Archive for category California camping
Wrights Lake 2011
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Eldorado National Forrest, Family RV Fun, LED lights, Wrights Lake on October 1, 2011
Sammy at Wrights Lake
Getting an early start for the long labor day weekend we made it up to Wrights Lake this year on the Thursday before Labor day. This is the latest time of the year we have been up there and it was a good thing.
The campground didn’t open to the public until July 22 this year, so by the time we made it up there on on Sept. 1 the short summer season was already winding down. Though by Friday evening all the RV sites were filled-up and there was a lot of adults and kids out and about to enjoy the long weekend.
Sammy with Joe kayaking up the channel
What we noticed this year was there were many more mosquitoes than in past years (I assume because of the very high percip. this winter). It was just a minor inconvenience because we did bring extra bug spray.
Also this year we invited some friends to join us (Claire had booked an extra campsite). It made it extra fun inviting the family we met on our first trip to Wrights lake four years ago (the Welton’s) to spend the weekend with us.
This year we also tried to make sure we did some hiking around the area. We started out Saturday morning wanting to hike up to one of the mountain lakes (maybe Grouse Lake), but only made it a few hundred feet up the hill before the kids started complaining. So we decide to just hike around Wrights Lake, which was more than worth it and very beautiful. I think we are going to have to wait until the kids are in the teens before we attempt a hike like the Grouse Lake hike.
Ben kayaking up channel
Kids fishing at Wrights Lake
And this year Ben was able to be a little more independent and paddle around in a borrowed kayak. We paddled all the way up the channel to last passable section. And of course the kids tried their had at fishing, but to no avail. Well maybe next year.
Also a little different this year is that we invited are friends the Walhs up on Sunday evening for an afternoon picinic and swim at the lake. The kids had a great time and I think the adults had fun too.
And because we were dry camping we relied on our battery for the whole five day trip. I think the LED lights really did the trick because our battery never got below 3/4 charge.
Caspar Beach RV Park – Summer fun but winter temp
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping, California North Coast, Family RV Fun on August 5, 2011
Trailer at Caspar Beach RV Park
We spent our 4th of July week with the Caspar Beach RV Park and Campground (map), right across the road from the lovely Caspar Headlands State Nature Reserve (Caspar State Beach). It was very nice to be so close to the beach. The RV park was pleasant enough (though on busy weekends like the 4th you will be packed in like sardines). The park store was well stocked and the bathrooms and showers consistently clean and open.
But . . . and this is a big but, the weather was quite chilly. Even though this summer has been on the chilly side, I never imagined that I would spend my time watching the fireworks on the 4th wearing a heavy winter coat; but I did this year.
Claire and Kids at Lions pancake breakfast
The Caspar beach lured us to go down everyday and play in the sand (which the kids did). And we did some really nice small town activities, like the Fort Bragg Salmon feed, Mendocino Lions Pancake Breakfast and the annual Mendocino 4thof July parade. All were fun and with plenty of flavor of the local ambiance. Also the kids loved the indoor pool in Fort Bragg.
Fort Bragg Pool
Our neighbors in the RV park enjoyed a great day salmon fishing, meeting their limit. They shared a huge fillet with us and we enjoyed several salmon dinners at home. There is nothing quite like seafood fresh from the ocean!
The drive to Caspar Beach was LONG and filled with pleasant scenery as we took highway 128 to try to avoid a mountain like pass on 120. On the way back we decided to take 120 to get a more direct route to 101 and our drive home. We went from 65 degree weather to 98 degree weather just going from Fort Bragg to Willits.
There are so many State Parks in the region of Caspar State Beach; Hendy Woods State Park, Russian Gulch State Park, Jughandle State Reserve and Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. Unfortunately they are all slated to close next year due to the California State budget issues. Hopefully some will find private management before they close.
The people, the scenery and the food were all excellent and we were glad we made the decision to go more NORTH this year for 4th of July but we also decided our next adventures will be more Southward bound for a bit more warmth in the future.
Something New at Avila Beach
Posted by Family RV in Avila Beach, California camping, Family RV Fun on June 19, 2011
We decided to go back to one of our favorite places for the kid’s Spring break this year.
Yes we went back to Avila Beach yet again (map). But we found so much new stuff to do that it didn’t seem like we were hanging around the same old place doing the same old stuff.
