California Adventure Tour

Day 12 - Glacier Point and Rock Climbing

2006-07-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

Day 12 - The morning drive was worth the views at Glacier point. Definitely the best views of yosemite you can get. After a few pictures (Watch for them) we drove to meet of rock climbing guides. With a little complaining from tired campers everyone enjoyed the rock climbing south of Yosemite.

Day 11 - Merced River Float, Yosemite Valley & Vernal Falls Hike

2006-07-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Day 11 - Floating through Yosemite valley on the merced river is certainly the best way to see the valley. Wow the views! After the floating we explored the visitor centers a little (and the stores). We then headed to a incredible waterfall hike.
(Watch for pics)

Day 10 - Gold Mine, Yosemite and Giant Sequoias

2006-07-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

Day 10 - We had a late start and a short drive to a real working gold mine in Sutters Creek. We drove 12 stories underground and walked along a gold vein with Tom the guide who's family had mined for generations. After the mine we met Jolie our Yosemite guide and drove up to Yosemite. After Dinner we went for a evening walk through a giant sequoia grove.

Day 9 - Whitewater rafting on the River!

2006-07-27T00:17:00.001-07:00

Day 9 - All day on the river (Ahh! Sunburn). We all experienced some level 3+ rapids on the South Fork of the American River. It was very exciting. One boat with Skyler, Ashley, Peter, Loke, and Tony flipped on the first major rapid. We got a little frightened but they were out of the water really quickly and after a few emotions we were back on the river. We loved having Breakfast, lunch and Dinner made for us. We had a very quiet evening with very wore campers.

Day 8 - Colma State Park - Gold Discovery Site

2006-07-27T00:17:00.000-07:00

Day 8- After Sacramento on Day 7 we drove up 40mins to Colma (The site where gold was discovered in California) and settled in to the White water rafting campground. On day 8 we woke in our beatiful campground after all elected to sleep outside. We spent the morning on the river panning for gold, swimming and a non-planned waterfight. It was hot so we all got some ice-cream and head into Placerville for a movie. We all enjoyed Pirates of the Carribean to escape the after noon sun. The evening was s'mores and a game of apples to apples (Your kids will explain).
(Pics will follow- Sorry for the lack of posting, internet access and time to post became very limited)

Day 7 - Spaghetti Factory, Sacramento and The State Capital Continued

2006-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

Day 7- After we escaped the 119 degree weather we arrived in Sacramento early and enjoyed the homes. Yes we tried the Beatles shot but he didn't really work (notice the pic). Yes, we even danced on the street. We had a great meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory which was a perfect place to celebrate Ashley's 14th birthday. They we were really impressed with the personal tour of the state capital building. We even knocked on Arnie's door but he wasn't in.

Day 7 - Spaghetti Factory, Sacramento and The State Capital Continued

2006-07-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Day 7 - Spaghetti Factory, Sacramento and The State Capita

2006-07-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

Day 6 - Lake Play, Laundry and Pizza Continued

2006-07-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

Day 6 - Lake Play, Laundry and Pizza

2006-07-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Day 6- Yes it was 119 degrees but we are stilling having a great time. The morning was lazy and slow and consisted of feeding ducks, playing in the lake and hanging around camp. We did manage to keep cool. In the evening the dinner plans were scraped for Pizza at Paradise Pizza! Yes they really liked that!! (Notice Skyler holding up his newly dyed green underwear, he learned a lesson about putting tye-dye in with your laundry)

Day 5 - San Francisco, Golden Gate and Petrified Forrest

2006-07-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - After electing to wake early again, which of course didn't happen, we packed up camp with the same speed as before and drove over the hill in to San Francisco. At Pier 39 some shopped, some watched magic shows and rode the carousel. At Ghirardelli’s we saw some chocolate being made and enjoyed some ice-cream. Then its was over the golden gate to the secret lookout point only used usually by locals (The tourist packed the other one!). After a short stop to put air in a tire of the truck (And but soda, candy and water - the nessities!). We drove north through San Rosa to the Petrified Forrest (3.4 million years old). The day end with a short drive to Clear lake. It is hot here 105 - Ahhhh!

Day 4 - Half Moon Bay Surfing - In the Water More!

2006-07-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Half Moon Bay Surfing - In the Water!

2006-07-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Half Moon Bay Surfing Continued

2006-07-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Watch this space for more surfing pictures to come . . . .

