Tom & Tank's Excellent Adventure - Part Deux

On Wednesday January 30th, we head to Kirk Creek Campground on the south end of Big Sur. The campground is on the ocean side of Highway 1 high on a bluff directly overlooking the ocean. Kirk Creek has been a bucket list destination for us since it made Sunset's list of best campgrounds.

We were a bit concerned in the weeks leading up to the visit, because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Kirk Creek is a federal campground and we were worried whether it would be open, opportunistic "squatters" would try to take unsupervised spots, or that reservations would be honored.



A secondary concern was that there was a series of major storms due to hit the area. This area has been hard hit in previous years and was still recovering from previous storm damage; mud slides, bridge and road closures.
 Fortunately the shutdown ended and the storms relented... at least for a few days.

While there, we walked down the road a little ways to the Mill Creek picnic area, which is also a local surf spot. Tank and I spent some time beachcombing and taking some shots of the local surf scene.

Site of Huge Mud slide and road rebuild on Highway 1

There was a big weather front coming with heavy rains and high winds forecast. We were also told by the camp host that Highway 1 was going to be closed that evening because of potential mudslides, so we got on the road ahead of the storm.

Tom & Tank's Excellent Adventure

Due to unexpected circumstances, Wendy is committed to being in Stockton starting in late January, so Tom and Tank venture out for an adventure to keep the camping reservations that have already been made.

The first stop is Marina Dunes RV Park in Marina, CA (about 10 miles north of Monterey).

From there Tank and Tom head down the coast to Morro Strand State Beach Campground situated on the north end of Morro Bay.

Like many (probably most) beaches in California, the beach directly in front of the campground is not dog friendly. Fortunately the beach just north of the campground is a dog beach (pictured above), so Tank was happy with the chance to play. 

After bringing back a large portion of sand from the beach, Tank had to suffer the humiliation of a bath

Morro Strand campground is a great little campground with a number of sites along that back edge that have full hookups. Because it has a long narrow layout, even the back area has a direct view of the beach.

Beals Point Campground - Granite Bay CA

We start the new year staying close to "home" at Beals Point Campground in the Folsom Lake Recreation Area in Granite Bay. This allowed us to take care of any necessary appointments and give us some much needed time to visit with friends in the area.

Although I (Wendy) have lived in the Sacramento area for many years, I have never been to Folsom Lake. The literature on the campgrounds said the sites would accommodate rigs up to 31 ft. Our RV is a little longer than that, so I was a little apprehensive. I was expecting some tight spaces in a very rustic setting. Well, Beals Point turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The sites were open, long and paved and accommodated our equipment very well. 

The lake itself was low. We had Tank with us, so we were not permitted to go out on to the "beach area" from the parking lot. It would have been quite a hike to actually get to the water. Not sure how you would launch a boat out there.