Old Port Beach is a dog beach
We did park the trailer at the same RV campground (the Port San Luis RV park on Babe Lane). But what made this trip a little different was that we had our new dog Phoebe with us on the trip. And with her we spent a lot of time on the dog beach which was just below where we were camping.
On the Saturday that we were there, we spent the whole day on the beach with Phoebe and all the other dogs and people who came down to walk their dogs.
Point San Luis Lighthouse
Also on this trip we had a chance to visit the Point San Luis Lighthouse which was open for the first weekend of the Spring season. We took a short bus ride to the lighthouse and enjoyed an excellent tour of the lighthouse from a very knowledgable lighthouse guide.
Lighthouse Lens
What made this a special trip is that we spent the evening on the dog beach eating our dinner by moon light (a full moon night) and dancing the night away on the beach.
That is the kids did all of the dancing, while us parents talked and drank wine.
Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park: Nice Place, But…
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Campground Review, Family Camping, Santa Cruz Camping on March 27, 2011
Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park
We decided to spend a quick weekend at the Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park recently (map). Yes that Santa Cruz Harbor. The one that was hit by the Japan tsunami recently. Though we were there many weeks before the flooding at the harbor.
The RV park looked like it would be a fun trip and no big deal. A 40 minute drive over the hill to Santa Cruz from San Jose for fun on the beach (and a whale watching boat ride on Sat.)
The campground turned out to be a very nice pretty place to camp, even though it is just a strip of asphalt (and a kind of picky camp host) . But it has a nice view of the harbor, full hook-ups and a great kids park just up the hill. Also the beach is a short bike ride. Throw in that we had a fantastic weather (low 70s, sunny and little wind) and you have the makings of another Family RV Fun trip.
But, we had a couple of incidents on our trip where we felt our personal safety and personal property were in question. We almost had a bike stolen and also the same evening a homeless person hanging out outside our trailer at 3 in the morning. Not good.
Kids on the beach in Santa Cruz
I did read about the theft issue on a review of the park on another site, but I didn’t give it a lot of thought. After our experience, and talking with a harbor official, it’s clear that theft has been a big problem at this place and anyone planning to stay here needs to be aware of this.
Apparently neighborhood juvenile delinquents come down in the early morning hours and steal anything left outside. Luckily for us we did have our bikes locked-up but they almost got my bike pulled out of a padlock right before I scared them away.
Frederick Street Park
So do I recommend this RV park and will we come back? I guess it is a yes, mainly because the kids love the park near by and the great beach. Just don’t leave anything out of your rig over night.
Columbia State Historic Park in December
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping, Columbia State Historic Park, Family Camping on December 31, 2010
We had been to the Columbia State Historic Park before (map). It was a summer time trip and a couple of years before we got our travel trailer.
So when our friends said they wanted to go there I was a little apprehensive about going back to some place that I thought we had already experienced. But we did agree to go and I knew the kids would have a good time with our friend’s kids so off we went.
Well I’m so glad we did. The first pleasant surprise was the RV park we stayed at. Located very close to the historic downtown area, Marble Quarry RV Park is a very nice RV park with full hook-ups and well-maintained facilities. The best thing about the RV park was that you could easily walk to the State Park downtown area, though we drove each time we went (our cop-out was two screaming kids who don’t want to walk anywhere).
The Columbia Historic State Park is basically a restored and maintained old 49er gold rush town that had the good fortune to be taken over by the Cal State Park system (or I’m sure it would have faded away from neglect and non-use long ago).
The downtown area is full of historic buildings along the main street. Some are storefront museums and others are quaint little shops, each with its own specialty. One we particularly enjoyed was a farmers supply shop that had all means of supplies for the 19th century rural famer. Others included a sweets shop, and old time restaurant and a gold rush era bookstore.
Stagecoach at Columbia State Park
You can also pan for gold, ride a stagecoach (guaranteed to by held-up be bandits) and drink-in the old time atmosphere of the old west.
The weekend we were there we enjoyed the Christmas parade for the town, which included more horses than you could count from horse clubs and 4H groups. What was great about the parade for us was that we didn’t have to fight the crowds to have a good seat to see the parade. There was a good-sized crowd to enjoy the event but not too large to be uncomfortable.
Columbia Holiday Parade
All-in-all it was an enjoyable trip and well worth the gas money to get there.
