#418 Toro Canyon Park March 3 to June 7, 2022

We arrived at Toro on Wednesday around 11:00 to avoid the rush on the 101. We were backing in towards the gate opening and our new supervisor Alex and a friend made the gate wider for us making it easier for us to park the RV. We got settled in and we were happy as a clam.

We talked a little to the co-host Kristy and I said something like well I like to talk and she said well I really don't so it became obvious to me that you have to just say just a little bit to her but not too much. Considering the situation we were leaving, Toro was heaven on Earth.

Working with Alex was great and he showed us how things are done and he offered to take me up to the top of the hill where the gazebo is in the truck. I enjoyed it but it was a bit spooky because you were riding along the edge of a cliff but I liked the thrill of it.

There were practically no negatives at all for Toro Canyon. It was a beautiful place to live, very quiet. If you got to look for something to be wrong some people use the dog park who were sometimes brought aggressive dogs and there were some problems and once even a small dog fight. The only other thing was on the weekends there were really big parties of 100 people sometimes and they would leave a bit of a mess. It's our job to straighten it all out. That meant that there were two days of hard work and five days of pretty easy so that's a pretty good deal.

India and I did this and that and hiked 2 miles every other day and we were able to spend more time in Santa Barbara because now we were only 15 minutes away. Toro Canyon is actually in/near Montecito which is a high falooten area. It's where some Hollywood celebrities live. We found that everything we needed was within a 10 or 15-minute drive and was nice to avoid going all the way into Santa Barbara. It's a cool enough town but it has its traffic problems on 101 and you never know quite when you're going to be in a traffic jam.

The little town below was called Summerland so we had a PO box there were a few restaurants and a hardware store nearby in Montecito. It was not a very well-stocked one and we found going backwards 3 miles to Carpinteria was usually easier than going to Barbara in traffic terms. Carpentaria is a sleepy little town right on the beach and has everything. We found ourselves being real cozy with the area.

We went on lots of beautiful hikes along the hills in Montecito. Many times it felt weird because the trails would share property lines with some of the most expensive homes in the country. You were in their backyard and you were allowed to be there but I'm not sure if they loved it. It was a compromise they had made with the community to allow people to hike on public trails nearby. We had our routine of going to the movie once a week if possible if something was playing. We were involved in the UU services and walking around down on State Street after the service and then the garden next door.

We also had become involved in a small group circle that met twice a month since we were at Lake Cachuma. These 8 or 10 people became some of the best friends you could ever ask for and we became close and we'll stay close for the years to come.

India and I began to feel that Santa Barbara might need to be our new home. If we wanted to take the summer off we can go up towards some cooler places right on the coast maybe in Oregon or Washington but it started feeling like we would stay in Santa Barbara from now on. I thought I would mention a strange story that happened one afternoon. Going to Toro is a fairly narrow 2 lane wiggly road up the hill. I had someone following me sort of closely. I was going about 35 or 40 and there are times when it seemed like 25 miles an hour would be enough for this wiggly little road. I realize now I was letting these people behind me pressure me into going past my comfort zone in speed being a dually truck and all. In my haste, I got a little too close to the right shoulder and hit something and it made a bang sound and I said well that sure sucks. I pulled over at the next driveway and see if I had any damage. Some lady pulled up behind me. the one that was falling too close and said are you okay? I think you hit something back there. I said oh, okay and I got out and looked and I had hit the rim of my right rear wheel with some kind of an object that did not give a bit. The rim was destroyed and the tire had gone flat but since it was a dually I could get home well enough.

Now starts the process of trying to back pedal and fix things. I looked up how much does a rim cost, 50 bucks? It turns out it's $800. I looked and looked and finally found something on eBay for about 250 and ordered it and got it swapped out. At some point, India and I went back to that area and look for what in the world did I hit. I saw it and it was a concrete piling that was protecting a fire hydrant. Yes, it sucked that I had hit the concrete piling and damaged my rim but it was kind of good that it protected the hydrant because it seems like a really bad Disney movie scene if I had hit that hydrant and water goes shooting up in the air.

An interesting thing that we learned is that we have bears at Toro Canyon. You've got to make sure you put the trash away each night or they will eat trash and tear the trash cans liners and spread trash all over the place. You have to make sure you're done before dark because that's when they become more brave. If you're not done with all the trash by dark I would take something like a trash can lid and bang and clang and make a lot of noise as I approached the dumpsters because there might be a bear in the dumpster, you never know. Let's just say there's this theory that they're not around. One day I noticed that the dumpster had just been trashed and smashed and banged around and the lids destroyed. The big old bear just left a big pile of poop right there for everybody as a calling card. Once I saw all this, I was a believer.

Alex shared a video with me of the bears trashing the dumpster they're pretty big they're called black bears but they are a brown color.

I never physically saw one but I would know that they had been where I was 15 minutes ago because I set the recycling container down, came back in 15 minutes and it's turned over and trashed with all the ingredients everywhere. It's kind of weird that they're kind of watching you and the minute you're away they have at it and then run off when you come back.

There was a fence surrounding the RV parking area and it made us feel safe but Alex told us that if they really wanted to they could rip those boards off.

After dark, the bears would eat the food out of the dumpsters and the ranger said they were letting them have that so that they would be less destructive around the neighborhood surrounding the park. They thought less likely to bother the host if they've got a delicious dumpster to raid. I can tell you this is not the national park's policy as it's a county policy. At the federal level, they say a fed bear is a dead bear.

We were there for about five months and I didn't accomplish nearly enough. I did get new lithium batteries and all the research that goes along with that and got them installed. I also had a second knee replacement. I told the ranger that India would make sure that all the chores were done while I was healing and he seemed to be okay with that. I didn’t need too much help but she was there for me and that was great.

During the last week of our stay, we invited our small group over to our little canyon for a nice picnic. We made a big spread of grilled meats and shish kabobs and all kinds of wonderful veggies and things to eat. Everybody had a great time and it was a pleasure sharing Toro Canyon with them.

I spoke to the ranger many times about my desire to come back after a summer vacation of wandering around up in Washington and he made it seem like there was no reason why we wouldn't come back.

A rig our size would only work two places, Toro Canyon or Lookout Park which was oceanfront.

We left out of there in June just knowing we would be back in October. Spoiler alert. Eventually, in October he said he couldn't use us, and that kind of stunk.

We left out on June 7th and our first major stop would be Yosemite. We really loved hosting at Toro Canyon but as the summer approached it was obvious that it was very difficult as they have such big parties. During our stay, the parties were mostly on weekends but all summer several times a week so we were ready to leave.