Looking back, I realized we never finished our review of camping at South Carlsbad State Beach. So, without further ado, pretend it’s still August, it’s 95 degrees outside and the beach sounds like a lovely weekend get-away. Are you there? Good.
When we last left you, Westi had just saved us $500 by helping us avoid a ticket.
After our positive police run-in, we tried to check-in to our site. It turned out we were two hours too early and needed to find a place to kill some time. We were hungry, so a lunch at Le Papagayo in Luecadia was in order. Great food. Cool atmosphere. We will definitely go back again!
Once 2pm rolled around, we headed back to the campground – but not before we happened upon a Lemonade Stand!
These kids LOVED Bustache. It was so fun to drive away with them yelling, “Bye, Bustache!” after us. :-(D
We arrived at our site, and we were thrilled. It sat right on a cliff over-looking the ocean.
Absolutely beautiful! We were steps away from beach access, close-but-not-too-close to the bathroom, and we had awesome neighbors who enjoyed reliving their former VW Bus ownership stories with us. Also, the sites were HUGE! 3 more cars could have parked with us. This is a fantastic location if you have a larger group.
We had a great rest of the day – swimming in the ocean, watching the sunset, eating great food, philosophizing around the campfire…
And, well, I’m not sure what’s going on here…
In the morning, Steve’s wonderful mom joined us for breakfast. It was her first time seeing Bustache in “action.” It’s one thing to talk about a VW’s utility. It’s another thing to experience it for yourself! Suddenly, the fascination around this automobile makes a little more sense. As someone once said (a guy from the yet-to-be-released “The Bus” movie, I think?), VW Buses are like the Swiss-army-knives of vehicles – the appropriate tool for any situation is at your finger-tips!
And, on this day, Bustache actually went above and beyond his normal awesomeness to “save the day” twice.
First, the only downside to our campsite was the lack of trees. During the heat of the day, the space was exposed to direct sun. Not such a bad thing when most of the afternoon is spent down on the beach, but when you’re trying to host a family breakfast? Less than ideal. But Bustache came to the rescue! We positioned him “just so” and used his massiveness to provide much-needed shade during our meal.
Second, a camping neighbor inquired if we had any jumper cables. We did…or, rather, Bustache did. But as we handed them over, we cautioned that we weren’t sure if they were in working order. They looked like this:
They’re 32-years old, we said. We’re not sure how useful they’ll be.
Our neighbor took them anyway. And you know what? They worked! Nothing blew-up and the grateful driver dropped off the cables on his way home. :-(D
We ended our camping trip with a dip in the ocean. Steve, his mom (yep, she’s one cool momma!) and I seized the moment (and the heat!) by bounding into the waves for a 20-minute refreshing respite.
Poor Westi had to settle for being doused in water and relegated to the shady part of our site. No dogs on the beach.
After our swim, we packed up (in less then 20 minutes! Yay, VW camping!), said goodbye, and headed home to the OC.
Overall? If you’re into beach camping, South Carlsbad State Beach is a gem of a campground. Highly recommended for the VW and tent enthusiasts alike. Join us next time!
thebustache 
Sounds like a fun trip! Too bad Gus wasn’t there – he has an sweet brown and white striped awning on his passenger’s side that could have come in handy. :)
I know! Gus would have been quite handy. We *just* bought a new awning. We’ll see how it works. Ours isn’t brown and white stripped though! Where did you get yours?
It was on Gus when I got him. I believe he’s probably had it since 1978…it looks and smells vintagey. :) But it in really good shape!