Like the title says, I am planning on making a Pismo/Oceano Dunes trip this July 16th to the 19th. If you would like to go, you need to make reservations on www.reserveamerica.com I believe you can call in reservations as well. Here is a link to the dates I will be going.
http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/O ... earch=site
Here is some more info on making reservations.
California State Campgrounds
Reservations 1-800-444-7275
Customer Service 1-800-695-2269
Pismo is known for people getting stuck in the sand, I will happily tow you out if you get stuck, so don’t worry if you have 2wd. Be sure to bring a shovel, it helps make the process easier. Another item that is good to bring is a few cans or WD40 and a tarp to cover your bikes at night. I normally spray WD40 on any spots prone to rust since you will be near the ocean. Camping sites are basically first come first serve, I will be trying to get a spot close to the shore and on the harder sand, but it all depends on how many people are there before I am and how many spots are still available. If you are interested in going and want my cell #, just pm me and I will send it to you.
Hopefully some people will be able to make the trip, the dunes are not the greatest, but it is cool to be able to ride during the summer and not get baked!

Sorry Nick, That date conflicts with our annual trip to Colo. to see Vicki's family. Juan & I rode non-stop all day saturday at Dumont until my butt was too raw to sit on my bike seat. The trip was a total blast! We left at 2 PM. I'm so glad I went. complete therapy! Thanks for the great rides. Doug

So you have to register and they have campgrounds at Pismo now? It's been over 20 years since I have been there! Back then you just drove down past one of the pole markers and parked. There were few restrictions as to where you could ride also. I guess now the dunes are segregated as to where you can ride.

One cool thing we used to do was before the invention of the cell phone, you used to be able to get on the CB and order pizza to be delivered to you on the beach!

Ahhhh getting stuck.........For those of us who were too cheap to buy a 4wd truck, we used to bring a shovel and a small section of aluminum ramp to get un-stuck. Just dig the tire out a little bit, shove the ramp under the front of the tire and away you go! The trick was once you started to get stuck, don't keep spinning your wheels to get them so buried that you can't dig out!

Rand

Yeah man, I had a blast too. That ride we went on, you Juan and me, was great with the fresh sand. awesome! The second night ride was great too!
No worries about pismo. There will be more trips to come!

The "campground" is just an open camping area, first come first serve. There have been quite a few closures, you cant ride on devil's slide anymore (i never had a chance to ride on it, sucks), and there are lots of fences, but it is still a fun place to go.

I have always wanted to bring 4 big wide planks to drive on to avoid getting stuck. Drive on 2 and move the other 2 like tank treads.

You thinking of going? It will be a fun trip.

I have always wanted to bring 4 big wide planks to drive on to avoid getting stuck. Drive on 2 and move the other 2 like tank treads.

It's funny you mention that. I have seen people do this to get campers back off the beach and into softer sand. I have also smoked a tire on wood boards trying to get un-stuck trying to get up past the high tide line! That's when we came up with the aluminum ramp idea. A lot more traction!

I would love to go......but (there's always that but...) I don't have any more time off until mid August. It's an 8 hour drive one way for me from Carson City.

I was dying of curiosity to know about the so called "campgrounds". There used to be an area on the back side of the dunes that you could camp at on hard ground called Oso Flaco lake. It was a beautiful area with direct access to the back side of the dunes. I'm sure that the nature loving waco's have made it a restricted area to anything other than foot traffic.

Rand

Yeah, that place is most likely closed down. I have never seen anything like that. There is only one way in and out now. Pretty much, you drive in through a check point, your reservation is confirmed and you get a parking pass, and you pull in and drive along the beach and just look for a place to camp. You also have to make sure that your tags are current on everything because the rangers constantly check, roll through your camp, and write tickets.
Here is a link that shows the closure area at the bottom of the page. What a HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... s%3Disch:1

Holy Crap! They've closed 3/4 of the place!

Oso Flaco was at the very south end of the dunes and nobody new about it. Everyone camped on the beach so it got very little use.

Rand

count us in for a week or so................

I will have to miss this trip, but I sure wish I was going. Pismo is one of my favorite places to ride. I also love watching all the people who get stuck, THEN air down their tires and try to un-bury themselves! So funny!!!

I would love to own a 4wd drive tow truck. You could charge a reasonable price and still make a killing pulling people out all day! I can't count how many times I've pushed pulled or dragged someone out of the sand there!

Rand

I would only charge a few beers! Most of the time when we help pull people out, they have them in hand and ready without asking! There is a tow truck on site, but he charges $500!!!!!!!!! He has a monopoly these days, he is the only tow vehicle they let in. Its a big yellow "Tonka" truck. Will try to get a pic of it this trip.

Those vultures get a little pissed off when people are just helping others out.
Personally, if I am on a ride and see someone in need out in the dunes I will always stop and offer help. People stop and offer me help at times when I'm just stopped and taking a break. you don't see this kind of humanity in the real world.
I see quite a few Aussies on the board, my guess is that this is pretty common practice when you get out of the cities?

