I know its not a popular opinion, but I don’t enjoy camping. It’s not that I have’t done plenty of it, in fact I grew up tent camping every summer, but somewhere along the line I decided that hauling a car full of gear into the forest, slathering myself in bug repellent, sleeping on the ground and peeing in a hole just wasn’t for me. However, I do love the company of good friends gathered around a warm campfire, and being surrounded by beautiful scenery, I just don’t want to sleep there.
I was beginning to feel guilty about having only taken my older son camping twice, and my younger son, never. Not guilty enough to plan something on my own, but thankfully I didn’t have to. Elliot’s school’s annual 5th grade family glamping/camping trip came to my rescue, and I was able to remedy the situation.
Our glamping destination was El Capitan Canyon just outside of Santa Barbara, California. A very family friendly destination, El Capitan Canyon’s cabins, tents and yurts are situated alongside a creek nestled within the trees and just next to the ocean. The car park is just outside the main glamping area making it safe for children to run and play and there are wide pathways for bikes and scooters. Weather permitting there are heated outdoor pools and playgrounds on site as well.
The onsite store and full service restaurant will ensure that you have everything you need during your stay. For example, if you’re staying in a cabin with three men and no one remembered deodorant.
Animal lovers will enjoy visiting and feeding the onsite llamas and other animals located a short “hike” from the main site. The meet up is just in front of the Market. For those of you who want to keep up your exercise routine, there are guided fun runs as well.
If you’re looking for something more challenging there are longer moderate to difficult hikes in the surrounding hills. We had a wonderful time on the Bill Wallace trail, which offers sweeping views of the surrounding hillsides and ocean. We stopped often to take photos and enjoyed looking down on the camp from above.
Recent rains made for some lovely flower shots, and for very wet feet. Thankfully we’d packed extra shoes.
Much to my delight, our cabin was fully heated, with a bathroom, mini kitchen, and an upstairs loft for the boys. We were with a large group and met up in the main area for evening campfires, however each cabin has its own campfire/grill.
Conveniently the onsite Market sells dinner kits complete with sides, s’mores fixings and cooking utensils, which can be delivered to your accommodation or picked up. There are options for chicken, beef, salmon, and hamburgers and hot dogs. Make sure to order six hours ahead.
While my mind hasn’t been completely changed about camping I have now seen the light where glamping is concerned and would definitely consider another fun filled family weekend at El Capitan Canyon.
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Want to read more about that incredible dinner or about our other Japanese adventures? Check out these related posts:
To read more about our visit to the Praia da Marinha or about our other Portuguese adventures check out these related posts:
Even with the heavy rain keeping us indoors, we spent an enjoyable evening in our little cabin and got some great sunrise photos instead.
We loved seeing the signs, and learning about the history of Sin City. The museum staff were kind and even refunded our admission.
Whether or not you’ve lived very long in a place, I guarantee you haven’t done it all! We’ve had such a great time this past year playing tourist in our own town, and with all that Los Angeles has to offer, I see no signs of that slowing down!
One solution to all these “problems” has been to find new ways to display and store my photos off the computer. In my quest to do so I’ve sent, displayed, framed, published and gifted photos. With as many photo companies to choose from as there are photos on my hard drive it can be hard to know which one to use.
Moving cards: Don’t forget to send moving cards. I know its better to give than to receive, but… There are many great websites and designs to choose from and I usually go with the one having the best sale! This year I used Minted to print my holiday cards and Tiny Prints for our moving announcement.
Creating an album of people or memories is the best way to get those files off your computer and they make wonderful gifts too. I’ve been trying out a number of different photo book companies in all different price ranges and skill levels. Here is some of what I’ve learned so far:
In fact after years of signing my older son up for the “right” team, getting up early on weekends, shlepping the little brother along, volunteering, preparing snack, washing the uniform, losing the uniform, returning the uniform and driving back and forth to soccer, baseball, basketball, and swim team I rejoiced when he finally asked to quit.
Doughnuts are the new cupcakes, which in turn were the new bagel or were they the new frozen yogurt? It’s hard to keep track, because very much like fashion, food fads come and go.
These days with gourmet donut shops popping up on just about every corner it’s getting harder to resist. I’m not usually one to jump on the bandwagon, but, Hey… I’m jumping on! Of course the kids and Tim will need to assist! Care to join us? Keep reading…
This list will be our version of a best of, and as we currently reside in SoCal, many of our donuts will be located here, however as this fad seems to have taken the world by storm, I’ve included a few places worth mentioning from two of my other favorite cities. The more the merrier!
We discovered District 2 years ago and when I’m not in NOLA, I drool over their daily donut creations on Instagram. They’re not beignets, but these guys sure know how to make a donut! Not to mention their sliders and brew (coffee) are pretty great too!
I must admit my first impression of Dks wasn’t the best. It wasn’t super clean, but it was super popular. That says something… doesn’t it? There were many donut choices ranging from strange and unusual (Ube, anyone?) to the classics. We sampled a strawberry crueler, red velvet oreo, peanut butter chocolate, a cronut and a cinnamon twist. The donuts were fresh and we all agreed the peanut butter and chocolate was the best!
Swooping in at the last second to claim the number one spot is Cafe Dulce in Downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. Though technically not a donut shop, donuts dominated their pastry case and after tasting one I can see why! We shared the strawberry cream though I would have loved to try the Fruity Pebbles donut or the Chocolate Creamy donut…The dough was the lightest, fluffiest dough we’ve had yet and the flavor was delicious. I am thankful this place isn’t near my house, but I’m sure we will find our way back!
I’m sharing a room with three other people, none of whom wake up as early as I do, so while I can take care of everything else quietly in the bathroom, drying my hair isn’t an option unless I want three extremely grumpy traveling companions!
All of this has prompted me to come up with a personal rating system for places I stay and blog about!
will work perfectly. Moving forward I’ll use a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best! I’ve just finished a series of blog posts about our recent travels through Ireland, so I’ll start with those properties first! While cleanliness, comfort, and service are paramount. My ratings will also include the following criteria:
The lobby and main areas in 
