Los ángeles and Santa Barbara

[stew47]

Assuming life gets back to normal... we have trip from Ohio to California planned for this summer. We will leave Ohio July 5 and return July 27. We are going to spend couple days at Grand Canyon, drop down near Phoenix for a day then I10 to LA area. I've spent some time on RVParky and...I think I'm gonna need some local advice. What are some decent campgrounds in LA county and Santa Barbara county. would like full hookup and motorhome is 37ft. We aren't even sure yet of what we are going to visit. Mostly depends on where we get set up. 4 days in La and 3 or 4 days in Santa Barbara. I grew up in Goleta so like to visit there as well. any advice for places to visit are appreciated. interests are beach, little bit of historical, anything teenage boys would like....

[dedmiston]

stew47 wrote:
Lol that’s good stuff! That’s the nice thing about traveling. Get to experience so much. I do like Ohio. From May until Christmas at least. I do enjoy experiencing other states though!

Well, the folks in Ohio sure were nice to us. So were the people from a lot of your nearby states and even up in Ontario. Not just nice, but truly lovely.

It was funny how many people told us they were surprised we were from California and expected us to be different.

I'd better go now. It's time for my next Botox injections and the organic farmer's market is closing soon. :B

[stew47]

dedmiston wrote:

stew47 wrote:
I remember Disney land, knotts berry farm and the beach.

Funny. My wife and I took an 11,000 mile trip last fall and the only location that was absolutely set in stone for us to visit was Cedar Point up in Sandusky. The grass is always greener.

For what it's worth, we go to Disneyland at least four times a year and Magic Mountain & Universal are pretty close by. Cedar Point was absolutely the best amusement park we've ever been to. It may not have the Disney Magic, but those rides lived up to their record setting reputations.

Lol that’s good stuff! That’s the nice thing about traveling. Get to experience so much. I do like Ohio. From May until Christmas at least. I do enjoy experiencing other states though!

[dedmiston]

stew47 wrote:
I remember Disney land, knotts berry farm and the beach.

Funny. My wife and I took an 11,000 mile trip last fall and the only location that was absolutely set in stone for us to visit was Cedar Point up in Sandusky. The grass is always greener.

For what it's worth, we go to Disneyland at least four times a year and Magic Mountain & Universal are pretty close by. Cedar Point was absolutely the best amusement park we've ever been to. It may not have the Disney Magic, but those rides lived up to their record setting reputations.

[stew47]

Yea ive been gone a long time! I was 10 in 1985 when we left. My parents were from Cleveland area and they decided to move back. Lived an hour and half south of Cleveland ever since. I lived in Goleta. I thought it was a small town until I looked up stats and its nearly 50000 I believe. I remember Disney land, knotts berry farm and the beach. We traveled to glacier park last year and thought that would be our big trip. realized this year when we were planning that this may be last big trip with kids. Our older boy is 16 and im sure will be driving and working some, school activities, church activities, and everything else mean next summer we won't see him much so this summer...needed something big. The trip started as a Grand Canyon trip and thought if driving that far...california is only little farther.
reviews on west coast campgrounds seem horrible. Tight and near highways. High costs. unhappy campers. I do appreciate the advice though. Hollywood rv has openings and probably will book soon. Just need to firm up the schedule a little.

[bikendan]

dedmiston wrote:

bikendan wrote:
So there really is no off-season anymore.

That's pretty much all we have going for us anymore. We're a former hot chick who doesn't realize she got old. We're a crummy restaurant on an amazing street corner. We've taken a wonderful state and beat it up pretty badly. It's still amazing here though, so we'll stick around a little while longer.

Yep, as a native Californian, it's broken my heart to see what my home state has become. Couldn't take it anymore so moved out of the state when i retired.
Still love visiting California but will never move back.:M

[dedmiston]

bikendan wrote:
So there really is no off-season anymore.

That's pretty much all we have going for us anymore. We're a former hot chick who doesn't realize she got old. We're a crummy restaurant on an amazing street corner. We've taken a wonderful state and beat it up pretty badly. It's still amazing here though, so we'll stick around a little while longer.

[bikendan]

dedmiston wrote:

stew47 wrote:
I was 10 when I left

Unless you're only 11 now, things have changed a lot. :B

YEP! Having lived in California for 60 years before retiring to Washington State, camping in California has changed more than probably any other state in the country.
Unless you go inland, any summertime campsites at state parks, are booked up months in advance. State beach campsites are gone in just 2 or 3 hours.
You might be able to find one night here or there.
We've been traveling to SoCal in February and it's very difficult to find campsites at the popular state beaches, even months in advance. So there really is no off-season anymore.

