China Camp State Park

China Camp State Park

During the Labor Day weekend, we stayed at China Camp State park. This park has a natural watershed and featured an extensive salt marsh, meadow and oak habitats that are home to a variety of wildlife, including deer, raccoons, squirrels and numerous birds. All campsites are walk-in campsites for tent-camping only. We had to handcarry all the equipment from the parking lot to our campsite. Our Campsite was located 300 yards from the parking lot.

The camp sites were very spacious and there is lot of room for the tents. Most of the campsites are covered with shades from the tree. The challenge starts as soon as you arrive at the parking lot. You have to carry all your belongings to your campsite in a trash can provided by the campground host. This campground was very windy, so the tents need to be pegged properly. The second challenge was the yellow jacket bee which was flying very close to our food always. Carrying a yellow jacket bee trap may be help to certain extent. The third challenge was the visit by family of raccoon’s very night exactly around 9:00PM. They came in bunches to scavenge the trash. So we had to keep our food locked in the car every night. Unexpectedly there was a fourth challenge also, the pumps for the shower stopped working, which means no shower for anyone during the whole camping time period.
We have been going to the camp grounds for about 8 years now.

Every year we like to explore to different camp grounds to get different experience. China camp was a unique experience with the parking lot down the hill and carrying all the belonging uphill to the campsite. This campground had excellent hiking trails. We tried both turtle back trail and shoreline trail.

We will think very hard next time to visit this park again.

CaseWell Memorial

Casewell Memorial state park is our favorite camping site. This was our fourth visit to this camp site. This park is a little, wild sanctuary in the center of the Great Central Valley of California. This unique park protects one of the last remaining oak-riparian woodlands that once flourished throughout the valley. There will not be even a slight imagination that you will enter a state park while passing through almond farms. The state park entrance gate suddenly shows up out of the blue.

The camp sites are very spacious and there is lot of room for the tents. Since the campground is first-come-first-serve type, going early is recommended to get the right campsite. Most of the campsites are covered with shades from the tree. This campground is usually very hot during the summer. Outdoors recreation is bountiful; some of the enjoyable stuff you can do is relaxing, and swimming, so you won’t get bored. The new entrants in our group hardly slept the first day in tents, but second day everyone slept like a log.

We have been going to the camp grounds for about 8 years now. Every year our groups have been getting bigger and different and every new person that has gone with us all say the same thing it’s a really nice place. The kids love it because the water is so clear, clean and they enjoy going down the river for swim. Showers and bathrooms are now remodeled. We have made this our family campgrounds ever since we did our first camping. The drive for us is very short and I like that. I like to spend more time camping then traveling to get there so this makes it a perfect location. The stores are also very close.

We hope to visit again this park in future a few more times.

Antioch Ranch

This July long weekend, we explored into the Antioch Ranch that is located near the picturesque coastal village of Mendocino. We stayed in Hammer Head cottage and used the South West cottage only for add up, as each cottage allowed only 8 people. The Ranch featured 20 acres of Redwoods, rolling hills, and orchards. The cottages were nestled amongst beautiful towering redwood trees. The firewood was available in abundance for the barbeque.

The cottage had a great deck with a great view for the morning visit by deer’s. The cottages were free from high speed internet, telephone access, satellite TV. This made us free from the tiring working world. Everyday evening we did barbeque outside the cottage and one day was visited by a strange animal which had been speculated as dog or mountain loin or a large cat.

We had a wonderful outing here as there was a great appreciation for silence. During our stay at Antioch ranch, we explored the Mendocino downtown, the beautiful beach close to the downtown, glass beach close to Fort Bragg, hiked to the 6 mile (roundtrip) uphill Russian gulch state park water falls. There were 7 kids in our group ranging from 2 to 10 years and all of them completed the hike successfully.

This is a very nice place to get away from the speed of city life to relax, enjoy the beauty of redwood trees.

Bodega Bay Pelican Perch Vacation Home

This year camping started in a beach house located in bodega bay. Bodega Bay is a low, rocky creek of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California. It is located approximately 40 miles northwest of San Francisco. The famous Alfred Hitchcock film “The Birds” was set in

bodega bay.

We stayed at a house called as Pelican Perch, which is located in the Bodega Harbor Golf Links development. This house had great views of the Pacific Ocean, Bay and Doran Beach. The house was in a great location with a 5 minute walk to the beach. we started our every morning with a nice jog in the beach. The only caveat was it took us sometime to find the trail to the beach even though it was so nearby on the first day.

The house had a nice hot tub which kept the kids

busy all three days. The entire house was tastefully furnished and decorated in a beach motif, providing a perfect vacation home away from home. We really enjoyed the convenience of having our own private beach just a few minutes from the vacation house. The evening was interrupted by the stroll of the beautiful dears.

The month of May was not into full summer, so the best time at the beach was between 3 PM to 7 PM. We utilized the above time to play cricket, fly kite in the sandy bodega bay beach. This was a private beach for the vacation community.

So if you feel like your life is swallowing you up then jump off and get away for a while. Have a breath of fresh air, feel the sea breeze, enjoy the warmth of the sun, and watch the waves. It's time to have some fun! This is the right place for the above fun.

Diegoli (Winter Camping near Bear Valley)

This enticing mountain home allows those who like to pursue their cooking desires on Wolf commercial stove (We never triedthe above). This home has 3 Bedroom, 2 bath, loft and sleeps upto 12 comfortably. There is a two car garage attached to the home, which has all the ski and snow cleaning equipments. We figured out the above only when we left the home. The home belongs to Big Trees Realty.

The home is located in Dorrington, which is in Calaveras County, California, United States. The town sits on State Route 4 and historically was a stopping point along the toll road between Murphys and Ebbetts Pass, often serving as a resort for visitors to what is now Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Dorrington is located at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Hwy 4 passes through Dorrington on its way north to Bear Valley (about 20 miles away) and south to Angels Camp and the San Francisco Bay area (which is under 3 hours drive west).

There is almost no end to the recreational pursuits at your doorstep during the winter and summer camping. Skiing, caving, mountaineering, hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, swimming, and camping are all close at hand at the adjacent Bear Valley Ski Resort, the Stanislaus State Park, and Lake Alpine. There are many sno parks around bear valley to have fun in the snow.

House Address:
2959 Kenshaw Way,Arnold, CA 95223

The entire house is furnished providing you with the perfect vacation home away from home.