As I’m writing to you it is pouring rain here in San Jose, CA where we live, with not a chance of sunshine for three or four days – and it’s June 4th!

But it is the beginning of the RV season, even if the weather isn’t cooperating, so we plan a trip very soon to take advantage of the kids being out of school.

This RV season will be a bit different this year because we have a new addition to our family. Her name is Phoebe and she is a little white ball of fur and love. She is a perfect RV size and is a very good traveler (when we’re on the road she just takes a nap).

After our long time family cat “Killer” died in March (he lived 17 years) , we started to look for a new family pet. We got very lucky and found a family that needed to find a new home for their Coton de Tulear breed dog, Phoebe.

She has been a great addition to our family. In the coming months you will see her with us as we go on our summer camping trips.

If I can pass along any tips to traveling with a dog and two very active kids I will definitely add them here.

So please welcome Phoebe to our Family RV Fun blog.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

A new RV season and an addition to the family

Similar Family RV Fun posts:

1. Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park: Nice Place, But… We  decided to spend a quick weekend at the Santa...

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!

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

Thanksgiving Dinner on the Beach 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.

This post via the: Family RV Fun blog. Where you can get tips, tricks and valuable info on family RV travel.

A Trip to the Snow and Sierra Summit