You book a tiny cottage or vintage glamper for your family bicycle trip and, after a fun day of pedaling, you gaze out over the ocean at the sunset … but it’s not the sea … it’s a rolling expanse of emerald green summer farmland. The waves are not water; they are lush green corn and soybeans gently waving in the breeze beneath a cornflower-blue sky that expands from horizon to horizon. Running through this pastural land are farmstead islands, tree-lined bike paths, dusty country roads, and small but deep ravines — and a quiet place for an evening by the firepit among the ancient trees next to a small spring that feeds to the nearby river . Among all of this sits Vintage Campground … welcoming you off the bike trail to your new old-fashioned base camp.
You settle your family into the tiny house cottage, and order a local restaurant to deliver pizza. Wandering around the campground, your kids pet the horses and chickens, and you all use the hot tub and showers. You notice a band of trees in a ravine closeby, and between the trees you glimpse … is that a campfire? A waft of old fashioned campfire smoke reminds you of camping days when you were a kid, so you gather the family and head down the pathway into the trees.
The stars are starting to come out. The stones are cool and smooth beneath your bare feet as you lead your little tribe down the trail toward the flickering light. Sitting on comfy chairs, you fire-roast hotdogs, popcorn, and marshmallows with “smores” and listen to the gurgling sound of a tiny pool and waterfall nearby. Your family gazes into the fire and talk about all the things they saw today while they were biking; especially breathtaking was the view from the High Trestle Trail Bridge, and the bald eagles you saw soaring above it. It’s not very far, so you decide to go back in the morning before continuing down the bike trail.
Owls, tree frogs and cicadas fill the cool night air with music as the soft hush of branches sway in the breeze, and when you emerge from the gulley with your sleepy children in tow, you look out over the fields that have been lit up with countless stars … the lights of a million fireflies. Gazing upward, you see the Milky Way, like an ocean of stars, spilling out above you as far as you can see.
It’s been a good day at the beach.
