A campsite to remember

©2014 Lydia Hinshaw

It doesn't get much better than this

 WESTPORT, CA -- There were no showers and no sinks.  No flush toilets. No electricity. No wi-fi.

 Almost no neighbors.  And no complaints.

 We spent Tuesday night at Abalone Point Campground at Westport Union Landing State Beach in Mendocino County.  With our senior discount, it cost $23, an excellent price for a California campsite.

 It wasn't crowded, probably because there is a steep cliff behind the Magic Bus, and no way to get down to the beach.  In fact, there was asphalt behind our campsite, the remains of old California Highway 1.  Large chunks of it have eroded away, a new road has been constructed on the other side of the campground.

 One of our few neighbors was an auto mechanic, who told us stories of the many VW buses he's bought, restored, and sold.  We wished we could kidnap him and take him with us.

 There are campsites and then there are campsites.  We spent Wednesday night in Klamath, CA, in a private campground where we'd stayed in 2010.  

 The campsite was lovely, but two sites away was the world's loudest family.  We now know way more than we want to about their personal lives -- his divorce, his childrearing conflicts with the ex, his engagement to the new lady.

 It didn't seem to bother them that they were broadcasting this information to everyone within a 50-yard radius.