Summer vacation is going well here in northern California. It's a little confusing, being on the road, as our summer vacation temperature is the lower 70s, which is almost exactly the average temperature we had in our winter and our spring. I'm noticing that time passes strangely without different seasons to mark the time. It's fun, though, always having nice weather!
Not all campgrounds are created equal, even if our temperatures have been pretty equal. If you ever travel the country in an RV, you'll discover you have two main options in campgrounds. You can stay in a RV park, which has the benefits of 50 amp electricity, water, sewer, and internet. If you were camping for a week of vacation in the summer, you would NOT want to stay in one of these. We've stayed some RV parks like this, and the view can be an amazing one of staring into your neighbors' camper, while being so close to them that the awning on your fifth wheel might hit them. However, when you're living life on the road, these RV parks are sometimes necessary. Particularly if your husband is trying to support the family by working from home and needing a constant internet connection. It's worth it because of all the adventures and sights to drive to, but not overly scenic. This is the kind of "campground" we stayed at much of the time while we were in the desert. I'd spent one day reserving a bunch of sites and didn't know better than to avoid booking these.
By the time I reserved California campgrounds, I knew that RV parks were not what going to be our favorite. This brings us to the other option while traveling the country. Real campgrounds, or even boondocking. What you lack in electricity and sewer, you make up for in scenery. These last three campgrounds in California have been great, and this one - North Shore Campground Lake Almanor, is my favorite campground so far. Here's our view:
There's so much empty green space for the kids to play, followed by a beautiful lake, and snow-capped mountains behind that. So much beauty and fun! The drawback to an authentic campground like this, is that your husband, seeking good internet for work, needs to use this as an office:
Char's been a great sport, but this campground can't be his favorite
Yep, as long as he's sandwiched between a washer and dryer in a laundry room, he has enough internet to work. Here we have no sewer, not the best electric, and the road to get here recommended that you not drive on it if you are more than 30 feet long. It was an interesting journey, pulling a 40 foot fifth wheel! However, again, it's my favorite campground so far! It's also a great place to sail the S.S. Utter.
We came to this campground specifically to see Lassen Volcanic National Park. Along with being my favorite campground, I think Lassen Volcanic is one of my favorite national parks. It was amazingly scenic with rivers, mountains, trees, and waterfalls.
a great place for a picnic
Some of the things we enjoyed the most, though, were playing in the snow in June
and watching water and mud boil. Seriously. It was very weird, smelly, and incredible. It really lets you have an appreciation for what goes on under the ground in an area known for volcanic activity.
can you see the bubbles in this puddle of mud?
This sign warns you to watch where you step so that you don't fall through the crust of dirt into the boiling acid below. Also, you can see the steam rising from the mud towards the back of the picture.
Speaking of national parks, I should write more about Yosemite. Yosemite ended up being a much nicer park to explore when it was not Memorial Day weekend. We recommend not going to one of the most popular national parks on holiday weekends. Bad choice. But during the week, we visited Glacier Point and we got to explore a lot of these amazingly huge trees:
Yosemite turned out to be quite enjoyable, but I think we all prefer Lassen Volcanic, just because it has so much variety and no crowds of people. You really feel alone in nature while you explore.
Oh, we also have some other California experiences to report. Our kids found really cute baby turtles in the river. They were promptly named "California" and "Yosemite," and spent a night in our camper. They are now back in their river, but they were really fun to watch crawl, climb, and swim all over the place, and our kids enjoyed having pets for one day.
I think that about sums up our time in California for now. Again, happy beginning of summer to you! Love from the Utter family!
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