This is a great short hike close to home. I think this was Cora's first official hike on her own, free from the restraints of the backpack! And as you can see, she couldn't have been happier! Thankfully, she made it to the top without any major calamity, although there were a couple of times I was sure she was going to take a serious tumble down the hill. It was a great starter hike for her. Again, this hike was short, we were probably gone a total of an hour and a half to two hours. Sometimes, though that is all we need to get us out and have the kids run around for a while. What was neat about this outing was the dead tree limbs at the top of the hill which provided the kids with a lot of climbing when we reached it. For my husband and I there was the great view of the valley below. We encountered a few people on the way up and there was one guy with his two dogs. I forget what kind of dogs they were, but they were running around like crazy which the kids found entertaining. It was neat to see the dogs enjoying the beautiful day and having the space to stretch their legs and run around. As for us, we enjoyed our time at the top, then headed home.
This was a great trip! We headed to beautiful Half Moon Bay, CA to Ano Nuevo State Reserve to check out the elephant seals on what has been deemed "loser beach". Now, elephant seals.....I didn't really think about it, I just thought they'd be your everyday run of the mill seals; I thought "oh this will be nice for the kids to see seals in their natural habitat.'' Boy, was I in for a surprise! When they named these seals elephant seals, they weren't kidding! These guys are monstrous! It was January which is apparently mating season. Unfortunately these guys were unable to find mates, so they beach themselves to pass the time. How we are able to get so close to them I have no idea, but you can! The sign as you approach the beach says to stay 25 feet away. I'm not sure why you would want to get any closer?? Even though all these guys do is lay around (they could totally care less that we are anywhere near them) I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to get any closer than 25 feet. Anyway, there were probably 5-6 seals spread out across the beach, giving the kids plenty of space to explore without bothering them. Did I mention the weather? It was HOT! Yes, you would think the beach in January would be freezing, but no....it was probably 80 that day. Of course I had put the kids in long sleeves and pants (or at least the girls) wanting to make sure they were warm enough. So unfortunately, I think we were all a little on the warm side that day. But besides that, we really enjoyed the day. We hung out for about an hour or so and then headed back down to Princeton by the Sea to Barbara's Fish Trap for dinner. What a great place to end our day! A nice casual atmosphere and good food. We'll be back!
This is definitely a gem of the East Bay! Located a few blocks off of Dublin Blvd west of San Ramon Valley Blvd, this trail is nestled right in a residential neighborhood of Dublin. Watch for the brown signs and park on the street. I would have never found this trail had it not been for my walking group. Its nice as its so close by yet feels like you're out in the hills. There is a creek that runs below the trail and although we've been here a few times, the creek has never been very high. In the summer, the kids like to follow the creek bed which can be kinda tricky as there are lots of low hanging branches and it can be hard to get across or back and forth on the banks of the creek due to rocks, etc. However, if you can manage to stay on the trail, it passes by nice houses and at the top of the first hill, we were able to see deer! So fun for the kids. As we continued on, we could see cows grazing on the hills. There are lots of places to stop and rest or have a snack on this trail which is fun. Although it is quiet, there's quite a bit of traffic on the trail with a lot of people walking their dogs. The initial hill is a bit steep, but my kids were able to manage it with some prompting. There is a last part of the trail that we haven't done and have heard that it gives a good view. The trail is fairly short and should only take you about an hour or hour and a half round trip. Just a nice trail for the kids to run their energy out. Enjoy!
So there's one thing you need to understand about this place ~ it holds a special place in my heart. I grew up about 45 minutes from Joshua Tree and had a field trip to Cottonwood Springs in 6th grade. For some reason, I fell in love with it! The landscape is gorgeous....not a word you would think to typically use for the desert, but really...it is beautiful! We even celebrated a Thanksgiving in Joshua Tree and although I remember it being cold (another word you wouldn't think to describe the desert) I remember it being very fun and one of my more memorable Thanksgivings! So again, this is the winter version of Joshua Tree and by that I mean COLD! It was one of those crisp clear days that although is sunny and bright, just chills you to the bone with an icy wind. We ended up not staying very long just because it was so chilly. I think had we gone earlier in the day, it might have been warmer. In order to get to Cottonwood Springs, you enter on the South side of the park off of I-10. I think most directions tell you to enter on the North end of the park and that just means you have to drive through the whole park to get to Cottonwood Springs which I'm sure for some would be enjoyable as the whole park is beautiful! Also, there is a $15 entrance fee which seems a little steep to me and didn't even realize it at the time but a year pass is $3o and since we are at my parents a few times a year, I plan on getting a year pass the next time we go. Also, they don't take credit cards, only cash or check. So anyway, during this particular romp through the park, the boys took off over one of the many hills and we lost them for a while but eventually reconnected and followed one of the paths to the left. I'm pretty sure we would have spent more time here, but the wind was just frigid and we didn't bundle the little ones as warmly as we should have so we decided to head back before freezing to death. Stay tuned for my spring version of Joshua Tree ~ its another story entirely!
