It makes sense to mention the first camping trip we made as a family first on April 4th to celebrate Nathans 7th birthday weekend. This first camping experience was much different than the one we were about to take because we slept in tents at Sycamore Canyon instead of an RV. It was a perfect was to start Nathans birthday with sprinkle pancakes and presents in the morning before school. Susie and George were staying with us and would be very helpful to take Vivian home on Friday and Saturday night to sleep in her crib rather than inside a tent.
We picked up Nathan after school on Friday the 2nd and drove down to Sycamore Canyon. Susie and George helped with the kids and setup of the campsite and tent. We picked up dinner at Old NY Bagel on the way out and had that at a picnic table while it started to get windy and cold. Thankfully the wind went away and we all could make smores and Nana could play her guitar. Vivian left for home and Steve, Tory, Nathan, and Rosie settled into the tent while cuddling up in sleeping bags together to stay warm.
The excitement kept everyone up late and the air mattress Steve and Rosie slept on had a leak, so by the middle of the night Steve was basically sleeping on the hard dirt...so much fun!
The next morning we stayed in the tent because it was cold outside. Tory made some coffee on the campfire stove and warmed up breakfast burritos she made and brought from home. We had a birthday party planned for the day but it required us to drive down a few miles to Zuma Beach to meet Susie, George, and Vivian who brought the cake and decorations. Lots of friends came from a mixture of church, neighbors, and Nathans school. It was a mostly cloudy day but it didnt damper the fun, especially because there was a cardboard jail that was a source of entertainment for them. We cleaned it all up around 1:00 and Vivian went home to nap so the rest of us went back to the campsite. There, Nathan got to open his presents from his party and got some fun stuff to play with (Mousetrap, 2 nerf guns) before we left and went up to the trailhead of Sycamore Canyon
trail in Newbury Park. Tory and Rosie dropped of Steve and Nathan so they could do the 8 mile bike ride downhill to where our campground was, a perfect way to make it work. The ride was memorable and not much peddling was required in the 1,000 foot decline over 8 miles. Back at the campsite we warmed up leftover pizza from the party, made smores, and had fun exploring around some and laying in the hammock. After another cold night in the tent we stayed in mostly playing card games in the morning. To warm up, we had to take a walk and found that in the sun it was much warmer. We packed up as Susie, George, and Vivian came to help and left for home to finish off Nathans 7th birthday weekend 1st camping trip!
As for the actual beginning of this RV trip, Tory and Steve drove to Simi Valley to pick up the rental RV from an interesting little man named Ivan who was probably from Russia or Czech Republic. After learning how to work the RV, Tory drove to pickup Nathan early from Hillcrest Christian School with the idea of a huge surprise
by picking him up in the RV! Eventhough Nathan had been talking about going on the RV trip for months, he forgot about the day and was very happy and shocked when he saw the RV. As soon as we got home Nathan started to help pack up some of the firewood and Tory put together the sheets and blankets before we had to goto Nathans Pinto Braves Baseball game that night. Rosie and Vivian didnt see the RV until later that night but would get to have the next day to explore and play around as we needed to pack and drive the RV down to the campsite.
Travelmates near
