My wife informed me that she had a rare Friday-Sunday off of work. I made the time available. Coincidentally, a friend had a reservation next to his at the beach in San Diego. So, we decided to hook up the QS10 and pack for a couple days worth of beach camping. I had wife print out the reservation and we were a half hour from the campground after battling traffic when she actually read it and noticed they had no bathroom facilities after 8 pm and before 7am. Your RV HAS to have self contained grey and black water facilities. There were day use bathrooms but they close those during the hours listed. So, the woman at the gate said we'd need a porta potty. Whoops. It was back in the garage. Turn around and drive home...not to return.
We left the trailer Friday hooked up night along with gear with the intent on going up to the mountains Saturday morning and grabbing a walk-up spot in the state forrest campground. I looked at Reserve America before we left. Most spots were reserved but it seemed some walk ups would be available. Gorgeous day. We read the instructions at the entrance where it said to drive around and look for reserved postings at the site numbers. If no "reserved" or date tags were on the site number, it's yours. Camp Host was gone.
We found a really nice spot, one of of just 3 or 4 with no signs of reservation. Parked, set up, grill out, chairs, leveled, made bed, had a beer on our camp chairs, etc... Yup!!! When the camp host got back she told us the while campground was sold out, "no walk ups" . sigh. We packed up and drove home.
A good practice run weekend at towing and setting up. :)
I am surprised at both experiences.
1. That a campground shuts down their bathroom facilities at night. I have never seen that. Where in San Diego was that?
2. I would tell the campground host to pound sand. You followed the rules, the campsite is yours. A camp ground host is not a law enforcement officer as are most park rangers. I would make them call up a real ranger and make them justify sending me home.
David
[quote timestamp="1477441878" source="/post/25578/thread" author="@david"]I am surprised at both experiences.
1. That a campground shuts down their bathroom facilities at night. I have never seen that. Where in San Diego was that?
2. I would tell the campground host to pound sand. You followed the rules, the campsite is yours. A camp ground host is not a law enforcement officer as are most park rangers. I would make them call up a real ranger and make them justify sending me home.
David[/quote]I'm holding hands with Dave, here. If it ain't posted, it's available. If the camp host made an issue, I'd tell them "Next time do your job. Be here during your duty hours, and make sure the reserved sites are posted."
Let 'em call a tow truck. I dare them. I double-dare them, muth...well, you know.
I have seen a few campsites on the "left" coast close their restrooms at night as a deterrent to homeless and/or drug use. Only near beach areas.
well, to an extent I agree on the reserved/sold out status. Reserve America says that you have to reserve 24 hours in advance. Does not the camp host get those updates and is it not their responsibility to drive around the campground and post the latest information? We arrived at noon. It listed walk ups as an option. Oh well. Next time I'll reserve a spot. I just figured there might be one or two mediocre spots to choose from.
The beach campground has a day use section that are the only bathrooms at the campgrounds from 7am to 8 PM. They literally lock the gates so party types cannot invade the beach. Not even a vault toilet after hours. It's clearly listed on the reservation, so that was our fault. What's ironic is I bought a brand new Thetford and unpacked it but left it at home. My friend who camps there told me there were bathrooms and showers..
after packing up we just had to laugh. The good news is we really liked the mountain campgrounds.
Quote from: @catmanriff" source="/post/25596/thread" timestamp="1477502110well, to an extent I agree on the reserved/sold out status. Reserve America says that you have to reserve 24 hours in advance. Does not the camp host get those updates and is it not their responsibility to drive around the campground and post the latest information? We arrived at noon. It listed walk ups as an option. Oh well. Next time I'll reserve a spot. I just figured there might be one or two mediocre spots to choose from.
The beach campground has a day use section that are the only bathrooms at the campgrounds from 7am to 8 PM. They literally lock the gates so party types cannot invade the beach. Not even a vault toilet after hours. It's clearly listed on the reservation, so that was our fault. What's ironic is I bought a brand new Thetford and unpacked it but left it at home. My friend who camps there told me there were bathrooms and showers..
after packing up we just had to laugh. The good news is we really liked the mountain campgrounds.
Was this a state park ? USFS ? Other ?
it was in the San bernardino national forest .