Anaheim, CA to Pismo Beach, CA

As much as we enjoy going to Southern California to visit friends and relatives, we enjoy so much more when it is time to leave!  Yesterday was moving day again.   We took our time getting ourselves and the motorhome ready so some of the early work traffic would be out of our way.  Still.....no matter what time of day you are on the LA freeways, they pretty much look like this.

We got out of Orange County and Los Angeles County without incident, which can almost be a miracle in itself.  Back in the old days when you got to the connector with Hwy. 101 you were home free....not so much anymore.  The areas of Woodland Hills and Thousand Oaks have built up so much, you still have bumper to bumper traffic at times.  After you pass through the Thousand Oaks area, you find yourself heading downhill on the Conejo Grade (say: cone-nay-ho).   Once you get down the steep hill you are in the Camarillo area.  This only used to be the home to many farms and the State Mental Hospital, but now has large residential areas as well.

Past the town of Oxnard, which is south of Santa Barbara and Ventura, you drive along the Pacific Ocean for a while.  This is a nice area where you can just enjoy the scenery.  Highway 101 passes through the beachside city of Santa Barbara, which is a great city to visit.  It is not a good idea to try and drive your RV's through the city streets to explore the town.  It's best to find an RV park or campground and then go back with your car to enjoy the area.  My Grandma and Grandpa lived in Santa Barbara for over 25 years, so I'm fairly familiar with it.

There are many State Beach Campgrounds in California, but 2 of the best are north of Santa Barbara.  They are El Capitan and Refugio.  I was able to take a picture of the turn off for Refugio State Beach as we whizzed by.  El Capitan has some back-in sites up to 42 ft. long and Refugio has sites only up to 30 ft. long.

Along Hwy. 101 you see these marker posts for "El Camino Real" lining the road. El Camino Real is Spanish for Royal Road or the King's Highway.  The 600-mile road was built back in the 1600's as a means of connecting the 21 California Missions from San Diego to San Francisco. 

Here is another coastal view north of the state beach areas. 

Before you get to the town of Santa Maria, you begin to see a lot of vineyards.  More and more of these have popped up in the past 20 years.

Finally, we arrive at our destination town....Pismo Beach.  We exit the highway at Price Street and within a short time we see our home for the next 41 days.  Pismo Coast Village welcomes us back with open arms, and we are glad to be here again.  Since we'll be here for 41 days, I'll be posting many things about the RV park and the area.

Until next time.....so long for now!