Vacationers Brace for the Longest Wait : Holidays: Ventura County’s 40 campgrounds fill up quickly for the Memorial Day weekend. Many visitors are left out.

Ventura County is full of a lot of happy campers, and some disgruntled ones.

Many would-be vacationers who arrived Friday--with children, lanterns and tents in tow--were disappointed to find the county’s 40 campgrounds at or near capacity.

“It’s so crowded it’s unbelievable,” said Helen Zink, 47, who motored in from North Hollywood in her camper early Friday. “We’ll probably have to stay in the parking lot at Von’s supermarket.”

Memorial Day weekend, which signals the beginning of summer for many people, is usually the most popular camping weekend of the year, with the Fourth of July and Labor Day ranking second and third, respectively. This year seems to be no different.

The eight beach campgrounds in Ventura County were full by Thursday afternoon. Most of the 30 or so remaining campgrounds--run by private, county, state and federal authorities--were at or near capacity by Friday morning and were expected to be full today.

There are more than 1,700 camping spaces in the county, but David Potthast, a 40-year-old firefighter from Santa Clarita, was having trouble finding one as he arrived at the Rincon Parkway, where he usually camps. Even though he arrived at 10 a.m. Friday, eight trips up and down the one-mile stretch of road bordering the ocean revealed no spaces. The highway was packed bumper to bumper with RVs.

Potthast said he, his wife and his 6-year-old son would probably have to cut their weekend short and return home if they did not find a space soon.

Potthast talked of his frustration and said his son James was extremely disappointed.

“It’s almost a game you have to play to get a spot,” Potthast said. “Next time I’ll know to come Wednesday instead of Friday.”

Most of the game winners Friday said they had indeed staked out their spaces since Tuesday or Wednesday.

Some latecomers on Friday planted themselves outside the entrance of campgrounds waiting for trailers to pull out so they could snag the space.

Others had called and reserved spots, sometimes as much as a year in advance.

“I can predict that on Tuesday morning, people will be calling for 1990 Memorial Day weekend reservations,” said Pam Gallo, the county parks operations supervisor.

At the Lake Casitas Recreation Area, many people who knew the grounds would fill up quickly this weekend paid to reserve spots beginning Monday, even though they would not start camping until Friday, said Brent Doan, a ranger for the Casitas Municipal Water District.

The 450 campsites at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area were packed by 8 a.m. Friday, Doan said.

He said that when he reported to work at 5 a.m., five carloads of people already were in line to stake their claims.

“This is the biggest weekend of the year,” Doan said. “It kicks off the summer season.”

Those unfortunates who did not think ahead and arrived at Lake Casitas just a little too late were relegated to the dreaded “overflow area.”

Unlike other Casitas campgrounds that nestle between trees in small, shady glens, many of the overflow spaces at Casitas sit on flat, open fields near the park’s entrance gate.

They do not have picnic tables or fire pits, Doan said.

As Farouk Hanna, 51, of Santa Monica set up camp in the overflow zone, he bemoaned his late start, which caused him to miss by 90 minutes getting a plum spot.

“We’re worried that we’ll get cold without a fire,” Hanna said. “And there aren’t enough showers.”

But many campers were happy, very happy.

“This is the beginning of summer for us,” said Jeff Jackson, 36, of Oxnard, who staked his spot on Wednesday. He gestured to the two dogs and six children surrounding him. “This is nice. It’s real nice.”

Jackson’s family and close friends had done more than set up camp at the Lake Casitas Recreation Area.

They had set up a small city--four tents were pitched in their assigned space, nine lawn chairs surrounded the fire pit, and two picnic tables just barely provided enough room for the hotdogs, corn, eggs, bacon and pancake mix brought to feed the crew.

“You’ve got to come as a village,” said Jackson, who said he liked the crowded conditions.

“It’s enjoyable,” Jackson said. “You can walk around and always make new friends.”

Michael Lesnansky, 69, of Sylmar said he was having a great time at the Emma Wood Beach Park west of Ventura.

He sat on a green Astroturf spread in front of his 21-foot “mini-home” enjoying the view of the waves that broke about 15 feet from him.

Lesnansky said he enjoyed spending his days going for walks and watching dolphins play in the ocean.

He also found good sport in the crowded conditions, gazing at the endless stream of motor homes cruising the strip for a place to stay.

“It’s amazing how many people travel up and down this road just looking for spots,” Lesnansky said.