Let me begin by saying kids LOVE camping! Sticks? Dirt? Rocks? Rivers? Big trees? Kids have this innate love of nature that I think we sometimes lose as adults.

I grew up in a small town with plenty of nature around, but as I got older I embraced city life and loved the hustle and bustle of it all. Fast forward to being knee deep in the chaos of raising 3 young boys and I am craving all things nature.

I’m drawn to the calm that being outside brings and I’m inspired watching the boys be completely in their element. Exploring the great outdoors through the kids eyes is such a joy and I can’t get enough right now. This summer I found a fantastic camper van to rent and planned an 8 day road trip alone with my 5 and 3 year old boys.

When I was planning the trip I was so focused on my desire to take them camping and how magical it was all going to be that I didn’t stop to think about what a big undertaking it was.

8 days, 5 different campsites, 1,200 miles of driving alone with 2 littles boys. What could go wrong?!

I’ll be honest, the first 2 days were HARD. Crying on the side of Highway 1 hard, wondering why I ever thought this trip was a good idea.

Just in case you aren’t the patient type I’ll tell you how the trip turned out after those first 2 challenging days. By the end of the trip the boys told me they loved me at least 10 times a day. They kept telling me I was the best mommy in the world and that they wanted to camp forever. My goal on the trip was connection and I think we all got that and so much more. I feel extremely grateful for this special time I had with my big boys. Read on for our itinerary and more stories from our epic road trip! #makingmemories

Intinerary

DAY 1

LA – Oceanside – Santa Barbara

We left around noon and drove down to Oceanside to pick up our camper van from VanCraft. I thought we would be able to turn around pretty quickly and make it to Santa Barbara by dinner time, but that was definitely not the case. After some pretty stressful car seat issues in the camper van and an emergency trip to target (for new carseats!) we didn’t hit the road until after 8pm. Then at 8:10pm (#travelingwithtoddlers) we stopped for some In n’ out – a crucial stop on any good CA road trip. During the whole carseat fiasco I wanted to give up and go home. I wanted to get upset and tell someone off. But I didn’t. I remained calm, because as much as I wanted to do all of those aforementioned things, I also wanted to teach my kids that when you travel things happen and it’s important to be flexible.

Since we didn’t get to El Capitan state beach campground until 1am and we had to set off early the next morning we didn’t get much time to explore. We’ll have to plan another trip there soon. Definitely a great spot to car camp by the beach that isn’t too far from LA. All things considered the kids were troopers. But sleeping at 2am and getting woken up at 6am made for a tired mama the next day. Thank you coffeeeee!

DAY 2

Santa Barbara – Morro Bay – Big Sur

On day 2 we woke up early and explored El Capitan for a bit before heading off to Morro Bay. I had planned to stop at both Morro Rock and the Elephant seals, but we accidentally passed Morro Rock and didn’t have time to go back, so elephant seals it was!

The elephant seals were really interesting though. We ended up hanging out there for awhile, exploring, watching the seals, and having lunch. A perk of traveling by camper van is we can stop and have a spontaneous picnic anywhere. Then we said goodbye to the seals and drove to Big Sur. We arrived before it got dark to set up camp and have dinner. *Side note* Make sure you stop for gas at this point, especially if your car needs diesel. We may or may not have had to turn back once we got to the beginning of Big Sur adding an hour onto our drive. Don’t make the same mistake we did!

If you haven’t driven up the coast in California I’d highly recommend it. The coast line is absolutely stunning with tons of lookout spots to stop and take pictures. If I wasn’t traveling with children I probably would have stopped every 10 minutes to take pictures – it’s that stunning. I’d also plan the trip in reverse so that you are driving on the side of the road next to the coast – would make stopping for pictures much easier.

DAY 3

Full day in Big Sur

No driving! We stayed put and enjoyed all that Big Sur Campground had to offer. Day 3 of our trip was magic and reminded me why I planned this trip in the first place. We didn’t have cell reception, which was nice, because you couldn’t help but be in the moment. Traveling alone with a 5 and a 3 year old is CHALLENGING. I was nervous about how it was going to go and they were definitely picking up on my nervous energy the first 2 days. Let’s just say they were wild and I was short on patience. But today we didn’t drive anywhere and I told them they were the bosses for the day. I do “boss days” occasionally, where the boys get to make most decisions and they absolutely live for these days. It’s a great way for us to “reset” if we’ve had a couple of stressful days.

The boys decided to spend the majority of the day playing in the river behind camp. The campground supplies free inner tubes so we had fun floating around. Most of the river was very shallow and slow moving, which meant the children could be pretty independent. I’m not sure if the river is higher in other times of the year. There is one area called the swimming hole where you can swim and jump into the water from the rocks. The boys were too young to jump off the high rocks, but they were amazed that mommy could! Minus a short break for lunch we spent the entire day at the river. Being in nature felt really good, especially after feeling so nervous the first couple of days. Needless to say the boys responded very well to my energy and we just had FUN. I would highly recommend this campground. It is so kid friendly! There is a fantastic playground in the middle where the boys played while I cooked dinner or did the washing up. And a magical day wouldn’t be complete without teaching the boys how to make a fire and eating s’mores.

