sister knows of and bought some Guacamole and Pico de Gallo and Chips. We also picked up a package of Cheese and Ham with Crackers. That was perfect for dinner our first night and then we had it again our second night.
We also had to have something sweet in the evening and made up a little plate of some Grapes and Strawberries we bought at the fruit stand and I just happened to have a Hershey's Chocolate Bar with Almonds. It all went perfectly together and soothed our sweet tooth. Is your mouth watering?
We had some yummy cupcakes that Lupe's daughter baked for our trip. We thought they were so cute because the bottom is red and the top is speckled! They went perfectly with our coffee. Lupe had bought me this lovely coffee cup and I noticed while we sat outside having coffee how the words were reflected in the coffee. Pretty cool huh?
The last day we ate at the Girls Restaurant and I splurged and had French Toast. Lupe had a Breakfast Burrito and Lisa had Chorizo and Egg and we all shared with each other so we got a little bit of everything. Is not your mouth watering again with this picture?
But we didn't just eat. We played games. We played Ping Pong in the Rec Room and had so much fun!
We had lunch at one of our favorite places when we go to Pismo. Zorro's Bar and Cantina. It's such a quaint little place and such nice people and the best part is it's pet friendly. If you go with your dog you can sit out on the patio with them. I had a Mimosa which is what I'm holding in the picture below. I also had half a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich and a bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup, it was delicious!
Here's Lupe and Lisa. Lupe had a BBQ Chicken Sandwich with Onion Rings that were to die for and Lisa had a Burger that she devoured as we were all starving. We had only had coffee and a sweet roll before we headed to the Avila Valley Barn at Avila Beach.
At Avila Valley Barn we saw animals...
Children riding ponies...
And we bought several goodies at the Fruit Barn, including some Maple Bacon Salt Water Taffy...
On the last day we finally stopped alongside the beach and just let the sound of the waves sooth our soul.
We really packed a lot into that last day. Not only did we walk all over downtown San Luis Obispo, but we made a quick stop first at The Madonna Inn. Lupe had never been there and she loved it!
I have to say that I like Camping and I had a great time and I'm ready to go again. So Lisa...when's the next camping trip scheduled?
You definitely make it appealing, although I too like the services in a hotel, this type of camping looks fun. Years ago we looked into renting a camper to go from San Francisco to Seattle and back when the kids were young. But I got freaked out by the idea of needing to empty the bilges. We ended up stating at motels instead!
ReplyDeleteI understand Heidi. We actually only used the inside bathroom for #1, when we had to go #2 we went to the bathrooms provided by the campsite which were heated and clean and so nice. They were just a few feet away. They also had super clean showers and dressing areas. It was a very nice place.
DeleteGreat trip, great food, and wonderful friends. It looks like you had a blast. I love the video of Pismo Beach. It looks cold there though.
ReplyDeleteSo you told us about the fun part, now clue us into the less than fun part, how did you get the trailer from where ever Lisa stores it to the RV Park? I have to confess, I am a hotel kind of guy because I am a car kind of guy. I couldn't imagine trying to navigate an RV around and calling it fun.
It was cold! The first night I was freezing. I slept in the bedroom and I had 6 blankets and still never could get warm. The second night we turned the heater on and I put on sweats and it was much nicer. It was too cold even to just sit outside and get some sun, we did for about 15 minutes then all ran into the trailer again. We'll have to go again when it gets warmer.
DeleteOk, so here is the best part of the whole experience Sextant. Lisa and her husband store the trailer there at Pismo, so when they want to use it, they call ahead and the RV park retrieves the trailer from the storage and they park it and hook up the electricity and water and sewage system and then when we leave we just check out and they put it all away! How awesome is that? The only thing they don't do is come and make our beds the next day!
Pretty cool, but that has to be pricey. Surely hotels can't be that much more?
DeleteOne of the major differences between myself and my sister is that I have a lot of interests and loves and she has very few. I love shopping whether it be window shopping or actually buying stuff shopping. I love browsing and wandering through the mall. I love antiques and 2nd hand stores and thrift shops. I love book stores and hotels. I love eating out whether it be a fancy restaurant or some out of the way mom and pop place.
DeleteLisa on the other hand hates shopping, detests it, will only go if we force her or she actually has a need for something. She's not a browser and lover of handling pretty things. If she needs something she goes to a store and finds and looks at only what she needs and buys 10 of them so she doesn't have to go back any time soon! But she does love camping. It's her one guilty pleasure, so I think she feels that even though it breaks even with the cost of a hotel she would rather stay in her little trailer.
Go figure!
Well we all have our likes and dislikes. I am with Lisa on shopping. Hate it. Actually I wouldn't mind the trailer except toting it around.
DeleteI'm very impressed by the quality of the pictures; they're indeed "worth a thousand words".
ReplyDeleteEverything looks great: the food, The RV, The Madonna Inn, and of course, the three lovely ladies.
Thanks to your sister Lisa, you've experienced camping in winter , and... enjoyed it.
So true DUTA. We had gone camping with our parents in our younger days when we didn't mind cramped quarters and the cold. It was much more fun then. But I honestly did enjoy myself and see why Lisa likes it. I still would rather stay in a hotel though!
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