You will forever hear me say that some of the best weekend trips or day trips have been trips where we did not spent a lot of money on our getaway. Please never feel that you have to travel somewhere far or expensive to have a memorable experience. Too often I hear mamas say that they do not travel because it costs too much or because they have little children and it is hard to travel with them. I have been that young mama with 4 little children. I have went camping with 3 children while pregnant with my fourth with only two weeks left until my due date and I remember praying that I wouldn’t go into labor while camping. I have taken my little ones camping when they were only one month old. Yes, it was hard but it has been so worth it because we have raised our children to love nature and they are great helpers. They helped us set up our tent when they were younger, holding what they could. Now, going camping is a piece of cake and it is so enjoyable for all of us.
Marin County is so beautiful. There are so many trails to take and places to explore.
Rodeo Valley Loop
There are a couple of parking lots that you can start this hike from. You can easily do a shorter or longer variation of this hike. We decided to start at the parking lot nearest to the visitors center. As you head up the hill you will get beautiful views of the valley and the beautiful hills above you. But then as you turn and start walking on the side of the hill over the tunnel you will start to spot Golden Gate Bridge from the distance. From there with every turn you make the view just gets better until San Francisco Bay opens up to you in all its glory. You get to see Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, Alcatraz, San Francisco, and Golden Gate Bridge. And this is where you realize that all that elevation gain 987 feet was totally worth it. Personally we have done longer hikes and have even gained more elevation for a lot less of a view. When your done soaking up the views it will be time to descend down into the valley. What I found interesting was how much more greener and lush with vegetation this side of the valley is. During this trail we had to cross two non-busy streets. The loop is complete once you get to the parking lot. This loop is 5.6 miles long.
Paradise Beach Park
During the weekend or holiday it can be a challenge to find a great picnic place in Marin County. It seems like everyone else is out enjoying their family and the great outdoors. Paradise Beach Park is tucked away just enough to where you can avoid all the tourists. Here you’ll find a parking place and enough area to spread out your blanket as well as fly a kite. This place is said to be great for catching crabs. We are planning to come back here to enjoy crabbing.
Located in Tiburon, CA.
The Depot Bookstore and Café
Here is a place where you can feed your body and your mind. If you are a reader like I am then this is a great place to pick up a book and go get yourself some coffee and pastries. What a great way to start reading that new book that you just purchased. This used to be where trails passed through but once they were no longer used it was a bus station. The original station house was burned down and re-built a few times. In 1970 this place was made into a bookstore and café.
Located at 87 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941.
Kirby Cove Campground
This is probably one of the coolest campgrounds located in California. There are only 5 group sites. Each campsite is big enough for three families. There is a road that takes you to the campsite parking lot and there is even a wheelbarrow to help you get your belongings to your site. The great thing is here you have some privacy from other campers but at the same time you are only steps away from the beach and amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, and San Francisco. On a clear day you can watch massive ships navigate their way in and out of San Francisco Bay. We were camping in July so we got to see flocks of brown pelicans cruise up and down the coast. And if you have ever seen pelicans then you know that it is a sight to behold. You do have to plan in advanced to reserve a spot here. And you have to make sure that you bring everything you need with you because there is absolutely no drinking or washing water at the campsites.
To reserve a campsite click here.
Camp Food
I do not know about you but when we camp we eat and cook a lot. There is something about being outside in nature and wanting to eat more than usual. Before we left the house I prepared a lot of the things like separate the egg whites, make biscuits ahead of time, put all the dry ingredients in a zip lock bag for the corn bread, and so on. I measure all the milk or buttermilk and put the exact measurements in a glass jar. This way we only bring what we plan on using and we don’t have to measure and make more mess or spend more time on preparing a meal. We arrived around lunch time and because we knew that the last thing we wanted to do was cook when we had to set up the tent and unload. So we made a soup at home which we put in a mason jar and we just added boiling hot water to it when we arrived to the campsite. The first thing you want to add to the mason jar is noodles. We have found that Chuka Soba-Japanese Style noodles work best. Then we added shredded spinach, carrots, mushrooms, and green onion. In a separate plastic container we added chicken broth with shredded garlic and seasoning. The broth gets added to the soup once we are ready to eat it.
We used a Dutch oven for all of our other meals. For dinner we made chili and corn bread. Since we eat dinner at around 5:30 we also made a late night snack which was an upside down cake. The next morning we made biscuits and gravy.
Making camping meals with your family is so enjoyable. Please don’t leave your children out but include them in planning and making your camping meals.
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