The last time I went to the California Central Coast with my friends, we rented a house at Shell Beach for $175 a night (summer rates).  This time my husband, puppy and I stayed in our trailer at a KOA RV park where we own a time share.  The cost for this trip would have been $132 for two nights, but since we own the time-share it is free.  Even the wi-fi was free this trip, but it is usually $10 per 24 hour period.

It’s almost like being in a gated community.  …without the gate.

There are about as many varieties of RVs here as there are campers.  It’s not as interesting as walking up the streets of Berkeley, but there is a story there which I’ll tell you in another blog.  What you see in this picture are the park model trailers that belong to the park.  When you buy a time share you get a free week in one of the park models, so it’s nice if you have family that can join you.  My brother and I stayed in one once because they have two bedrooms so it’s almost like home.  You just bring your own linens, and you’re set for the week.

The grounds are well-kept and the flowers…  that’s another story as well…

If you’ve read my blog you can go back and read about the Avila Barn to get the setting.  This particular park is right across Ontario Avenue from the Avila Barn where you can pick up all kinds of fresh vegetables grown right there.  If you walk down Ontario across a bridge, you come to the entrance of a bike path (one of my favs).  This path takes you 1.5 miles to a cute grocery story/restaurant where you can get anything for the price millionaires pay.  Or you can walk three miles all the way to Avila Beach.

Inside the park it’s quiet except for the freeway which runs directly behind the park above the trees.  I tried to capture a picture or a car or truck passing in that little area of sky to show how close it is, but even though I could hear traffic, the trees hid all the cars from my view.  Back to the quiet aspect – The reason for the QUIET is the live-in managers who go out of their way to be friendly, visible, and manage us well.  Several managers have come and gone since we’ve come, but they are always nice.  This current manager gave me a photography lesson, and several photography magazines when he saw me taking pictures around the park.  So I took his picture.

Ah yes, QUIET.  I guess the better word would be SLOW, and slow seems to produce quiet.  All ages come to the park, but it seems to be a majority of older people who bring their whole families.

There are lots of activities here, and you wouldn’t even have to go anywhere else if family time is the object of your trip.

The pool is heated to 85 degrees year round.  My brother and I swam at night in March and were perfectly comfortable.

If we got a little cold we climbed into the spa.  Had we wanted to, we could have washed the chlorine off of us in an outdoor shower.  We didn’t do that, and unlike at the beach, I’ve never seen anyone else do it either.

I have never seen a movie on the outdoor screen, but when Smiley (no kidding, that was his name) sold us the time share, he said that the park shows a movie every Saturday night.

One young man and his son were pretty capable basket ball shooters, so I had fun trying to capture their intense expressions and pretend I was a sports photographer.  I needed my 70-300 lens, but I hadn’t expected to use it, so it was in the trailer.

I thought I was all done taking pictures of the stars, but as I started to leave, Dad took a few shots, so how could I stop?

Twins enjoyed the slide while their grandparents watched them.

People walk their , babies, dolls, dogs and ride bikes around the park, but the managers are vigilant.

Years ago one of our friends almost got escorted out of the park because the previous managers had asked her son to slow down two or three times when he was riding his bike. – and he was 7, so you know how long he remembered that!!!  Doggies, you have to watch your pees and Qs, too,

or you may wake up and find yourself tied to the posts outside the park.

(JK, but don’t press your luck, poopies, ops puppies.)

Nobody has even scuffed the paint on the shuffleboard.  You can decide what that means.

There’s also a clubhouse.

Inside you can play cards or working jigsaw puzzles with friends, enjoy an evening by the fire reading old books that other visitors have donated, play ping-pong or table shuffleboard.  That shuffle board table is VERY scuffed.  My inside pictures came out poorly.  Maybe in my next article, I’ll share them.

Each Saturday and Sunday the park staff cooks a simple breakfast that campers may purchase for about $5.00.  We haven’t done that yet, but we did go to a pot luck dinner once and had a good time.

Since many people are here with family members or friends, you smell a lot of outdoor cooking.  I usually walk 1.5 miles and have bagels, cream cheese, lox, capers and fresh tomatoes and fruit.

The accommodations are as elegant inside as you want to make them.  Ours are simple, but comfortable, and Kalev is welcome here.