That's friggin highway robbery! That's why any time we saw someone stuck we would grab the shovels and go running! If I remember right, the old guy I knew back in the eighties charged 150 bucks!

I'll never forget the time when some moron decided to drive his motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) home into the surf, drowned the Engine and got stuck in the surf. It was an all day event just to get it out. They had to get a big tracked earth mover to pull it out. I remember seeing a picture one time of a jeep lying on it's side half buried in sand at the tide line. Bet it was fun to dig out!

Rand

Yeah, I always stop and make sure people like that are ok. Our last dumont trip there was a guy all alone on top of a razor sittin on his quad with his helmet off. I stopped and made sure he was ok, he said he was just watchin the sunset. Pretty spectacular sunsets in dumont.

The guy who charges $500 is the ONLY tow truck they let into pismo now. There were a few fuedes and fist fights over the tow truck companies fighting over whose tow was whose so the BLM said screw them and now only lets the one guy in so he basically has a tow monopoly.

Personally, I think pulling people out (or getting pulled out) is half the fun!

one month to go, just want to bump the thread. anyone interisted in going?

no takers? i got the EEE car all fixed up and ready for some ride time, the pilot is good to go, got the clutch fixed on my RZR-S, YFZ is waiting patiently, a buddy of mine is going to drive my Jeep ('99 TJ) out there, the only bike of mine that looks like it wont be going is that damn little 70atc.

nick both odys are down waiting for parts...maybe

yeah, i read about your trouble, that sucks man. you can yank the good motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) out and drop it in the ody with the good trans! then only 1 will be down.

reservations for friday night (the 16th) are sold out, but saturday and sunday dates are still available

i pulled tops on both..should get rings today. should have them running in a day or two than trany will get here in about 5-6 days.. than rock and roll....kim like your rzr so much she wants one....

talked ti kim.. maybe we'll just drive down there for a day.. check it out and see you guys,, if that will work for you

sure, just give me a call. you still have my cell number?

no; i need your phone number. we are going to stay at a hotel sat night my cell number is 916-342-5588.

I will pm you

Trip was a huge success, had tons of fun, took video and pics, will post soon. For now, a write up...

Friday:
Awake at 3:15am, met up at my mother's house at 4am, and on the road by 4:30am. Arrive to pismo around 9:30am, air down and find a nice camp site. Pulled in a friend with a 2wd truck and travel trailer no problem. Camp gets set up, by now it was lunch time so we ate, then went on a nice easy dune ride. A few people that came with us were new to the dunes, so I lead and took nice easy lines for them to follow, gave them a nice dune tour, went out to the sand drags, hit some smaller fun hills, then cruised back on the beach. Big smiles and happy people for sure. The day progressed, we went on another dune ride, this time a bit more challenging, found a few jumps to play on and what not. After returning from the dune ride, I decided to play with the EEE car some, so i fired it up and it ran great, took it around a bit, got a good 10 minutes of play time around the camp. The day wound down and we had dinner, camp fire, and relaxed. I still was expecting 2 more friends to show up, so I was awake and waiting. I got all the bikes locked up and covered and took a look at the EEE car, the filler neck and gas cap FELL OFF!!!! It was missing from my little 10 min trip I took earlier. BUMMER!!! So I stewed over that for a while, then plugged up the hole and wrote it off for the time being. Danny showed up around midnight with his Z71, so we hung out, got his truck tent set up, then shortly after my friends Jason and his wife Kacey showed up in my Jeep. We get their camp set up, relax, have a few beers, before we knew it it was 3am! All of a sudden, this couple comes walking up to our camp fire saying that their friend is stuck down on the beach and the tide is coming in and they asked me to help them pull him out. So, I hop in the pork chop express (the f250) and drive on over. The DOUCHE BAG was in a little 2wd toyota tacoma, NO SHOVEL, NO TOW STRAP, AND NO BRAINS!!! He was driving literally in the water! There was tons of room in the hard pack sand just 20 feet inland and he would have been fine. So we dig him out a bit, hook him up to my truck and I yank that little toy truck out no prob, put on a good show, throw sand all over the place, it was really fun! All the people in that guys group were suffering from truck envy, my buddies who came to help said they were all ooooo'ing and aaaahhhh'ing when i pulled him out. The guy thanked me, gave me a 6 pack of beer, and we parted ways. My friends and I stayed up until 5am drinking and chatting, having a great time, then it was bed time.

