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Life is too short to eat bad food! Sharing great recipes, farm life, stories and photography from our Northern California dairy farm.

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August 5, 2013

Casini Ranch Family Campground

This past winter we bought a camper trailer to stay at our county fair while Bryce shows his heifer, which is so much fun but living at the fairgrounds for five days isn't really like camping, in my opinion.....super early mornings, tending to the animals, no hook-ups and only a barely warm shower to use at the fairgrounds, parked in the middle of a dusty parking lot. 

Well, Casini Ranch Family Campground, on the Russian River, however, is amazing camping!  And we just found this out this past weekend.  

Let me show you.

Casini Ranch is set along the Russian River in Duncans Mills.  It's on 110 acres of land and has RV camping as well as numerous tent spots.  The RV spots we chose happened to be just a few spots down from the playground, which made it very convenient for the kids to ride their bikes to and from at their will.  Full restrooms with hot showers are scattered throughout the grounds if you don't want to use your RV hookup or are tent camping.









During the day, we all hiked down to the beach, which was only a few hundred yards away.  This portion of the Russian River is shallow enough for an adult to walk across and the current is very mild.  The kids had fun swimming and rafting all day long.




The girls had a great beach dance party going after lunch.




Casini Ranch is totally pet friendly as well.  This was Chloe's first camping experience.  She was thrilled to be included. She DID however, happen to escape on the very first evening.  So somewhere between showering and first cocktails, we had almost the entire campground searching for the lightening quick ball of white fluff.....stinker!  Thankfully two little girls, fellow campers, found her on the other side of the campground. Phew...




Chloe was then sequestered - solitary confinement in Auntie and Uncle's RV - or our trailer, in my lap or on a short leash the remainder of the trip.




Out of all four dogs, Chloe was the only escapee.  Living on a ranch, I guess she's just not used to boundaries.




Outdoor cooking is one of my favorite parts of camping out....




Especially when my brother-in-law does almost all of it :)  Thank you, Jim!




Oh! Total new discovery for camping breakfast.....Bisquick in a jug.  I'm stocking the camper with this.  I found these Bisquick jugs at our local Harvest Market, two sizes; 12-15 pancake size or a smaller version.   All you do is add the recommended amount of water, shake vigorously and it's ready to pour on the griddle. 

Genius!

No mixing lumpy batter in a bowl.  No washing said batter bowl and whisk and you can probably just store any leftover batter in the fridge/cooler if you had to.  Perfect for camping.




Campfire and s'mores are always a huge hit with the kiddos..





 Sneaking s'more number two just before bed, not a big hit with mommy.




To finish off the camp trip weekend, on Saturday evenings, Casini Ranch gives hay rides around the campground, ending with an ice cream social and bonfire on the beach.  With every pass, the procession accumulated more and more kids on bikes trailing along.  So family friendly.  



 Can't wait for the next trip!

What's your favorite part of camping??











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