SLO, CA Gathering at Montana de Oro SP Sept. 13-15, 2007

[Gage]

Two people, one Little Guy. We stayed at Montana de Oro last weekend and loved it. We heard about the gathering from the campground host when she welcomed us to the park.
Sure would be cool to join the group for this upcoming trip!

Well, what are you waiting for. Just RSVP and then plan on being there. We won't bite.

[Filifera]

Ah, there is a secret code-word I must master to make my RSVP official then?

Gwen and Steve Crippen hereby officially RSVP to the invite to the SLO teardrop gathering at the beautiful and unsullied (so far) Montana de Oro state park, where we took in the rapture of nature's beauty (and a non-insignificant amount of fog) this past weekend in our first outing in our new-to-us 2005 Little Guy Deluxe.

Would the moderator please add us to the list of RSVPeers on the first page of this thread? Thenkyewveddymuch.

Re food etc., for those coming in from the Morro Bay side of things (for example the Fresnoids and Bakersfolk), there are the usual big supermarket chains (also in Los Osos), but there's also a nifty and very retro supermarket in Morro Bay that has Harris Ranch beef:

Spencer's Fresh Market
2650 Main St
Morro Bay, CA 93442

They have a farmers market on Thursday afternoon, 3 to 5, with fish, crab and grass fed beef (yum).

This place would look perfect in the background of any photos that include your teardrop.

[Esteban]

Welcome Gwen and Steve. You mastered the code to join our gathering by the sea.

I second your suggestion for visiting the Morro Bay Farmers Market at the Spencer's Grocery parking lot. It's a very good place to buy fresh fruits and veggies. Later in the evening many of the Morro Bay vendors move on to the downtown San Luis Obispo Farmers Market which adds food booths and live music to the festivities.

[martha24]

Re food etc., for those coming in from the Morro Bay side of things (for example the Fresnoids and Bakersfolk), there are the usual big supermarket chains (also in Los Osos), but there's also a nifty and very retro supermarket in Morro Bay that has Harris Ranch beef:

Spencer's Fresh Market
2650 Main St
Morro Bay, CA 93442

They have a farmers market on Thursday afternoon, 3 to 5, with fish, crab and grass fed beef (yum).

This place would look perfect in the background of any photos that include your teardrop.

There are also a Spencer's Fresh Market in Santa Maria & Pismo area. The owner is my cousin who started in the business as a box boy in high school in the local area & worked his way up in the business to the point where with some help was able to buy his own store & eventually a few more. All his produce is local & fresh everyday. He also likes to keep all the aisles nice & wide. I know my daughter & I stopped in at the one off of Grand Ave. first thing in the morning and the way everything was stacked looked amazing beautiful. I wish one was down in the Santa Barbara area.
Martha

[tdhombre]

Hold a spot for us!
Dave Klinzman
Morro Bay!!!!

[Esteban]

Welcome Dave, you're in for a spot. How many dutch oven windscreens do you need to sell to cover your travel cost?

[Phil & Ningning]

Is it too late to get a spot?

We would love to come to this party. I think if you had more spots, even more people would sign up!

We will arrive Thursday afternoon.

Phil

[Esteban]

Welcome, Phil & Ningning, great to have you coming. You're the 32nd person/couple who's coming That leaves 3 spots still available.

This is a small campground with only 46 camp spots. The camp host very generously agreed to hold up to 35 spots for us. She wants to keep the other 11 spots available, on a first come first served basis, for anybody. We may be able to do a little doubling up.

The turnout is much higher than I ever imagined in my wildest dreams. If this goes well, and it sure should, maybe we'll do one again at a larger park like Morro Bay State Park, Lopez Lake County Park in SLO County, or Lake Cachuma County Park near Santa Barbara - a favorite of Chris and Dan (Italia) who've been really helpful getting this gathering off to a good start.

[billnut]

Gosh being old and slow and no camping on schedule for Aug. I may go to Montana De Oro. a little early! Dam retirement is ruff but some one needs todo it
Bill

[daveleb55]

Put us down for a tent site, please.

Thanks,

Dave & Kathleen

[Esteban]

Welcome Dave and Kathleen, with a big tent. I put your names on the page 1 list with a note that you're willing to share a site. (PM'd behind the scenes to get your OK)

[doug hodder]

Steve...like I mentioned earlier...there are several of us that would prefer to double up making more room for others...Doug

[Esteban]

Doug and other fine folks,

I encourage some doubling up. It'll help make the gathering nicer. We need everyones cooperation to pull it off. A maximum of 3 licensed vehicles can be parked per site only if they all fit into the campsites paved parking area. Some sites have room for only 2 vehicles. "Extra" parking is limited. No overnight parking, outside of the campground, is allowed within Montana de Oro State Park. Extra cars/trucks will have to be parked overnight at another camp site within the campground, or outside of the state park.

A little over simplified, each campsite can have a maximum of 2 trailers and 1 car/truck or 2 cars/trucks and 1 trailer. 3 trailers or 3 cars/trucks might fit in a few spots.

Someone coming with only their car/truck and a tent they can easily double up with someone else bringing a trailer and pull vehicle for a total of 3 vehicles.

When two people/couples want to double up to camp together and they each have a trailer and a tow vehicle for a total of 4 vehicles they need to use part of another camp spot for the extra car/truck. It'd work out to be sort of "One and a Halving Up." Another option is to pay for 2 campsites. Camp doubled up in 1 site and use the other site for parking cars/trucks. Some less desirables sites might be used just for parking.

Please have mercy on us though, we're brand new gathering organizers, we don't want things to become too complicated. With the unanticipated size this gathering has grown to there won't be many, if any, "extra campsites."

Times flying by, we'll see you all in just a month and a half!

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Steve,
It would probably worth your effort to educate the camp host or park ranger that's in charge...
Let them know that these teardrops are basically like tents on wheels and leave a much smaller footprint than a tent... The objective being is to get the tears off of the pavement and into the grass where you'd normally setup a tent.
That would free up all the pavement for vehicles... If things end up getting crowded...
I did that at Pamplin as a precaution and it paid off, because at first I was told only tents were allowed in the lower meadow, but after talking with the folks in charge, they agreed that the teardrops could be allowed in the meadow if we wheeled them out there without the use of a vehicle...
A few folks did decide to camp in the meadow and a few of them used their vehicles to get the tear in and out even though that was a no-no...
The accountant I dealed with in the office was very stand offish with me at first... didn't seem to think that our teardrop crowd was a good thing for Pamplin Grove. After the event and after hearing nothing but great reports, I met with him to collect our initial deposit. He was extremely nice, waiting with check in hand and asked me to please consider using the facility again.

[Esteban]

Dean,
Thanks for your ideas. They help. Lana, the camp host, is super friendly and supportive. She even invited a camper to join us, who brought a teardrop to MdeO earlier this summer, and learned about our gathering from her.

Wish you could join us for the SLO Gathering, Dean.

I look forward to meeting you at the Grove in the future.