We are not full time RVers. We have two kids in school and two grown ups working 40 hours a week. Even with the (potential) added flexibility of remote learning and reasonable amounts of vacation time, most of our camping will be done on the weekends. The goal we set Read more
It all began in the Summer of 2018. We took a long, glorious road trip through the Pacific Northwest. For two weeks, we camped in our gigantic tent, sleeping on air mattresses, and not exactly roughing it. We loved it. Just a few things, we thought, kept us from camping Read more
We were inspired to make this trip to Point Reyes by a video Nathan found, from The Adventure Archives. They had quail! And elk! And beaches! And at about 2.5 hours away, this would be the furthest we’d been from home on an outdoor adventure in several months. Our plan Read more
August was a tough month. On August 18th, in the early morning hours, we woke to the sounds of thunder. Like many Bay Area residents we sat by our windows and watched lightning and counted seconds until thunder claps. Summer thunder storms are not common in California, and we all Read more
Have you picked up any new hobbies since the COVID closed the world? Me? I’ve become a birdwatcher. Pre-March, I could sort out a jay from an egret, but not much more than that. While we were sheltering, I downloaded iNaturalist, and started cataloging the birds in our backyard. Then Read more
Fall Creek, a unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Felton, CA, is a place I consider “my park.” Having spent almost a decade living in the San Lorenzo Valley, I have hiked these trails many, many times, though all in my pre-kid, single woman days. I love the Read more
Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve is one of the Peninsula’s most popular parks, getting more than 700,000 visitors each year. We lived within half a mile of this park for three years and never visited, so it was well past time we checked it out. On a regular weekend, Read more
Exploring with your kids gives you a chance to measure their growth not in feet and inches, but by miles. I love to see how the kids’ experiences change, and what hikes they are willing to tackle when we return to places we’ve visited before. We’re revisiting the spot where Read more
We’re starting our summer adventure with a hike to the top of Black Mountain, the mountain we can view from our front yard. We’ve hiked and camped in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but this was our first trip to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, and our first trip to the Read more