Camping
As a kid my parents took my brother and I camping on the weekends to nearby lakes in the mountains of Northern California. When I was really young we camped in the bed of my Dad’s truck. I loved riding our bikes around the campground, taking walks down to the waters edge, seeing all sorts of wildlife and just being with my family. The outdoors was a place were we were all brought together. I loved having the chance to see a bear wandering through our campsite, or catching some fish on the lake then going for a swim and warming up later by the campfire. I loved everything about it. The older we got my parents upgraded to a fifth wheel travel trailer. In my middle school years my parents signed up to rent a seasonal campsite at Bucks Lake so we could enjoy the trailer and the lake all summer long. My Dad only had to pull it up the mountain once, set it up and leave it until the end of summer. This allowed my Mom to drive us up there and stay at the trailer when my Dad was busy at work and unable to take us. I have many memories with my friends and my Mom hanging out at the trailer, walking over to the water, watching the stars from the big rocks along the waters edge and roasting s’mores over the fire. My birthday is at the end of June so I spent many of my birthdays in the mountains camping.
In college I spent many weekends exploring nearby lakes and campgrounds around the San Jose area. I got myself a cute pink fishing pole and got into fishing for a little while. When I moved back to my hometown a few years later I started re-discovering many local hikes, and tried some new trails I had never been on. I started camping again with my boyfriend, now husband Steve around Bucks Lake and Little Grass Valley mostly in a small two person tent and a camp box filled with all of our food and toiletries. After camping in that small tent with our black lab Dude and all of our supplies for a couple years we upgraded to my husbands Grandpa’s 1982 Tent Trailer that had been parked for years and wasn’t getting any use. That thing felt like a palace compared to our tent setup, even with the duct tape on the canvas, and the door that didn’t shut completely. We had a counter top space to store our food supplies and a prep space to prepare food. That was such a wonderful change! The other huge plus we got with the tent trailer was the fact that our bed was raised up and the dog could sleep on the floor next to use but we wouldn’t have to worry about paws in our faces in the middle of the night. We used the tent trailer for several years after we were married and it was so much nicer than being in a tent. For my birthday one year Steve bought us kayaks so we then started strapping our kayaks to the top of the tent trailer and taking those with us on our camping adventures.
In the fall of 2017 I convinced Steve that it was time to upgrade since we love to camp so much and we now had two Labrador dogs, who take up a lot of space. We shopped used travel trailers for months and months and never could find just what we were looking for. We then decided to look into something new although we were hesitant to buy something brand new. We shopped some of the big lots in Redding and looked at a ton of different models, makers and styles. It was a little overwhelming at first because it was a big purchase for us so if we were going to go brand new we wanted to make sure we were completely satisfied with it and it would last us many many years. We started to realize which brands had a little bit better quality and which ones seemed like they would break on trip #1. We ended up going to Sacramento and checking out a different lot to see a particular make we hadn’t seen in person before and while there shopping stumbled across the trailer of my dreams! It wasn’t the one we were there to see but when we walked in I loved how spacious it was and I loved the layout and the construction felt sturdy. We found our trailer, a 24 foot Open Range travel trailer. The first summer we had it we camped several extended weekends and it was glorious! Our brand new trailer had a slide out in the living room which made it so spacious and open, heated massage leather recliners, a very spacious bathroom with access to the bedroom, and a good sized kitchen. We ended up taking out the little kitchen table and 4 dining chairs and moved the sofa into the slide out to make even more room and we realized we never ate inside anyways, we were always eating every meal out on the picnic table. We made some reservations ahead of time but a lot of the campgrounds are first come first serve and it was so stressful trying to rush up after work as quickly as possible to try to secure a spot for the weekend. After that first summer we started discussing the idea of renting a seasonal spot like my parents did when I was growing up which would allow us to use it more.
We looked into the two r.v spots that my parents used to be at and they both had waiting lists 10 pages long. We put our name on the list as that is our ideal spot, but continued to search. We started looking for r.v parks at different surrounding lakes and one weekend we just went for a weekend drive to a nearby lake and drove around the lake looking for any campgrounds and writing down the phone number or stopping by. We ended up stopping into one and wandering around until we found the owners. The spots were right on the water of a beautiful alpine lake and the owners were so sweet. She told us that they are a privately owned all seasonal campground with a boat dock and beach front access. Hello! We were sold as soon as we walked around the property, and a huge surprise was that there was no waiting list! We talked about it for a few weeks as it was a little on the pricey side and then made the decision to try it out and rent a seasonal spot for the following summer. In the summer of 2019 we had our first summer at our spot by the lake and it was amazing! I would have to consider myself a “glamper” now as I have all the amenities you could want. I have a view of the lake from my heated recliners and can cook a s’more over my personal gas fire pit while watching the sunset over the water. We have a large spot and plenty of room for our two dogs. We have the luxury of having our boat on the dock or launching our boat from the boat ramp just feet from our trailer. We don’t have a boat yet but my husband is already talking about one. It is my happy place and where I feel most relaxed. I can wake up on my own time, enjoy my coffee by the fire then do yoga on my outdoor rug, take a walk down to the water and even jump in for a quick swim. The fresh mountain breeze and gorgeous colorful sunsets were so healing and calming for my soul. After loosing my Mom the previous year, our first summer at our trailer spot was just what I needed to help me heal. I look forward to many more summers at our spot by the lake and am currently prepping for our second year. We will be taking the trailer up in exactly two weeks! I look forward to sharing my many trailer tips and adventures with you and hope to encourage you to get outdoors more!
