This is my first post of any kind on anything.  I used to do a camping journal and my wife, Lisa, talked me into trying this which hopefully will give some helpful tips from our camping travels to help others who might visit the same places.  I wanted to start with our most recent trip to Lake Cachuma where we frequent, but first, I wanted to give a quick background on us.

After 30 years, individually, of tent camping, my wife and I decided to upgrade to an RV.  We figured at 50 it was time to upgrade.  We bought a travel trailer, a 2018 Keystone Hornet Hideout 26rlswe, which we tow with a Ford F-150.  The beauty of switching to the trailer is that weather and bugs for the most part are not in the equation.  Our usual posse is my wife, our three dogs, Tuxedo, Kiki and Rebel and occasionally our 17 year old son.  I say occasionally because between high school sports, focusing on his school-work and more to the point, he would rather stay home and hang with his “bros” than his parents, he usually passes on our weekend trips.  We should all have such horrible parents, but I digress.

Lake Cachuma is a small lake about 25 minutes northwest of downtown Santa Barbara, CA.  It’s 15 minutes from the towns of Solvang, Buellton and Los Olivos.  Two of our favorite things are camping and wine tasting, and this place works out great for us.

There’s almost 500 sites at Lake Cachuma Recreation Area, so plenty of camping but it does get crowded more than you think it would on the weekends.  When we were tent camping, our favorite area was site # 392, 394, 396, 398, 400.  Lake Cachuma has prime sites which you pay extra for which are the ones closest to the water.  I think it’s a waste of money because you get almost the same view at the numbers I mentioned.  Since the upgrade to RV camping, with full hookups, I’d recommend sites  # 69, 72, 108, 113, 115, 117, 119, and 121.

The first place we took our brand new RV was Lake Cachuma in November, 2017.  We got there late Friday night and started following our notes to hook up the water, electric and sewage.  However, we had a problem with getting the electric to work.  We spent an hour or so racking our brains to figure out what we did wrong.  We ended up asking neighboring RVers what we rookies were missing and they couldn’t figure it out either.  The next morning, we talked with the rangers and they told us that for every 5 to 10 sites there is a sub-breaker that sends power to a handful of sites.  That breaker had blown, thus our individual breaker wouldn’t work.  Who knew? Not us.

Back to our most recent trip to Lake Cachuma, we set up on Friday morning in a light rain.  It rained most of the weekend, but like I said, with the RV, we were fine.  My wife, the dogs and I got in the truck and we were about to head out to go wine tasting when my wife recommended we cruise over to some tent sites by the water to check out the growing lake level.  Lake Cachuma was hit hard by drought for the past 15 years and between this winter and the winter from two years ago, the lake’s water level has gone up from 6% to 70% where it sits now.  Anyways, it was pouring and we drove over to site #401 and I pulled up to take a look at the water’s edge from the comfy confines of the truck.  I pulled in where you put up the tent to get a better look and when I tried to turn around in the grass, the ground, being crazy soft from all the water all month, gave way to my spinning tires and essentially getting my truck stuck in the mud.  Aside from the hit to my manhood, we also were running out of time to hit the wineries.  I had to call AAA and they hooked me up to a winch and pulled my truck out of the mud puddle.  Not a good look as my wife bombarded me with “I told you so’s” for the hour we waited for AAA.

The wineries I’d recommend to visit for both taste and ambiance is Foxen and Rancho Sisquoc.  Rancho is one of the farthest ones away from the campground (32 miles) but well worth it.  We love Dierberg Star Lane Winery as well.  Fess Parker and Firestone have great views and ambiance but the wine is just OK.  Wineries in Los Olivos I’d recommend are Stolpman and Barbieri.  Also in Los Olivos is Mattei’s Tavern which is worth checking out for a drink by the fireplace.  Most of the wineries are dog friendly which we love and what keeps us coming back.  Also, the wines are pretty good for the most part and a hell of a lot cheaper to visit this area than say Napa / Sonoma.

• 

• 

Food-wise, we ate at The Bear and The Star which is in Los Olivos.  The food was decent but a bit pricey for the portions, but my wife gets mad at me for saying that, but I thought I’d mention it.  While we were at Dierberg Star Lane winery, one of the women working there mentioned Full of Life Flatbread restaurant for dinner.  It’s located in downtown Los Alamos.  I was a little hesitant at the name but the food was excellent and they had more than just flatbread pizza as you would imagine.  They have craft beers and of course wine options.  We ate at the bar and it was a great night.  Even though it was packed, the waiters and bartenders were more than polite.  Engaging with us more than just answering our questions.  Highly recommend it.  Another night, we ate at Barrelworks which is owned by Firestone Brewery.  It’s a huge place with sports TVs, big bar and dinner section.  Food was pretty good there as well.  Another option is Trattoria Grappolo in Santa Ynez and has excellent Italian food.  The wait is usually long, but the best part, if you’re my kind of person, is that you can go next door to the Maverick Saloon and play shuffle board and have a beer or two while you wait.  The two places, which share a wall, couldn’t be more different, but that’s what makes it so much fun.