A Trip to the Snow and Sierra Summit
Posted by Family RV in Family Camping, Family Togetherness, Skiing, Winter Camping on February 20th, 2010
With the President’s holiday (and the kids being out of school for the entire week!) we decided to go up to the snow for the long weekend Friday through Monday.
We didn’t want to go to Lake Tahoe and deal with the crowds and the attitudes we have experienced there. So we decided to go up to the Southern Sierras and go skiing at Sierra Summit. Which is about one hour and a half East of Fresno, CA.
Sierra Summit is East of Fresno
It turned out to be a really good choice. The roads were pretty much traffic free and the resort was busy, but not uncomfortably crowded.
But before we got up to the snow, we had to decide where we would park the travel trailer. We were a little squeamish about driving up to the snow with our trailer, so we decided to park it at an RV park in Fresno and drive up to Sierra Summit for our day trips to the snow.
Two bugs watching a movie
In hindsight there was no need to worry about taking our trailer up to the snow (there were even RVs camping in the parking lot of the resort). The roads were very clear and there was space at Camp Edison at Shaver Lake. Next year we will probably do that. But only if the weather is guaranteed to be clear and the roads are plowed and dry.
We may have to do a little winterizing of the trailer (maybe buy a heat
Sam learning snow boarding
blanket for the water tank or an insulated water hose), but nothing major because it only get down to around 20F at night.
We drove around Camp Edison when we were up there and it looked like a really great place to park the trailer. They were recently rated very high in a Sunset Magazine article on the best campgrounds in the Western US.
Both kids loved the snow. Sam seemed to take to snow boarding, while Ben liked skiing. They are both now telling their friends they are accomplished at their chosen sport after only one lesson.
Our Holiday Trip: A Ton of Fun, and one Little Doh!
Posted by Family RV in Family RV Fun, LegoLand, San Diego, San Diego Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo, Sea World on January 13th, 2010
Well we’re back from our big holiday two week trip to San Diego. We are back to our every day routine of work and school and all the other activities of every day life.
Kids at the San Diego Wild Animal Park
The trip was a whirlwind of activity. We had multi-day trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and LegoLand. Looking at the photos and video from the trip it is great to remember all the fun we had. We kept the kids busy everyday, all day and they loved every minute of it.
The one thing we learned most about this trip, and car traveling with the children, is that they can handle only about four hours of car travel time. Basically the length of two movies and that is it. After that they’ve got to get out and run around and not get back in the car for the rest of the day. For a five year old and an eight year old I think that is pretty good. In the future I think we will be sticking with the four hour travel rule.
That meant that we broke our trip up going down and coming home. Staying both times in Bakersfield along the way. It made the drive less of a grind and we visited friends both stays in B-town.
Kids breakfast on day after christmas
As for making this trip as economical as possible, I give us a C+ grade. Of our two week trip, we stayed one week at a San Diego county regional park called Sweetwater Regional Park. That saved us about $30 per day. Other than that we probably spent too much on everything from treats to food to souvenirs , but man it was hard not to. We are not sure if we are coming back next Christmas, so we indulged.
It was really great that there were other families staying at the park too. We hosted an impromptu breakfast the day after Christmas. The kids loved it.
Elephants at the San Diego Wild Animal Park
The San Diego Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo were spectacular and I think Claire and I enjoyed them the most. The amount and variety of animals at both places is amazing.
The below video is of me feeding Lorikeet birds at the zoo. That was a lot of fun and really cool.
Sea World was ok. About like last year, except they had an ice skating rink the kids really loved. Watch the below video of Ben falling on his butt and then skating over to his mom and sister as she throws a snow ball at him.
We spent new year’s eve at LegoLand. They had a fun new year’s eve party complete with fireworks. We counted down to the new year at 6pm. We were back at our trailer and in bed by 9pm.
Kids with Lego Santa
My little, or should I say big, Doh (and this is a Homer Simpson, Doh) is that I left my laptop in the car at Sea World and it got stolen. Luckily that is all they got (and it was a five year old laptop, so there thief who ever you are). Lesson learned: don’t leave valuables in a parked car.
The Big Holiday Trip: On the Road in Economy Class
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Family Camping, Family RV Fun, Traveling with Kids on December 19th, 2009
The big tank at SeaWorld
Tomorrow we take-off for the longest (by distance and time) of our family RV trips this year. We are going to San Diego for two weeks. My wife is off work and the kids are off school, so we are going for it. I will have to do a little work during the trip, but when you work for yourself your time is never really your own.
photo credit: kwalk628
We are going to try to be as economical as possible. Our trips to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo and Animal Park are already paid for because we bought a year membership to both last year (yes we did this same trip last year).
Panda at the San Diego Zoo
But unlike last year we are trying to stay at county parks and other more economical places. Last year we stayed a really special RV park, Campland on the Bay. It was a little expensive (but very cool), so this year we are going to be staying at three different campgrounds and they are all under $35 per night.
photo credit: PedroCancion
We only considered doing this again this year if we could keep expenses way down. So we won’t be eating out much and we are really going to watch everything we buy. Needless to say our biggest expense will be gas. And the next biggest expense of course will be food. I will be using every trick I know to keep our fuel use to a minimum and most meals will be at the RV. Also the trip will be one of the kids Christmas presents, as we keep telling them.
I think it will be fun to see how cheap we can be. So I will be tweeting along our trip (twitter username: FamilyRVFun).
Follow our exploits in family fun and economy. I will let you know the nitty-gritty on what we spend on and how much. And also I’ll try to pass along anything we learn on economical RV travel.
