My parents have a campsite at a lake pretty near their house, and they go up there most weekends. They’ve been trying to get me to come out and spend a weekend up there for quite some time now, and I finally decided to trek out there on Sunday.
Why have I never made the time to do this previously?
First and foremost, when I say “campsite” I really mean high-end camping. I’ve definitely done camping a variety of ways, from the seriously rustic, no electricity/no civilization for 50 miles/pee in a bush kind to the camp in a tent that’s walking distance to a “real” bathroom, all the way up to the camp in a pop-up tent trailer that, depending on the location, may or may not have access to running water (but at least it’s more or less indoors). This is nothing like any of those. My parents bought a regular (non-popup) trailer a few years ago, and it’s so freaking wonderful. It’s bigger, has a separate bedroom area, a fully functioning kitchen, a bathroom with shower, and of course heat and A/C. The living room has a pop-out so that you have more space, and the kitchen table and the couch both fold down into additional beds. In my personal opinion, not having to leave your indoor bed in the middle of the night to pee does NOT equal true camping. It’s some serious luxury lol.
On my way up I saw a sign for tractor crossing. You know you’re in the cuts when you come across a sign that looks similar to this:
(No, I couldn’t take a picture of this because it came out of nowhere and I was driving. Safety first! LOL)
When I first arrived at the campground, I was overwhelmed by the number of golf carts. I mean the campground is pretty big, but there is an insane number of golf carts to tote people around on. Everyone has to buy their own if they want one, and some people have really gone all out on this. We’re talking a family of 4 having 2 or more (sometimes even 4) carts. Or other people raising their golf carts and putting in a stereo. Still others have put off-roading tires on their carts. Really? Let’s be serious for a minute people – the roads on this campground are paved.
I drove up and got there around 6pm on Sunday. This allowed me enough time to hit up the pool before dinner. Unfortunately for me, I put on my suit, jumped in the pool, and got out to tan/bask in the sun with a book. Literally as soon as I was situated with my book, the sun went behind the mountain and I was left shivering in the dusk. Oh well, I had a big towel and wrapped up in that for a little bit.
My dad picked me up at 7 for dinner, yes in his golf cart lol. From there I feasted on some steak, mashed potatoes, salad, and BBQ’d corn. YUMMY! We also cracked open a couple of bottles of wine for my family and my parents friends who also camp there. After that, we proceeded to continue drinking….more wine, some mudslides, etc. Great food, great company, great times.
I then took a walk around 11pm and saw a deer roaming the campground. It was awesome – the lil guy was about 10 feet away from me! It definitely stared at me and kept a cautious eye on me until I passed, at which point I guess it decided I wasn’t a threat and it could keep on just wandering around. Pretty cool!
Next came the only downside of the trip: sleeping.
I tend to sleep very poorly my first night in a new place. Add to this a sloped bed (I’m not sure why the couch sloped, but I felt like I was going to roll off it and this kept me awake), my dad coming into the trailer about 30 minutes after I went to sleep and wandering around the trailer and then showering (think bull in a glass shop – he’s NOT a light-footed kind of guy), a party erupting in the campsite behind us at 12:30am, and my dad turning the bedroom TV up full blast only to fall asleep 3 minutes later and commence an evening of loud snoring. I also was awakened at 4am truly believing there had just been an earthquake. Then I felt another, smaller one a few minutes later. And another one after that. Aftershocks? No. Turns out this was just one of my parents rolling over. LOL! Needless to say though, I didn’t get much sleep.
Morning rolled around and it was cold, so I got to try out the trusty heater. I then learned my mom’s friend’s daughter was going horseback riding, so I decided to join. By the time we hit the trail, the weather was heating up. However, I did not plan for a horseback ride and didn’t pack appropriate clothing. Clearly you can’t go on a trail in a tank top, so I had to wear my sweatshirt. In the sun. For an hour. It was HOT! But it was fun 
I rode a very beautiful brown and black horse who was pretty well behaved. It had been probably 10 years since I last rode, but it all came back pretty quickly. This horse was a bit different than ones I’ve ridden in the past though. In particular, he loved to trot/run. I’m not used to this, and while it was OK at the time, I found my ass being quite sore afterwards from all the bouncing on the saddle.
After taking off my helmet, sweatshirt and borrowed boots I was definitely 5 degrees cooler, but still – it was time to jump in the pool. My dad had come to pick me up, and I got to drive the golf cart!! Lol it’s the little things in life that are the most fun
The pool is unique in that it’s very large, and is divided into 3 sections. There’s a very shallow end of approximately 1.5 feet for the little babies, then there’s a regular pool area for the older kids and adults, then there’s a large adults-only section. After feasting on a burrito and nachos combo, I found myself laying on a double inner tube floating around with my eyes closed in the adult area. Basking in the sun + being partly in the water and maintaining a cool temperature + not having to worry about some dipshit 10 year old doing a cannonball right next to me = indescribable. Again, why do I not do this more often?
On the way back to the trailer we stopped and got some ice cream. Chocotaco? Yes please!! I got to try out the trailer’s shower (pretty freaking sweet being camping and not having to wear shower flip flops or fear getting some sort of fungus from the public restroom). Then it was time to head back to the real world.
I was amazed the only traffic I ran into on Labor Day was due to a car fire. Of course, I had to capture a picture of this as I drove past. This car was completely engulfed in flames. And then the fire started up the hill. With no emergency crews in site. I thought this was going to turn into the next California wildfire. Thankfully this was not the case. Even though all of the traffic moved over to the 2 fast lanes and I had my A/C on, when I drove by I could definitely feel the heat. It was a tad scary, but pretty cool at the same time.
car fire!
All in all, an excellent 24 hours. Can’t wait to do it again!
Petra 
