Once we finally got down the mountain from Sequoia National Park, we followed the road south through the towns of Exeter and Portersville. We weren’t exactly sure where we headed, but did know that our general direction was either south towards Los Angeles or east towards Nevada. With daylight fading, Jennifer found a CoE (US Army Corps of Engineers) campground for us to stay at for the night – a place called Lake Success. Once there, we called our friends in LA to see what their plans were for the next few days. We didn’t originally intend to see them on this trip, but we also didn’t intend to drive all the way to Oregon and California. Since we had come this far, we decided that we should drive a little further to visit them, if they were up for it. If things didn’t work out, we were headed for Nevada in the morning. As it was, they were booked solid for the weekend, so we had some time to kill. We enjoyed our one-night stay in the nearly-empty campground (the lake was nearly empty, too), and were in no rush to leave the next day. The campground had nice new showers and two playgrounds for the kids.
The next day we drove further south to be closer to LA. The campervan hated life as we forced it up through the pass near Gorman; the hot air and steep grade had her lungs working hard. I think we stopped at another Costco to re-up on supplies before heading to our home for the next two nights at Lake Piru. I was impressed with the perfectly-terraced dirt between the campground rows. As one who spent a week every summer terrorizing the Cades Cove campground on my bicycle with my brother and cousins, I instantly recognized that this place was the ultimate playground for such endeavors. It was as if the entire facility was a BMX track cleverly disguised for the unknowing as a place for tent pads and fire rings. I saw it for what it really was, and it wasn’t long before I had my mountain bike off of the back of the RV to check things out.
After I was done playing, we took the kids for a walk around the campground. There were olive trees everywhere and we picked a wineglass full, thinking we’d try our hand at brining them. We gave up on that idea the next day, not wanting to deal with the process while on the road. When we got back to our campsite we decided to setup the screen room – rug, folding table, Christmas lights, and all. It was the first – and only – time we set it up this trip. The rest of our time at Lake Piru was spent playing in the campsite, walking down to the playground, and hanging around what was left of the lake. Lake Piru, like Lake Success before it and nearly all of the lakes in CA that we’d passed along the way, was at less than 50% of its capacity. The main boat ramp had been extended another 50 yards down towards the lake, but it still wasn’t enough. Boaters were forced to drive down a dirt road and use a natural embankment to launch their boats into what was left of the lake, which is to say, not much.
On the 25th, we broke camp at headed down through the mess that is Los Angeles. Our friends Chris and Colby (and baby Lyndie) were done with their previously-scheduled obligations and were expecting us. We parked the campervan on the curb in front of their new-to-them house and hung out for the night. The kids had fun playing with Lyndie, while we enjoyed good wine, an awesome meal, and even better company. We slept in the campervan on the street – I’m sure there is some kind of ordinance against that in Rancho Palos Verdes, but nobody bothered us. After breakfast the next morning, we got back on the road and pointed the nose towards Nevada.
