We've tried to get there before, but the fog has prevented us from ever getting there. This time there was fog in the morning, but it was forcasted to burn off so we waited for that and checked the visibilities due to the 2 fires burning near us. The flight briefing came back with Oceano fog lifting and visibilities poor, but plenty good to make the trip.
The air was nice and smooth out of Inyokern and we flew south to California City before turning west over Tehachapi, to avoid the temporary flight restriction (TFR) area due to the Piute fire. The smoke was blowing north-east and was the main source for the smoke in our valley. Once we were south of that fire, the air cleared up and the visibility was great. The flight was incredibly smooth and right on time with 1.5 hours enroute to Oceano(L52). With no fog in sight, I flew an upwind leg over the airport and entered into the landing pattern after flying over the beach. The runway looks short since I've been spoiled with very long runways, but we had no problem getting in.
It was a nice sight to see $5.08 for avgas so we filled the tanks before tying down the airplane for the weekend. The airport provides a nice little camping area for pilots and we pitched our tent. We had to be sure to close the windows when we left though because they watered the campground daily from noon-2pm. With cheap gas come expensive tie-downs. The price was $10/day for tie-down and $10/day for camping with no mention of the tie-down being waived for campers as is the norm.
Once we were settled in, we walked to a nearby diner for lunch. The Rock-and-Roll Diner is two train cars attached together for the dining area. They had excellent food and their BBQ was over a Oak (or Hickory I forgot) wood fire. After lunch we walked down to the beach and watched some kite surfers, it's amazing to watch how high they can jump into the air with those kites. I'd definitely buy one of those if I lived in the area. This is the only beach in California where they allow cars on the beach. There are cars, trucks, and RVs as far as you can see on the beach and you can get a permit to camp on the beach with your RV as well. Off road vehicles are also allowed on the sand dunes just south of oceano. They are pretty hard core sand dunes so SUVs won't make it, but 4 wheelers and dune buggies are everywhere.
After wandering around for awhile, we headed back to the airport and ate dinner (beef stew back packing meal). Trying to start a fire was a terrific effort since the wood was incredibly green. Even using the grill to start logs proved useless. Eventually we found some cut branches that were pretty thick near the bathroom and I chopped them up with our little hatchet and soon we had a fire.
On Friday we wandered around for awhile and ate lunch at a little BBQ stand, we eventually decided to take the bus to Pismo Beach. After realizing we missed the bus at the stop right outside the airport, we decided to walk to the next bus stop. The next stop is where we needed to connect to a different bus to get to Pismo so maybe it was on a different schedule. After over a mile of walking, we finally got to the bus stop. The sign didn't label the 4th as a day the bus wasn't running, but after calling the hotline for a schedule, they said it was not running. So we walked another mile plus to Pismo Beach.
It was another very nice beach, but without the cars on the this one. We walked around for awhile and decided we were still hungry so Michelle got a brownie strawberry shortcake and we walked back to the Lion's club so I could try their tri-tip. Very good again and this time they had a sax quartet playing. We listened to them for awhile, then headed back to Oceano taking the beach instead of the roads this time. We found a little salt water taffy shop next to the beach so we decided to stop in and get some taffy for Kevin and Sarah. I know they love taffy and they're back in Inyokern watching our dogs so they definitely deserve some taffy.
After resting for awhile at the campground, we walked to a fine Italian restaurant and ate some pizza, which was very good; the thinnest pizza I ever ate. We took our folding chairs to the sand dunes and set up a spot to watch the fireworks. Once it got dark people started shooting fireworks. Pismo Beach was firing their fireworks off the pier, but unfortunately, we were far away and even though we could see them fine, they were as spectacular from that far away. There were plenty of other fireworks to watch though since there were 40 billion people on the beach and half of them were launching pretty cool fireworks. At about 10, most of the fireworks died down and we headed for bed.
Saturday morning the fog had rolled in so our flight to Santa Paula was delayed be a few hours, but we eventually got out just fine. We flew down to Santa Barbara and south over the coast and around to Ojai to avoid another fire TFR just north of Santa Barbara. The Santa Paula airport is right next to a mountain ridge so you have to fly a tight pattern. This ended up being one of my worst landings, which I won't bore you with more than to say something is screwy with that airport on final and over the runway itself and it wasn't just me. It seemed that almost everybody that came in had a hard time as well. Of course this wonderful landing was made in front of Michelle's sister Lisa who is already not to fond of flying in smaller airplanes.
We had a great visit with Lisa and Matt and were able to even get out and see the June Brides in concert. Concert is used pretty liberally here since it was in a carport in the back of someone's house. It was still entertaining and worth seeing. I love Lisa's new place since it has so many extra hidden spaces and rooms. There is a soon to be pottery room in the garage, lots of storage, a room for her therapy business and a loft over the garage for the perfect office / guest bedroom. The front yard was huge with all sorts of flowers and birds.
Like all vacations, we had to leave Sunday morning. We were planning to rush out bright and early to beat the desert heat, thermals, and winds, but the fog at Santa Paula forced us to take our leisurely time before heading to the airport. After eating a muffin at the terminal, we took off for Inyokern. I'm convinced there is something out of whack with the airport since the takeoff was a lot of fun as well. Air traffic control was definitely out numbered today since it took me almost 15 minutes before Hawthorne radio got back to me and I was able to activate my flight plan. I was never able to get flight following on our hour flight back to Inyokern over 4 different approach and center sectors since they were swamped.
The flight was incredibly smooth until Lancaster where there was only a few very light bumps to about the California City area. From there we started our descent and had just a little bit more chop. In general, it was very nice flight considering we were coming in just after noon in July in the desert. By 1:30 we were home and the dogs could stop whining with excitement to see us. Another thanks to Kevin and Sarah for watching them.
See the complete album of pictures here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jayson.brouchoud/4thOfJuly2008/photo#s5220064572343079874
Pretty cool seeing my favorite beach through other peoples' cameras! Glad you had a good time. Mama's Meatball is new and I haven't tried their pizza yet, but maybe now I will. Next time you are on Pier Ave at the beach you might try renting a couple ATVs to cruise around and explore the sand dunes. All four rental places will supply quick training and a helmet. Angello's ATV Rental is right next to where you watched the fireworks from, or look for the other three. The back sand dunes are beautiful and shouldn't be missed--it's like being on a roller coaster with no rails!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great trip including some airplane camping! I will have to give Oceano a try sometime! I have been wondering about Oceano.
ReplyDelete/Brian