Mt. Madonna Camping

True to form in keeping this a very busy, fun and full summer, within a week of returning from Philmont, we packed up again and headed out to Northern California. We spent a few days in Livermore and then, Grandpa and Grandma Black, went Camping to Mt. Madonna state park, which is in a redwood forest in the mountains just south of San Jose, CA. It was a beautiful setting, huge trees, lush foliage, squirrels, deer, raccoon all around us. The setting reminded us a lot of Star Wars (of course) on the moon of Endor. The kids would find neat trees/tree stumps to climb on and called them "Star Wars Trees". The biggest fascination however, turned out to be Grandma's favorite, the giant yellow banana slugs that were everywhere. We of course had to collect as many as possible as you will see by Kaylie below.