Thanks everyone !

Denise, that's a good point. Depending on the campground, some sites are very large - I'm thinking of my personal favorite, Pfieffer Big Sur, where some of the campsites especially along the river are very, very spacious (hmmm, I wonder if they're less spacious now after all the rain - I can pretty much guarantee it ). But I'm thinking we won't run into filled-up campsites anyhow since we'll be travelling in the off-season, except for perhaps on the weekends.

V., I had forgotten about your tour ! Thanks for the info. We'll most likely spend an extra day in the San Simeon area, there's so much to see. It might even make more sense to get an inexpensive motel room in Cambria or thereabouts (assuming one exists ) for a couple of nights as our base for checking out the area. And it would be cool to see Hearst Castle, if only a bit of it.

Thanks for the info on the yurts, mikki. Maybe we'll luck out and one would be available mid-week in the off season, but that sounds like a really nice campground even if the yurts were all taken & we need to pitch the tent. The Solvang area might be another two-night stay.