Venice Beach/ Jalama Beach, California

Back on the road

Thursday 3/21/13: Boy what a long day on the road it's been, it seems like we've forgotten how tiring life on the road can be!  As of the writing of this post it's 9PM and we're 'caving it' inside the van listening to the wind whip around us outside, having just recently completed an exhausting drive to a remote campground at Jalama Beach (rated highly among the top 10 places to camp around the Las Angeles County area).  Our day began at 6AM back in Valley Center, as we prepared to leave Joel and Prima and the Casa Bella Farm.  Not even an hour after we had woken up we were confronted with what we thought was going to be a vehicular disaster.  A 'trip ruiner' if you will.  The day before we were going through our van with Joel, who used to own one himself (an '85 Westy just like ours in fact!) and we decided to check the oil, tire pressure, and transmission fluid.  Well good thing we did because the transmission fluid turned out to be low, real low.  We knew we had a slight leak but hadn't checked it since getting it replaced in Sarasota.  Now this wasn't the disaster.  We ended up getting it back up to the proper level (it actually turned out to be not that low after all) but figured we'd check it once more the next day before we departed.  So this morning after getting our last load of laundry going we take the van for a quick drive around the block and check the fluid.  All's good.  But then we noticed a puddle of gas accumulating under the motor- oh no! a long fix/disaster... we thought!  There's a saying that 'when one door closes another opens,' and it seems the same can be said about Volkswagen van maintenance-  when one issue is resolved another one presents itself.  Just when we thought we had everything running smoothly!  As we started to panic, contemplate worst case scenarios, and get upset, Joel talked us into attempting to fix the problem ourselves.  The leak (which stopped not long after the motor was turned off) appeared to be coming from the same spot as when we had broken down in the desert- a hard to reach fuel line which had been replaced by the old man at the Shell station not much more than 3 weeks ago.  With Joel's guiding expertise and expansive set of tools (he always has the right tool for everything!) we were able to fix the line (it pretty much just wasn't pushed in far enough- thanks a lot Shell station guy).  Joel even gave us a few extra tools and some zip ties to take on the road with us, what a guy!  Apparently he's the Mr. Miyagi of pretty much everything not just irrigation systems...  Without being caused much of a delay by the vehicular disaster-averted we said our goodbyes (sadly) and hit the road.  It's always hard to say goodbye and this time was no exception.  We had really become fond of Joel and Prima, we enjoyed their cooking and their company and were grateful to have learned so much from them in such a short time.  Hopefully someday we will return, we know we are always welcome and that warms our hearts!

Venice Beach

Now that we were back on track it was time to gas up and head north to LA!  A side note about gas: We learned from Joel that we should be using mid-grade or premium gas in the van (we confirmed this online and with Gordon, the van's previous owner) and although this came as quite the surprise to us (at least we had made it this far we thought) we are now committed to filling the van up with mid-grade fuel (as if California gas wasn't expensive enough!)  Anything to keep our Zinger happy and healthy!  We had debated visiting the LA area altogether and had almost decided against it mainly due to the traffic jam horror stories we had heard about but luckily we were talked back into it by a California native named Nancy, one of Prima's friends.  Based on their recommendations, our plan was to head up the coast to Venice Beach and then cruise down Sunset Blvd.  Kim had looked up and found the campground at Jamala Beach which was near Santa Barbara, a few hours up the road from Venice.  LA being such a big place we were happy to have figured out a plan that didn't actually take us into the city with all the traffic and chaos.  Venice Beach turned out to be a very cool place indeed.  Since it was the middle of the day on a Thursday it wasn't totally packed but there were no shortage of interesting people

Muscle Beach...the gym right on the beach!

We ended up having to skip Sunset Blvd due to lack of time (blame that one on early morning van troubles but maybe someday we'll check it out).  The drive up the coast was very enjoyable however.  The Malibu coastline was straight out of a movie!  But as the sun started to set things got a little hectic.  Around the time we were driving past Ventura Beach we were dealing with extreme winds, the sun in our eyes, and a dirty windshield.  Anytime you've got a lot of driving to do there's always going to be that one portion where it just kind of sucks for a little while.  It usually comes at the end of the day when you're a little tired and/or hungry and you just want to be at your destination.  We eventually made it through that section of highway and entered the hills of Santa Barbara.  The sun went down enough where it wasn't a problem and we cleaned the windshield (no thanks to our wipers and fluid).  We got a burst of energy driving through the VERY rural farmland valleys that looked like they could have been from the Lord of the Ring movies (why'd they have to go all the way to New Zealand to make those movies!?)  The contrast between these views and the scenes of Venice Beach and Highway 1 was amazing.  We couldn't believe we were in the same state!  The winding roads up and down steep valley cliffs did get a little tiresome as it was starting to get dark but we made it to our beachfront campsite just in time.  We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what this place actually looks like, but it's definitely in the middle of nowhere which is pretty rare for the California Coast.  Hopefully the wind dies down because right now it's literally shaking the van and we think the van has been through enough for one day...  Welcome back to life on the road!

WINDY!!!

Friday 3/22/13: After a day at Jalama Beach in Lompoc CA, where we are in a 10 mile radius of NO phone or internet service...life has been relaxing! Just what we needed to rest the day before we hit the road again to our next destination where we will be for two months in Midpines CA near Yosemite (a place called Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort). We woke up and took a leisurely beach walk after breakfast. We made a stir fry lunch of zucchini, cabbage, mushrooms, garlic, onion and tofu! mmm.  While we rested up and watched kite surfers do their thing, we were grateful of the day of rest we aquired before we leave tomorrow! Can't wait for dinner too...we are marinading some Salmon with a maple habanero onion rub! Oh ya, and the SUNSET...WHAT WHAT?!?! Who said camping has to be rustic? haha. That's all for now, we'll try to update you once we get settled into our new spot.

Enjoying a nice glass of wine for sunset on the beach!

Pics of Valley Center and our 2nd trip to San Diego up on the FB...