Laguna Seca Raceway
Annual road trips to the famous race track in Monterey, California for the Rolex Motorsports Reunion events.
  Phoenix, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park: Had the A/C compressor replaced and drove across I-10 in the heat of summer with cool air blasting! Arrived at the Cottonwood campground near dusk, after having to stop for road crews while they cleared away storm damage. Being summer, the campground was basically empty aside from a couple doing yoga on top of their motorhome.
Upon going to bed, storm clouds were brewing and, sure enough, at about 1am, wind, lightning, and a light rain hit.
  Joshua Tree to Morro Bay: Packed up and headed out early (for us). Stopped at Big Boy in Calimesa for, well, a Big Boy burger. Motored onward through L.A. to the PCH to arrive at Morro Bay just before dusk. It was a long drive and long day… I ended up with a migraine at dinner time, unfortunately. Next year, will break the drive up!
  Morro Bay to Monterey/Laguna Seca: Another long drive! Stopped at Safeway in Monterey to stock up on ice and a few food items, then it was on to the famous race track where we arrived in late afternoon. I had mentioned this trip to Dave and Vickie (Old Blue's second owners); they scored a camp spot across from us for the weekend, which was fun (got to see Old Blue's GMC replacement in person… nice rig!) Lots of VWs in attendance too!
to    Rolex Reunion (Marque: Maserati): Foggy mornings gave way to warm, sunny afternoons. Classic cars racing around Laguna Seca, plus free access to the paddock… can't get better than that, except maybe a personal drive around the track! And, hey, there even a few VW's in the paddock! Lots of photos of Porsches because, well, I love 911s!
  Laguna Seca to Julia Pfeiffer/Big Sur State Park: After the last race on Sunday, we joined the exiting traffic and began the long trip home. Stopped at Safeway for more ice (not a cube left after 3 days… I'm officially done with ice chests!) and headed to Big Sur along the coast highway for the night. Nice campground among pine trees… and huge!
  Big Sur to San Simeon: We decided to break the drive up and stopped in San Simeon, with the possibility of touring Hearst Castle (since I'd never been). Upon arriving at the castle visitor center, we decided to save it for another day (late in the day, too many people, rather expensive). So, went back to the campground and played on the beach.
  San Simeon to Joshua Tree National Park: We left San Simeon and drove in fog over the mountains through wine country to Paso Robles. After refueling, we pressed onward to smoggy Bakersfield where we stopped at Bob's Big Boy, for one last delectable burger (update: turns out that was our last Big Boy in Bakersfield; restaurant shut its doors). Leaving Bakersfield, we took the long, hot ride over the mountain via Highway 58 (van performed flawlessly), stopping in Mojave for a propane refill. From Barstow, we took 247 down to Yucca Valley and spent the night at Indian Cove campground, where coyotes sauntered through and a light rain fell before sun-up.
It was getting dark by the time we arrived at Joshua Tree, so we drove straight to a camp site. The next morning, we awoke to an official "Your Attention Please" National Park notice from Ranger Bryan requesting we pay our fee at the ranger station on our way out; ranger Bryan signed off with "Hope you had a good night!" At the ranger station, there were no camping fees listed on the fee board and there were no fee envelopes… typical government. So, we wrote a note to Bryan and attached the same fee paid at Cottonwood 10 days before and took a photo for proof of payment (you know, just in case). From Joshua Tree, we headed back home.
Total miles: 1,542
Avg. MPG: 16.72
  Phoenix, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park: Made the warm jaunt to Joshua Tree's north side via Parker in an effort to stay off I-10 for as long as possible. Nice, unpopulated campground this time of year, but the bugs are a royal nuisance.
  Joshua Tree National Park to Thornhill State Beach, CA: Loaded up in the morning so that we could arrive at Bob's Big Boy in Calimesa by about 11am. After a delicious brunch, it was time to pound the Los Angeles freeways. This time, we went over the Santa Monica Mountains to get to the Pacific Coast Highway, taking us up to Thornhill State Beach where we would camp for the night. While it's right on the beach, it's also right on the highway… bit of a Catch 22. Since we arrived earlier than we thought we would, despite hitting some traffic, I whipped out my new kite to give it a whirl while ships passed in the distance.
