Lake Chabot offers camping escape

1 Comment | Oakland Tribune, Sep 4, 2004 | by Daniel Araujo, STAFF WRITER

CASTRO VALLEY -- Summer is taking its final bow this Labor Day weekend as thousands of people escape their jobs and flee the confines of their homes for the relaxation of that last beach barbecue.

Weekend temperatures are predicted to be in the upper 90s around the Bay Area. Hundreds of visitors are expected at area parks today to celebrate the end of summer, and the campgrounds at Castro Valley's Lake Chabot will be busy.

"We're expecting the park to be full on Saturday night for the holiday weekend," Sue Ferrera, the park's supervisor, said.

The campsites were posted with notations Friday that warned "RESERVED!" -- proving that, once again, on any warm holiday weekend you'll find the Lake Chabot campgrounds overflowing.

Tony Webner has been a fixture at the campgrounds since 1998. He says that he, his wife, Polly, and their 14-year-old twin daughters, Katie and Sarah, try to make a yearly trip to Lake Chabot.

Webner is a member of the University of Riverside Pipe Band. He travels to the camp with his family to compete in the Scottish Games in Pleasanton. The band's 30 other members also camp at Lake Chabot.

"It's fun to celebrate the last great holiday of the summer," Webner said, adding that, for his family, "it's always been a wonderful weekend."

His two daughters enjoy the family outing as well. Webner and his wife began taking the girls along when they were 7.

Polly looks at the trip as a great escape from the pressures of daily life.

"It's a beautiful park," she says. "And it just allows us to get away from work and the house for a little while and enjoy the quiet for a few days."

Webner likes the scenery and wildlife he encounters when he's at the park.

"It's almost Disney-esque," he explains. "It's just really neat when I come out here and see a family of deer running by."

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