DAY 4

Big Sur – Monterey Bay

We had breakfast and played a bit before heading to the aquarium in Monterey for the day. We had so
much fun at the aquarium I could barely get the boys to leave. There is so much to see and do! Then it was dinner and ice cream at Ghirardelli despite it being freezing outside!

On another trip I’d love to explore Monterey more, but this stop on the road trip was solely for the aquarium. We stayed in a first come first serve campsite about a mile from cannery row that was easy and worked for 1 night as we were heading off early in the morning to get to our next destination.

DAY 5

Monterey Bay – Yosemite

Next stop Yosemite. If you haven’t been to Yosemite please add it to your must see list. We all agreed this was the highlight of the trip and I wish we had many more days there to explore. I’m already trying to see when we can go back. Truly our time in Yosemite deserves its own blog post. I’ll try and work on that when I have a moment.

We took a break from #campervanlife to stay in tents at Curry Village. As much as I love sharing a queen bed with 2 kids and waking up with a foot on my face, it was nice to have our own beds and a bit more space. The tent was clean and simple and the boys thought it was such an adventure sleeping in a tent.

Although it was hot (like really hot), it stays light until 9pm in the summer so we were living our best life swimming in the river until dark. Then we grabbed pizza at Camp Curry which was surprisingly good.

DAY 6

Full day in Yosemite

Yosemite Valley is so family friendly. Once we got to Curry Village we didn’t drive at all. There are two free shuttles that take you around to various hikes, restaurants, a camp store, etc. The Valleywide shuttle serves all Yosemite Valley stops and then the East Valley shuttle does a smaller loop including Curry Village, where we were staying. Not having to drive the Camper van everywhere was really nice.

We took the shuttle from Curry Village to stop #6 for the Lower Yosemite Falls hike, which was perfect with young kids. It’s a short walk to the bottom of the waterfall and then we spent a few hours playing in the river. If you aren’t with kids or you have older kids who like to hike the Upper Yosemite Falls hike looks incredible. It’s on my bucket list.

After we ran out of drinking water, because it was so hot, we decided it was time to head back to Curry Village. The kids fell asleep on the shuttle, which never happens. Not sure about you, but I do not have those kids you see who fall asleep in their high chair while eating dinner. I think between the rock climbing and the heat we were all exhausted. I know mommy was. After resting a bit we got our energy back, grabbed pizza (again! It’s honestly really good) for dinner and took it to the river. We stayed in the river until after 9pm, looking for the “perfect” stick, exploring different areas, and playing games. I must add that the competition for the best stick between the boys was fierce (#boymama). This was such a special day. It’s easy to forget in the chaos of our daily life that all kids want is connection. And I might add that that feeling is as important for the kids as it is for the parents. Instead of me counting the minutes until bedtime, I let them stay up way later than usual, because I too didn’t want the magic to stop. The picture of me and the boys with chocolate ice cream all of their faces has to be one of my new all time favorite pictures.

DAY 7

Yosemite – Sequoia National Forest

We were meant to head out early to get on the road, but we loved being in Yosemite so much we decided to explore another “beach” near Housekeeping Camp before heading to Sequoia National Park. It was nice to explore another area away from where we were staying, but it was much busier and had a bit more of a “party” vibe than Camp Curry. You can cook your own meals at Housekeeping so that would definitely be a plus, but overall I think I prefer the cleanliness and amenities at Camp Curry.

Unfortunately the drive down to Sequoia National Park was extremely hot and pretty miserable. It took much longer due to road closures and such so we didn’t get to our campsite until after midnight. Poor planning on my part. If I planned the trip again I’d skip Sequoia National Park and just add a couple of days in Yosemite. Although Sequoia National Park is beautiful, we had seen similar scenery in Big Sur and there was more for the kids to do there. I think I’d like to come back here one time, but not as part of a CA road trip.

DAY 8

Sequoia National Forest – Home

Since we arrived after dark it was fun to wake up surrounded by trees, breathing fresh mountain air. We did the short (but steep) walk to see General Sherman tree, the largest living tree in the world. The kids did well on the walk as it isn’t too long and they were somewhat impressed by seeing the largest tree in the world. A couple of notes if you find yourself in Sequoia National Forest – We didn’t have service, which is something I hadn’t planned for. It made navigating a bit difficult – where is a paper map when you need one?! We also booked a “walk-in” campsite, which I had overlooked and definitely would not have booked had I known. We had to park in one area and walk our stuff to the campsite, which was a drag. I suppose reading the fine print is important. Who knew?

Then we did the long, hot, drive home. The boys couldn’t wait to tell Daddy everything that we did. Hearing them recount all of our adventures to my husband filled up my soul in a way that is hard to describe. The three of us had such an adventure and we can’t wait to go camping again. Even though I’ve never been happier to get into my own bed after a nice long shower, I was quickly missing the freedom of being in nature with absolutely nowhere to be.