Camping in the Redwood Groves

 Jay and I have hired one of the older kids from our girls' school to babysit for us tonight.  She was Lila's first grade buddy and was on Bun's track team, so both of the kids are comfortable with her.  While I was arranging the night with her mom, her mom mentioned that they are big campers and have camped all over CA but always go back to a campground up north called Hendy Woods State Park.

Jay and I, being the  newly crowned spontaneous adventurers that we are, decided to head up there on one of his days off.

So on Thursday morning we set out on the three hour drive, up past the wineries and vineyards and into the mountains.  The only downside to Hendy is that in order to get there you have to drive on the windiest roads that I have ever encountered (and I grew up in Colorado).  I mean, they are, carsick, pukefest windy... and you have to be on them for over an hour.   I'm not going to lie.  It was rough...  Scenically beautiful, but rough.  Even Groovy James puked in his carrier.

Once we got there we at lunch and settled into the cabin that we rented.  Last week we froze while camping in Santa Cruz, so this week we opted for a cabin with a little wood burning stove.  It's funny, because as far as luxury camping is concerned, this site is WAY more rustic than the KOA, and yet our experience was so much nicer.

One thing that I love about these cabins (and I would NEVER have rented one otherwise) is that the bunk beds do not have mattresses or bedding.  They are just platforms.  So you bring your own air mattresses and bedding and use that.  Anyone who reads my blog knows how scared I am of bedbugs, so I can not imagine being able to sleep on a mattress that I didn't bring from home.  The very thought is making me feel itchy.

This is the little stove.  We only put two or three logs in it and it really got this little cabin warmed up at night.

It also has a little table and chairs.  There's a picnic table outside where we ate our meals, but I can imagine that this table and chairs would come in handy during the rainy season.

 The actual campsite felt like we were deep in Little Red Riding Hood's forest.  This is the kind of camping that I love. We could drive our car up to the site and have all of the comforts of home, and yet still feel like we were experiencing nature.

The Santa Cruz KOA sort of felt like we were 20 years old and camping at a music festival.  A good time, but not necessarily what I love the most when I camp.

These are pictures from around the site.  There were very, very few other people camping and while hiking we only saw two other people.  We had the feeling of having this park practically to ourselves.  There were a few tents and a few campers, but I don't think that any of the other 3 cabins were occupied.

It only cost $10 more to rent a cabin, so think it was completely worth it.

After setting up and exploring our campgrounds, we set out on a hike.  Our mission was to find water.  The girls put on their swimsuits and grabbed some towels and bottles of water, and we set out.

Unfortunately the dogs were not allowed on these trails with us.  I can see why.  There are all sorts of creatures that I imagine would stay far from humans but might feel differently about a leashed dog.  We put the dogs in their carriers and secured them in the cabin.  I felt bad about it... but it was for their own safety.

 The Redwoods are just breathtaking.  I happen to really like trees as it is... but these trees are incredible.

Somewhere in this park, there is a huge redwood trunk that a man lived in for a long stretch of time.  They call him the Hendy Hermit.  The next time we camp here it will be my goal to find it.  Our trip was so short this time (after all, we had to be home for our big date tonight) that we could only have one goal... and it was to find a river to play in.

But along the trail, there was a lot of playing to be done.

Finally, after hiking for about 2 hours, we made it!

And we were all wading around and splashing, feeling at one with nature when Bunny kicked over a piece of drift wood and a dead rat came floating out and heading down stream.

And then I freaked out and ordered everyone out of the water.

Yes, I know it's nature.  I am sure that there are lots of dead things in every stream...

But...

it couldn't have been any more nasty.

The image will be forever branded on my brain.

 This is a picture of Bunny going on and on about the discovery of the rat.  She would later tell us that seeing it had been the highlight of her trip.

 I had to take a picture of this tree.  I don't know why there's not a trail to it called, "Phallic Tree Trail" or something.

When we got back to our cabin I put out appetizers and started to cook.

We put out hummus and veggies, mexican 7 layer dip and chips and I got started on dinner.

For dinner I made baked potatoes, chicken breasts and salad.

I totally love camp-cooking on my little grill and eating outside.  While our kids munch on veggies, Jay starts a fire and I pour a glass of wine.

I think that I love creating home spaces when we are not at home.

 After dinner we took the dogs for a walk around the campgrounds.

The girls played and climbed on everything!

And we came back and roasted marshmallows.

