the trail from Blaine, WA to Santa Monica, CA

[Don Bradner]

From Blaine to Jantzen Beach is 277 miles. From Jantzen Beach to Malibu is 960
miles.

Everyone has different ideas about how far they are willing to push things; for
us, two ~480 mile days would be unthinkable, but I can't answer for you.

Probably if I were crazy enough to do it I would overnight at Dunnigan, Happy
Times RV park. Not because it is great (it isn't), but because it is the only
convenient spot on that stretch. I've overnighted there a couple of dozen times
for that reason alone. That would make it 277, 552, and 429 miles.

If it was me, I would do 4 nights on the road. Jantzen Beach, then Seven
Feathers in Canyonville, JGW RV Park south of Redding, and Kit Fox RV Park in
Patterson. Gives you days of 277, 210, 224, 241 and 308 miles.

3 nights is a bit tougher to space out - hard to find the right park for the
second night without a bad split on the distance, but Kit Fox would still be
good for the third night.

I stay out of Metro SoCal as much as I can, so can't help on the Malibu park
thing, but certainly reservations would be a good idea.

The Grapevine should not be a winter problem. Just watch your temps and keep the
speed/gearing down if necessary.

On 11/16/2007 at 8:29 PM Jo-Ski wrote:

>Greetings, folks--
>
>Well, we may just be spontaneous this year and head south towards Santa
>Monica, CA in December--probably around the Christmas holiday, of course!
>It's my old teen-age stomping grounds, and we've got some long-time family
>friends there. Though the scenic route (Hwy. 101) would be lovely to
>consider, time constrains us to take the I-5 route.
>
>Some questions, please:
> a.. Any suggestions for pleasant campgrounds once you get south, past
>Portland, OR please? From our great experience this past summer at Jantzen
>Beach campground (just outside of Portland), we'd stop there for sure for
>the first night--was lovely. Was wondering if folks had suggestions for
>good campgrounds/logical overnight stops for the rest of the legs of the
>trip to the LA/Santa Monica area, please. We were figuring 3 days' travel
>from Blaine, WA to Santa Monica (does that sound reasonable from anyone
>else's experience?).
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> b.. We've heard of two campgrounds near Santa Monica--Malibu RV Park and
>the Dockweiler RV Park in Playa Del Rey. Is anyone familiar with those
>campgrounds, please, or does anyone have other recommendations?
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> c.. Also, what can we expect at this time of year down in that
>neck-o'-the-woods, please? Are the RV parks likely to be booked and
>jam-packed full? In other words, are we kidding ourselves to even be able
>to camp at these places? Being still relatively new to the RV world, we
>don't have a feel for how big this really gets in that area in the winter
>months.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> d.. And, what about the notorious stretch of I-5 known as "the
>grapevine" at this time of year? I remember from driving through there in
>my teens that just about every service station along the way had 20 stalls
>to accommodate cars whose radiators had blown from the heat. Is it gonna
>be a stinker to deal with in a Blue Bird at this time of year, por favor?
>Many, many thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice!
>
>Best regards,
>
>Jo-Ski (and Stew)
>"The Bird Abides"
>'83-FC 35 RB
>Blaine, WA