| When: | July 26, 27, 28, 2002 |
| Where: | Pismo, infrequently referred to as Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA) |
| Leave: | There is NO Friday night meet-up and NO jump off. If you're going and feel at all that you can't
find Pismo or don't like to travel alone, contact the temporary Wagonmaster |
| Run Type: | Base camp. But bring the camper only if you can deal with deep sand or are willing to camp up
around marker 2, away from the group. Don't worry, if you get stuck (and Jaffo WILL!), we'll help.
But PLEASE, be prepared to air down and be towed forwards AND backwards (tow hooks and
straps!), even your camper, trailer, whatever. |
| Maps: | AAA San Luis Obispo County, look for the section that has Grover Beach |
| Route: | 405 north to the 101 north (ok, sorta west), go past Santa Barbara, past Santa Maria, look for
Arroyo Grande. Get off at the Grand off ramp and turn left. Stay on Grand until your feet get wet
and you hear waves (and you get to the guard station where "THE MAN" has his hand out). Turn
left on the beach and go down as far as you can. We should be camped around there - This should
be the northern edge of the Snowy-Plover-Greenie-BS-Fence, around marker number 7. If it's
crowded, we'll go in the dunes and a little more south, along the fence. |
| Jump Off: | NONE! Get gas in town before you hit the beach. The AM/PM on the right just after you get off the
freeway is good, but there's more closer to the beach. |
| Bring: | Firewood, sun screen, maybe even a swim suit and definitely a jacket and long pants. It will be cold
and wet at night. An extra 5 gallons of gas can save you the hassle of going into town. Definitely
bring a tire pump that can air up all 4 tires. |
| Rating: | How do you feel about sand? `Cause that's what there is there. |
| `Da Plan: | It's Pismo! So that means we're going to "DO" Pismo. This means playing in the sand dunes,
camping on the ONLY beach in California you can camp on with your vehicle, and generally
taking it easy and getting out of the summer heat for a while. We frequently have diner at the
mexican restaurant on the corner of Pier and Pacific (Old Juan's Cantina (805) 489-5680). |
| Also: | The wind blows at Pismo, that's how it works. Some weekends, the weather is great, other times -
people are unhappy. Go prepared. |
| Air down your tires. Every tire has a different air down point that works best. My Jeep works good
at 7-8 psi, but if I get my F350 stuck, I air down to 20 psi. Figure out your pressure by looking at
the tire bulge. It should be good and bulgy, but no wrinkles. | |
| Never been to Pismo? You should go. The CCC gave us a two year stay, but the Sierra club has us
squarely in it's sights. This will be the next major victory for them so it's only a matter of time
before you're saying "I wish I'd gone to Pismo just one time before it was closed by the Green-
Gooneys". | |
| Going? Great! We'll have some fun. But YOU NEED RESERVATIONS! Contact Reserve America
(800) 444-7275 http://www.reserveamerica.com. There's a bunch of campgrounds with the name
Pismo in them, ignore all that. You want OCEANO DUNES. Do this right away. The way it works
is you need one reservation for each vehicle driven through the gate (a "camping unit"). Which also
means that if you legally tow a vehicle through the gate, that reservation is good for both the tow
vehicle and the towed vehicle. But be sure the ranger gives you passes for BOTH! | |
| Contact: | Robert Wakefield (805) 582-9382, robertsjunk@pacbell.net. Call if you need anything! |