  Thornhill State Beach to Montaña de Oro State Park: While getting ready to leave Thornhill, a pod of dolphins went swimming by. Soon, it was time to head north to our next destination, Montaña de Oro, a park nestled quite a ways off the main highway, which meant no traffic noise! Montaña de Oro is a beautiful place… highly recommend it!
  Montaña de Oro State Park to Lime Kiln State Park: In the morning, we stopped in at the visitor center & museum (once a homestead) to see artifacts from a long bygone era. We humans are wimps today compared to our ancestors!
Just north of San Simeon, we stopped to watch elephant seals bask in the sun, swim for food, and fight over females, or perhaps territory, or superiority… or all of the above.
It was an absolutely picture-perfect day, so we did quite a bit of vista viewing en route to Lime Kiln.
Upon arriving at Lime Kiln, we were assigned our beach-section camp site; however, there was a day-use family illegally using our provided wood table for their cooked picnic lunch, taking their sweet time vacating the premises. After they finally left, we made our own sandwich lunch and hit the hiking trail, exploring the beautiful canyon, until we reached the waterfall and old lime kilns.
Returning from our hike, we ventured out to the beach for a bit of relaxation and people-watching.
  Lime Kiln State Park to Laguna Seca Raceway, CA: Another gorgeous, warm, sunny day along the coast!
Stopped at Safeway in Monterey to restock our provisions for the next few days then headed to the track, where Dave & Vickie (Old Blue's second owners) were already waiting(!) with Old Blue's replacement, a GMC (nice rig!). They treated us to home-made burgers for lunch this year, which were dee-lish!
to   Rolex Reunion Races: Lots of Volkswagens in attendance this year, along with plenty of awesome old race cars (sorry, only a sampling shown here with a mostly German persuasion). The Ford Mustang was the marque this year; not a fan, so not many photos of them.
Now, as you notice above, Mom and I were fortunate enough to run into none other than Mr. Car Guy himself, Jay Leno! You would think that seeing Mr. Leno and all of these fantastic, drool-inducing cars would be enough of a highlight for the weekend, but, in fact, Saturday would be an unforgettable day. You see, Mom and I had noticed people lining up along the fence at around noon near the track access gate on Friday. When we finally made our way down there, we inquired with the security officer what the deal was and got the inside scoop. Thus, come Saturday, armed with umbrellas to shade us from the blistering afternoon sun, we arrived at the fence an hour before lift-off, but not before a handful of others had done the same. Long story short, Mom and I were the last two in line chosen to do a free ride-along around the track! She got to go in a racy new Mustang, while I hopped into a Mazda Pace Car for a spirited ride. Mom got a second lap in because the guy had to do a cool-down lap(!); the Pace Car had to do a cool-down lap as well, but I was forced to bail because right after that lap, the Pace Car had to line up on pit road for the upcoming race. Regardless, holy cow was that awesome!
  Laguna Seca to Kirk Creek, CA: While the final race day of the weekend was underway, I began breaking down camp and packing up… after a nice shower, however! After the final race, we hit Highway 1 and made it to Kirk Creek at dusk, where we saw a few humpback whales and a scurry of squirrels running around.
  Kirk Creek to San Simeon, CA: After breakfast, we drove through fog down to a sunny San Simeon, where we chose and paid for site #133, a spot closest to the beach and set in the trees. Since we only have lightweight, expensive camp chairs and an old cot, which were packed away on the Hitch Haul, we opted not to leave anything as an "occupied" marker. We then drove back up the road a bit to Hearst Castle, a historical marvel I'd never been to, despite growing up in California. I usually park Old Blue out in the sticks when it comes to parking lots; however, this day I had to make an exception thanks to what was spotted upon arrival…
…Old Blue's twin, a 1990 Orly Blue Westy!
Even long after death, Mr. Hearst is still raking in the fortunes… the cost to tour his castle is astronomical, yet tourists by the bus-loads make the trek up the hill all day, every day. Because of this, we opted to do just one tour (of three) of the "house", then walked the grounds. Beautiful estate for sure, with fabulous views.
Upon arriving back at the van, there was a note left on the windshield. The owners of the other Westy saw the campground pass and let us know what site they were staying at, as they were staying there too, coincidentally. Naturally, we stopped by to say "Hi!" and to van-chat for a bit.
