The Family Camping Blog

Big Sur is located 150 miles south of San Francisco (twice that, from Los Angeles), along the beautiful and winding Highway 1. No matter which way you come from, north or south, you are guaranteed one of the all-time great scenic coastal drives in America, passing through towns such as San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay and Cambria from the south, and Half Moon Bay, Monterey Bay and Carmel from the north.

We camped at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, located just a couple miles south of Big Sur (Big Sur being a couple of hotels and a few gas pumps - firewood is available). The park is gorgeous, with most of the sites shaded by large trees. There are numerous trails for hiking and biking, and the Big Sur River runs through the eastern half of the park. You have to be careful on the roads, though, as Pfeiffer Big Sur SP is one of the most transient parks we have ever camped in. We were dodging cars along the roads through the park at all hours of the day, and there wasn't any letup in the traffic until well after dark.

Just a few miles north is Andrew Molera State Park, which includes a beautiful beach that is an easy mile-and-a-half hike from the parking area. 

The hike is admitedly more difficult when leaving the beach.

Posted to Backcountry Trips at 09:10 AM |Permalink | Comments (0)
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It has been a year since we purchased our Outback 26RS (26-foot, Rear Slide) trailer, and began our camping journey. We did not really know anything about RV's when we first started looking at them several years ago, but when we first set foot in an Outback we knew that it was different from all the others. Now that we have used it for a year, and many other manufacturers are starting to copy the Outback design, I thought I would highlight a few of the features we use so much, we almost take them for granted.

A 30-Foot Trailer in a 26-Foot Package
 

We do the majority of our camping in state and county parks and it seems that they all like to mark the end of the parking spur with a large boulder or log. This is no problem for the Outback's rear slide, which fits over just about anything. We have camped in some places where our Outback was the largest trailer in the campground, and some places where it was the only trailer in the campground!

Kitchen Counterspace

It may not look like much, but believe it or not this is a lot more counterspace than any other similar-type trailer we have seen. I don't know what we would do without it!

A Kitchen Inside, A Kitchen Outside
 

At first it seemed like a bit of a gimmick, but the outdoor stove and sink quickly became one of our favorite Outback features. We save a lot of gray-water capacity by washing dishes and hands outside. And besides, who wants to cook indoors when you are camping?

Posted to Camping Tips at 02:41 PM |Permalink | Comments (0)
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