On August 21, 2010, we decided to go on a daycation and head east towards San Francisco.  Our love for trees lead us to Muir Woods.

In 1908, Muir Woods was designated the 10th National Monument for the US.   This marked the first time in history that a private individual, William and Elizabeth Kent, donated land to the federal government to create a National Monument.   William Kent requested that the monument be named after John Muir, a noted conservationist.

Throughout the area are many trails that meander throughout the monument.   We decided to walk the loop along Redwood Creek, which takes you on a 2 mile trip through the Cathedral and Bohemian Groves.   Within the groves, we marveled at the beauty of the redwoods.  Their shear size simply takes your breathe away.  The 2 mile walk was perfect for kids and even the mature kids of all sizes!  We even saw parents with strollers!!  Muir Woods was definitely worth the $5/person entrance fee…we highly recommend a visit!!  We rate this a 5 out of 5!

After spending a few hours at Muir Woods (this included the 1 mile trek back to our car because the parking lots were full), we headed down Highway 1 to Muir Beach.

Muir Beach is a small beach about 1,000 feet wide.  This beach is perfect for a family campfire on the beach because there are ready-made grills throughout the small beach.  There’s also an area for DOGS!!  We found a log that became our bench, where we enjoyed our picnic lunch from home.  It’s a shame to think there are people who have never placed their toes in the sand on a beach looking out to the ocean!  We sat in quiet awe as we chomped on sub sandwiches and chips (of course).   After ten years of being together, we still enjoy exploring the world and enjoying the quiet, simple moments in life.  What a wonderful daycation!!  Check out our album for more pics from our daycation!

Plasse’s Resort – July 2010

Rating: 4 out of 5

Location:  In the heart of the High Sierras approximately 50 miles east of Jackson.

Amenities:  Portable toilets, showers, general store, restaurant, propane station, laundry facilities, canoe and kayak rentals, arcade, and outdoor playgrounds.

Pets:  Allowed at no additional charge

Pros:  The campground is very pet friendly and family oriented.  It offers a one-stop shop of entertainment and fun.  Campsites are spread fairly far apart and the evenings are quiet.  The resort has it’s own lake access; however, we recommend visiting Sandy Cove Beach, which is a few minute drive from the resort.  Sandy Cove Beach offers easy access to the lake and is also a great spot for fishing.  Picnic tables are located near the beach so it’s a great area to spend the day. There are lots of activities to do at Plasse’s, which will offer hours of fun without having to leave the campgrounds.  There’s even a restaurant within the resort if you get tired of cooking your own meals!  A laundry facility is available so if you’re staying for a week or more, you won’t need to overpack!  A creek running through the resort offers great opportunities for fishing and is quite easy to get to.

Cons: In order for you to get to the campsites from the main entrance, you have to cross a creek that is about a foot to two feet deep.  If you’re driving a low profile car, you may end up having trouble passing.   Signs within the campground designating individual sites are hard to read so plan accordingly.  It is recommended that you come during the day to set up shop.  Mosquitoes are relentless so bring the powerful bug spray.  “Off” didn’t keep the bugs away so make sure you bring something with a high content of Deet!   Lake access at Plasse’s is not the greatest.  Instead of a beach, you will find a marshland of soggy, muddy grass.  We highly recommend going to Sandy Cove for beach access.   While there are showers available at Plasse’s, they are not within short walking distance.  Plan on driving your car if you want to take a shower (don’t forget about crossing the creek).   Due to the altitude, the weather will range about 30 degrees during the evening to day.  Plan on bringing lots of layers because you will feel the heat during the day and the icy chill during the evenings.

