Tag: camping

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Wikets Rec To Make Camping Comfortable Plus a Contest

el capitan santa barbara camping mom blogger los angeles

I am from the hot, hot desert of Tucson, Arizona. The cold is not my friend. If it gets below 65 degrees I wear a scarf. Any lower, I’m head to toe in wool.

So camping has been a bit of a challenge for me. The week before Easter, we headed to Santa Barbara to camp at El Capitan State Beach. It’s beautiful there and the spring weather is usually fine; cool in the evening and warm during the day.

This year it was freezing. Plus it was windy. There was no way to get warm. I didn’t have gloves or a hat or a parka. (My kids were fine because they never stopped running around.) I know the older I get the more whiny I am about the elements, but it was arctic cold. It might have been in the 40s.

Which is what leads me to this post today. One of our friends on the camping trip had this camp love seat.

wikets rei mom blogger in los angeles

It doesn’t seem like it would keep you warm, but it allows you to sit by the fire with someone, in my case 2 warm little boys or my equally warm husband, with a blanket and be toasty warm. I put the Camp Couch on my list of things I really want to have and I recommended (rec’d) it on Wikets and put it on the my wishlist in the hopes that it would show up on Mother’s Day.

Wikets is having a contest where you can recommend something you like a lot to someone you like a lot. While I really want an REI Camp Couch, I think my adorable husband would like this Byer Traveller Lite Hammock.

rei hammock byer camping in california mom blogger in los angeles

It’s $22.95, is 16 oz. and can hold up to 250 pounds. My husband can go to a quiet corner of the campsite, put up the hammock, and relax trying to forget all of the complaining I do about the cold.

You too can win a gift for someone you love by entering to win one of 10 prizes in this contest on Wikets. All you have to do is look for the Wikets man (it’s Batman on Wikets) and answer his question “What product $25 or less would you most want a friend to have?” Ten of the most heartfelt, funny, clever, answer recs will be selected. If your rec is selected you can send one of the products rec’d to a friend on Wikets.

I’m not eligible to win because I’m working with Wikets, but I did put that Hammock on my wishlist so I’ll remember to get it for my husband on Father’s Day.

If you’d like to enter the contest, you must first have the Wikets app on your iphone or ipad. I love Wikets, which was listed Number 1 in Catalog apps on itunes earlier in the week, especially because I can get and give apps from people I know. It’s so much more reliable, in my opinion, to try a product or restaurant that one of my friends liked. Not only that, they now they have offers. Here’s today’s which I am seriously considering:

wikets offer star wars saga

 

This post was sponsored by Wikets, but my opinions are all my own. 

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Camping at El Capitan State Beach

The kids, husband and I had an amazing weekend camping in Santa Barbara. We were lucky enough to get a group site at El Capitan State Beach, which had a view of the ocean and enough room for 7 families.

It wasn’t easy to arrange. The friend who organized it made the reservation 6 months ago to the day and the trip was almost canceled because of rain. But there was no rain and the weather couldn’t have been better.

El Capitan is 17 miles west of Santa Barbara in a beautiful location. It’s a short walk to the beach and it’s surrounded by hiking and bike trails. We had enough room so the tents were close, but not too close to each other. Near the picnic tables was the perfect tree for the kids in our group, not too dangerous, but they could still fall and injure themselves. They are 2 to 6 years old and spent most of their time in the tree.

It was too cold to swim in the water, but the rocky beach was fun for climbing and collecting shells and rocks.

The beach, the walks and campfire were really fun, but the food was fantastic. The first night one family made fajitas marinated in gluten-free beer and bbq sauce. The second night we had lamb kabobs that had been marinated for 3 days in a sweet mint sauce. We had salad with fresh avocado and tomato, cheese and crackers with quince and carmelized nuts. Several types of interesting wine. Amazing.

The nights were a little cold, but the campfire and smores warmed everyone up. The nice people at Backyard Safari gave me a lantern at the LA Blogger’s Brunch last week and it was the perfect nightlight in the tent for my boys.

On Saturday, the weather was clear and warm. We took the kids to the beach, had a fabulous lunch and then went on a long walk. After a lot of resting/snacking, two of us decided to fight our instincts to drink beer and eat more cheese and we went on a run. Actually, it was more like a shuffle. (Just FYI: Don’t go running after you’ve had a beer and cheese and crackers. Uggh). We went jogging across the road to see what life was like at the private campground, El Capitan Canyon.

The family and I had been there before, on our first camping trip with kids. It was really “Glamping” (glamour camping) because there’s no camping involved. We stayed in a cabin with a bed, refrigerator, and a spa tub. You could cook outside and sit by the campfire as if you were camping and then go inside and crawl into a warm bed. The grounds have a pool, a store with chocolate and wine, restaurant, and lots of activities for the family. It was quite nice.

I was definitely thinking about that spa tub that afternoon when I was showering in the campground’s showers (which were nice for camping, but no hot jets). But I’d pick our tent camping any day. Good friends, good food, (no computer!) and kids having a blast. It was a great time.