Julian Camping Adventure

Now that I've had some time to recover and edit some pictures, I wanted to share some of the highlights of the Gonzalez family's first camping trip.  There was a lot of learning, laughing, eating and playing but hardly any sleeping.  We stayed in one of the rental trailers at KQ Ranch in Julian.  We decided that a trailer would be a good choice for our first trip.  We thought it would be something in between a tent and a cabin.

  It seems big from the outside but we had to get used to not being able to move around so much.  I guess, in a way, it slowed us down and forced us to be cozy.  Tatiana didn't seem to mind and we even discussed trying out tent camping soon.  She also let Luis have the top bunk.  We promised her the top next time.  When I asked Luis what he liked about camping the first thing he mentioned was being in the bunk bed.   

After we got settled and picked out beds, Luis and Tatiana went to the kids club area.  They had a craft room, video games, air hockey, games to check out and a jumpy outside. 



We explored the campground while Jose took a nap.  We found a playground for Luis, a tree stump that looked like a chair and many beautiful birds. 

When we got back Jose was ready to barbeque and we finished the evening with a card game, reading about the moon and constellations in our camping book (it was a full moon that night) and of course, some s'mores. Yummy !!

  

  

Okay, here is the part where I complain a little.  Just a little.  So, for those that don't know, I am a VERY light sleeper.  I usually have white noise near me so that I can sleep.  Well, I forgot my white noise source and the trailer next to us forgot about the 10pm quiet time rule.  Ahhhhh !! Wouldn't it figure that the whole campground is quiet, not a peep coming from any of the other campers and we rent the trailer right next to the Mariachi music loving family.  I don't even know what time they decided to stop the music.  Needless to say, it was a long night.  But, karma provided payback to our neighbors in the form of two loud children (oh wait, Tati is a teenager) who woke up with the sun.  Mwahahahaha !!

I love mornings in the mountains.  The air is so crisp and clean and cool.  Perfect for a trip to the California Wolf Center (which happens to be located right next to the campground) for a tour.  I am quite certain that this was Tatiana's favorite part of the trip.  She loves wolves and I loved learning about them.  They were awesome.  It started with an educational presentation about their habitat, history, population, etc. and then we went outside to try to see some of them up close.  Unfortunately, they didn't get too close to the fence but I think I was able to get at least one picture of them from far. 

Our last fun activity at the ranch was a game of miniature golf !!

And by about 3pm on Sunday we were all tired and ready to head home.  But, not before stopping at "Mom's" for some apple pie !!

Overall, we had a great time but it was nice to come home to our beds and my "white noise".  I am hoping to continue these camping trips and try out some different campgrounds in the future.