Stressful Los Angeles Traffic

Is it because light travels faster than sound that some people appear bright until you hear them speak?

Thursday morning arrived and we were on the road again ….. it was planned to be a short day. We were only going as far as Tracy, CA in central California. The Elks Lodge was 176 miles away. That’s where we had planned to spend at least one night and that's just what we did. We spent one night in Tracy -- Thursday night. The lodge there is super convenient and the host was fantastic. We'd definitely stop here again on our way through. However, directions in the Elks book directed us to an exit that no longer existed off the freeway but now we know. So, if you head that way, don't try to find exit 456 because it's not there. Exit at 457 instead.

The original plan was to move a few hours each day to get ourselves to the base of the Grapevine Saturday night. We would then be in place to travel through Los Angeles and San Diego Sunday morning. That was the plan but it probably wasn't a good plan at that. Whoever plans on driving less than 200 miles for two days in a row when you leave early, arrive early and then there's nothing to do or see when you do arrive? We know by now that most things don’t fall into place as planned. We got anxious and ended up going through Los Angeles on Friday instead!

It was a nice day and a nice drive through most of the trip. When we left Tracy we were only going 240 miles. Then, that stretched to 283 miles and ended up being a 405 mile day. However, it wasn’t just 405 miles. It was right through Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon. That 405 miles was probably equivalent to about a 600 mile trip some place else! I probably don’t need to say much more. Travel was very slow and at times stop and go. Saying it was stressful would be an under-statement. No one wants to be behind a motorhome. and they were fast to cut in front so they wouldn't be. We did see one rear end collision in the lane right next to us. Thank goodness it was not in our lane! That was actually the second one we had seen that day.

Check out this cool Class C paint job advertising tacos!

We finally left the Los Angeles area behind and most of the vehicles with it. We landed at Oceanside in the Elks RV Park. We had two extra days planned in this travel and we’re going to spend both of them here. We need to sleep off the stress! After all, it’s just another 30 miles down the coast to where we have reservations starting on Sunday. For Saturday ... well, we'll check this area out a bit before we move south.

The Oceanside Elks is a gem of a place for a few days or maybe even a month. There's a lot to see and do in the area and yet it's less than a mile off the freeway with easy access. The Pacific Ocean and the "Strand" is about a mile and a half west of here. And, the price for your RV? It's only $15 a night with water and 30 A.

The Elks at Oceanside

Over the last couple of years we have had the pleasure (or lack thereof) to meet many different campground hosts and managers. Most are just RVing volunteers staying in that location for a very short time before moving on to another place to volunteer. However, this is the first one that ever insisted on doing the check-in inside your own RV even before you were set up! I didn't like it. She wanted to come in, fill out the paperwork (2 minutes worth) and make it easy. Easy? Easy for her? Easy for us? If she had waited 15 minutes, it might have been okay but not when we just arrive. However, she did tell us our arrival interrupted her Happy Hour at the lodge. This was the first time for that. I thought it strange indeed.

The $15 a night is a real deal in this area. There are several state beaches close by. These are owned by California, of course. Similar to the one on Coronado at Silver Strand in the direction we're heading, you can stay there for only $35 a night. If you want beachfront, the fee goes up to $50 a night. We want beachfront but we don't want the $50 fee. We did see a few motorhomes parked right on the beach a few miles north as we were heading this direction. I'd like to check them out.

On our way into the park we noticed a casino about a block away. It was Friday and I was sure they would have seafood. Once we were finally set up, that's where we headed. NOT! The parking lot was so small and the only places open were with valet parking. There were no slots and no buffet. There was a restaurant in the bar. We sat there waiting for service ... waiting, waiting and finally left. It was another Lean Cuisine night and early to bed.

Saturday - the plan is just to do a slight scoping out of the area. We're still recovering for the ride down and especially the one through LA.

Disclaimer - Well, we're lying a little. We did have another host/hostess check us in at their RV park from inside ours. Matter of fact, we even had them spend the night inside of ours, raid our refrigerator and house sit with our dog. Does it matter if they were the grandkids? Love them lots!