Henry Cowell State Park – June 2010

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: Near Felton on Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Amenities: Flushing toilets and showers

Pets: Allowed at no additional charge

Pros: The campground has some awesome sites located under a canopy of trees.  The canopy provides protection from the sun and gives off wonderful shades of green when the sun’s rays peak through.   Pictures can’t convey how beautiful the greenery is!!  The campsites and amenities were very clean and the trails within the campground were nice to explore!  Aside from a few small gnats, the campground is essentially bug-free.  The campground is a short 15 minute drive to the coast. During our stay, we visited Natural Bridges State Beach (no dogs are allowed but it was too windy and cold to stay long), Mitchell’s Cove (same vicinity as NBSB)–a dog friendly beach, and a beach in Davenport (no dogs allowed at the beach we walked to but there is one nearby).  The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was also within 15 minutes; however, no dogs are allowed at the Boardwalk so we did not include this stop in our itinerary.

Cons:

The canopy of trees, while lovely to see during the day, is also the home to many species of birds.  Like clockwork, these birds will “talk” to each other during the early hours of the morning.  If you’re not a sound sleeper, you won’t be able to sleep in past 6.  During our walks within the campgrounds, we noticed that there were quite a few individual sites that were not ideal. Be careful with your selection!  If you like the shade, we suggest reserving a site located on the side of the loop where our sites are.  If the campground is full, you won’t be able to cut through nearby sites to shorten your journey to the bathroom.  If you have a small bladder, try to find a site closer to the bathroom to avoid any accidents.   While we didn’t have to worry about bugs, there are lots of birds and squirrels that would love to eat the food you bring!  If you leave the site, make sure you put all your food in bins or in a secured place.  Don’t leave anything out!  During our stay, we lost bread, watermelon, fiber bars, and banana bread to the squirrels.  It was out fault for leaving the items out…so learn from our mistake!  Also, zip up your tents completely because a squirrel slipped through a four inch gap in the Walden’s tent to get to the bread and ended up getting caught in their tent!!  The critters are hungry!!!  The campground is alcohol free…but nothing classy red cups can’t disguise!! *wink*   As with most pet-friendly campgrounds, there are trails that dogs are not allowed.   We weren’t the only dog owners who broke the “rules.”  Just make sure you clean up after your dogs so we can continue bringing our furry family members on future trips!

PS: The water in the park is cloudy white!  Don’t be alarmed when you’re filling up your bins to do dishes…the cloudy white water is just due to air bubbles.  If you let the water sit for a few minutes, the cloudiness will diminish!

PS: As the saying goes…a picture speaks a thousand words…so check out pics from our camping trips by clicking on the Trips and Vacations link to access our photo albums

Dillon Beach (Lawson’s Landing) – August 2009

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Location: 50 miles north of San Francisco and 20 miles west of Petaluma

Amenities: Portable toilets

Pets: Allowed at no additional charge

Pros: The campground is located a short walk away from Dillon Beach and is in meadows surrounded by sand dunes.  Individual sites are not designated so the campground is perfect for group camping.

Cons: Because the campground is so close to the ocean and in an open meadow, unfortunately, the morning fog and mist will blanket everything!  Everything left outside will be moist!!!  Since individual sites are not designated, you have to go on a scavenger hunt for fire pits and picnic tables.  Hopefully, you can find ones not being used; otherwise, you have to have a back-up plan.

Big Sur (Riverside Campground and Cabins) – September 2009

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: 22 miles south of Carmel-By-The-Sea and 68 miles north of San Simeon

Amenities: Flushing toilets and showers

Pets: Allowed at no additional charge

Pros: The campground is located amongst the redwoods and the Big Sur River runs through it.  The ground of each campsite is lined with woodchips, which make the sites clean.  You feel like a hamster in a hamster den though!  The trickling sound of the Big Sur River is soothing and it’s fun to take your folding chairs to the river’s edge to relax.  There are lots of things to do around the campground, such as, taking a short drive to visit Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see an 80 foot waterfall that drops from granite cliffs into the ocean.   You can also visit Andrew Molera State Park where you can see where the Big Sur River merges into the Pacific Ocean.  Dogs are not allowed at this park.

