You’re probably thinking Ace Ventura. Not so fast, Rubberneck. We’re talking Ventura, California, north of LA and south of Santa Barbara on the Pacific coast. Ventura turns out to be a most awesome place, and in particular our campground, the Waypoint Ventura Vintage Trailer Hotel and Campground.
Talk about nice weather! You could train a German Sheppard to be a meteorologist in Ventura. The weather today (and every day for the past and next 6 months) will start overcast, burn off by mid-morning and remain sunny with temperatures 55 – 70 degrees.
Our last post had us at Valley of Fire in Nevada. From there, we made a 2-day stop at Boulder Beach, in Boulder City, NV, on the shores of Lake Powell. From our campsite we biked about 13 miles up and back to the Hoover Dam, which by any standards is an engineering marvel. The dam, not our ride. Well, maybe that too.
Boulder Beach was an interesting place. I spoke with a woman who was out walking her 195-pound Rottweiler on a barbed wire collar and leash. Silly me, I asked if I could say hi to her dog, and she said yes but asked that I let him come to me first, to get to know me. Just seemed a little alpha to me, but I’m sure she knows best.
While the get-to-know-you sniff is underway, this woman shared (unasked for, I might add) her life’s story in a mind-numbing stream of consciousness that had the same effect had you shot my ears with Novocain – no pain but an incessant hum. Kind of makes tinnitus feel good.
This Rottweiler was almost waist-high on me and looking at me like I was a ham sandwich. I believe he was considering whether he could devour my testicles before he even felt the slightest tug on his leash. This is not comforting to a man with self-esteem issues. I am not a big guy, if you catch my drift, so the answer would be yes, he could have performed this surgical strike and probably no one would be the wiser. Well, except for me. And the dog. Cute puppy. Fortunately for me, he found a big rock to chew – presumably to sharpen his teeth for his next encounter. So yeah, Boulder Beach was cool.
We then spent a night at a desert campground in Mojave, CA close to train tracks, a retirement home (dare I say graveyard?) for abandoned aircraft, and a huge flock of cooing pigeons who would congregate on the power lines over our trailer. I won’t say this was our sweetest campsite, but it did the trick – we had electric service so we could watch college football. Thank you Starlink.
The real story here is Ventura. After weeks in desert environs, getting to the Pacific coast and experiencing trees and fabulous weather felt more like a vacation than camping. I said this to Karen, and she said Ventura felt like a second honeymoon. I think she must be seeing someone else.
Our time in Ventura could not have been more enjoyable, and specifically at our campground, Waypoint Ventura. This place is where the cool kids go. The hotel/campground was a walkable distance halfway between a brewery and the ocean. Honestly, this place is a misnomer. It is not a waypoint – it is a destination.
I call this a campground but think of it more as a hotel where you bring your own suite. The campground is partly campsites and partly RV rentals – vintage aluminum trailers including Airstreams, Spartans, a Streamline, Palace, Avion, and others that you can rent like a hotel room. Very cool. There are multiple cornhole games, a couple of community firepits, and just a very cool vibe to a place that is a short walkway over to the beach and pier. Position A. Be forewarned – the campground only accepts reservations from those with vintage RV’s, Airstreams, retro trailers, and Sprinter vans – no motor coaches or 5th wheels need apply.
Karen made daily walks with Nana, our new-to-us, 10-year-old, 12-pound Chiwenie (Chihuahua/ Dachshund mix). We have had Nana for a month (straight from the dog pound), and in that time she has visited 13 states and dipped her paws in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. That girl gets around.
With a 5-minute walk to the beach from our campsite, we took a beautiful 4 mile walk that went out on the pier with views of the Channel Islands, the beach past Surfer’s Point, along the bike trail, into town – all very comfortable walking. Ventura throws off a vibe very much like Austin – cool places, coffee shops, restaurants, and breweries – all within a walk from our campsite. The downtown area (Main Street, easily walkable from the campground) is closed to vehicle traffic, which makes it very easy to browse the many shops, breweries, restaurants.
We visited Eric Ericsson’s Fish House on the pier (very good), Transmission Brewery (very good), Mother’s Tacos (awesome), and Café Zack – a truly outstanding restaurant – all easily walkable from Waypoint.
There are multiple (paved) bike trails accessible from the campground, some that hug the coast and others that turn inland.
And a short road trip to Ojai (pro OH-high) gave us an opportunity to sample some delicious olive oils.
We took the opportunity to drive up to Santa Barbara for lunch, to revisit La Super-Rica Taqueria, an iconic taco joint.
There are multiple golf courses in Ventura, two of which I played (Buenaventura and Olivas Links), each in nice shape – and very affordable. Both courses are still undergoing repairs from a storm several years ago that flooded the area. As mentioned previously, my golf game has become far more pleasurable after I stopped keeping score.
Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh judge, I don’t keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.
Be the ball.
