So Travel-Betty has the honor of being the first one to comment on our blog! So I thought I’d highlight her point of view on camping…namely pampered camping in the Bay Area, between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay on the Pacific Coast, in Pescadero, CA For those of you who don’t want to sleep on the hard ground, there is a better way. Its called Costanoa with Kango reviews here.

Travel-Betty does a nice writeup and breaks down the options as follows:

• The lodge – for people who need to stay in a hotel
• Douglas fir cabins – for people who need solid walls around them at night and a bed to sleep on.
• Tent bungalows – for people who want to feel like they are going camping, hear the crickets outside, but want to sleep on a bed with electric light and an electric blanket too!
• Bring your own camping equipment – for people who want to actually camp but also want it to be less crowded and with much nicer bathrooms than typical campsites. From the Costanoa website:
  “Comfort Stations are specially designed bathroom facilities that include a central courtyard with fireplace, sauna, heated concrete floors, private indoor and outdoor showers, sinks, flush toilets, and skylights.”

I’ve stayed at Costanoa in the Lodge for a corporate offsite when I was working for a Fortune 1000 company with $s to spend (sigh…miss that). I even paid for my team’s massages at the spa (I didn’t do one myself, but they looked pretty relaxed after the massages!)

Rates vary from $140 – 365 per night for the various lodging options, depending on time of year and day of week. If you just rent a tent site or RV site, its $40 – 65 per night. This may seem expensive relative to other campgrounds, but for a family of 4 its just $10 per person per night for 4 star bathrooms and saunas included. Hey, why aren’t we going here instead of Pescadero SP?

Do they have kids activities and babysitting?

I’m packing for an overnight family camping trip with my 5-year old Alexander. We are going to Portola Redwood State Park. I also found a nice trail description at BAhiker.com, a great bay area hiking site (photo courtesy of BAhiker.com). My biggest pain point with travel with kids (especially travel with toddlers and babies) is figuring out what to pack. Well, I am going to blog all of my packing lists so I won’t lose them, and it speeds my packing the next time I take a similar family camping trip.

Packing List for Family Camping (1 5 yr old, 1 dad):

Shelter/Sleeping:

• tent, 2 person, with rain fly (note: does NOT work for 2 adults, 1 child, and 1 toddler/baby)
• tent pad
• extra tarp/pad (for putting stuff on in front of the tent and keeping it clean
• Thermarest inflatable pads (or if my wife is coming, I think she wants an air mattress!)
• Sleeping bags
• Pillow

Food Preparation:

• Coleman stove with propane
• Matches
• Firestarter
• Charcoal briquettes (Matchlight version for easier lighting)
• Plastic Tablecloth
• Duck Tape (to tape down the tablecloth on the table)
• Gallon water jug
• Ice Chest
• Pots and Pans (non-stick)
• Plates, cups, utensils, napkins, wips
• Detergent and scrubber/sponge
• Cooking Oil
• Trash bags
• Ziploc bags (gallon and quart; always have extra ziplocs, they always come in handy)
• Purell
• Paper towels
• Fork, Bowl, Colander, Knife
• Mini Cutting Board
• Cup (plastic, for hot liquids, can be purchased at REI)

Menu for dinner/breakfast:

• This time we are doing burgers and hot dogs, grilled over the grill at the campsite
• Last time we did spaghetti and meat sauce, with precooked ground beef in the ice chest, mixed into canned sauce
• Breakfast: pancake mix, eggs, cooking oil, maple syrup, strawberries
• Beverages: coffee (instant), hot chocolate bags

Evening around camp:

• Coleman battery operated lantern
• Headlamp (wish I had 2 of them)
• Flashlight
• Folding Chairs (from Costco)
• Down jackets/vest
• Comfy shoes (sneakers, Crocs)

Toiletries:

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Quick dry towel
• Wipees (Huggies are the best IMHO)

Emergency Pack

• Matches
• Knife
• Compass
• Rope
• Small emergency thermal blanket (can be purchased at REI, size 2″ x 2″ x 4″; I have carried it on 10+ camping/backpacking trips and never had to use it, but always feel better having it.)
• Spare shoelaces
• Cloth bandage for wrapping around sprained ankle
• Med kit: Neosporin, Band-Aids, Scissors, Pain relievers, etc.

Daytime activities:

• Hats
• Sunscreen
• Backpack
• Water bottles
• Snacks
• Good hiking shoes for me and Alexander

So that is it. Seems like a lot but I guess its no big deal since we are just car camping. And this one is easy because we are leaving the baby behind with mom.

Anything I missed?