Cons: The campground is fairly compact so individual sites were pretty close to each other.  Hopefully, neighboring sites respect the 10 pm quiet curfew.  The camp manager usually walks around to remind campers of the curfew.

Sly Park (Jenkinson Lake) – October 2009

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Location: Located in Pollack Pines

Amenities: Vault toilets

Pets: Allowed for an additional fee of $5/day

Pros: The campground is located a short walk from Jenkinson Lake.  Individual sites were fairly big and spread out.  You can take a mile hike from Hazel Creek Meadow near the entrance of the campground to see the Park Creek Waterfall (we didn’t do this).  The site was great for group camping…especially if you reserve adjourning sites.

Cons: The campground tends to get a lot of traffic so the grounds of the individual sites are mostly dirt.  Everything was covered with a layer of dust…poor Dusty was filthy!  Meat bees are out for the kill so you have to make sure you throw some bacon on a plate away from the campsite.  It’s interesting to check back on the bacon from time to time to see the progress the bees make.

Sugarloaf Ridge State Park – May 2010

Rating: 4 out of 5

Location: One hour away from San Francisco and seven miles east of Santa Rosa

Amenities: Flushing and vault toilets

Pets: Allowed at no additional charge but are not allowed on some trails

Pros:  The campground is located near wine country, so you can visit nearby wineries and go wine tasting. Just outside the campground is a 25 foot waterfall that you can hike too.  Within the campground, you may see deer and wild flowers along the trails.  In the middle of the campsites is an open meadow, which makes it perfect to see the stars at night.  A small creek runs through the campground so it’s relaxing to take your folding chairs to enjoy the calm waters.

Cons: The campsites were fairly small especially if you have two vehicles. Consider getting adjourning sites even for two couples.  The campsite was pretty expensive taking into consideration the size of the site.

Stumpy Meadows – June 2010

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Location: 17 miles east of Georgetown

Amenities: Vault toilets

Pets: Allowed for an additional fee of $2/day (the camp manager let Dusty in for FREE)

Pros: Each of the campsites were adequately sized and spaced apart.  The campsites were fairly clean and within walking distance to the Stumpy Meadows Reservoir.  Dogs are pretty much allowed everywhere so it was a great spot to take the fur child.

Cons: The Stumpy Meadows Reservoir is a great spot for fishing but not so much for swimming.  There are no sandy beaches or areas easily accessible for the kids to play without disturbing the people casting their fishing lines.  To get to the lake, you have to walk downhill on uneven ground so it might be hard for the young ones to master the hike.  Going back to the campground is all up-hill so you better pack light.  There really isn’t anything to visit nearby so bring lots of games to play at the campsite.   No cell service within a seven mile radius so make plans with your party beforehand.  Also, bring lots of bug repellent!  The mosquitoes are relentless!!

<3 Jenn

<3 Jenn

Today has been a long day of posting pics and catching up with our site.  We like the fact that we can store photos remotely via our website so if anything happens to our Windows-based desktop computer…we will at least have a back-up of our photos! We finally are caught up EXCEPT for the pics from our Europe trip in May 2009.  We spent three weeks traveling around Europe and Jenn took over 2,000 pictures.  She’s Asian…what can you say!

Anyway…have fun downloading pics from 2009 and 2010 and watch out for those pics from our Europe trip.  We promise to post them soon!!

Love,

J and J

Welcome to our new site!!!  It’s been a long time since we’ve updated it and we hope you like it.  Believe me, it would have been nice if we could have stuck with the old…BUT…I had to have the big “Japanese Tourist” camera with all the bells and whistles.  Our old site had photo upload limitations…so we had to make the change because of our photo gallery!!  After many hours, Jeff was finally able to post the new and improved site!!!

You can still download pictures at their full resolution and we promise we won’t add a watermark!  Have fun remembering our fun times together and cheers to more fun times in the future!!!

Love,

Jenn