I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but this was a gorgeous place to be! Totally reminded me of "The Sound of Music". Technically, this was Windy Hill Open Space Preserve right next to Portola Valley, CA. Again, a gorgeous spring day and although I'm not sure we entered at the main entrance, we got some great views from where we did enter. It was interesting as we started at the top of the hill and went down and it was STEEP! Due to that, we didn't make it too far down the hill because I was scared about going back UP with Cora on my back. So before heading off, we had a small picnic lunch oh and did I mention too that Nyah was potty training at this point with nary a potty in sight? Well, she was so I think it took us longer to get going than it actually took to "hike" but again, thats not the point....the point is to get the kids out and moving and they don't care that we only hike 2 blocks. If it takes forever it might as well be 2 miles. ok, so we finally get going and the farther down we go, the more nervous I'm getting about making it back to the car. Thankfully, my sister in law was with us (props to her for most of these pictures!) so we saw kind of a plateaued grassy field below us a ways and decided to get down there to let the kids run around. It looked flat and inviting, so off we went. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that flat and poor Cora who wasn't walking at this point had a tough time crawling through the grass as it was taller than her, but we got some great shots of the kids playing, so I think it was ok. The highlight of the "hike" was seeing a rider on horseback! The rider was so kind as to let the kids and I pet the horse which the kids really enjoyed. The horse must of had the same thoughts I did about getting back up the hill as the rider had a hard time getting the horse to continue to the top! After some frolicking and playing, we decided to head back to the top as well. Not quite sure how we made it, but we did! Driving down the mountain back to the freeway was a bit freaky as we were following some bicyclists.....still don't quite understand the death wish these people have on mountain roads, but we all made it down safely and I was thankful for that. Thanks for the fun day Tia Ellen! We had a great time!
The Pleasanton Ridge is a bit of a hike, but if you can make it to the top you will have some breathtaking views of the valley. The hike up was pretty intense, but it was a gorgeous fall day and we were glad to be out! Cora was still in the backpack carrier at this point and she enjoyed the ride! About halfway up, we stopped and let the kids play under a huge tree. As you can see Caleb climbed and we just hung out and had a snack. After a bit of a break, we continued toward the top and almost made it. We decided to turn back after a while as we weren't sure the kids would make it all the way back down without a meltdown. There were a lot of other families and lots of dogs on this hike which is always fun. Halfway back down the hill, we discovered that one of Cora's shoes was missing! It had fallen off while she was enjoying her ride down the hill in the backpack. We did some backtracking to no avail, and since it was getting late and the kids were tired,we decided to just head back to the parking lot. Lo and behold, when we arrived back to our car a lady approached us holding Cora's shoe! I have no idea where she found it or how she knew it was ours, but I was relieved to have it back! All in all, it was a afternoon well spent on the ridge.
So last year was our first trip to Apple Hill. What a great place! We went at the very beginning of October so it wasn't busy and it was actually rainy that day, so I think that kept the crowds away as well. No matter, as I mentioned before my kids don't care if it rains, it just adds to their fun! So off we headed. We decided to take the shuttle once we got there and it was a good way to orient ourselves since it was our first time there. We stopped at a couple of orchards here and there but really had a good time at High Hill, which we had heard had great apple pies. There was fishing there as well as lots of craft booths which were fun to look at. My son loves to fish and we don't go often, so its nice to know of a place to take him even if it is only once a year! That day we were also able to enjoy turkey legs, caramel apples and of course, hot chocolate!
Ok, so now its going to seem like we go to the beach all the time and we really don't! However, the kids do love the beach and its a great place to just let them hang out. Anyway, after catching an episode of "Throwndown with Bobby Flay" on the food network, decided that we had to check this place out since it was only an hour or so away. What we were looking for was Phil's Fish Market and we found it! After a great lunch, we headed to the beach to let the kids run off some steam. There really isn't much to Moss Landing; its actually kinda dumpy, but their beach is awesome! I think we ended up at Moss State Beach (?) and it was perfect! There was hardly anyone there and the beach was really clean. All of that made for a great day as I was kinda able to sit and read while my husband played in the surf with the kids. When they weren't in the surf, they were just digging in the sand, so I didn't have to be constantly watching them. My husband took Caleb to look at the rocky pier for a while and the girls just dug and dug. If I ever wanted to have a beach day on my own with the kids, this would be a beach I would consider as I feel I'd be able to watch all the kids without being overwhelmed by crowds and they would have plenty of range to roam around in. What was really neat about this beach were the pelicans. There was obviously food in the water as these pelicans just kept dive bombing into it. I had never really seen pelicans in action like that before; it was really cool! They just kept circling and diving straight in. It was incredible that they could see the fish from that high up in the air. When we returned to the car, there were sea otters in the bay along with kayakers. What a great sight seeing these playful creatures. I would totally recommend Moss State Beach just for its wildlife, tranquility and cleanliness. And for a good meal, Phil's Fish Market is close by!
This is a great short hike close to home. I think this was Cora's first official hike on her own, free from the restraints of the backpack! And as you can see, she couldn't have been happier! Thankfully, she made it to the top without any major calamity, although there were a couple of times I was sure she was going to take a serious tumble down the hill. It was a great starter hike for her. Again, this hike was short, we were probably gone a total of an hour and a half to two hours. Sometimes, though that is all we need to get us out and have the kids run around for a while. What was neat about this outing was the dead tree limbs at the top of the hill which provided the kids with a lot of climbing when we reached it. For my husband and I there was the great view of the valley below. We encountered a few people on the way up and there was one guy with his two dogs. I forget what kind of dogs they were, but they were running around like crazy which the kids found entertaining. It was neat to see the dogs enjoying the beautiful day and having the space to stretch their legs and run around. As for us, we enjoyed our time at the top, then headed home.
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