Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo
I'd done a bit of Internet digging the night before and found there was a Scout Camp not far from Santa Barbara; Rancho Alegro, so I set off up Highway 154 to find it. After about 40minutes of winding up a mountain road and over a pass the road started to drop down into a wide valley. I passed a wooden sign at the side of the road with a fleur-de-lys on it but my sat nav still said I had 5 miles to go so I continued on. 5 miles down the road I realised the sign must have been the entrance as I was now in huge rolling fields and not a camp site in sight. I turned round and went back (Sorry Dad! I know you should never turn round!) and headed back to where the sign was however I came across another on on the same side but before the first so I turned off the main road and up the dirt track, I passed numerous signs about 'no trespassing', 'private land' and 'no hunting' that I was a little nervous about being here and I eventually pulled up at what looked like a farm house. It turned out to be the home of the Camp Warden and I explained where I was looking for he explained that the Camp Entrance was actually the next track off the main road further up. His house was still on the Camp Site land (They have over 220 acres)
I backtracked down the gravel road and back up the original turning I had seen and followed the directions he had given me to the Office. The Camp is used by the Schools for most of the year as an Outdoor School and it seems that the Scouts only really make use of it for about 2 or 3 months of the year even though they own it. I was met at the Office by 'Lizzard' the Office Administrator (who evidently had been forewarned of my arrival) She was very welcoming and insisted I have some lunch of Pizza and fruit and a drink whilst we chatted which came from the huge Dining hall across the corridor. Then we went for a wander around the site. They have about 6 large bunk rooms about the size of Cunliffe Lodge at Middlewood and the Huge Dining Hall where all the meals are cooked for all on site. There is also a Heath Lodge (Sick Bay), Craft Rooms (another building twice the size of Cunliffe Lodge) and a small lake and Swimming Pool. The lake apparently is man-made but dries up in the summer (it was over 6ft deep now). There was camping available but most people tend to use the buildings and only a couple of the groups that use the site camp during the year apart from one or two big activity weeks they have a year. I swapped some badges and said my goodbyes. Back on the road I drove on down passing through a small one horse town called Santa Ynes where I stopped for an Iced coffee and then through Solvang, which was first settled by the Danish and has taken it seems the idea through the Disney make believe machine. I didn't stop here it just seemed all too kitsch. A short drive further on and I came to San Luis Obispo which is a small town but has a Hostel here so I called in to the converted Victorian Clapperboard style house and thankfully go a room for the night, I actually booked 2 as I had time to spare before getting to San Fransisco. I had some food and chatted with the otheres in the hostel and it transpired that everyone was going down to the local BrewPub for Tuesday Night $1 specials (Beer for just $1 a pint!) How could I resist?!? The pub, which I cant remember the name of, was in the town centre. They had a Pale Ale, a lager of some sort and a Porter which was about the best of the bunch. Not that this was a 'beer tasting' session more a sort of buy it and down it session. The music was loud and the pool tables were busy but the beer was cheep! Finally I got back into the hostel at around 1:30am and went online to Skype the old BT Team back in the UK and found out that Mr Birch hadn't told me of the change of date. (and he still hasn't mailed me the new date/time yet!) still I got to chat with a couple of you and it was nice hear you all again.
I backtracked down the gravel road and back up the original turning I had seen and followed the directions he had given me to the Office. The Camp is used by the Schools for most of the year as an Outdoor School and it seems that the Scouts only really make use of it for about 2 or 3 months of the year even though they own it. I was met at the Office by 'Lizzard' the Office Administrator (who evidently had been forewarned of my arrival) She was very welcoming and insisted I have some lunch of Pizza and fruit and a drink whilst we chatted which came from the huge Dining hall across the corridor. Then we went for a wander around the site. They have about 6 large bunk rooms about the size of Cunliffe Lodge at Middlewood and the Huge Dining Hall where all the meals are cooked for all on site. There is also a Heath Lodge (Sick Bay), Craft Rooms (another building twice the size of Cunliffe Lodge) and a small lake and Swimming Pool. The lake apparently is man-made but dries up in the summer (it was over 6ft deep now). There was camping available but most people tend to use the buildings and only a couple of the groups that use the site camp during the year apart from one or two big activity weeks they have a year. I swapped some badges and said my goodbyes. Back on the road I drove on down passing through a small one horse town called Santa Ynes where I stopped for an Iced coffee and then through Solvang, which was first settled by the Danish and has taken it seems the idea through the Disney make believe machine. I didn't stop here it just seemed all too kitsch. A short drive further on and I came to San Luis Obispo which is a small town but has a Hostel here so I called in to the converted Victorian Clapperboard style house and thankfully go a room for the night, I actually booked 2 as I had time to spare before getting to San Fransisco. I had some food and chatted with the otheres in the hostel and it transpired that everyone was going down to the local BrewPub for Tuesday Night $1 specials (Beer for just $1 a pint!) How could I resist?!? The pub, which I cant remember the name of, was in the town centre. They had a Pale Ale, a lager of some sort and a Porter which was about the best of the bunch. Not that this was a 'beer tasting' session more a sort of buy it and down it session. The music was loud and the pool tables were busy but the beer was cheep! Finally I got back into the hostel at around 1:30am and went online to Skype the old BT Team back in the UK and found out that Mr Birch hadn't told me of the change of date. (and he still hasn't mailed me the new date/time yet!) still I got to chat with a couple of you and it was nice hear you all again.
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