Thanksgiving Dinner on the Beach 2010
Posted by Family RV in Avila Beach, California camping, Family Togetherness, thanksgiving on December 8, 2010
We were really looking forward to our annual Thanksgiving trip to Avila Beach this year.
Picnic Table Canopy
As soon as we could, we consulted the holiday weather report to make sure we’d have good weather for our Thanksgiving dinner on the beach. Claire went out and purchased a new canopy tent with screen walls so that we could enjoy a view of the ocean from every direction during our dinner and not be harassed by the seagulls while we ate.
And because the temperature looked to be considerably colder this year we splurged on a propane ceramic heater that we could place underneath the picnic table if we needed to. But it turned out we didn’t.
Claire and her pumpkin cups. Yum!
Thanksgiving day was cold but beautifully clear. Claire spent about an hour and a half preparing our dinner. She made the pumpkin cups recipe which is featured in her newly finished book, The Mobile Kitchen (more on that in future blog posts).They looked great and they tasted great too! For our dinner this year we had ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce, fresh green beans, corn bread stuffing and topped off with the pumpkin cups!
A little after 1:00 p.m. we were enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner on the beach again. It was wonderful, there was a very light breeze and it felt great even though it was about 58 degrees.
Just off shore there was a bevy of activity with a large pod of seals and sea lions that were feeding, with birds diving into the water also to catch the fish. It was spectacular to see such activity. Not only were we feasting on Thanksgiving, so were they.
After dinner, the kids played in the sand and even though the temperature was cooler this year our kids managed to get into the surf and play in the waves. We had brought extra clothes so we did allow them to get wet.
We had our pumpkin cups with whipped cream and enjoyed the rest of the day till about 4:30 p.m. when the sun went over the hill and it got noticeably cooler. So time to pack-up and call it a very fun Thanksgiving day.
Roasting marshmallows by the fire
We stayed at the Oceano Campground again this year. There were many more families with kids this year that made it all that much more fun for the kids! The kids were well spaced in age and played well in the small sandbox playground. That was a welcome addition to our holiday camping. On Friday, after a full day back at Avila Beach we hosted a marshmallow roasting for the kids in the campground and tried out chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallows with all the kids in the campground! Yum!
We had a great Thanksgiving! Before we left, we put in our reservations again for next year. Moving one more spot over in the internal circle of the campground so that we have a good view of the playground!
Prop 21 Update: My Take
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping, Family RV Fun, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park on November 7, 2010
Unfortunately prop. 21 failed at the ballot on election day. Of the Californians who did vote, the prop went down a whooping 58% against.
It is really a shame when you consider a statistic I read in the SF Chronicle: “Studies have estimated that visitors spend between $2 billion and $4 billion a year on camping gear, food, gas and other goods in communities surrounding state parks. That amounts to about $300 million in tax revenue for the state general fund each year.” This is according to Mike Sweeney of the Nature Conservancy.
Park Use Fees: Case in Point
It seems people don’t want to pay for any services, even the ones they use.
This is what I saw on our last camping trip up to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Instead of people driving into the park and pay the $10 entrance fee, many were parking along the road outside the park and walking in, so they can dodge the fee.
In my opinion that is the problem with our State trying to rely on park use fees. People will always try to dodge them and expect the State to find the money to run the parks somewhere else. It is really infuriating when you see people so short sighted.
But in an economy like we are experiencing, it is not surprising to see prop 21 fail. People are hurting, and our State Parks aren’t the highest priority for most. I just hope our legislators can find enough money to keep most of the parks open so we can continue to enjoy them.
You can help. Please donate to the California State Parks Foundation. I did. And I plan to keep supporting the Foundation’s fight for the Cal State Parks.
Vote Yes on Prop. 21 on Nov. 2
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping on October 17, 2010
If you are a long time reader of this blog you know that we love to camp at the many great state parks of the great state of California. This November there is a very important proposition to restore some financial security to the state park system.
Please vote yes on Prop. 21 and keep the state park system strong. You can read more about Prop 21 on the State Park Foundation’s. web site.
