My Husband's Idea Of A Vacation
Written: May 30 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful Photography, Nice layout, good choices
Cons: Could be a more indepth and more specific about WHY campsites were chosen
The Bottom Line: But why are they Kid-Friendly????
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| merlot's Full Review: Northern California's Best Family Campgrounds: 50 ... |
My husband's idea of a really great vacation would involve 3 or 4 days in the emigrant wilderness. My idea of a really great vacation would involve either a mountain cabin, a beach front bungalow, or a room on a cruise ship. Oh heck, who am I kidding...all I need are flush toilets and showers and I am happy to just be on vacation. Somewhere in the middle of our ideal vacations is camping. I get to get away from the house for awhile and he gets his wilderness, roughing it experience.
Everyone in the family knows how much we enjoy camping and of course kids love camping. It is always a nice treat for them to be able to get as dirty as they want and play outside all day. My kids also think it is a big treat to sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent, again mom would prefer a nice big feather bed, but since I am outnumbered camping, tents, sleeping bags, and rocky ground it is :)
Camping used to be easy when it was just the two of us, but since we now have 2 little ones it has become more of a challenge to find kid friendly camping areas. This is where Northern California's Best Family Campgrounds 50 Fun, Affordable, Kid-Friendly Sites comes in.
Northern California's Best Family Campgrounds 50 Fun, Affordable, Kid-Friendly Sites was a gift from my Grandparents and we were so excited to receive this book that we thought would be very informational.
Northern California's Best Family Campgrounds 50 Fun, Affordable, Kid-Friendly Sites is written by Roland De Wolk and the photographs are by John Swain.
The 131 page book contains gorgeous pictures of the camping areas and some of the various things there are to do in the area. The pictures really make the book. They are absolutely beautiful full color photographs and they help you get a feel for where you are going and what you can see when you get there.
This is a high quality book. The pages are thick and as I stated all the pictures are in full color which is just fantastic. The layout of the book is easy to follow as the campsites are presented in sections of the different areas of Northern California.
The areas that are featured in this book are:
The Bay Area
The North Coast
The Central Coast
The Mountains
Central California
Maps of the areas are included at the start of each section along with a gorgeous picture of the area.
There is also an Introduction, a section on Reserving Your Campsite, What To Bring, and an Index.
Within each area are a few recommended camping areas. Each campsite has about 1-2 pages of description devoted to it, along with color photographs.
The campsite's are described and sometimes include the history of the campsite or area. There are also tips included that are specific to that campsite, like whether you should arrive early or reserve more than one site. Tips to help make your camping trip more enjoyable.
What I Like About This Book
This is a gorgeous book. The pictures add so much to the book, especially since they are in color. I like the layout of the book and the way that it breaks the campsites into the geographical areas.
What I Don't Like About This Book
I think this book could have been so much more. The descriptions of the campsites could have been better. While many of them feature the campsite price and things to do in the area, few actually state WHY they are Kid-Friendly.
There are few descriptions of what "kid things" there are to do. They do list things to do in the general area, but nothing specific to the campsite. For instance does the campsite contain ranger talks/walks, play areas, horseback riding, pools, swimming areas, easy nature hikes, etc. There are no references to what age groups the campsite is best suited to.
There are also key details left out of the book. For instance, one campsite that we went to that is featured in the book describes the history of the railroad in that area. It fails to mention that you are just about on top of the railroad tracks when camping there. There is no mention that all night long you will hear the trains going by, not exactly the sounds of nature I was hoping for.
There is a campsite featured that my husband and I discovered before we had kids, that happens to be featured in the book. This particular campsite is nice for children because there is a lot of easy hiking that you can do that leads to spectacular views, there is a pool for the kids to swim in, ranger talks, and horseback riding. None of which is listed in the book. This campsite happens to be in Napa valley and the book does mention the wine tasting and mud baths, however I think we all can agree that wine tasting and mud baths aren't really what make Napa Valley "Kid-Friendly".
Final Thoughts
This book is helpful. It does list the campsites in California, but so much more could have been done with the book. It could have given the campsites "stars" based on just how "Kid-Friendly" they are.
What it lacks the most is what it is actually designed to do. It really does not adequately describe what makes these campsites "Kid-Friendly". I think that you would be better off researching on the internet or asking friends where they like to camp, unfortunately none of our friends like to camp so we rely on books or the internet.
I don't recommend this book for it's intended purpose. If you are just looking for Northern California's Best Campsites, then this is a great book with stunning photography. If you are looking for 50 Fun, Affordable, Kid-Friendly sites, look elsewhere.
Recommended:
No
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merlot
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Feel The Roar! GO KINGS!!!!
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