Bodega Dunes Camping Trip

It has been an interesting and fun few days. We took some time off work to camp at the Bodega Dunes Campground with my sister’s family and friends. We’ve been trying for one camping trip a year to spend more time together and check out different areas, but it didn’t happen last year with the crazy dry fire conditions and our schedules. And camping is very popular in Northern California, if you don’t book early in the year, most of the good campgrounds fill up fast. We lucked out and got sites at Bodega Dunes again, we camped there back on 2015. And again, we stopped by Amy’s Drive Thru since it’s practically on the way.

Amy’s is very popular, there was a huge line for food and in the drive thru, but it moved fast and our food was ready quickly. Hubby got the double vegan Amy Burger with fries and I got the vegan burrito bowl which looked interesting, but was delicious with beans and rice and spicy sauce.

I love visiting and wish we had a location closer to home – maybe soon! And it’s about a 30 minute scenic drive from Amy’s to the Bodega Dunes campground on the coast where we got to work setting up camp when we arrived.

Our campsite was in a secluded location with hedges all around blocking noise and headlights, perfect. And it was very close to my sister’s site where we hung out having vegan chili for dinner the first night enjoying a camp fire and full moon. It was chilly in the 50s and felt colder with the wind and moisture in the air, such a nice break from the heat in the Sacramento area.

And it was still cold in the morning where I hurried to warm up with coffee before a trail run to the beach.

The beach was gorgeous! Clear, colorful, and such a scenic change. Then we headed to the beach again with the gang for reading and swimming. Well mostly the kids, adults aren’t crazy enough to get in water that cold!

After we went to Russian River Brewing Company for lunch and to grab Pliny the Elder beer. The menu was not huge, but it had a delicious veggie burger with vegan Russian dressing.

And a great self guided tour option to watch production in action.

After the busy day, we headed back to camp to enjoy the fire and work on dinner.

And I was terrible at getting food pictures, but we packed a large container of pre-made vegan mac and cheese with veggies that was a hit and I slept much better that night after adjusting to the chilly temps and noises at the campground.

The next day we headed to a different beach and then the group wanted to check out the local places for clam chowder which the area is famous for. Lucky for us, they also served vegan avocado and chips with malt vinegar which was simple, interesting, and fun. But also a decadent splurge!

Later my sister and I headed out to do a little wine tasting while the guys took the kids for a hike.

And we spent the final night eating leftover food to use up – salad, chips and salsa, and wine. But the final night was freezing, I was bundled up in multiple hoodies with the wind and still a nice change from the heat here.

This morning we got up early and started the scramble to pack up the site which is not a fun part of camping, especially getting the tent packed up! Poor hubby had a fun time getting all the air out of the tent to roll it up. Then started the 3-hour drive home with a stuffed car.

On the way home, we stopped by Pieology for lunch and it was the first time I’ve been to a Pieology, but won’t be the last. It’s another fast custom pizza place that offers more pizza crust options and more vegan protein options including vegan “chicken”, vegan sausage, and a vegan “beef” crumble. They recommended the vegan sausage to us since it was new and it did not disappoint with Daiya vegan mozzarella.

I’m wiped after a packed few days outdoors, camping is both relaxing and exhausting. Back to work tomorrow for a short work week!