Day 4 - Half Moon Bay Surfing

2006-07-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

After a quiet morning of sleeping in (we had a long day yesterday) and beach play we noticed our first trip disaster (actually Skyler noticed) - the 15 passenger van had a flat, a screw was lodged in the driver front tire, notice the pictures below. (we also saw a cool little dog in a wheel chair - see pics) Luckily this didn't really have any damper on our day, while the group where enjoying the ocean Trevor when into town to get it repaired in time to get us all to our surfing lessons. Some people got up very quickly - Loulou and Katie seemed like naturals, Alexis and Meghan were also amazing. Everyone did very well and had a great time. On the way back Skyler said that he was thankful taht we had this once ina lifetime experience. Everyone was extremely tired after the strenous 2.5 hours of surfing (And a little grumpy) so we ended the night with an easy dinner and some Ice Cream sundaes. Tomorrow is a early wake up packing day and we head to San Francisco! We're not sure but since our camp grounds for teh next two days are in very rural areas our posting ability may be limited but we will try to keep you all posted. In general the kids can't even express how great of a time they are having!

Day 3 - Santa Cruz and Felton Steam Train

2006-07-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Day 3 - The group elected to wake at 6am to get to Santa Cruz board walk when it opened. We of courses woke at 6:30am and left 1/2 hour late. The unscheduled stops (pee breaks) put a damper on the "getting there when it opened" idea. We did arrive at Santa Cruz boardwalk and had plenty of time to enjoy a few rides. After the boardwalk we had a short 20 minute drive to the Roaring Camp steam train for our giant redwoods adventure. We were impressed that they had a sign out with our name and a reserved car just for Camp High Places (woo hoo!). The steam train took us through some 2000 year old caostal redwoods and stopped at an incredible grove. We really enjoyed the conductor, he knew a lot about this rare train we were on and his grandfather had been a conductor on a real railroad (he had his conductor pin on his hat!). After the redwood experience it was off to our Half Moon Bay camp ground. We were very proud at how quickly camp came together with everyone's help. See you tomorrow!

Day 2 - Coast Hike and Free Choice

2006-07-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

With a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, cooked by our chef Trevor, we made our way to Montana Del Oro State for an amazing hike along some of California prime coast. We ate our picnic lunch in a state garden.

After a short rest period we broke into three groups
1. San Luis Opbispo Mission Tour
2. Shopping and Book stores in Cambria
3. Arts and Crafts and Queit time at Camp.

We wanted a queit day for our drive to Half Moon Bay on Wednesday.

Day 1 - Hearst Castle and the Beach Continued

2006-07-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

We woke early to a light breakfast of cereal, breads and hot drinks and headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway (The PCH) to Hearst Castle. Above you can see most of us outside the Hearst Castle main door. We where very impressed with the decore in the guest houses especially the ceiling.

After the castle we went to see some incredible elephant seals on the coast. Then it was on for some fun on the beach. The evening was rounded off with a little more of the snorting game (can you ever have too much of the snorting game) and a few rounds of "Baby if you love me smile."

On to Day 2! Phew

LAX Adventure and Day 1 Hearst Castle and Elephant Seals

2006-07-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

After some time wondering around LAX, with a few starbucks and ice cream stops, we managed to find everyone for our California Adventure.

Amazingly everyone arrived without any major delays or concerns. After we collected Hannah from UK we head north to our first Camp site - Morro Bay State Park.

We spent the evening getting to know each other and going over a few trip rules.
After we had all agreed on the rules we enjoyed a evening of campfires and snorting games. Below Karin, Amy, Alexis and Andreas enjoy some skillfull snorting.

And we're off!!!

2006-07-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Watch this blog for updates during the trip!!

Yeah Road Trip!!

Are you ready for pickup tomorrow?

2006-07-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Only 1 short day until our trip. By now we should have talked with everyone about their pickup requirements. Please go to http://www.camphighplaces.com/Chpweb/airport.html

Please call Trevor (714) 615-4498, Amy (714) 615-4489 with questions during the trip.

See you soon!

Woohoo! Only 6 days and Counting

2006-07-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Only 6 days to go until our first California Adventure Tour begins. Have you completed all you required paperwork? Have you paid your balance?

The Adventure Starts Here

2006-06-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

California Adventure Tour

2006-06-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Parents,

7/1

We are busy getting ready for our California Adventure Tour. Please check back on this site during the trip to read about our daily adventures. We will try to update this blog at least every two days so you can join us on this adventure of a lifetime. Thank you for giving your camper this opportunity.

Check back soon!