All,
I will be escorting my daughter to a one-week long summer camp at Stanford. While she is at the camp, I need to place to hang out, relax.. until the camp is over. Any recommendation of a place that is not expensive. I am thinking booking a camp site at a park. Any recommendation which park? We will be doing a lot of vacationing after the camp; therefore I don't plan anything particular. Thanks

You could camp in the Santa Cruz Mtns just west of Palo Alto, eg at Portola Redwoods park.

What will you be doing during the day? If I were going to camp in the area, I'd want to be in one of the redwood parks where I could spend my days hiking and making day trips. Portola (mentioned above), Big Basin in Saratoga or Henry Cowell in Santa Cruz are well-situated for both (you could easily visit Monterey/Carmel, even Big Sur, Santa Cruz, etc.).

To add, other than camping, I don't think there's such a thing as "economy lodging" near Stanford.

Inexpensive lodging on the Peninsula is available on Airbnb.com. I lived a long time in the area and these days visit family. I think you might be better in a room as camping has gotten expensive, too.

One question regarding camping, how far are you willing to drive from Stanford to a campsite? In other words, will you be "commuting" or just coming back to pick up your daughter at the end of the week?

Another thought, you might consider the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel over on the coast, about an hour drive from Stanford. Good facilities and a fantastically beautiful setting. I've stayed there and loved it.

https://www.hiusa.org/hostels/califo...hthouse-hostel

Here's what I wrote about the hostel:
http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/coas...int-lighthouse

There are quite a few state and county parks in the Santa Cruz mountains that offer camping. AirBNB is another good suggestion if you don't want to camp, but want to keep things cheap. I've never been to the hostel itself at Pigeon Point, but the location is beautiful and you would be well located for exploring that part of the coast.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. My daughter will be staying at the summer camp the entire week. I only need to pick her up at the end of the camp. I am willing to drive a couple of hours away from Stanford to save on cost. What will I be doing? coffee in the morning at Starbuck then going to a local library to use Wifi, mostly reading, getting lazy, a bit sightseeing. I don't plan on too much activities while waiting for her. I plan on saving up my energy for later. After the camp, we will be doing a lot of vacationing in San Francisco, then heading south to Los Angeles, then to Bryce Canyon/Zion National Park.

The location at Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel looks amazing. I love it.. love it. It seems either there is no availability after April or it's not available for reservation yet. I will contact the office in the morning. I have never stayed at a hostel before. What are the pros and cons? please share (safety, place to store belongings, interaction with others etc..). Thanks

Safety is not an issue. It's a relatively wild stretch of coast, a few minutes drive into the nearest village, Pescadero, and maybe 1/2 hour to the nearest town of any size, Half Moon Bay. There's a Starbucks in HMB, but you'll want to go to Peet's across the highway. And there is a nice library in town.

There will be a lockable locker in your room, the least expensive rooms will be shared, with 3 others, if I recall correctly (check the website) and each cottage has it's own kitchen, living area and patio overlooking the ocean which you can see in the pictures. People tend to be very thoughtful and the sound of the waves will lull you to sleep.

Cons are, of course, less privacy. More than made up, in my opinion, with the spectacular location, interest of the lighthouse site and you may meet some interesting people, too. Yes, do call them about reservations. Nice people.

You can get an idea of what's in the immediate area from others of mine here: http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/port...tal-california

My favorite campground in the area is near the Pigeon Point Hostel, slightly inland, in Butano State Park, in the redwoods. Campsites are $35 a night, slightly more than a bed in the hostel but if you can't get all you nights at Pigeon Point you might consider a combination of the 2 places.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=536

The hostel is popular so, if you can't get in there, maybe combine a Butano campsite with an Airbnb room on the Peninsula. Look north and south, as well as nearby, Palo Alto/Stanford. North tends to be nicer than south and I think about the same price for rooms. If you haven't signed up on Airbnb, do so ahead of trying to actually book to save some frustration as everyone needs to be verified and that's a good thing.

Wherever you decide to stay I'm sure you'll enjoy the area. A very nice place to spend part or all of a day is Filoli, between the coast & Stanford just off Hwy 280 in Woodside. http://www.filoli.org/

Pescadero is a very small rural town, but it boasts Duarte's, which serves a legendary ollalieberry pie, and generally good food.

Half Moon Bay, is somewhat of a distant suburb of San Francisco - with nice beaches (for walking) and a very nice somewhat upscale main street area. Nice place to spend a few hours, and certainly a good place to dawdle at a coffee shop.

Downtown Palo Alto is also great - I'd have lived there if it weren't so far from San Francisco (I ended up half way in between, in Burlingame, for many years, now live in San Francisco). Do take a tour of the Stanford campus and, if available, of the linear accelerator. A very popular walk is the hike up to "the Dish". Just google "Stanford the dish".

The drive from the peninsula to the coast over King's Mountain (starting in Woodside - Highway 84) is gorgeous.

I think one of the most beautiful drives anywhere is that between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, at the northern end of Monterey Bay, with Pigeon Point approximately half-way. There's no development to speak of on the entire drive (about an hour), a number of cozy beaches, ocean views, and Santa Cruz is a fun beach/college town with a boardwalk.

I have 2 more suggestions if you'd like free places to stay. I'm very experienced with both organizations, have stayed with members of both all over the world. Again, join before you want to actually contact members to get the details of joining done in time.

By the way, for some reason I've assumed you're a woman, and this one won't apply if you are not. Women Welcome Women World Wide (aka 5W). This is an organization born in England, a wonderful bunch of now probably thousands of fun, educated women who host one another for up to 3 days or so. Anyone with whom you choose to request a stay will be good. Fee to join but not much: http://www.womenwelcomewomen.uk/article/home.aspx

Also, for anyone, Hospitality Club, free and online only, run by volunteers so it sometimes takes a while to get set up on the website. LOTS of member all over and one must read through the member directory for each area to find those with whom you'll have things in common but worth the hunt. I've stayed with members in India, Borneo, UK, Morocco, on & on and universally good experiences. http://www.womenwelcomewomen.uk/article/home.aspx

I agree Mme. I love that section of the coastline- great for exploring beaches and just hanging out. On a nice day, nothing beats a picnic, a beach chair, and a book on one of those beaches. And Butano state park is wonderful. If the weather is decent, I am going hiking there tomorrow to close out 2016 In Pescadero, for coffee, you can go to aplace called Downtown Local.

Another spot - check out Costanoa near Pescadero. Its a place with tent cabins and various lodging. I havent stayed there, but friends went for a weekend getaway and really liked it.

Costanoa always looks nice to me on their website but, I'm afraid, has always been too expensive for me. The least expensive tent cabin for the coming season seems to be $109. But the tent sites for summer show $42-44.

NM, I might do the same! It looks like partly cloudy and mid-50s.

Just a coffee comment: if you're happy with Starbucks, you might find Peet's coffee rather strong. I can't drink the stuff.