Thanksgiving dinner on the beach
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Family Camping, Family RV Fun, Traveling with Kids on December 5th, 2009
So we always go to the Pismo Beach area every year for the long Thanksgiving weekend. This has been the second year with our trailer. Before that we rented a house. And before that we rented an RV and spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at a Pismo RV park (we couldn’t get a reservation for Thanksgiving). This was the start of our RV bug.
Thanksgiving dinner at Avila Beach
The weather is always really good during Thanksgiving. The locals call November their Indian summer. And I have to agree with them. We have spent many a sunny afternoon on the beach. And this year we had Thanksgiving dinner on our favorite place Avila Beach, which is just a few miles south of Pismo. We had a really fun time and went to the beach every day that we were there.
We stayed at a really family-friendly RV park in Oceano Beach (just north of Pismo). It is a small county RV park called Oceano Memorial Campground. It has a little kids park at the center and it also has a very large kids playground down the street. For families with kids you can’t ask for a better place to stay. And we are definitely coming back to it next year (we made our reservation for 2010 while we were there).
So if you want to stay at the beach and be at a really family friendly RV campground. Check out Oceano Campground
A really good playground by the RV park
Having fun at Avila Beach
Ben is having fun on the beach. I think he is digging to China.
A Trip to the Pinnacles National Monument
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Family RV Fun, National Parks on November 14th, 2009
With a couple of days off in the middle of the week for Veterans Day, we decided to take a short trip to
the Pinnacles National Monument for some hiking, cave exploration and family fun time.
Pinnacles is a funny place. Driving up highway 25, the area seems unremarkable with a lot of farm and ranch land. Even when you turn off to the park area on highway 146, it just seems like there isn’t much there: Oak trees, grey pines and rolling hills. Ok. so why is this a national monument? Teddy Roosevelt made it one over 100 years ago for gosh sake.
When you get to the campground, there still isn’t much to look at. And right now the campground is in a state of renewal and repair. They are currently building a new RV campsite area in what is currently the group campsite area. They are also building a beautiful new wood rail fence along the park road – I think they got some Obama money.
The rock formations of The Pinnacles National Monument
The yellow billed magpie
Having fun on the trail
But when you get to the hiking trails it all starts to make sense. When you look up at the rock formations, you’ve just got to say WOW at just about every turn on the hiking trail. It almost seems like you are in the Utah hills with the red rock formations that rise above you. Also the wild life is incredible. We saw tons of deer and an interesting bird, the yellow billed Magpie.
Once the new RV camp site is complete (probably by late spring), we will be coming back to enjoy the hiking trails and spring flowers.
One thing you should know is that there is no water hookup for the RV sites. As long as you bring your own water can to fill-up your tank (we have a six gallon one), you will be fine.
Below is a video of some deer that were grazing right by our campsite close to night fall on Nov. 12th.
Cal State Parks – Closure Details Finally Released
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks on November 1st, 2009
Well the last shoe finally dropped on the on-going saga of the California state budget and the Cal State Park system. The “Service Reduction Plan” was released on Tuesday. The Service Reductions are one part of the $14.2 million, one-time budget savings plan Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on September 25 to keep parks open with the least disruption to visitors.
One of the majestic redwood at Big Basin State Park
It didn’t turn out to be as drastic as we all feared, but the cuts were still pretty deep and wide spread. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and one of my favorite State Parks, Big Basin will see campground closures Sunday through Thursday from December through March. Well I guess I can live with that given how much that the State needs to make-up in the budget deficit. I’m just concerned that these cuts will become permanent. Let’s all hope for a better economy and more tax revenue for the state.
You can read about the details of the park reductions at the Cal State Park Foundation website
RV Towing Safety
Posted by Family RV in RV Towing Safety, RV Travel Trailers on October 30th, 2009
This is another great video from Mark Polk of RV Education 101 on the important topic of RV towing safety.
If you enjoy this video, you can see more at his site. Click on the link to the upper right of this web site, where it says “RV Education 101″ for more information.
The National Parks Documentary was Amazing
Posted by Family RV in National Parks on October 7th, 2009
Ken Burns did it again. The National Parks documentary was really good. I can’t tell you how many times I said to myself “I want to go there” when they talked about a national park that I hadn’t been to yet.
Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are the obvious ones. But others like Mesa Verda in Colorado and Denalie in Alaska will be places I plan to visit someday with our travel trailer.
There was one forest ranger in the documentary that really impressed me. His name is Sheldon Johnson and he really draws you in when he speaks. See this short clip about the Buffalo Soldiers of Yosemite. He tells you all about this untold story of the history of Yosemite.
If you didn’t get to see the series it is available online at the PBS web site at The National Parks – America’s Best Idea Each episode is available for viewing until Oct. 9th.
The National Parks PBS Documentary Starts Sunday Night
Posted by Family RV in National Parks on September 26th, 2009
If you love our national parks like I do, you will want to make sure that you see Ken Burns new documentary on our national parks starting this Sunday evening at 8pm.
We will get the history and learn about the heroes that help create our beloved parks. Don’t miss this. Tivo it and watch it later if you must. Just make sure you see the series.
I can’t wait.
Find out more about the series and a schedule of The National Parks a PBS Documentary by Ken Burns.
Cal State Park Foundation President Speaks
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping, Family Camping on September 16th, 2009
Watch this impassioned speech by the President of the Cal State Park Foundation, Elizabeth Goldstein.
She lays down the law on what we need to do to save our parks.
The closure list has been delayed until late next week.
Make a donation to the Cal State Park Foundation fight to stop the park closures.
