blue heron

Our first weekend trip

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…

California on Fire

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…

Pelican Nesting View

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

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…

Wildcat Loop Trail

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…

Ohlone Ridge Trail

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…