 We are doing some serious roughing it.  That's our portable dvd player.  Bunny and Lila are chilling out in bed, watching icarly.

When it got chilly we started a little fire in the stove.

And Jay and I stayed up till the wee hours, sitting by the fire, talking.

In the morning we got up and I made breakfast burritos.  Then we started packing up and headed out with the dogs on a hike before starting the long trek home.  

Even though Groovy-James got sick in the car, I really think that the dogs both love coming on these adventures with us.  Also, I think that it's been great for Groovy, who tends to be very standoffish with strangers.  They are both very well behaved while we are away and when we get home they are always exhausted.  

Both of them laid like this on my lap, lifelessly, for ages last night.

This was a wonderful camping trip.  I can see how someone could really make Hendy Woods a home away from home.  I can't wait to return.  But the next time we go it will really need to be for longer than one night.  It's too long a drive and there are too many things to see and do there to spend that much time in the car.  

I am thinking of taking the kids back there in September for a few nights!  

Picture of the Day

Dear Lila Holler,

Who were you in your last life?

I just found my six year old "relaxing" in her room after a long, warm bubble bath.  She asked me if we have any "guacamole" to rub all over her face.

I said no, (in case you were wondering.)

Camping Trip

When we left Concord on Thursday it was in the 90's and likely nearing 100 degrees.  We pulled out of our driveway with our children, dogs, a million supplies and the air conditioning blasting.  At some point Jay looked at his phone and said, "According to this, it's only 67 degrees here."  We rolled the windows down and low and behold, the temperature in Santa Cruz was shockingly low.  When we got there, in the hottest part of the day, we were all a little bit chilly.  Jay hadn't even brought a sweatshirt and had to buy one at the KOA giftshop (I am just counting the moments until I can make it mine, as I do with all of his sweatshirts... mwahhahahah...).  I hadn't packed for the cool temperatures and so we had to layer.  I put on every shirt that I had brought (4 of them) and a sweatshirt (but I am always too cold) and I put the kids in sweatshirts till the sun went down... then I layered them in pi's.  

 This is our little camping site!  It was small, but not nearly as tiny as so many of the reviews said that it would be.  Luckily, we had nice neighbors on both sides and I found the campgrounds to be generally quiet (though, if you didn't have children I wouldn't recommend it because the Santa Cruz KOA is really a children's campground paradise.)

They have what they call the "beach zone" that has sand and a really nice playground.  It also has mini-golf, this jumpy thing that is a hybrid between a trampoline and a jump house, banana bike rentals and a huge climbing tree.  They also have an inside video arcade for kids there.  This was empty while we were camping, but I can see how it would be a lifesaver on a rainy day.

In the afternoon we headed over to the beach.  The water in Santa Cruz is warm enough to swim in, but not that day.  It was also very rough with waves (but probably good surfing).

We had to walk down around a million stairs to get to the beach.  The going down was fine, the up admittedly hurt a little bit.  I think it was hardest on Sidney, who is blind and feels the incline with her nose before she jumps up.  I can only imagine how confused she must have been.

 When we got back to the campground, the girls rented banana bikes and zipped around the campground.  Lila was especially difficult to keep up with.  We ended up walking a ton and and finding a great little dog park to unleash Groovy James and Sidney in.

We got back to the site and washed up for dinner.  I put appetizers out and used our new camping grill.  This is the first camping grill that I've ever had. In the old days when I camped I'd just bring cold food and that would be that.  This is the first time that I've ever brought food and supplies for actual meals in a huge cooler.

Funny story.  We forgot to pick up the leftover food from Sidney and Groovy's dinner and when Jay was coming back from the bathroom, late at night, he bumped into a skunk eating and drinking up the remaining food and water.

After dinner, Jay took the girls down the pool.  It was heated and pretty nice for being on a koa campground.  It was also heated and I think was far more comfortable than just being in your pi's.  I wish that I could have gone in, but no pets were allowed and I wanted to clean up after dinner.

 When everyone got back the fire was really going and the sun was coming down, so it was the perfect time for roasting marshmallows.

I don't know how cold it was in that tent but the night was not the most comfortable nights sleep that I've ever had.  I packed blankets for Concord weather, not for Santa Cruz and that was a mistake.  We all survived, and now we know... but... I have never been so glad to have Sidney and Groovy curled up under the covers, one pressed to my belly and the other pressed to my back.  Little heaters.

This is what we look like when we are standing on a beach and taking pictures of each other.

Dorkiest couple ever.