Dean's family camped here a lot
while he was growing up, and it's the place we've camped most as a family. When
we lived in Felton, the day-use entrance was half a mile down the road, and we often
walked on the trails, in the river or beside the main road to play in the
river, look for deer, or follow the shortcut to church. Walking to the
observation deck (a three mile hike from the entrance) was Dean's almost daily
exercise.
Roaring Camp's steam engines pull
trains up a mountain or down to the beach, and the grounds include an 1880s
main street.
When we moved to the area, we weren't
sure where we'd find housing in the four communities that make up the San
Lorenzo Valley, so we enrolled in SLE. Our son got bored while waiting for me
to fill out paperwork, so he pulled the fire alarm on the wall above where he
was sitting. It was a memorable introduction to the school all three kids would
attend for the next five years.
It's the main road through the SanLorenzo River valley, and if you live there, you probably drive, hitchhike,
bike, or walk along it daily. The section from Felton to Santa Cruz,
periodically closed for landslides or construction, is beautiful and a little
terrifying if you're not used to sudden changes from sun to deep shade while
driving a narrow, twisting road with steep drops to a river bed on one side.
North from Felton, rainstorms -- or earthquakes -- can mean road closures with
detours miles long to get from one end of the valley to the other.
The park contains the tallest
covered bridge in the United States, and it's a lot of fun to run through while
yelling to hear echoes. But that's not all! There's also a playground, and for our
family, it's where we've celebrated birthdays and had my favorite family
portrait taken.
BONUS MEMORY:
The smell of damp redwoods and bay laurel on a warm day.
-- Mindy
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