Getting back to nature, in 25 feet of air-conditioned comfort
After a really short summer of staying in hotels up and down the state as we traveled to baseball tournaments, we decided to mix it up a little last week when we finally had a few days available for a family vacation.
In previous years, that first week of August has been circled on our calendar as a week to get away – usually far away – from Hollister. This year, however, we opted for the type of vacation that really brings a family together, for better or worse: an RV road trip.
It was a gamble, packing our clothes and food into a moving hotel room and hitting the road for five days of togetherness – 25 feet long by 10 feet wide togetherness. Two-hour road trips in cars are challenging enough, so eating, sleeping and hanging out for the better part of a week was going to be quite the social experiment.
We spent our first night at the KOA campground in La Selva Beach, north of Watsonville and south of Aptos. RV camping is hardly roughing it and KOA camping is really not roughing it, as our spot was paved and we were at a park with a pool, bike rentals, trampoline, basketball court and a convenience store.
Those who know my family know that we are not the outdoorsy type. An RV, with a refrigerator, microwave, shower and air conditioner, is about as rough as this set of Breens is willing to go. There was no television, so that was rough.
Night 1 went well, as we soaked up the fresh ocean air during walks and bike rides and a family game of Frisbee golf. We even played some board games as the evening wound down, prompting my youngest son to mention how long the day seemed – in a good way. It’s amazing what breaking away from schedules and televisions and video games can do to one’s sense of time.
Our next stop took us over Pacheco Pass and across the Central Valley to Pine Flat Reservoir, in the foothills above Fresno. Our plan was to spend a night there and spend the next day at the nearby Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.
This campground was no KOA. It was 85 percent trailer park, 15 percent RV park, and it was more run down than its website made it out to be. It was fairly close to the reservoir, which allowed the boys an opportunity to fish, but with the temperature hovering around 100 degrees, it was more draining than relaxing.
Luckily, our campsite had electrical hook-ups, so we ran our air conditioner all day and all night just to be able to sleep. We spent another evening playing board games and rediscovering how entertaining family time can be when we aren’t being pulled by the demands of everyday life.
That next morning, we awoke at 6:30 to discover that what seemed like 3.5 million ants had decided that they liked the air conditioned comfort of our rented RV, so we all went into fire drill mode to rid the rig of the pests and get the heck out of the campground.
There were ants in one of the beds; ants in the refrigerator; ants on the floor. There were ants in the cupboard and ants in our shoes. I had a bottle of Windex,which I knew from previous experience works like Raid, so that helped us stop the invasion. We unplugged and got out of there as soon as we could, chalking it up as just another camping experience.
The heat really wore us down, so we decided to alter our plans and head toward the coast a day earlier than intended. One son listened to his iPod while the other one did his summer reading for sophomore English class and my wife and I enjoyed the scenery on Hwys. 41 and 46.
Arriving at Morro Bay without a campground reservation was part of the fun, a piece of the adventure. We were lucky enough to find a spot in an RV park literally in the shadow of Morro Rock, just blocks from the beach. The cool, salty air was a welcome relief from the smog and heat of the Central Valley.
We walked on the beach and took a trolley to the town’s marina, where we window shopped, ate clam chowder and rented an electric boat to tool around the water for an hour as sea lions swam nearby.
When we were done, we headed to our temporary home, playing another board game, sharing another meal at the same table, falling asleep at roughly the same time without a television. There were no battles over video games, just lots of laughs.
On our final day, we headed north on Hwy. 1 and back toward home. But first we stopped in Cambria to walk around and look at way-to-expensive stores before visiting Hearst Castle a few more miles up the road. After that, it was three hours of winding coastal roads we wound our way back to real life.
Reconnecting as a family sometimes means disconnecting from the routine – if not disconnecting from electrical hook-ups; I’m Adam Breen not Daniel Boone.
Our RV adventure brought the four of us together, if only for a few short days, and reminded us just how valuable family time is. Now I have to spend two weeks catching up on all my shows; I might need some more time off.
Adam Breen writes a blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com and teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School. He is a reporter for The Pinnacle and former editor of the Free Lance.