10 Days in the Mountains – Part 2 Shaver Lake and Camp Edison
Posted by Family RV in California camping, Camp Edison, Family RV Fun, Shaver Lake, Sierra National Forrest on August 8, 2010
Ben on a rock at Shaver Lake
After a night of refreshing at home: laundry, restocking and love and care of our menagerie of cat, toad, tortoise and fish and a thorough cleaning of the mini van and Suburban we headed out for a four hour drive to the Sierra National Forest at Shaver Lake and the highly recommended Camp Edison (map).
We arrived around 5:30 p.m. grabbed a bite to eat in Shaver Lake and headed to our great pull through site at Camp Edison. The site was close to a bathroom and shower building. You can buy a shower card from Camp Edison, 40 minutes for $5. We found we could not use this whole card, even taking a nice hot shower every night after a day on the lake. Highly recommend; just get it when you arrive.
On Wednesday, Claire rented a pontoon boat for the afternoon which was capable of towing an inner tube and she took the kids out for four hours of fun on the lake. Kids can fish without a fishing license, so both the kids opted to try this and we bought them each a self casting children’s fishing rod and kit. Though they didn’t catch anything they did enjoy trying.
Kids fishing at Shaver
Camp Edison has daily activities for kids and even art and photography lessons that people can sign up for. We had the kids do all the activities we could including a storytime and an animal track plaster of paris art project. Samantha and Claire went Shaver Stables to go for Samantha’s first horseback ride. We highly recommend doing that, she had a great time and did very well on the docile and well cared horse named Tombstone!
Claire and Samantha found out if they wanted to go out canoeing they needed to do it either early in the morning before 9 am or after 5 pm when all the boats seemed to exit the lake. Then is was calm enough to easily navigate the lake and check out the coves. They visited the Museum of the Sierras which has a lot of children’s activities books and coloring books that can keep kids busy while the adults visit. They also visited the National Forest Service Campground of Dorabelle Campground at Dorabelle Cove to check out the sites. If we ever are not able to get into Camp Edison, Dorabelle Campground would be the alternative. There are other campgrounds further north of the lake but Dorabelle is right on the water and has beautiful picnic options that overlook the lake.
What to do when the weather isn’t perfect – Sunset State Beach
Posted by Family RV in Cal State Parks, California camping, Family Camping, Family RV Fun, Sunset State Beach on June 7, 2010
Set for a mid-May trip, we finally got a weekend reservation at Sunset State Beach (Map) located south of Rio Del Mar, CA.
Sunset State Beach campground and beach
We’d heard a lot about the campground and looked forward to going there and having a great weekend trip on the coast.
It being mid-May we thought the weather would be no problem, but this is no usual weather year so yes we did run into some not so perfect weather.
We pulled into our campground late on Friday night with little problems (though me backing-up the trailer always involves some level of drama).
On Sat. morning we got up to a little fog but it burned off pretty quickly. So we packed-up and headed to the beach.
It is a short drive down to the beach with some really nice picnic and barbecue facilities.
Sunset State Beach
What makes Sunset State Beach so unique is that it is an extremely long and flat beach. I’m not sure how long it is but it sure looked like you would be walking for hours until you reached the end of it.
But we never really got the chance to walk along the beach for very long.
The trouble was that the wind was howling in from the surf and making our day at the beach a little difficult to enjoy.
First we tried to make a wind break with our chairs and sun umbrellas. But of course the wind was just too strong and we had to retreat to the other side of the dunes where the wind wasn’t so strong, but alas not on the beach itself.
Of course the kids took the weather hiccups in stride and seemed to have a great time no matter what.
Kids at Sunset Beach Campground
Later at the campground the kids had fun in a field of wild flowers just outside our trailer door.
Sunday morning we woke-up to a cloudy and raining morning. All the tent campers were very quick to pack-up and leave at the first sign of rain.
We also left Sunday morning, but stayed cozy and warm in our travel trailer until we were ready to leave.
This campground does deserve another try when the weather is better. But it is hard to get a reservation in the summer.
Also the campground doesn’t have hook-ups but we could dump our black and gray water at the New Brighton State Beach campground.
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Family RV Fun Feed- Merry Christmas from The Erwins at Family RV Fun
- The Black Oaks of Yosemite
- Wrights Lake 2011
- Sky islands: wild flowers in the high country
- One mistake and the pretty pictures you see along the way
- Switching over to LED lights
- Caspar Beach RV Park – Summer fun but winter temp
- Moonbows in Yosemite Valley
- Our Big Yosemite Adventure
- Something New at Avila Beach