Quite possibly the best family camping trip ever. The location is really quite perfect for large groups. We had 5 families (about 22 people) all kids in 1st grade. The area is huge and flat and on a high ridge, and best of all the location stands by itself -- no campsites anywhere near us (benefits of private land vs. national/state parks). The amenities are excellent. The lodge itself handles 15+ people on pads in sleeping bags with no problem. Most of the kids did a slumber party type thing inside while parents slept in tents scattered around the flat land outside (I slept on a pad under the stars both nights, it was amazing). There is potable water spigots all over the land. The bathroom is inside, rustic, but good. There is an outhouse also, nice but stinky as expected. There is plenty of hiking around. You can get to the top of a few peaks in an hour or two depending on your pace. All of the land has small shrubs so it's easy to trailblaze too.

One of the coolest things was that the main lodge is on a large plain, so you have a lot of flat area to play outdoor type games. I had a dream of playing kick the can and capture the flag like when i was 7 or 8 years old back in Connecticut. All these years, great memories of those games, but never had the crew or the space to do it right. Well, this is the spot. It's flat and big, but also has lots of shrubbery (3-10' high) for coverage, so it's not like playing on a big soccer field where there is little strategy. All the kids and parents played, and everyone got into it big time. It was a highlight for me.

Now, the cooking. Usually campsites have a fire pit and/or a small grill. You've got your propane stove and all that. But Speakeasy is different. They have a massive grill (you see the pics in the listing). It's split between two adjustable height grill plates and a huge basin for logs and charcoal. We cooked up a storm. I will say it takes a good 1-2 hours to get the grill going b/c you need a fair amount of wood to get coverage on the cooking area. But after the smoke dies down and you've got a smoldering fire, man, the grill rules. We figured out the second day to just keep the grill going throughout so we could just add logs when it was cooking time. Ribs, tri-tip, beans and fixings the first night. Griddle blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit and more for breakfast. Hamburgers and hotdogs and leftovers from night 1 on the second night. We crushed it.

S'mores of course.

One other cool thing. I had wanted to introduce the kids to model rocketry and this trip served as a great spot to do it. We found a great flat area about 1/2 a mile up the ridge to launch. But it was windy so I was concerned with the rocket getting carried away with the parachute.... it did. We lost track of it sailing away maybe 1-2 miles across the canyon. When I originally asked the owner if we could launch rockets from there he said "great idea, I know the kids have lost more than a few in the decades past". He was right. But it still was fun to watch it sail off into the distance.

All-in-all it was a killer trip. I expect we'll hit Speakeasy up again, but I'm sold on the group trips. Keeping kids happy when there are 10+ of them is so much easier. This left much more time for the adults to enjoy themselves. Awesome time.

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Cuyama Badlands, California

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