The Pismo North Beach campground is our favorite place to stay in the area. A map of the area shows why.
Since we love to dry camp, we prefer the open spaces of the North Beach campground to the comparatively cramped quaters of the Pismo Coast Viallage. You also get a better path to the beach, butterfly grove, and both are an easy walk into town.
We got to Pismo early on Thursday, so we waited close by until 2pm.
After making camp (which takes about 5 minutes :-),
we drove to San Luis Obispo to enjoy their famous Farmers Market and a Santa Maria style tri-tip sandwich from Firestone Grill.
This line for McLintock’s BBQ ran the entire length of the block.
The Farmer’s Market even had a church! 🙂
We ended the day with a great sunset close to Shell Beach. Wow!
That evening, we also enjoyed the Apple Cobbler we picked up at the Farmer’s Market.
The next day we drove to the Avila Barn, which is a great place to enjoy lunch before heading to the beach.
Lucy was particularly interested in the chicken coup!
The town of Avila is like a fond memory of Southern California. It has everything, but on a miniature scale. It has the laid back beach town, a white sandy beach with a pier, a marina, a golf course, and a coastal canyon (where Avila Barn is located). And all of this is within walking distance. 🙂
On the way back, we followed a dead end road to the end and found a nice cove and a beautiful view.
The next morning we walked along the beach to Pismo.
The park rangers were rescuing a sea lion that was having problems.
And we passed people on horseback.
In Pismo we rewarded ourselves to “breakfast” at the Old West Cinnamon Rolls.
The rest of the day, we just enjoyed North Beach Campground and generally just chilled. In the evening we took in a play at the Great American Melodrama, which was a lot of fun.
All too soon, it was time to head home, but we took home with us these great memories and our batteries completely charged and ready to start the work week.
Al & Deb
p.s. For anyone wondering what happened to RV Trip #56, it was a quick trip back to Junction City that was mostly driving and very little else, so I decided to skip posting a blog entry for it.
MobileMosers.com 
Nice trip! Jesus + Coffee, love it!
They were great to talk to. They are starting a church in SLO in October and this was a fun way they thought of to get out the word.
Beautiful campground with butterflys coming in January. When I was there a woman was stringing wet laundry across her campsite and a man was changing the oil on his pickup truck. Wish rangers could enforce some standards. Prefer Point San Luis Rey.
We haven’t noticed that, but the park rangers do seem understaffed these days.
Just did Coast Guard safety inspection at Fort Bragg. Don’t camp there. “Breakin’ Bad” RVers everywhere. Crystal meth employees (tweekers) missing bottom half of their top teeth in motels and restaurants. Multi million dollar mansions being built on coast for cash by marijuana growers. Afraid “Lost Coast” going bad!
A lot of us are concerned about the toll on human life this is having. Praying for a miracle.
I also see a boom in families enjoying RVing for the first time. We were next to a family with several kids in their new trailer RV and they were having the time of their life. In the other side was an older couple who just purchased a used motorhome, also enjoying Pismo. We had a good conversation about how to setup their car and RV to tow. 🙂
Half million new RVs sold this year. No new campsites. Millennials buying trailers. Will be spending more time in military campgrounds. People trying to put together, keep together, or put back together families.