Pages

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

California Road Trip Day 6 Part 3 - Glamping


      



To read more about the planning of our California Road trip go here. To read about previous stops on our trip, click on the following links:










California Road Trip Day Six Itinerary



In preparation for day six, I had the following in a folder: an itinerary for the day, printed driving directions, and copies of reservations for our glampsite.


4:00 a.m. - wake up and get ready

5:00 a.m. - meet Balloons Above the Valley for a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley

8:00. a.m. - breakfast with the hot air balloon company

9:30 a.m. - breakfast at Old World Inn
11:00 a.m. - checkout of inn and leave Napa
1:00 p.m. - travel Pacific Coast Highway beaches

4:oo p.m - stop for early dinner in Santa Cruz

5:00 p.m. - check into our glampsite at Costanoa Lodge in Pascadero, enjoy the grounds, make s'mores, watch fireworks on the beach and get a good night's sleep:)





          Ever since I heard about “glamping” on the travel channel, I knew it was something that I  wanted to do.  When the opportunity presented itself on our CA trip, I gladly made the arrangements to spend Fourth of July at Costanoa Lodge in Pascadero, CA.



            I’m really not much of camper, but glamourous camping (a.k.a glamping) I can do.  On the travel chanel, glamping is made out to be a far more glamorous experience than what we experienced on our trip.  On TV, glamping is for the rich and famous where amenities are nothing less than personal chefs and lavishly furnished tents. A glamping experience like that is also an expensive one!  Our glamping experience was for the frugal soul.  For $99 our glamping included the following: a one night stay in a small, furnished, canvassed tent with electricity and a great view, a queen sized bed with an electric blanket for extra warmth, plush robes and shared amenities such as a hot tub, fire pits, saunas and comfort stations for showering.  The grounds at Costanoa were very well manicured, and the beach was just a short walk away from the camp.  The grounds also included a restaurant (extra charge), free Wi-Fi in the lobby of the lodge, a general store and a spa (extra charge).  If a canvassed tent isn’t your thing, rooms are available in the lodge and cabins are available as well.  Overall, Costanoa was more like modernized camping.  For example, you get a tent….but you also get electricity.  You get plumbing….even if it is a shared comfort station.  You get the views of the outdoors….but you also get a hot tub and a sauna.  It’s the best of both worlds really, and for $99 I’m glad we got to experience it:)



       The only downside about our stay was….the skunk….yep, I said the skunk.  It really made our stay less glamorous, but it was completely out of the campground’s control.  When we went to our tent after checking in, I smelt a very faint, fowl odor.  I have a sensitive nose, so my husband told me that I was crazy.  We actually ended up fighting about it, because I didn’t even want to stay in the tent.  We spent much of the evening away from our tent upon my request, but when we returned from the hot tub to get dressed for fireworks, the smell became more fragrant!  It was no longer faint and I knew exactly what it was!  It was definitely a skunk!  I bravely opened the door to see if I could see anything, and I kid you not, there was a skunk right outside our cabin door!!!  Fearful of getting sprayed, we quietly called security, and they came out to look for the culprit.  By that time, the skunk had gone, but the smell still lingered.   The skunk never actually sprayed our tent (thank goodness), but we still requested to be moved to a different tent for the night.  Our tent was surrounded by pine trees, so we think the skunk could have been hanging around when we checked in…hints the faint smell.  By the time we got settled for the night, we had missed the fireworks on the beach, but in return we were able to make another lovely California memory;)






A few pics of our day…..
















No comments:

Post a Comment