Pismo Beach – 7/7/18-7/10/18
After a few nights in Morro Bay the plan was to drive just north of Santa Barbara and stay 4 nights at Gaviota state park. We were really looking forward to camping so close to the beach and settling in for so many nights in a row. We hadn’t spent more than 3 nights in one place.
As we drove south we watched the car thermometer climb. It got up to 118! California was having record breaking temperatures that week. We figured at the coast it was sure to drop……. we pulled in to Gaviota and it was still 114 degrees. When we pulled up to check in with the park ranger she took one look at Sato and said “the beach does not allow dogs”. It never occurred to me that a dog friendly campground on a beach wouldn’t allow dogs on that beach. The closest dog beach was 17 miles south in Goleta.
I was told Gaviota could get windy……Not only was it 114 degrees but the winds were up to 42mph. Trying to set up camp in that heat and huge winds was not fun! Our spot didn’t have any shade, the wind blew the back hatch of the teardrop onto the top of the roof, ripping the screws right out of the wood, everything was blowing away, Sato was overheating, we were overheating. It was getting worse by the minute. We knew we needed to come up with a plan B! We headed straight to the Ritz Carlton Santa Barbara (formerly Bacara Resort) in Goleta to re-group. It’s a beautiful resort right on the Ocean that allows dogs. It’s one of my favorite places to stay when not camping.
Because it was the weekend after the Fourth Of July we knew everywhere would be booked but staying at Gaviota just wasn’t going to work. We tried a bunch of places and finally found four nights available at the Pismo Coast Village RV Resort. We were really disappointed that the beach camping we had planned wasn’t in the cards, however this place was a short walk to Downtown Pismo and the beach, which allowed dogs.
The next morning we quickly packed and drove back up north to Pismo Beach and settled in among the hundreds of huge RV’s. 
We always feel a bit out of place at the RV parks but the upside is the nice bathrooms and they usually have a well stocked market and it amuses us how many people come over to look at our trailer and ask the same two questions! 1. “Did you build that?”, which is followed by 2. “Do you sleep in there?” It’s a great conversation starter. We’ve met so many friendly people.
That night we broke out the “New Camp Cookbook” and made Dutch Oven Lasagna. 
It was delicious! We will definitely make it again. It’s fun to cook over the camp fire and easier than using the camp stove. The Dutch oven is surprisingly easy to clean. I made the sauce beforehand at home and froze it, which I highly recommend.
The central Coast has great wineries and after walking the beach and exploring town we headed inland to do some wine tasting. All three wineries we visited were dog friendly. Talley has a big, beautiful tasting room with a pretty view and a lovely outside patio, we tied Sato up on the big front porch while we tasted inside. Kynsi is smaller but also has a patio where we tasted outside, they pair the wines with local cheese that were delicious! The last winery we visited was Chamisal, they let Sato come inside so they get rated the best by us! They have a decent size tasting room but a few really large cool outdoor spaces as well.
We visited town a bunch and had good beer at Pismo Beach Brewing Company and fantastic subs at Hoagies. Our favorite was Woolys, it’s right on the water, dogs are welcome on the patio and they have a great grilled cheese with bacon and jalapeño! We ate there twice after shooting the pier at sunset.
Next time we camp on the central coast we will stay at North Beach Campground and get spot 25. We drove through the campground to check it out. It’s on the beach and also a short walk to town. More our speed than the RV Park. We also want to do the Avila Ridge hike.
Next up….. Sonoma Coast!