I had read some earlier reviews about the place and most were lukewarm. The rap on the place was, because it was so new, the trees between the campsites were tiny and therefore privacy was at a minimum.
Well I checked on Tuesday before the trip to try to reserve a spot and I got lucky. We would up in the Dairy East campground in spot #94. While it was more open than I was used to, I was happy with our spot because we were backed up against the woods and we had no neighbors to one side. Instead we were next to the firewood storage area and there were also two phones there. Amazingly they were not payphones, but free phones to use for local calls. (Great because my cell phone wouldn't work.)
Most of the sites have power and all have tables and a firepit/grill. The grill is one of those non movable kinds that cover about a third of the pit.
You can also see much of the site is covered with gravel which I would think might make tent camping a bit harder on your back.. but it was just fine with the bus.
This is a park that is just on the eastern side of the coastal range and it is really beautiful there. There are nice stands of fir trees...
And another benefit to the site we chose was that there was a trail leading into the woods right by our site. We never saw anyone use it but us.
We got really lucky with the weather. It had sprinkled in the morning while I packed up the pickle, but once we hit the road there was no more rain and then the sun came out. Michele decided not to make this trip so it was just me and the girls.. and while we were on our walk, I took the opportunity to get a couple of shots of them by the huge trees we passed on our hike.
It got so warm that back at camp, the girls had some squirt gun fights. And they got me a few times too.
The restrooms were really clean and nice. And for dinner, I made the girls hot dogs and chips while I had a steak!!! Plus there was BBQ corn on the cob.. beer for me..
and Yoo hoo for them!!!
All in all it was a pretty great trip and I would highly recommend the park. The best spots in the East loop are along the outside, away from the bathrooms.. such as 78, 80, 82, 84, 86... and of course ours 94. 80 or 82 were probably the best!
Unfortunately, our trip was cut short. We'd hoped to stay two nights, but on Sunday morning, I'd found out my father, Al, had passed away the night before, about the time we were roasting marshmallows around the campfire. I would have much rather been with him of course, but I think he would have been happy that I was with my family and we were enjoying each other and nature. Dad used to take our family up to Sequoia Nat'l Park many times when we'd stay in the housekeeping cabins they used to have there right there in the Giant Forest. Eventually they took them out because they decided the cabins were not good for the 2-thousand year old trees.. and possibly not safe for the humans if one of those huge Redwoods crashed down on top of them.
I would later become a ranger in Sequoia for one summer while I was in college and it was interesting going back and leading walks and talks in the same places my father had taken us 15 years before.
I guess you never know where the road we're on will take us.. and never know exactly what time we'll arrive. We can guess, but in the end, that's all it is... a guess. For now, in this last week of summer, I'm glad I got to squeeze in one more trip with my daughters. I hope they had as much fun as I did. And I hope my Dad knew how much his trips meant to me.. then and now too.
No comments:
Post a Comment