Lori Brookes, aging gracefully

Read this wonderful June 15 article in the East County Magazine titled “Growing Old Gray-cefully: Photographer Lori Brookes to Present Photo Safari Workshop June 27 in Boulevard” by Dennis Moore.

Lori will be leading “The Art of Being and Seeing”,  a Photo Safari here at Sacred Rocks Reserve in a few weeks.

This workshop is not about technology, but about creating a relationship with our environment and being present to those moments that appear to us when we are open to see them.

Come for the day to learn — lunch is included!

We  had the best turnout EVER at Sacred Rocks RV Park for Memorial Day weekend (23-35 May 2009).

Here are transcriptions of handwritten notes left by happy campers:

Prepping for the Parade

“Thank you and all of the Sacred Rocks Reserve staff for a wonderful weekend. Everyone was so pleasant and helpful. The hiking trails are great. The rec room kitchen was clean and comfortable. We all enjoyed ourselves and we will be back next year.” – Huggy Bunch

“Sacred Rocks Reserve is a great place to go to recharge your batteries away from the rat race of the city. NO STOP LIGHTS & LOTS OF FUN!” – Paul Dugas

“This [is] our 5th year & we love the trails for offroad vehicles.” – Ronnie & Jeannie Golden

“The weather was awesome. We stay[ed] on the outskirts of camp and we watch[ed] all the animals which is great — nice and quiet and peaceful. — no signature

“We had a good time. The staff were very nice and helpful.” – Ty

Painted stones drying on the grill

Don’t miss more family fun during Father’s Day weekend at Sacred Rocks Reserve!

Southern California chaparral

On NPR this morning, Richard Halsey of the California Chaparral Institute discussed “Balancing Wildfires and Chaparral” with Maureen Cavanaugh on These Days.  He attempted to set the record straight about the role chaparral plays in the natural fire cycle of Southern California. It was a fascinating and informative radio talk, explaining how old growth chaparral (the native plant environment of SoCal) helps to prevent erosion and direct rainfall to aquifers instead of flash-flood-type runoff.

Take a peek at Chaparral & Manzanita at Sacred Rocks Reserve! We invite you bring friends, family, and botany nerds to Sacred Rocks and shoot the exuberant springtime blooms with your camera.

Blooming yucca plant with pink flowers

The hillsides are spectacular.

Just enough rain this year to yield an amazing crop of wild flowers.

It is fun to learn and even more fun to be amazed at seeing what I have not seen before.

Was it not there?

Or are my eyes opened in a different way?

Makes me wonder about life in general.

What is in front of our eyes that we cannot ’see’?

What do you notice about your life, or your self, or your surroundings that seems new to you, that you are just now ’seeing’?

Sunset at Sacred Rocks Reserve

Today the thermometer showed 83 degrees.  A glorious spring day.  No clouds or wind.  Retired to my RV about 9pm, flipped the air on for 15 minutes to cool the walls, then opened the windows.  As I lay there drifting into sleep I could hear the frogs saying ‘ribbit, ribbit’.  In the distance the coyotes played yip-yip tag.  An occasional hooting from the huge owls that roost in the Reserve.  The quiet laughter of guests around their campfires.  I felt the cool breeze of night gently on me and my last conscious thought was about how grateful I am for my life.

And then at 5am, that is FIVE AM, 5 o’clock in the morning, I had to wake up to come to San Diego for my son’s school function so I checked the temperature.  It was 63 degrees.  That is 20 degrees cooler than the daytime.  O perfect weather!  Did I mention that I had to wake up at 5 in the morning?

NBC San Diego has a nice little article about the blooming springtime wildflowers of Sacred Rocks Reserve on their website: Boulevard Blooms!

NBC San Diego logo

See more gorgeous photos of the Southern California wildflowers of spring at the Sacred Rocks Wildflowers Picasa photo album.

front page of The Alpine Sun

The Sacred Rocks GeoCaching Easter Egg Hunt made the front page of the 9 April 2009 issue of The Alpine Sun!

3 photos, courtesy of our PR expert Marti Amado, were published in the paper: 1 full color photo on the front page, and 2 color pictures on page 10 depicting young geocachers enjoying the natural outdoor setting of Sacred Rocks Reserve.

The article details the experiences of Boy Scout troop 316 of Point Loma, and a mom and her 2 sons as they hunt for the 6 caches hidden at Sacred Rocks Reserve. The caches were marked by nearby gold ribbons with an X&O on them. Geocachers entered their names into the cache journal logs, and kept little tokens from each cache on safety pins.

The hunt was so much fun that there’ll be a future class and a “Geocaching with Dad” hunt on Father’s Day weekend, Saturday 20 June 2009 at Sacred Rocks RV Park.

Howl at the Moon?

We all know that stress can kill you so, what is the fix for managing it?

• Laugh
• Deep breathing
• Exercise
• Go into nature
• Avoid tv [depressing news]
• Make lots of love
• Talk to a friend
• Write it out
• Pamper yourself

How do you handle stress?

We would like to give something back.  We know that at times there is a great need for decompression from stress at the same time as perhaps a financial stress.  Follow this link for a goodie: Military Discount at Sacred Rocks RV Park

There is something healing about being in the beautiful nature, no matter the weather.  Where else can you rest under a 400 year old tree?  Where else can you string up a hammock and just let go of self?  Where is there a place of quiet?  People who come often re-connect with their families.  Others simply enjoy being safe and sound and chatting around a campfire with friends.

Bare boulders nestle among greenery under a clear sunny sky in Southern California

California camping in the ideal sense, forest, shade, peace & quiet, being in nature.

We were thinking about vacations.  You know when you get on a plane and fly off to Hawaii, or cruise to Alaska, or tour the Greek Islands.  And come back  refreshed and glad to be in your own home, your own country and eat your own food.  This year may be a hard one for people to have these kinds of vacations.   The news tells us much hardship is going on.  So we wanted to do something for people who are having tough times.  Thus, the $200 Vacation week idea was hatched.

So you can come to Sacred Rocks and bring an RV, and spend the week for a mere $200.

400 year old oaks surround campsites with nature's beauty.

Our motto this year along with being ‘The Most Earth Friendly Park in America‘ is to offer the most ‘eco-nomical vacation’ ever.

For me, there are two kinds of vacations.  The traveling vacation takes you out of your world, has you living out of a suitcase for a week or two, offers you unusual food and shopping experiences, and perhaps challenges your communication skills in other countries.  Sometimes, I need to come home and ‘rest’ from the vacation.  Have you ever felt like that?

The other kind of vacation, I call rejuvenation vacation, is a deliberate withdrawal of self into the quiet.   Whether by yourself or with friends or family, getting into the s l o w pace of the day somehow recharges you personal energy.  I believe that in the QUIET we can FEEL the natural rhythms of life, we begin to SEE the details of natural things, and our mind becomes clear.  Our bodies truly REST.  With rest come renewal and recreation has happened.

A traveling vacation can be  exhilarating.  A rejuvenation vacation can strengthen you for challenges ahead.   This year, you might want to consider what you want from your vacation.

Can you tell us about a vacation that changed your life?