With an estimated nine-million-plus dogs in California alone, it’s no wonder there are so many dogs at parks, beaches and recreation areas throughout the state. The mile-long Huntington Dog Beach, the epitome of a perfect …
September 24, 2012
Central California stories & travel reviews
Travel with Your Dog in CA
S.D. to S.F. – by Bike
Held every October, the Million Dollar Challenge is a fundraising bike ride for challenged athletes in which participants cycle down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego. The reverse route, however, can be …
August 21, 2012
California's Active Volcanoes
There are more than 550 active volcanoes in the world, five of which are in California. It's to be expected from a state sitting on the eastern edge of the Ring of Fire. Between Barstow …
July 19, 2012
At the World’s End: Ballarat Ghost Town, Death Valley
Death Valley must be seen to be believed. From the turquoise flats rolling out beneath lofty Dante’s View to the salty vertigo of Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, it is a place …
July 7, 2012
King's River Rafting: Not Your Average Family Vacation
Originating high in the mountains of central California near Sequoia National Park, the Kings River boasts the largest watershed of any river in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Last year I took the family on …
June 30, 2012
Three Days in Santa Cruz
A hidden gem along the Californian coast, Santa Cruz offers lush natural parks, eateries with local charm and the traditional boardwalk. It has a relaxed feel like most beach towns, and the locals prize natural …
June 22, 2012
A Long Weekend in Sequoia and Yosemite
On a whim, I decided to drive up to explore a spectacular stretch of California natural beauty for a four-day vacation: Sequoia National Park and Yosemite. I hadn’t been to Yosemite for years, and I …
Finding It in Shoshone, California
For the record: I’m not a fancy, gotta-have-posh type of woman; I’m OK with “rough around the edges.” I’m instinctively drawn to character, whether quaint and endearing or quirky and eclectic. I like spice, color …
May 10, 2012
Nothing Like the PCH
Undeniably one of the most picturesque roads you’ll ever traverse, California’s Route 1 north of Santa Barbara is a largely contiguous strip of undeveloped coastline with endless, arresting views. (“Undeveloped,” as in not much there …
April 24, 2012
Trona Pinnacles, Mojave Desert, California
The Trona Pinnacles (not to be confused with Pinnacles National Monument near Steinbeck’s Soledad) is one of those natural geological wonders that awes. Set back five miles off SR 178, twenty miles east of Ridgecrest, …
February 21, 2012
Hiking the Lower 48's Highest: Mt. Whitney, California
On a lonely stretch of Highway 395 in Central Cali, the Sierras rise from the earth and reach for the heavens. It is here, and more specifically Mt. Whitney, where the modern-day hiker goes for …
January 12, 2012
Montaña de Oro State Park, California
"Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher." ~ John Muir I don’t know if John Muir ever visited what is now Montaña de Oro State Park, but the bard of …
December 8, 2011
Surf Trip to Jalama Beach, CA
We left at 12:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 25, 2011, en route to Jalama Beach County Park from San Diego for a surf trip. Research told us that campers have to arrive at the park's flag …
November 22, 2011
Kayaking Elkhorn Slough, California
Elkhorn Slough is one of the last coastal wetlands in California and one of 27 estuaries in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, set up to study and protect estuaries and coastal watersheds across the …
September 22, 2011
Camping in Big Sur, California
Last New Year’s Eve we patiently waited online at www.parks.ca.gov, ready to book a campsite for the summer of 2011. We didn’t want to miss our opportunity to reserve a spot in one of Big …
September 13, 2011
Badwater Salt Flats in Death Valley, California
Death Valley is just that – a low-lying valley cradled between three monstrous mountain ranges. And frankly, there isn’t another way to describe it other than to assure you that it is bloody majestic! The …
July 21, 2011