Camping 2011

This year, we ventured to Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo county--about a 4-hour drive (but really more like 5+ hours because of traffic and because Jon drove his company's big truck carrying all of the camping families' large items). We left on Sunday after church and arrived in the evening to the beautiful lake. Neil had reserved a really great group campsite, which, after having seen most of the campgrounds, we decided was the best campsite in the area! All of us (7 families in all) were in the same large space, right next to the lake, with a large blacktop/parking lot for the kids to ride bikes (and which stayed empty the whole time!), a playground a short walk away, and plenty of space for the kids to play and explore.





The weather was cooler than I had expected, mostly because of how windy it was. So we never did swim in the lake, choosing instead to stay warm by the fire in the mornings and evenings and taking a couple of day trips. Funny side story: Lucy wanted to wear her summer/sleeveless pajamas each night, even though I'd also brought some warm pj's for her. (Fine, I said.) One night, I woke up to hear her sleep talking: "I'm CHILLY," she noted. I got up and saw that she was sleeping on top of her sleeping bag, completely out in the freezing air. (It was really cold at night--I was still cold even inside my sleeping bag.) Her goose bumps had goose bumps. I put her back in her sleeping bag (amidst her sleeping protests).

Even though we didn't go in the lake, the kids had plenty of fun running around with sticks, riding bikes, and even getting splashed with water balloons:



Another difference from beach camping was all the cool wildlife we saw: wild turkeys, quail, deer, cranes, a groundhog, a skunk (who made a few unwelcome visits to our campsite), bats, millions of bugs (but no bites!), and lots of varieties of bird (wish Mama and Daddy were there to identify them).

The parents huddled around the fire each evening and talked late into the night. John Topartzer, a relative "newcomer," mentioned on the last night that he had never been around a group of people that so often randomly broke into song. :)

On our first full day there, we all went to Oceano Beach near Pismo, which is the only beach in California you can drive your car on.



It started off cloudy and cool, but the sun came out and it warmed up a bit. Levi loved exploring the dunes... and then he konked out in the car.




On our second day, Jon, Nate, Lucy, Levi, and I took a little trip to Pismo Beach. We walked on the pier and even rented one of those multi-person bike cart things. Jon and I got our workout for the week on that thing. :)




On the last full day, we spent the morning and lunch time around the campsite, and then we tried out the water park on the Lake Lopez campground (it was like 50 yards from our site). Even though it was windy, buggy, and chilly at our tent, the trees and hills surrounding the water park made it warmer and much less windy. The water was very cold, but the kids didn't mind--they had a BLAST, especially Nate.





Thursday we packed up and headed home. Lucy and Nate loved riding in the Isuzu with Jon (they rode up to camping in there too). Levi and I rode in comfort in the Durango.



Now we're home and I'm on laundry load number 8!