Felton, California

At Daybreak (Christian) Camp, Felton CA

We pulled out of my sister’s house about 9:45…Sandy was at work, and we said our goodbyes last night, but Arny was there to see us off, help guide me down the wooden ramps needed so that we don’t bottom out on the driveway, and his biggest task was to lure Bubba into the motorhome because as soon as he came outside of the house, around the corner and off the far end of the backyard he went.  I took along the leash just in case…but Uncle Arny successfully lured him into the motorhome, and off we went.  Above you can see us safely snuggled in along the RV parking area of the Daybreak Camp that my cousin Rich and his wife Marci are the Executive Directors of.  RV electrical plug, and water, no sewer, but we will be gone by Friday, so sewer is not needed.

Lodi California (yes, “Stuck in Lodi” by Creedence Clearwater Revival) is only 50 minutes from my sister’s house, nearly all Interstate travel.  It took us 75 minutes to get there because Caltrans was repairing a section of the Interstate about 15 miles north of Lodi along I-5.  We were headed to Flying J where we filled up with Propane, emptied our waste tanks, and filled up with gas.  The GPS tried to take me over to Franklin Blvd. around Lambert Road…but stubborn me said, “That seems like a long way around….” not knowing that there was road work ahead.  Just past the Lambert exit I see the sign…and there is no where to turn now.  Took 20 minutes to go 5 miles…another lesson learned.  At 12:30 we were back on I-5…yes, an hour stop because we also needed a RV Wash at the Blue Beacon next to Flying J…lots of Elm Tree blossoms all over the motorhome.  As usual, they did a good job.  From there, we drove right to Felton, arriving at 3:15, 15 minutes later than we told Rich and Marci’s youngest son Devin…who was waiting for us at the “back pasture” to let us in.

    

Daybreak Camp, a non-denominational Christian Camp, is real pretty…although we have not taken a tour yet...that should come tomorrow.  In the picture to the left is an open lawn, very large swimming pool to the far left behind those trees, a covered pavilion area where they typically have crafts, and one of the cabins to the right.  In the picture to the right, I is the dining hall and kitchen.  The campground can sleep just shy of 200 people, more if there are RVs and tents.  Rich said that for the kids camps, they have around 110 volunteers for around 140 kids, so they can handle around 250 in total.  They are not open to the public for general camping, it is for non-profit groups.  Each year Daybreak has four different camps, one for young kids, another for older kids, another for youth, and a family camp.  Churches also use the campground, especially during the summer when each week there is something going on...but it can be used all year around, something that Rich and Marci and working on.

 

   

Yes, I was serious when I said “The back pasture”.  The wooden bridge above is the main road leading into the campgrounds…nothing Rich felt would be good to drive the motorhome over, although I think we are under the gross weight ... why chance it...it is among the top 5% worse bridges in all of California.  The San Lorenzo River runs under the bridge, with the picture to the left looking north, and the picture to the right looking south.  In the first picture showing our motorhome, the river runs just on the other side of the motorhome, close to the bridge.  Little traffic goes over this one lane bridge, but when it does, it has a low rumble like thunder...or like bowling pins being knocked over in a bowling alley.  The County and Caltrans are going to have to replace the bridge soon...the work will have to be done after April and before October because of the spawning fish between October through March.  It is a county bridge, and there are about 20 homes and other establishments the bridge feeds...the camp just happens to be the first property closest to the bridge.  When this work is done, the road we are camping on will have to be used, along with the pasture road (non-paved) to give access to everyone on this side of the bridge.  Once the new bridge is put in, it will be much easier to bring RVs to the campground...but the RV area will be moved away from this road.

Here is a small stand of trees just behind the motorhome, and the river runs on the other side of them.  If I am correct with my trees, the far right is a Coastal Redwood, while the other two are Pine Trees…the barks are different between a Pine and a Redwood.  They have a number of Redwoods here at the Campground, and this whole area is known for its Redwood Trees…with the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park not too far away, as is the Roaring Camp Railroads.  My Great Grandfather once lived in Santa Cruz, and was a conductor for the South Pacific Coast Railroad, later acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad.  His pocket watch, given to him upon retirement, was given to me by mom and dad when I earned my Masters Degree in Library and Information Sciences.  When my son Michael earned his Masters from University of California (Berkeley), I gave it to him.  The South Pacific Coast Railroad was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between the Santa Cruz Docks (at the time it was the third or fourth busiest docks in the state),  and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco.  Starting out on the Centerville Horse Driven Train in Centerville (Newark), Charles Burdick turned that over to his brother Henry and moved on to the South Pacific Coast Railroad.  So this area has had a large impact on our family…and it is nice to see Richard working at this Church Campground where 'our' (his and my, Rich is just a few years younger than me, his father is my father's older brother) Great-Grandfather was a conductor on a train line that ran right through Felton.   The picture to the right is the road leading to or from the pasture land, which had about a dozen pretty horses boarded there, owned by local residents. 

Not sure of everything we will do over the next three days, but we plan to head to Mariposa on Friday so that we can visit Yosemite National Park.  Marci and Rich's daughter Liz is going to have a baby any day now...so Marci is not here, and Rich is on call to head back to the Placerville area on short notice 'after' the baby is actually born.