Camping Adventures: July 2014

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Donner Memorial State Park (CA)

I planned the first family trip with my side of the family this year. I did this before I got pregnant and reservations are made 6 months in advance with Reserve America for California State Parks.

I thought about canceling it but I wondered if I could get this many people together... Again. Plus it was my husband's birthday & he absolutely loves camping.

Donner is an easy drive near Truckee. It's about 2 hours from the Sacramento area pulling a fifth wheel... Less in a car.

It's easy to find and the town is so close, you can pick anything up if you need or forgot something.

The campgrounds are nice. Since it's reserved by specific sites, we usually know which one we want when reserving. The bathrooms are clean & coin operated showers are very nice too.

There are hiking trails and boat rentals near the lake. We usually hang out at the beach on the lake. It gets packed so we go there early :) we don't hike anymore now that we have kids (we were never really hikers anyway... Too lazy I guess. Haha).

There's plenty of picnic areas too for campers & day users.

We were at site #90 & #91 & there is a creek right behind us and a trail. There's a pond on the other side of the loop but we never made it there.

There was a thunderstorm warning for the weekend but it only rained a lot the last day. The kids still had fun. By then my family had already left so they got lucky ;)

My niece & son(s) in our camp site.

My boys. It was VERY hot & humid because of the thunderstorm.

At the bridge behind our site. There's a creek that runs under it.

At a small field next door (there are no neighbors on one side of site #90).

Our last day. These are taken at our site and right behind it. Look how big I am (32 weeks). It's another reason why we didn't do anything that last day. Plus, I'm so clumsy, not only did I fall out of the fifth wheel, I also twisted my ankle! This was diffinetly the last trip before the baby arrives. Don't worry, I went to labor & delivery for a FULL check up as soon as I got home & baby & I are doing good!

Daddy and my oldest at the lake. They have so much fun together. Can't wait till all the boys get older and play together.

Rain on our last day (it started around 5pm). This is near the big split rock & pond.

Jumping in puddles back at our camp site.

These are my beautiful sisters & usually how we pose haha

So it's good to be a little silly sometimes

I'm glad my parents were able to make it and had a good time.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Calaveras Big Trees

We love to camp in the coast but we also love to see some trees sometimes :)

Calaveras Big Trees State Park isn't that far from us. It's lower elevation than the Sierras but still beautiful. We camped here in June 2014 (a little on the warmer side).

There are easy trails to see all the big trees in the park. We've only camped in the North Grove. The other sites are further into the woods and much smaller (for our fifth wheel).

The North Grove sites also have tent camp sites only in the back. It's basically a big loop with a meadow in the middle and boardwalks that go across the meadows. It's pretty fun for the kids.

At the Boardwalk

They have lots of activities and nice trails (easy and hard) nearby. You can drive further in and hang out at the Stanislaus River. I thought it was too rapid and dangerous for my kids but fun for adults. There's other trails (Lava Bluff & Bradley) further down near a little creek (Beaver Creek). The creek is much safer and calm for my little ones.

Our Camp Site #6