When we finally drove back to site 133 to get dinner going, imagine our surprise to find someone else there! Since San Simeon, like many others, do not employ site tags, and since the jerkoff didn't look at the map back at the kiosk of which sites were already taken, we got screwed. So, instead of eating among neat coastal pines, we parked in the barren lawn district directly across from that site, cursing under our breaths. (Update: I made a "site taken" sign to snap onto my gray water bucket for places like this, so it never happens again.)
  San Simeon to Lake Casitas, CA: In the morning, I high-tailed it down to the tide pools in search of a starfish. Alas, it eluded me, but other unique sea creatures were on display.
For a different route this year, we stayed inland going through Solvang (hadn't been there since I was a kid), stopping in at Lake Cachuma for a look-see (pictured below; almost dried up!), and ultimately camping out at Lake Casitas on Highway 150, which itself is half dry (no pics of this lake). Lake Casitas has a massive campground, which takes nearly two miles to reach after entering the recreation area. Naturally, we picked a pretty swell corner spot, drove all the way back out to the entrance to select and pay for it, but that site wasn't in the computer system. Come to find out, it was a camp host site. Despite there being practically no one in this section, we were not allowed to camp in that spot, so we parked in the site next to it.
  Lake Casitas to Joshua Tree Nat'l Park, CA: After breakfast and showers, we were on the road again, but not before spying two older Buses camped out in another section, off in the distance.
We took the scenic route via Ojai, which looked like a tinderbox waiting to burn. Taking the 126, we then went south on the 23 at Fillmore to get to the 118. When we neared the 405 interchange, the freeway system became a parking lot. Impeccable timing! It took nearly 4 hours to drive from Sepulveda to Calimesa, enjoying the view of smog-enveloped mountains. This is just one reason I'm so glad my van is an automatic; otherwise, I'd be looking at a left knee replacement after this trip! The one highlight was a young guy practically hanging out of his buddy's passenger window giving us an "awesome van!" gesture until they disappeared into the sea of vehicles ahead.
Thanks to overpopulation of the L.A. megalopolis, our Big Boy lunch turned into a Big Boy dinner, and we made it to Joshua Tree at dark, venturing back to blistering hot Arizona the next day.
Total miles: 1,613
Avg. MPG: 17.28
  Phoenix, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park, CA: Made the hot trek to Joshua Tree, this year opting for the southern campground to avoid the bug infestation on the north side. (Sorry, failed to take photos this year.)
  Joshua Tree National Park to Thornhill State Beach: Left Joshua Tree in time to make it to Bob's Big Boy in Calimesa for brunch. Every trip to southern California requires a stop for a Big Boy, since none exist in Arizona any more.
This year, we opted for the longer route, mileage-wise, but the more saner route traffic-wise, no burning up the brakes going over the mountains. We drove to the coast highway via I-10, 210, 118, 23, 101, and Las Posas Road.
Once at Thornhill, we were assigned the site next to a tent village: annual two-week family reunion!
  Thornhill State Beach to Morro Strand State Beach: After paraphernalia dried out, we packed up and headed north to a new place, Morro Strand, where Dad and I collected dried up sand dollars and looked for that ever-elusive starfish in the tide pools (still not found). A fellow Westy pulled in just a few sites down; owner came over to chat for a bit.
  Morro Strand to Lime Kiln State Park: Head 'em up, move 'em out! This year, sites could be chosen by visitors when making their reservations; lucked out getting the primo spot at Lime Kiln: #4! A fellow Westy was up the road, camped along the creek (no one around, so couldn't say, "Hi!") (Scroll up to 2015 for Lime Kiln canyon photos.)
  Lime Kiln to Laguna Seca Raceway: This year was quite the opposite of last year's trip. It was foggy a good portion of the drive, compounded by smoke and ash from the Big Sur inferno that was still burning, albeit back in the wilderness area by this time. As a result of fire-related closures, traffic through Carmel was somewhat light this time around. We stopped at Safeway for weekend provisions, then headed to the track, where my uncle would be joining us for the first time… and camping out for the first time!
to   Rolex Reunion Races: This year's marque: BMW (unlike last year, not a chance in Hades of getting a track ride). Despite BMW being the honored manufacturer, there were lots of Porsches around, a few of which I wanted to haul home… Oh, the racing was good too.
  Laguna Seca Raceway to Kirk Creek: Smoke and ash led to a unique skyline down the coast this year. We arrived at Kirk Creek just before dusk, this time getting a cliff-side site (#21). Squirrels were still abundant, but no whales to watch.
