One of the campers of last summer left behind this camping list. Corina found it in a campsite and took a picture. I love this. Its so personal and organized. It makes me smile to think about all the things this family had to plan and do just to come camping at Schoolhouse.
How about scenic drive along Dutch Bill Creek, through a couple of small towns, ending up at a bakery that makes a sticky bun to die for?
Begin your drive by leaving the campground to the right and drive River Road to the west through Guerneville and out to Monte Rio, which is about 7 miles. At Monte Rio, head left over the old train trestle bridge that crosses the river and out Bohemian HWY.
Continue along Dutch Bill Creek through the hamlet of Camp Meeker and into the eclectic, vintage little town of Occidental. This is a great place to get out and stretch your legs, have a coffee at one of the shops or maybe a pint and a bite at the little pub which is family friendly. If you do have kids with you, be sure to stop by the toy store which is a really good one. There is also a nice shop that sells pottery and other small pieces from local artisans. The two Italian restaurants which seem to duel each other from opposite sides of the main drag are legendary. Negri’s on one side and the Union Hotel on the other. They have each been in business forever and have huge following for their family style Italian dinners. Lots of fun but be sure to go when you are hungry as they serve big plates. Continue on Bohemian out of Occidental to the little town of Freestone. Here you will find something truly special.
Wild Flour Bread is a destination in itself. They create 10 to 12 varieties of bread daily; each is world class and baked in a wood fired brick oven. Go for the sticky bun and have it cut into small pieces to share - they are huge. The buns are like none you’ve had before - sweet but not too sweet, gooey yet crisp in parts and strangely seeming somehow healthy. The coffee is good and strong and perfect to wash it all down.
From here you can head back to the camp one of two ways.East will take you through Sebastopol and out 116 back to the river. West will take you out through the little town of Bodega before hitting Hwy 1. Here, head north through Bodega Bay and on up to the river just below Jenner and back home on 116.
I thought it might be fun for you to read some of the thank you notes that are occasionally left for us. They are beautiful and personal and so appreciated. The kind words are one of the things that make all this work worth it to me.
Many find that the tent becomes an extension of their personalities. Over the past couple of summers or so, I’ve been collecting pictures of some of the better tents that have visited the campground. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.
This is one I occasionally see in the camp. It is made by Kodiak and it is one of my favorites. With classic design and good looks, this is what I would buy if I was in the market for a new tent. Ultra high quality and very heavy duty, it’s pricey and worth it.
My photo does not do this tent justice. The structure was truly epic. It is one of the biggest tents I have seen and made by North Face. The tent had a presence that is hard to describe. If I had to guess, I’d say it as about 15 or so feet in diameter and looked extremely complicated to set up. It was definitely overkill so I stopped by site 8 to visit. It was just a guy camping with his small family and even he admitted that the tent was a bit much for a weekend camping trip. Apparently he worked at North Face and one of the perks was access to high-end equipment. The name of the tent was Base Camp or something like that and we both laughed when he told me what it was worth. Shockingly expensive, this is the best of the best if you are waiting to climb Everest.
Here is one that I really liked. It was long and almost like a tunnel inside. I cant remember the make, may have been Marmot.
This little tent clips to the tail end of a Prius and turned the car into a hybrid vehicle-tent-gas-battery thing. Love it!
These little Marmot tents looked so cute in site 2. Although the photo does not show it, there were actually three tents and three ladies and all were about the same size. The tents that is, not the ladies.
Awesome little vintage trailer with its original circus style attached tent. This one got lots of attention while at Schoolhouse.
This vintage Range Rover looks like it is ready for the Australian Outback! The accordion tent is attached by a hinge on one side and pops up to create one of the coolest rigs to visit the camp last Summer. This is one I really wish I had myself. I later learned that this vehicle / pop up combination is highly sought after and pretty rare.
Can you say tent envy?
This is your classic vintage Coleman style house tent. I see these once in a while and occasionally get to see a original still in use. I once talked with an older man that had been using his for over fifty years! I’m guessing most modern tents are not going to last that long.
I get a lot of Europeans that come to tour California and the west.There are a few bay area companies that convert vans into camping rigs that work very well for a couple or small family. I love the Smokey the Bear motif on this one.
Some tents are just plain big. Warehouse stores are flooding the market with tents as big as houses. I’m not a huge fan of these and they often do not last. If you choose one of these monsters, be aware that many sites at Schoolhouse will not work for you. Talk with me about it first if you want to make sure the size will work in your site.
Schoolhouse is not a trailer park, it is a tent campground. A car camping experience. It’s small so trailers typically don’t work well here but I wanted to show some of the rigs with a small footprint that have visited and fit right in. These next few are classic beauty.
Teardrops are so perfect for a couple, I don’t know why more people don’t have them. This beautiful little tow behind is actually new and made by a company called Silver Shadow.
The canned ham above is a real one. Vintage and restored. You can buy one new however and they look just as good. Shasta has recently released a re-issue of their 1961 classic.
I’m a sucker for the smaller Airstreams. They are so classy and even though this one is new, it is a nod to the past, just like Schoolhouse.
Could a vintage Westy be any cooler than this one? It has an original tent that attaches to the side creating a large indoor space. The whole thing screams 1960’s. It’s interesting to me that the people who buy a Westfalia always seem happy. They love the busses and often seem to be on some sort of adventure. Even if it is just a weekend outing.
Our friends Brett and Kim talked us into a double date the other day. Brett set it all up and decided that we would go to one of their favorite places, the Tomalas Bay Oyster Company. This is a combination oyster farm and picnic grounds and it was way cooler that I expected. I can't believe that I have never been there before. This place was right up my alley.
They have this large picnic grounds overlooking the bay and you can use the facilities for free! These guys are just trying to sell some oysters. You bring the drinks, hot sauce and if you are going to que, the coals to do so. They will sell you all kinds of oysters and clams.
We bought 50 of the smalls for eating raw, some BBQ size and some special tiny ones that were flown in from Seattle, I think. Brett had made a chopped salsa of sorts that consisted of onions, cilantro lime & salt. We spooned this over the little guys and had at it. They were so unbelievably good, words can not describe. It's like eating a bit of the sea, only fresh and bright tasting.
Problem was, after a couple of Ranger IPAs, we could not open them up fast enough. They are small so eating them was no problem. The bottle neck was the shucking and prep. After a while, it was just Brett popping them open. I'd sneak a few when he wasn't looking and the girls chatted away over a glass of Champagne. The little guys were just too good.
The larger ones came off the grill after a couple of minutes and I had brought a special bottle of hot sauce called Yucatan Gold. It's a fiery Habanero sauce made with onion and carrot, bright orange and hotter than snot. It is by far, my all time favorite hot sauce. Made over in Sonoma and I've only ever found it at one place - Hop Kiln Winery on West Side road about 7 miles from the camp.
If you are a hot sauce aficionado, you owe it to yourself to check it out when you stay with us at the camp. It as good as hot sauce gets. Pair this with a bit of sweet BBQ sauce over a grilled oyster and it's darn near Nirvana.
Tomales Bay Oyster co. is an easy day trip from Schoolhouse Canyon Campground and well worth the effort. get there early, especially on a weekend and grab a table overlooking the bay. Here is the link:
