Filed under: Arizona, Arizona Road Trip, camping, Cooking, family, Friends, Grand Canyon, Happy Campers, Life, National Parks, Oregon, Road Trip, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Travel, Utah, West Coast Road Trip, Zion National Park
Has the economy got you down? Are you yearning for a vacation but just can’t afford a plane ticket to paradise? Fear not my friend, PARADISE is in our own backyard, explore the great outdoors! Happy Campers is a unique camping tour service. For those that don’t know “how” to camp, we teach you. For those that do, we show you more! Your trip guides are a chef and an archaeologist. Both of us are experienced campers and will show you the ropes on everything from pitching a tent and building a fire to hiking “smart” and getting the most out of your nature experience.
We take groups of 2-12 people on camping trips lasting from 3 days to 2 weeks. Each trip is custom fit to YOUR NEEDS & DESIRES. We can camp on the beach an hour away or at one of our Nation’s beautiful National Parks 5-6 hours away. We tell you what to bring, show you how to set up camp like a pro and even cook gourmet campsite meals for you! Abigail, our resident archaeologist, will teach you about the geography of the area we camp and hike in as well as show you how to keep an eye open for traces of old civilizations. We will also teach you basic survival skills. Don’t worry, this isn’t boot camp, there is plenty of time for relaxing and just enjoying your surroundings.
Trips start as cheap as $50/person. This fee includes all your meals, snacks, firewood and campsite fees for the trip. You bring your tent & sleeping bag and we’ll show you how to use it. Make your reservations now! We will be guiding trips from April to August anywhere within 8 hours driving distance from Southern California. Camping is fun & affordable and there are many BEAUTIFUL places here in the US worth exploring. Come enjoy Nature with us!
Leave a comment with your email address and we will contact you about planning your trip. Gather your family or a group of friends and lets go camping!
Check out some of out past trips:
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Filed under: Art, camping, DJing, Events, J Ross Parrelli, Life, Music, Oregon, Travel, West Coast Road Trip
Just 10 days after a magnificent trip to Sequoia National Park I was at it again, only this time on a grander scale. I was scheduled to DJ at the Northwest World Reggae Festival with my girl J Ross Parrelli. At first I had planned to fly up and back down but thru the wonders of Facebook, I learned that my cousins Kristi & Kelly would be together in Washington at the same time. We coordinated our schedules and it worked out that we would be able to take the road trip of a life time together! I hadn’t spent time with Kristi & Kelly together since I was in 7th grade and I was really excited. The plan: Kelly flies from NY to Seattle to meet Kristi, they drive down to the festival in Oregon to see my show and pick me up. Then the three O’Neills drive from Oregon to Long Beach. The pictures below are what ensued. First off, I was in Oregon for this festival:
Northwest World Reggae Festival
I flew into Portland Thursday night and my friend Giana picked me up. We went back to her house to pick up her kids before driving down to Marcola where the festival takes place. While waiting for her to pack, Giana told me to look at the paintings her son did. At the beginning of summer, her boys went to a children’s hip hop summer camp and her 11 year old son Baqi painted these!
painted by an 11 year old boy!
Baqi (the artist) with his painting "The Light Within"
It blew me away! This kid is like a flyer version Basquiat and he’s only 11! I can only imagine how his art will look when he grows up… watch out for Baqi!
The drive from Portland to Marcloa was almost 3 hours and we didn’t arrive at the festival until around 1am. I was tired as hell and it was raining. I snuck into a crowded tent with J Ross, Yanski, Will and Axé. There was a small space between a person and a puddlle so I claimed it as my own and KNOCKED OUT for the night. In the morning I woke up and we went to the local store to get some supplies and phone reception.
Axé was wearing some fly kicks
The little town was so cute! This was their Community News bulletin
I LOVE the logo for the Oregon State lotto... fingers crossed!
Axé and Selah met in the little market...
I enjoyed an amazing snickerdoodle with my Rockstar for breakfast
The paper had the perfect Orgonian on the cover
Back at the festival I explored our surroundings. It takes place on some property an old man owns, he gets a shitload of money every year and we get a festival. People camp on the outskirts of the prarie right next to the trees. The festival and all its booths take place in the middle. For some reason I didnt take enough pictures to give you all an accurate look at how it was but here it goes:
This field would soon be filled with people watching the show (stage is in the middle)
I cooked up some pasta for our peeps...
a painting by Derek Leitch, MZK, at the eVocal booth
These teepees were the green rooms backstage
I loved this flower, its called a Queen Anne's Lace (thanks Ruff Kuts!)
The festival even had pirates in addition to the mass of hippies
Honey Bucket for the ladies only... really!
quite possibly the coolest hoodie I've even seen
Herbal Shakes & Hot Elixirs
Tierra Madre - Fine Latin Foods
Divine Cupcakes
Bio Diesel conversion kits were even available at the festival!
some yummy organic fruit
Conscious Cultivation Honey
Ethiopian cross in front of Kristafari's tent. I'm bummed I didnt get a pic of him!
Turntable art at Kristafari's camp (he had the best camp of the festival)
We were camped right behind the eVocal booth
My cousins Kristi & Kelly arrived!
at the same time my friend dj Counterstryke's sister Laurel arrived
Zulu Nation representing at the festival
Finally it was time for the show. J Ross Parrelli and I were on right after Queen Omega, she had a live band and rocked an amazing show. Parrelli and I were caught off guard when we discovered that the turntables were on the side of the stage instead of ON the stage but we still had a great show!
Blowin bubbles and bangin' beats!
J Ross blowing everyone away
Laurel and her friends enjoyed the show
the Mighty Junebugg
Yanski rocked it with a bullhorn
So we played until about 1:30 and then went to check out Kristafari’s set in the Dome. I was about to fall over form exhaustion so I went to bed, the next day would be a big one!
Filed under: camping, Life, National Parks, Oregon, Travel, West Coast Road Trip
We woke up and started packing. Our next destination on the trip was Crater Lake National Park and it was gonna take about 4 hours to drive there. I was sad the leave the festival but excited for the journey ahead. I snapped a couple more festival pics and we were on our way!
place your butts here
carved lion on stage
NW World Reggae Festival
the Kingsford Charcoal factory was right down the road for the festival
our guides for the trip worked WAY better than the GPS
the Quality Fence Company has some suspicious looking logos!
We stopped at Colliding Rivers viewpoint
Kristi, Kelly and I dipped our dogs in the water
Bug Farm Rd!
this helicopter scooped up water from the river RIGHT NEXT to our car
we took the Rogue Umpqua Oregon Scenic Byway to Crater Lake
We followed the Umpqua River most of the way
the Umpqua River
um... yeah, I'll pass on the Dread and Terror section if the trail!
These dense, tall, skinny trees told me we were close to an ancient volcano
ok, really it was the map but I did notice a change in folliage
A pumice desert... I should have ran barefoot thru it to soften up my feet
2009 O'Neill Vacay!
at last... Crater Lake!!!
Wizard Island in Crater Lake
the O'Neill girls
Junebugg the Explorer!
a mesa on the edge of the lake
Crater Lake is in a caldera
This is where it gets a little crazy. We got to the campground around 5pm and we were dying to take showers. We waited in line to get a campsite and the guy in front of us got THE LAST ONE!!! Well us O’Neill girls weren’t gonna take that for an answer. We drove around the campground looking for people that might wanna take us in. To our suprise, no one looked compatible. We noticed a lot of empty reserved spaces though and couldn’t imagine that so many people would come so late. We found a large site to squat on and no sooner did we set up our tent, than the real tenants of the site pulled up. We bated our eyelashes, pleaded our case and they ended up being cool with it. We had our tent set up in their site and our fire and stove set up in the next site over which was reserved for the fire fighters who had been fighting the fire I talked about earlier. We were so proud of our resourcefulness! Finally we got our well earned showers, cooked dinner and settled in around the campfire.
Cheers!
the Crater lake wine was delicious
Smores were the perfect way to top off the evening and then it was time for bed
That night we froze our asses off. Kristi wanted to use the tarp and I thougt we didnt need to bother… boy was I wrong. Even though there was no rain, the moisture in the air soaked into our sleeping bags and we shivered all night long.
Filed under: camping, Cooking, Life, National Parks, Oregon, Photography, Travel, West Coast Road Trip
We woke up EARLY and packed up our two campsites. Today our plan was to drive from Crater Lake National Park in Oregon to Redwoods National Park in California.
over the river and thru the woods... (Rogue River)
Oregon State Parks
after a couple hours we entered California!
And not long after that the Redwood National and State Parks
California coast near Crescent City
Crescent City is susceptible to tsunamis. According to Humboldt State University,[3] the city experienced tsunami conditions 17 times between the years 1943 and 1994. Although most of these effects were barely perceptible, one tsunami in particular extensively damaged the city in 1964. We were lucky to not experience any tsunamis during our visit.
crazy cousins
the O'Neill 3
California state flower: Poppy
I got some sand from this beach
Paul Bunion and his ox Baby Blu
no Kristi the saying goes, "Grab the bull by its HORNS"
The Treeeeeeees of Mystery and a big crock of shit
Junebugg & Bigfoot
Check the vertical trees growing from the branches
Somehow they called it the worlds largest tree
more "Trees of Mystery" crockery
again, can I get some help on the name of this flower
People actually PAY to get married here
The Brotherhood Tree
Us cousins at the Brotherhood Tree
a fascinating Redwood fact at the Trees Of Mystery
this is what made my $14 worth it at the Treeeees of Mystery
halfway up
THIS my friends, is the attraction at the top
a fascinating Redwood fact
this was so crazy to me
some guy carved this with a redwood with a chainsaw
Digger the redwood dog
Paul Bunyan's table setting
oh my God its Eddie Munster!
Redwood National Park is pretty low budget
I love this path
Whoever owns this bike is probably pretty interesting
Lady Bird Johnson Grove offers a beautiful nature walk
in the parking lot we noticed someone with a creative sense of humor had been there
We saw his work all along the trail
he had mice everywhere!
since it was chalk, I considered it eco-grafitti
a wild boysenberry
looking UP inside a burned out hollow (and still living) tree
I loved how this moss was hanging from all the trees
people are pretty small
these massive trees stayed standing and living despite massive fire damage
a little tunnel
Redwood trees are the tallest in the world
Kristi the acrobatic
Big trees lay where they fell (unless they are blocking a trail)
the mouser strikes again
this guy was my hero for the day
Our campsite #65 at the beautiful Atwell Mill campground
We had some curry chicken for dinner
and settled in for a wonderful campfire after a looooooong day
my favorite Adidas hiking shoes
Ok so maybe the entire campground hated us… but we had a great campfire that night!