Saturday:
Wake up at 8am (3 hours of sleep!), breakfast, get the troops rallied, then go for another nice easy dune ride. Jason and Kacey were driving my Jeep and it went everywhere! I was really impressed with it. I let Danny ride my yfz450 and I rode the pilot. We had lots of fun, showed everyone the sand drags, a few nice hills, cruised on the beach some, it was really fun. We came back to camp, had lunch, hung out, then went on another fun dune ride, this time Jason and Kacey rode in the RZR-S, I let Danny ride the pilot, and I took my mom's rhino with another friend named Christy. I lead, they followed, it was great. I pushed that rhino as hard as I could, and DAMN...IT NEEDS SUSPENSION!!!!! AND MORE POWER!!!! That thing is a turd compared the the RZR-S!!!! Still fun though. We came to a really nice jump, so I flagged while Christy video taped. Jason and Danny were getting some really nice air for sure! On the last jump that Danny did, he landed just fine, then cut a turn to the right a bit too fast and rolled it over. I was afraid he would let go of the steering wheel, but I saw him holding it when he settled. There was absolutely no damage done to the pilot what so ever! Plastics werent even scratched, and the whip didnt even break! Soooo lucky! So after we onced everything over, got Danny settled once again, we decided to head back nice n slow. We went into town again looking for parts to fix the EEE car with, but had no luck so we did some shopping, got some hats and souveniers, then went back to camp. We partied the rest of the night, a few of us looked for shells on the beach, sat around the camp fire and told stories, it was really fun. The night eventually wound down and we crashed around midnight.

Sunday:
Wake up around 9am, Jason and Kacey take the Jeep into town and get some supplies and eat breakfast. I uncover the bikes, clean them off a bit, and notice that the pilot has a flat on the left rear. We determined that the bead was leaking, so I call Jason real quick and as him to get some tire slime since I left mine at home of course. We fart around at camp and hang out for the early part of the day, Jason returns, we slime the tire, and it holds air. We go for a nice ride, had fun, come back and Capt.Bruce calls me saying he is on the beach, so we head out and find him and guide him to our camp. He got a hotel room further up the coast and he just wanted to come check out the dunes. So we talk a bit, then get a ride organized, I in the pilot, Danny on the quad, Steph (my wife) driving the RZR and Kim (Capt.Bruce's wife) passenger in the RZR, Jason driving the Jeep and Capt.Bruce passenger, and the rest of the gang following suit. I went on a medium pace since Jason had to keep up in the Jeep, and I cant say enough how impressed I am with that stock little 4 banger Jeep! No mods what so ever (except wheels and 31'' tires) and he was hitting hills and climbing stuff like you wouldn't believe! It was really cool to see that happen. So we did another dune tour, ran to the northern most end, went inland some, ran the fence line, dune dune dune, hit the southern most end which is where the sand drags are, the main group cruised back on the beach, so Danny and I split off and hit some or the hard core dunes! I swapped rides with him, I hopped on the YFZ and he rode the pilot, it was fantastic! We got back to camp and got yelled at by the wife for branching off, but she got over it. We were safe and werent alone and they all knew where to go as well. Jason and Kacey had to leave, so we helped them get packed up and they left for home. Bruce and Kim had to return to their hotel as well since they werent able to get checked in the first time they went there. So we hung out a bit, had dinner, then I was looking over the EEE car and decided to rig up a desert fix. I took 2 cotton rags and soaked them in air filter oil, then folded them twice so there were 8 layers of rag as filtration, and I hose clamped the rags over the filler neck, decided it was sufficient to vent and keep sand out (just don't roll over!!!) so Danny and I went on a buggy night ride! I lead in the EEE car, him in the pilot, we ran the fence line, were havin a blast, high speeds, really fun, then we came across this drop off that was sloped down to the left and the fence was right there! I nailed the gas and stayed to the right of the fence just fine, but Danny still being a newbie was not on the gas and was drifting right to the fence. He stopped before he hit it, and i circled back and walked over to help. I thought I could for sure nail the gas and pull right past the fence, but I was wrong. I got in the pilot, cranked the wheel and hammered it, drifted right into the fence and got tangled up. We got the pilot unstuck, pulled it up away from the fence a bit, then I had Danny walk next to the pilot while hitting the gas lightly and I pushed the rear end away from the fence. Got it out, no more issues, ran the fence line some more, hit the sand drags, got a good race between the 2 buggies, the pilot has the low end power to pull away from a dead stop, but after the first 100' or so the EEE car starts to really hit the power band and it will pull past. Really fun racing at night with no one around at all! So we head back to camp and lock up everything, cover it with tarps, then back to partying! Danny, Steph and I were the last 3 up in our camp late at night, we look about 200 yards over to the next camp and we see them playing beer pong! Well, we grab some beers and decide to go make some friends. We get closer and we see that they are just kids, like 12 years old, playing beer pong! 2 male adults come say hi and they tell us that the kids are just playing without drinks, but if we wanted to play we could, so we said hell yeah! We played for a few hours, we lost 2 games to 1 but had a great time! Games were over, we headed back to camp, called it a night and went to bed.

Monday:
Get stuff loaded, pulled out my buddy with his 2wd truck and trailer, went to load the EEE car in the trailer and on the 2nd pull of the pull start, the rope broke!!! Good thing it didnt happen in the dunes! So we got everything loaded eventually, it took forever, I am really not liking having a toy hauler, too much time for setup and tear down. Think I will trade the trailer in on a class C RV here soon, then get an enclosed trailer. Anyway, got on the road late, took our time heading back and got home at 8pm.

All in all, the trip was a huge success, I wish some more people on the board here lived closer, would have been nice to get a good pilot and odyssey ride going. You guys missed a really great trip. Heopfully the Glamis trip I am trying to organize for this new years will be a big showing!