We had two firsts this last week, our first time destination camping and our first time urban camping. Our youngest DD is a teacher and works for a different district than the DGKs, so there is about a week when they are out of school and she isn’t and with the economy the way it is the SIL can’t take time off so we take them. They had a choice of either National Parks or San Diego, they couldn’t decide so I decided that I would be better off not doing the drive hard from place to place due to total knee replacement not healing as fast as I would like.
DW made reservation at Campland on the Bay in San Diego for 7 nights and off we went, we had only been there once and it was just to drive thru so we didn’t really know what area to pick. We were in Space G02 and right between two RR/Shower buildings and pretty close to the pools. There were two spaces, one pull in and one back in, ours was the back in and the folks next to us had a TC and backed in so their door was facing the fire pit and table. Now we have a 96” rig with full sized twin beds in the rear, I think we had more room between our beds than we had between the two rigs. They were a young family with about four kids one of which was a baby who cried a lot. Not much privacy and the Mom next door wasn’t very friendly and felt we were too close to the dividing line on the site. We like to sleep with the windows open and I the weather is good we have our blinds and windows open most of the time. We weren’t comfortable with that with them walking back and forth from their camper to the cab. Fortunately they were only there two days and we didn’t have close neighbors for the rest of the week. There were lots and lots of kids and one the whole very well behaved, the only problem was they either had bikes, razors, skateboards or some other wheeled device and were all over the roads. And did I mention, there were lots and lots of folks escaping the 115 degree heat in Arizona.
The campground was nice enough but pretty spendy which I understand being in a resort town with all the amenities and with all the attractions available in San Diego. Nice Market, small BBQ spot and ice cream parlor, arcade and lots of planned activities.
We felt it was a good experience and had fun but it’s not camping like we are used to. We usually stay at National, State or other municipal parks and often in ones with minimal or no hook ups. This was full hookups and lots of organized and controlled activities. We decided that it wasn’t as bad as we expected and the kids really had fun, we will probably go back but there are a few spaces we would request and spend the extra if we could get one of them. We wouldn’t go by ourselves but would take the kids if we needed to entertain them for a short period of time and couldn’t get in anywhere else. And it was kind of nice to just setup once and not get up most mornings and break camp and drive for several hours. I even hooked up the water and cable, put out the patio mat and pulled out the awning. Just like real folks. We have one more period this summer when we will have the DGKs and we decided we’ll head for Lassen and Crater Lake and down the CA coast to home.
There is another campground just across a little cove and while it is a big parking lot there are lots of older folks there, it’s not a place for kids. They do have a age limit on rigs and while ours is a little too old I am going to ask how hard line they are on the 1995 or newer rule. Our rig is all original, no broken windows or primer spots and from semi-gloss to glossy in the finish department and obviously well kept so maybe they’ll give us a break if we want to get away for a weekend..
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson
When taking children camping there are two schools of thoughts.... go where you want to go and the children will be miserable OR go where you won't be so happy but the children will be entertained and have a great time and most of all wont' be "bored". When our kids were small we went for their enjoyment, now we go for ours. Since it was only for the week, you most likely made the right choice.
Parents who still don't know anything
Twin college graduates who know everything
One lazy Westie
2000 F350 DRW 7.3 PSD crew cab
2007 Jayco Eagle 291 RLTS
2003 Coleman Sedona towed by 99 4Runner for the "graduates"
We really liked Campland when the kids were little. went down for a week when I had to do work in SD. The activities helped my wife keep her sanity while we were there and me not lose it when I got back in the evening. We were back in I think section F backed up to the wetlands and watched Sea Worlds fireworks each night from the rear window or the picnic table.
Ray, Cheryl, Cory & of course Miss Molly the four-legged child
DD,DGK,SIL,DW,TC??? What the heck are you trying to say?
B.O.
2011 Big Country 3250TS...2010 Ram CC Laramie 4wd Cummins
15k Super Glide, Firestone Ride Rite, TrailAir Tri-Glide
Michelin XPS Ribs. Just say no to Chinese tires.
Twin Cities Mn.
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