  Kirk Creek to Montaña de Oro State Park: Arrived at Montaña de Oro early in the afternoon. After a sandwich lunch, Dad and I walked down to the tide pools in search of, you guessed it, a starfish. It took some looking, but I finally found one! Also saw some beautiful sea urchins.
  Montaña de Oro to Carpinteria State Beach: Since we had to drive through Los Osos when leaving Montaña de Oro, it was only fitting to make an obligatory stop at GoWesty, where Old Blue has actually visited before with Dave & Vickie (second owners), way back when GoWesty worked on customer vans. The store/shop was closed, so it was only a brief visit before we set off for Carpinteria.
Carpinteria State Beach is nice, but the campground is ginormous and was, of course, filled to capacity. The site I had reserved looked fantastic on paper and in a photo, but upon arrival, not so much, mainly because we were surrounded by groups. And no ocean view. And Amtrack trains ran every 20 minutes. And the parking pad was covered in sand. And it costs a small fortune (which makes no sense; the largest, busiest campground has the highest cost and it's even higher for 2017… CA price gouging to help pay down the state's debt, or help pay for the idiotic train?). If – big if – I were stay at this place again, it would be in the RV section way down at the end, ocean side… wide spot, quiet, ocean view.
  Carpinteria State Beach to Joshua Tree National Park: We got a relatively early start for a change, didn't bother with a full breakfast, so that we make could decent ground, having to make a stop in Monrovia on the way to check on rental property. After a last Big Boy in Calimesa, we made the shortish trek to Joshua Tree, where a Eurovan Camper was also staying. We all took turns washing our hair and faces with the spigots (for shame, but we were desperate… and it felt so good and refreshing in the heat!).
  Joshua Tree to home:
For the second year in a row, pulled in front of the house, shut the engine off, smelled coolant, and jumped out to the sidewalk to see a trail and pool on the pavement. Once back in the garage, we did some investigating.
Culprit: The plastic straight fittings I installed after the rear heater removal went bust thanks to craptacular factory quality control (they've been replaced with metal versions). Oh, and shutting the sliding door once the van was back in the garage resulted in a metal
Total miles: 1,591
Avg. MPG: 17.23
  Phoenix, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park, CA: (Loose alternator belt, but checking other items while bees buzzed about.)
  Joshua Tree National Park to Thornhill State Beach:
  Thornhill State Beach to Pismo State Beach:
  Pismo Beach to Laguna Seca Raceway:
to   Rolex Reunion Races:
  Laguna Seca Raceway to Morro Strand:
  Morro Strand to El Capitan State Beach: (Made the "mistake" of stopping in at GoWesty to test-sit a Recaro seat. Bye-bye uncomfortable stock seats!)
  El Capitan to Joshua Tree:
Total miles: 1,613
Average MPG: 17.2
 Phoenix, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park: Left bright and early in the morning to avoid the summer desert heat. Even leaving early, reached Parker at around noon. The drive from Parker to Joshua Tree was tortuous… Despite all the insulating and installing a heater shut-off valve under the van, for some reason the front "crossbar" gets hot and produces radiant heat in the footwell area when the ambient temperature gets above about 85°F.
 Joshua Tree N.P. to Refugio State Beach: Left Joshua Tree early in order to make it through the Los Angeles area before peak traffic hit… which didn't happen. No matter the time of day, driving through L.A. is .
Made it to Refugio State Beach, one of the two state beaches we had yet been to (the other being Jalama), after having lunch at In-N-Out in Santa Barbara. A fellow Westy was spotted down the row from us. Since we were there on the early side, we went for a bike ride up to the top of the road leading to park employee residence area, as well as down the path that goes all the way to El Capitan State Beach.
 Refugio State Beach to Morro Strand State Beach: Departed Refugio mid-morning and drove Highway 1 up to Morro Strand. While eating lunch, we were entertained by seaguls dining on the neighbor's food. When they began opening containers, Dad went over to shoo them away. After lunch, we rode our bikes down to Morro Bay where there was lots of activity.
After the bike ride, we ventured out to the beach to enjoy the sand and surf.
to  Morro Strand to San Simeon: Left Morro Bay and drove up to San Simeon State Park, where we checked into a reserved site down along the creek and went for a bike ride. Because Highway 1 was washed out due to the extreme precipitation the coast received earlier in the year, the plan for camping north of San Simeon was out. To make up for that, while still at home, I reserved another spot at San Simeon for a layover, cancelling our site at Plaskett Creek (of which the government & recreation.gov kept more than 50% of what was initially paid… while said government is pushing for private enterprise to get rid of junk fees ). The only sites available were up at the primitive Washburn section.
