Camp Cool” is the three-acre farm of Sandra’s friends Samantha and Jimmy in beautiful Cool, California (about 60 minutes east of Sacramento). While rural (note to the wise), it’s five minutes from a large grocery store.
There are large areas on this sloping front yard for RV parking and tent camping. Since our group may be on the order of 80 people, watchwords of the day will be sharing, flexibility, fun, and good humor!
Samantha and Jimmy have a new baby, so they are generously offering us their yard but not the inside of their home. We will have portapotties, but otherwise it will be “primitive camping.” In other words, no showers unless you (a) bring a “camp shower” bag; (b) arrive in an RV (with batteries charged and water tanks filled, but there will be water available); or (c) stay at the KOA campground in West Sacramento or in a hotel room (see “Staying in town” on this blog for details and links).
Due to budget considerations, there will be no camp cook. Please bring whatever your family likes to eat and the cooler / ice / camp stove / can opener / kitchen equipment you’ll need.
Camp Cool Color Code
What kind of camper are you?
GREEN: Camping novice–“I own nothing, all I can pack is a toothbrush!” Try to borrow or else rent from the following (scroll to the bottom for a list of what you’ll need):
- REI (various locations)
- Outback Adventures (in the Bay Area and San Jose)
- Lower Gear (online rentals)
ORANGE: Camping beginner–“We’ve borrowed a tent–will try to pitch it!” If you have at least some camping supplies and knowhow, we’ll help you. If you have food, supplies, or knowhow to share, that will help! Thanks!
MAGENTA: “We are veterans, outdoor gourmet chefs, we’ll get eggs from those chickens and make omelets and milk the goats to make our own cheese– Why, we could take on a flotilla of newbies!”
Call Sandra immediately. Her cell phone’s below.
Please send us an e-mail at join@californiachildrensrally.com with the approximate number of your party and camping “level” so we can coordinate as much as possible on our end.
Camp Cool Rules
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3951 Lake Road, West Sacramento, CA 95691
Local Phone: (916) 371-6771
Toll Free: 800-2747
Fax: (916) 371-0622
1. Deadline for reserving a spot at Camp Cool: June 1. After that, there may be room at the Sacramento West/Old Town KOA.
2. Please respect Sam and Jimmy’s privacy. The bathroom and kitchen are not for use by campers.
3. Quiet time starts at 9 pm. Even loud conversations travel far in this quiet rural community, and the farmers start their day early!
4. No dogs, please. Sam and Jimmy have a “giant Malamute Choney, who is other-dog aggressive, so [they] need to make sure people don’t accidentally bring their Pomeranians or Chihuahuas–unless, of course, they are offering them as sacrifices to the mountain gods.”
5. “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” Please haul away all trash. Last year it helped to compost what we could in Jimmy’s compost heap, separate out the recyclables, and take out each day’s trash in the luggage bins under the bus and find a dumpster.
Camp Cool Directions (from LA)
5 north to Sacramento
50 eastbound (South Lake Tahoe)
El Dorado Hills exit (spins you around to go left or north on El Dorado Hills)
Continue on that road for 17 miles
(Note that El Dorado Hills turns into Salmon Falls Road when you cross Green Valley))
Follow Salmon Falls to the dead end
Right on Rattlesnake Bar Road (for about 200 feet)
Left on Hwy 49
Right on Hwy 193 (stop sign)
Right on Cherry Acres
Right on Hamblin
Left on Overton
Right on Sevier
1240 Sevier (on left at dead end)
House phone: (530) 889 8493 (Samantha and Jimmy)
Sandra’s cell: (818) 426 1240
Camp Cool Schedule 2009 (rough)
Mon., June 22: 6 – 9 p.m. Potluck and campfire singalong
Tues., June 23: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Rally, family legislator visits, then head home
Camp Cool Checklist — What to Bring
(NOTE: This is a COMPLETE list; if the very naming of these objects makes you panic, you are clearly level GREEN. Just borrow or rent the items in bold:
Sleeping bags, Sleeping pad or Air mattresses and air pumps
Pillows (or pillowcase for your jacket – evenings can get cold)
RV or Tent and stakes, hammer, tarp (as big as floor of tent)
Sunscreen, Hat, Water bottle to refill, Permanent Marker to label your stuff
Flashlight and Extra Batteries
Kitchen towels (or paper), soap, hand sanitizer
Cooler, ice (ice is sold in Cool)
Trash bags (large green for trash, “tall kitchen” white for recycling)
Pots and Pans, potholders, can opener
Dishes, plates, cups, cutting board, good knife
Marshmallows (plenty of sticks around for roasting)
All the food your family will eat for dinner Monday night and breakfast and lunch on Tuesday (kid-friendly foods that travel well with limited refrigeration: PB, honey, bread, graham crackers, yogurt, carrot sticks, celery, citrus, hummos, pita bread, raisins).
Chairs (for the outdoors)
Tables (for meals)
Stove (note: we cannot use kitchen in the house, so if you want hot water for coffee, hot chocolate, oatmeal, etc., bring a camp stove)
Propane fuel for stove, Matches
Wood and Firestarters (note: Jimmy will let us know about the local fire danger and rules)
Lamp/Lantern and Extra Batteries or Mantles, Matches
*****MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS of any kind (for Monday’s singalong)
