Mt. Madonna County Park
Camp Review
We camped at site 419 in the Tan Oak Campground at Mount Madonna County Park.
The site came with a food box made of concrete, a wooden bench, and a fire ring with a built-in grill.
The site was extra-large and open, without any boundaries to sites 420 and 421. There was enough space for 4-5 large tents.
There were only a few trees, but because the trees surrounding the campsite were so tall, we had plenty of shade throughout the day.
The ground was a clay-like hard dirt, which ate one tent stake. It was incredibly difficult to insert and to take out the other stakes.
The campground seemed so big, but I found the other campers to be loud, even after 10 PM, which is quiet hours for most campgrounds.
People from site 421 and other sites walked through our campsite to get to the bathroom, which was annoying.
The bathrooms, by the way, were well-stocked, clean, and in good working order. I especially appreciated the working soap dispenser.
What I Learned
The Saito family brought a Westfalia camper van, which was really cool to check out. I used to dream about having one 10 years ago and if I had one, I think I would have been pretty happy. But there’s no question in my head that Ramona is my better option.
I tried fixing the zipper of the three-person tent that Kaylee likes to use and I have found it to be difficult to fix. Given that the rest of the tent still works and Kaylee likes it, I think we’ll just continue to use it until even Kaylee gives up on it. It has taught me the lesson that in the long run, I would have saved more money by buying a Nemo tent from the start. If it had run into zipper problems, I would have been able to get it fixed under their lifetime warranty.
Friends
We camped with the Saito and Prives family. Unfortunately, one of the girls from the Saito family fell ill and they had to leave after one night. But the girls all had a great time and having them around made camping much more fun and memorable. Hopefully, we’ll continue this tradition of going camping together for a long, long time.
What Happened?
We had so much fun camping with the Prives and Saito families last year that we decided to double the number of camping trips in 2024. Earlier in August, we had a great time camping with the Saito family at Henry Cowell State Park; to close out the month, we all met up at Mount Madonna County Park. The Prives family took the gold arriving about 45 minutes before us and the Saito family took the bronze coming in about 45 minutes after us. The Saitos then quickly made dinner for everyone—a delicious mix of Japanese curry over rice, Ceasar salad, karaage chicken, and mashed potato. After dinner, we all pulled up chairs around the Saito family’s campfire and caught up while snacking on s’mores, popcorn, sausage, and sweet potatoes. We let the girls stay up a bit, but when the quiet time hit, we all went to our respective campsites, brushed our teeth, and went straight to bed. I had a mysterious headache/nausea that kept me up for a bit, but I was able to sleep like a baby once the ibuprofen kicked in.
The next morning, Anna and I woke up first from our campsite and since it was a little chilly, we started a fire at our campsite. It attracted the others, who came by with their camping chairs, plopped down next to the warm fire, and ate breakfast. This time, we had all the individual families be responsible for their own breakfast—at our site, we had avocado toast over a rosemary-Parmesan bread that was pretty yummy and very filling. We had a slow morning, where the kids ended up making art—either on paper, flowers, or acorns—and the adults lazied about either reading, napping, or cleaning up.
For lunch, Cassie and I made tteokbokki and Shanghai-inspired stir-fried rice cakes. The tteokbokki was a bit too spicy for the kids, so we made stir-fried rice cakes for the kids. It was our first time making either of the dishes while camping and while we could have made a larger quantity of food, the taste itself ended up being spot-on. After lunch, the Saitos left early so that Luna could be more comfortable at home. For the rest of us, we grabbed some bows and arrows and headed to the archery range.
After that bit of fun, we came back to a delicious dinner that the Prives family prepared for us. On the menu was a 1/3 lb burger with 4 cheeses to choose from, potato salad, and a Mexican/Asian slaw that Dave made from scratch. And after dinner, much like the day before, we sat around the campfire eating snacks—popcorn, sausage, and s’mores. Most of us then played various card games, such as Uno, Duo, Monopoly Deal, and Sushi Go! As we were more tired than the day before, we said our good-nights before quiet time and got into bed right around quiet time. Our neighbors were a bit more rowdy than the day before, but sooner than later, we all fell asleep to a cacophony of insect (we think crickets) sounds.
We woke up to loud neighbors and woodpeckers. We repeated our morning routine by starting a fire and toasting some bread on it. We enjoyed a quiet morning where we ate some toast and fruit, then talked about various things between the four of us. We then started cleaning the campsite and the girls left to go play with the Prives girls. They returned after a bit though, as the Prives were taking off to a winery and Gizdich Ranch. We left soon after leaving the site cleaner than we found it. As we drove off, we thanked our campsite for serving us so well during our stay at Mount Madonna.