 San Simeon to Laguna Seca:
to  Rolex Reunion Races:
That red single-cab wasn't just a paddock queen; it hauled a lot of the team's equipment (tires, tools, etc.) to and from the track.
 Laguna Seca to Pinnacles N.P.: This year a major storm blew in from the Pineapple Express (now referred to as "atmospheric river"), leading to a number of campers to leave the event early, but not us. Monterey was on the outskirts of the storm so we only received a bit of rain, enough to get everything wet.
Not being able to go down the coast meant taking the inland route home. But which way to go? Seeing Pinnacles National Park on the map and passing a sign for it on the highway going north, we decided to go check it out, having never been there. Due to the storm, it was unseasonably cooler than normal. Upon arrival, it wasn't busy and was relatively quiet. After setting up camp, we went for a bike ride around the campground and to the nearby 1860s Bacon Ranch.
Our peaceful camp spot was ruined by the time we returned from our ride. A large motorhome with a family of four had pulled into the spot next to us (despite there being a designated RV section back out by the entrance) and proceeded to make a racket late into the night. Respect for fellow campers appears to be a relic of a moral past.
 The Pinnacles N.P. to Lake Success: Leaving Pinnacles, we headed south on highway 25, going east on Coalinga Road, which was a beautiful drive! (Sorry; twisty road, so not safe for photo-taking.) After fueling up in Coalinga, we continued west, stopping at In-N-Out in Hanford for lunch. But where to camp for the night? Looking at the map, we spied a lake not too terribly far away, near Porterville. Arriving at the Tule Campground, we found it nearly empty. After setting up camp, we took a bike ride.
 Lake Success to Lake Ming, CA: After a leisurely morning, we were off to Lake Ming where we, once again, lucked out on a river-front spot.
 Lake Ming, CA to Red Rock Canyon S.P., CA: We left Lake Ming and went the scenic route, following the Kern River up to Lake Isabella. River flow had diminished since we were there in May. We pulled into Paradise Cove Campground to use the restroom and contemplate whether to stay there for the night. After a lengthy pondering, we decided to drive on in order to make up some miles and stop in at Red Rock Canyon (a place I'd never been to) to see if camping was available. It, too, was vacated… not a soul there. Upon reaching the end of the campground, we got the perfect spot: flat, no leveling required! This is quite a picturesque location.
Amazingly, as the evening and night wore on, vehicle after vehicle came in, including two nice-looking motorhomes. Fortunately, no one camped near us, so it was a quiet night.
 Red Rock Canyon S.P. to Buckskin Mountain S.P., AZ: In packing up in the morning, I walked over to dad's van for something and noticed something on the large side behind the left rear tire. Bending over to see what it was… scorpion with a scorpion on its back! I went back to Old Blue, returning to packing up. One last item: Ground carpet. Picked the carpet up to find the aforementioned scorpion clinging to the underside! In the process of lifting the carpet, I yelled & the arachnid fell to the ground, eventually walking off into the dirt, the dead scorpion still on its back. This is the second close call this year!
Hours later, we reached the 62 (29 Palms Highway)/177 (Rice Road) junction where there is a 3-way stop. New pavement had recently been laid and a large, lane-wide "STOP" had been painted in the south-bound lane. After stopping, I made the left turn and saw two vehicles coming in the opposite direction, the leading car not slowing down and the female driver appearing to be in a daze. Looking in the mirror, Dad and Old Gray narrowly missed being T-boned by this chick who a) gave Dad a "WTF are you doing?!" look, b) did not stop! That, plus the heat, plus having to drive through a lengthy dirt cloud thanks to a road crew, I was spent by the time we reached Parker. Regardless of the heat, I was staying the night somewhere along the river. Dad decided too as well. We eventually pulled into Buckskin Mountain State Park, where sites were, thankfully, available. The river felt so refreshing!
 Buckskin Mountain S.P. to home: Packed up early in the morning, stopped to say "Hi!" to the park's resident tortoise, then headed home.
Total miles: 1,788
Average MPG: 17.5
Updated: 1-Jan-2024