[dedmiston]

stew47 wrote:
I was 10 when I left

Unless you're only 11 now, things have changed a lot. :B

Sorry I threw around so many names of places assuming that you were quasi-local. Let me know if you need clarification on anything. And feel free to PM me with questions too.

Good luck.

[stew47]

Second Chance wrote:

bikendan wrote:

stew47 wrote:
Assuming life gets back to normal...

having lived in both areas for decades, i seriously doubt you'll find anything available on the coast, ESPECIALLY if everyone that has reservations will be able to use them, after being locked down for weeks.
Summer campsites along the coast, were booked months ago. Public campgrounds that have hookups, are already booked for the summer.
Surprised that having lived in California, you weren't aware of this.
Your only chance is to stay at RV parks. They might have some vacancies. Also, if you go inland, you'll also have a better chance.

That's a dangerous assumption that soon...

I think its important for everyones sanity to make plans for when this is over.... if it isn't then we will plan for later.

[stew47]

dedmiston wrote:
I would check with Flying Flags in Buelton to try to get near SB. It's a fantastic park with good climate and things to see and do in Solvang, Cachuma, and Santa Ynez.

To get close to LA, I would call Valencia Travel Village. It's a good location with LA 45 minutes away if you avoid commute times and Ventura beaches less than an hour away.

Ventura also has a nice RV park that's equidistant between LA and SB, but they're crazy expensive and probably booked. Ojai also has some good spots. I think their KOA reopened after the fire.

I've never stayed at the RV park right off the 101 in downtown SB, but I assume they're already booked. Same with the one in Goleta.

thanks so much. ill start looking at these places

[stew47]

bikendan wrote:

stew47 wrote:
Assuming life gets back to normal... we have trip from Ohio to California planned for this summer. We will leave Ohio July 5 and return July 27. We are going to spend couple days at Grand Canyon, drop down near Phoenix for a day then I10 to LA area. I've spent some time on RVParky and...I think I'm gonna need some local advice. What are some decent campgrounds in LA county and Santa Barbara county. would like full hookup and motorhome is 37ft. We aren't even sure yet of what we are going to visit. Mostly depends on where we get set up. 4 days in La and 3 or 4 days in Santa Barbara. I grew up in Goleta so like to visit there as well. any advice for places to visit are appreciated. interests are beach, little bit of historical, anything teenage boys would like....

having lived in both areas for decades, i seriously doubt you'll find anything available on the coast, ESPECIALLY if everyone that has reservations will be able to use them, after being locked down for weeks.
Summer campsites along the coast, were booked months ago. Public campgrounds that have hookups, are already booked for the summer.


Surprised that having lived in California, you weren't aware of this.
Your only chance is to stay at RV parks. They might have some vacancies. Also, if you go inland, you'll also have a better chance.

I was 10 when I left

[Second_Chance]

bikendan wrote:

stew47 wrote:
Assuming life gets back to normal...

having lived in both areas for decades, i seriously doubt you'll find anything available on the coast, ESPECIALLY if everyone that has reservations will be able to use them, after being locked down for weeks.
Summer campsites along the coast, were booked months ago. Public campgrounds that have hookups, are already booked for the summer.
Surprised that having lived in California, you weren't aware of this.
Your only chance is to stay at RV parks. They might have some vacancies. Also, if you go inland, you'll also have a better chance.

That's a dangerous assumption that soon...

[dedmiston]

I would check with Flying Flags in Buelton to try to get near SB. It's a fantastic park with good climate and things to see and do in Solvang, Cachuma, and Santa Ynez.

To get close to LA, I would call Valencia Travel Village. It's a good location with LA 45 minutes away if you avoid commute times and Ventura beaches less than an hour away.

Ventura also has a nice RV park that's equidistant between LA and SB, but they're crazy expensive and probably booked. Ojai also has some good spots. I think their KOA reopened after the fire.

I've never stayed at the RV park right off the 101 in downtown SB, but I assume they're already booked. Same with the one in Goleta.

[jdc1]

Like bikendan said, every coastal site was booked a year ago. 95% of "campgrounds" don't have full hook-ups, maybe water and, if you're lucky, electrical. Private RV parks (slabs of concrete) are your best bet.