Big Sur

It is an iconic drive, and for good reason. Coastal highway 1 south of Carmel provides spectacular views around each winding bend in the road. There are dozens of pull over stops, official and not, from which to hop out and drink in the view. If you are a runner, the Big Sur Marathon is considered one of the top races in North America. Hikers, nature lovers, foodies and those who excel at doing nothing at all will all find much to love about Big Sur. One must-stop destination: Nepenthe. It has a restaurant, cafe and shop but what it has most of all is spectacular views. Sitting outdoors having a bite to eat while gazing at the Big Sur coastline is one of my favorite memories from this past summer. Although a do-able day trip from the South Bay, to fully appreciate the Big Sur vibe, plan to stay a night or two. Accommodation options range from tent camping to luxury lodges, and everything in between.

Your private beach awaits

One of the best kept secrets of the Bay Area is, in my opinion, the coast between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. While those two places are great destinations in themselves, I much prefer the pleasure of discovering the many small coves and beaches that dot the coastline in between. And you don't have to be terribly intrepid to make a discovery. Simply head along coastal highway 1, and keep your eye peeled for a small path, a particularly wide gravel shoulder or a small gate. Pull over and take a peek. Chances are you have found a path to the coast. Some are steep, some flat, some go through sand dunes and some have small boardwalks to help you navigate through whatever vegetation is about, but all lead to spectacular views and, in my experience, little or no one to share them with. This is when you pull out your camera and get that wide angle shot of you on your private beach. With a blanket, a good book and a picnic lunch there are few better ways to enjoy a sunny day.

Disney in a Day

If you are here with children of a certain age, Disney is an inescapable stop, and this summer we decided to work it into a trip to Orange County. But with so many other great spots to visit, we didn't want to spend our entire time in line for rides. So we decided to try to do Disney in a day, and I'm happy to report that, with a little advance planning, it is indeed do-able. We decided which rides made our top five list prior to our leaving; arrived at the park half an hour before it opened (you can go through the gates and up Main Street prior to park opening); and made sure we went on a day when season passes were blocked. With the help of Disney's FastPass system we were able to hit four out of our five highlights by 9:30 am! All the planning was worth it, as we then had time to enjoy some relaxing time at the beach. Newport Beach is your quintessential southern Cal beach - miles of big white sand in each direction and a boardwalk full of cruiser bikes. Laguna Beach, just a few miles south, is a totally different experience. The big white flat beaches give way to low cliffs, and the park that follows the coast is dotted with stairs down to various small, secluded beaches. Unlike Newport Beach, the town of Laguna Beach itself is steps from the water and offers a great range of shops and restaurants - we particularly liked the Ocean Avenue Restaurant on, you guessed it, Ocean Avenue.  Our final stop on the way back was the Grammy Museum in LA. We had never heard of it either, but with a couple of music fans in the family this new, interactive museum proved to be a good stop and a welcome change from all the sun.

The LA area is so large, with so much to offer - and such terrible traffic - the only way to tackle it is a piece at a time. Orange County, which must surely be used in all those California travel ads, is certainly a piece worth seeing.

North of the Golden Gate

While Napa and Sonoma may be the first stops that come to mind when you think about a drive north across the Golden Gate Bridge, northern California has much more to offer than vineyards. I mentioned our trip to Muir Woods and Stinson Beach in an earlier post, and this time we ventured farther north, to the funky little town of Mendocino, almost a 3 hour drive north of San Francisco. This part of the coast is wild, windswept and unspoiled. Mendocino is a great spot to spend a weekend with excellent restaurants, many eclectic shops - several of which feature the works of local artisans - and miles of hiking trails in every direction. We chose to camp at Russian Gulch, a small state park two miles north of Mendocino. It's known as a hot diving spot, and is also popular with kayakers and canoeists. To break up the drive on the way there we stopped at the Charles Schultz (creator of the "Peanuts" cartoon) Museum in Santa Rosa, a small museum but one that had enough to interest all ages and a good spot to stretch our legs.

On the way home we elected to drive the Coastal Highway all the way to San Francisco, and it proved to take about the same time as 101 - but much more scenic! The Point Arena Lighthouse was a great stop on the way back, and the views from the top of the 110 foot structure make it worth the climb. With much more to see and do, we will certainly be heading north again.

Bay area history usually conjures up thoughts of the Gold Rush, earthquakes and perhaps Spanish Missions. But World War II? Not so much. And yet there is an entire network of historical markers linking the are with that period in time. The National Parks Service even runs a website dedicated to the topic: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwIIbayarea. We recently visited the USS Hornet, a WWII era aircraft carrier now anchored in Alameda, just south of Oakland (www.uss-hornet.org).

An added bonus: downtown Alameda includes several lively blocks of independent shops and restaurants, and with a network of bike paths along the shoreline you can easily turn your visit into a nice little day long getaway. 

Spring Skiing

Sun, slush and re-fuelling on the patio is what I think of when I think of spring skiing. And with record snowfalls keeping the resorts open through Memorial Day weekend, we thought this was the year to give spring skiing a go. We booked a wonderful condo suite right in Squaw Valley village for a great discounted rate, dug out our ski gear and headed out. At the last minute I threw in our winter jackets, and that proved to be a good move: this version of spring skiing was more like "Manuary" complete snow squalls, full winter gear and even a wonderful dump of powder. Squaw Valley proved to be a great choice with varied terrain to suit all skill levels and enough action in the village to keep everyone entertained at the end of the day. The outdoor pool and sauna at the top was open, and would be fabulous on a slightly warmer weekend...perhaps July 4? Many Tahoe area ski resorts are opening Independence Day weekend for one last blast of skiing (yes there really was that much snow) plus lots of other great activities. Ski and swim in the same day? You bet!

Yosemite

Most visitors to California have Yosemite National Park on their list of 'must dos'. It's so popular that accommodations start booking up a year in advance. But if you have the luxury of flexibility thanks to living just a four hour drive away, as those of us in the Bay Area do, an overnight trip is easy to fit in. Because while the on-line reservations often show the park fully booked months ahead, a generous cancellation policy means spots often open up, so start checking 7 to 10 days before you hope to go, and chances are you will find a spot. Spring is often considered the best time to visit, as the waterfalls are at their best. This year, thanks to a deep snow pack and a late spring melt, the waterfalls are still going strong. A word of warning: Yosemite Valley can get very hot in the summer. While there are some lodge-style accommodations within the park, the majority are either campng spots or 'tent cabins': basically a small wood frame canvas-covered tents, packed quite close together, that can really get cooking in the warm weather. If you spring for a signature tent cabin, you should be lucky enough to have an electrical socket included with your basic beds and small shelf, which not only proves handy for a fan or space heater, depending on the time of year, but also was used, I admit, to re-charge cell phones and our portable DVD players. (For the drive home only; they were off limits while in this spectacular park - although the boys did not even ask to watch them once, there were so many better things to do right outside our door).

We'd heard a few complaints about the quality of food in Curry Village, but found Degan's Deli, a short walk or free shuttle bus ride away in Yosemite Village, to be just fine and surprisingly reasonable to boot. We will certainly be making a return visit to this lovely spot. Hikes range from flat and paved to steep and challenging; there are miles of flat bike trails; ranger shows that were both humorous and educational and many other special activities happening each day.