This week we took our first ever family camping trip. I have to admit, I was a bit unsure of how it would turn out, I hadn’t been camping in decades! But, I knew the kids would have a blast and the family we were traveling with are always fantastic so we were all very excited about the time together.
We decided to try a KOA that I had heard great reviews about, located in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. It had been rated #1 in the country because of its clean facilities, family friendly activities and great staff. I can tell you they lived up to their reviews, and more. We were able to secure what they titled a ‘deluxe cabin’ for the majority of our stay, even at the last minute, and the staff went out of their way to try and accommodate our friends’ trailer location to be as close to us as possible. Since I hadn’t been to the location, I wasn’t sure what we would get in terms of cooking and kitchen facilities, but the cabins were great – we had a nice kitchenette all stocked with the tools we needed for the week, 2 bedrooms that had a bunk bed for the kids and a terrific little patio out front that had a fire pit and nice Weber gas grill. And, of course most importantly was a full bathroom in the cabin. I’m all in for this kind of ‘glamping’!
Glamping Cabin
When it came to the food plan, we had to do a little bit of careful planning so that we could accommodate the combination of sugar-free meals, grill friendly mains and kid friendly food on the go. So, we packed up a couple coolers full of steak, chicken, fruits and veggies and lots of snacks that the kids could grab in between like Zbars and trail mix. Of course we also brought along some adult beverages like wine, beer, bourbon and my new favorite summer drink – Barefoot Spritzer in the cans.
The recipe of the week that won over all of the adults was a super easy new creation that Megan made up – authentic pico de gallo combined with freshly smashed avocados. We have a great authentic taco place in town that does terrific pico and so we bought a couple of containers with us in the cooler. Then, every night before dinner we just chopped the avocado right in. SO delicious! The one tip we learned was that you have to have great pico. Towards the end of the trip, we ran out of the pico (we were literally making this up every day!) and ran to the store to replenish and it was definitely not the same from a the Whole Foods in town. I guess a grocery store just can’t replicate the delicious authenticity of the original recipe. The flavor and the kick just were not the same. Going forward, this is likely to replace all of my guacamole, it’s that good and so much easier than regular guacamole!
Pico Guacomole
The other fun tip about this particular camping location is that it is just about a 30 minute drive away from the historic Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The other family we had been with hadn’t been in years, and this was our first time visiting and all of us expected something more run down. What we found was a great place, filled with family friendly rides, games and food all for a somewhat reasonable price. They have an offer where you can buy a season pass and get a buddy pass for the day. This also comes with a stack of really quite useful coupons for food, games and attractions in the park so the payoff is just one additional day in order to recoup the cost of the pass. Our oldest was able to ride on all the roller coasters and our youngest was able to head on most (just an inch or two short!). We’re hoping to go back before the year is out and ride them all with all four of us!
Santa Cruz Roller Coaster
Hope you’ll check this terrific camp site out, even if you’re not a regular camper like me, you’ll love it and the family will likely make memories for a lifetime!
Boardwalk Entrance
