Auburn Bridge

In the gold country of Northern California lies the quaint historic town of Auburn California.
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The easy way to get there is to take Hwy 80 from Sacramento or Lake Tahoe, but if you really want to experience gold country and all the small towns along the once lively rivers take old Hwy 49 straight into Auburn. There are a lot of old historic buildings in Auburn, so it is a great place to do some exploring before a bite to eat at any number of yummy looking restaurants.
We started the day with a late breakfast at a little hole in the wall Mexican/American eatery. Mom & Dad both thought it was delicious. The great part about eating a late breakfast was we were the only ones in the place. 1st class service. To learn more about the town of Auburn, however I don't recommend the virtual tour as it froze my webpage, check out: http://www.auburn-ca.com/. After we filled our bellies, we headed out to our actual destination the Auburn Bridge on Foresthill Road. What is commonly known as the Auburn Bridge is actually called the Foresthill Bridge. 730 feet above the American River's North Fork is quite the view and a favorite among base jumpers. Photo credit to Howard Gold

Maybe someday I'll be big enough to try.

I highly recommend taking the walk across the bridge, especially since there is a nice pedestrian pathway. When you're done exploring the top of the bridge, take Hwy 49 to Old Foresthill Rd, to the base of the bridge (or if you're a base jumper there is a quicker way down, hehe). There is tons to do down in the Auburn State Recreation Area. We decided to explore the area with a light hike. There's a great path that goes right to the base of the bridge. It looks even bigger from down there. There are hikes all over the sides of the ravine, if you really want to get a workout in.

If you want more info on recreation in the area, check out:http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=502.

We also went down to the river. It was a bit cold in the late fall, so we skipped rocks and played on the shore. Dad even got a rock skipped from one side to the other! In the summer, this would be a great spot for a dip in the river to cool off. So if you're in the area I highly recommend checking out Auburn and the bridge. If not and you want to learn more, check out: http://www.placercountyhistoricalsociety.org/Histories/Bridge.htm and for a detailed history of what almost was check out: http://www.foothill.net/~andreaj/Bridge.htm. Are there any cool bridges in your area?

Apple Hill

Yummy Apples! On a short day trip in Northern California we explored Apple Hill. Located off of Hwy 50, between Sacramento, and South Lake Tahoe, in the towns of Placerville and Camino, are the Apple Hill orchards. From early September through November, and some places even December, harvest and share their delicious treats. Many of the growers belong to the Apple Hill Growers Association. With their website http://www.applehill.com/ of maps and information it is very easy to plan your trip to Apple Hill.

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But with no planning, just a desire for apple pie late last October, we decided to go for it.

Our first find was Plubell's Family Orchard. As we parked we saw and elderly gentleman packing his car trunk full of gallons of apple cider. It seemed a little excessive, until we got a free taste at the entrance to the store. Wow, delicious, or at least my parents claim, as I was still to small to have any. Needless to say we left with a gallon to take home, along with some fresh picked apples.

After a calming drive through the countryside around some of the orchards, following the Apple Hill logo signs, we found High Hill Ranch. This was quite the place. This seemed to be the one stop shopping spot if you only have time for a quick Apple Hill adventure. (Everyone else seemed to think so also, as it was the busiest place we saw all day). It's even where the reporters from Good Day Sacramento had pie. (Check it out at: http://cbs13.com/video/?cid=14 ).There was a large bakery and restaurant, where we got some apple pie to take home, a great food stop and fruit stand and many other small shops for food or handcrafted items. They even had a giant pumpkin to sit on. It's all around a grassy hill, with a large pond, where you can eat as you watch the fish and ducks. I wanted to be bigger so I could roll down that grassy hill. Someday soon!

On the other side of the pond, was the best stop, the Fudge Factory Farm. Yummy!! We recommend the Double Dark Chocolate fudge, but it all looked delicious.

Our Apple Hill adventure took place at the end of October, during the middle of the week. Therefore, not all of the orchards were open. While it was quieter, and nice to enjoy without large crowds, it did appear that on the weekends more orchards were open, and there would be a lot more to do (shopping, games, hay rides, etc.) on the weekends. Dates and times for each of the orchards are available at: http://www.applehill.com/site/growers.html. We only reported on a few on the orchards and bakeries, but that was only due to time constraints and lack of room in our stomachs. We loved everything we sampled, and next time we'll have to check out other places.

Apple Hill has so much to offer, peaches, plums, cherries and other summer fruit are available in the summer, apples in the fall, pumpkins just before Halloween and even Christmas Trees in December. So if you're in the area, I highly recommend checking it out.

Yosemite

Since the holidays are over, it's time to get back to the real adventures. We need to go back a few months so you don't miss out on some great adventures.
So a bit back, when I was small (because I'm so big now), we had a 3-day adventure to Yosemite National Park in Yosemite, CA. Wow, what a beautiful place.

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We drove into Yosemite National Park on Hwy 120, through the Big Oak Flat Entrance, and headed straight down to Yosemite Valley.

Our first stop was Bridalveil Falls. After a very short walk, we reached the base of the falls. Now remember we took this trip during October, the dry season, so the falls were just a trickle of their springtime flow, but amazing still the same. They are so tall! We could feel the spray with that little water, I can't imagine how wet I could get if it was full force.

Next we moved further into the valley. There is so much to explore in the valley, so we hit the big stuff.

We checked out half dome and did a nice hike to Yosemite Falls. Once again just a trickle of it's normal flow. We'll have to go back in the spring to see the change.

To see the view from above, we drove up to the top of Glacier Point. Half Dome looked amazing from this vantage point, especially as it was getting close to sunset. Glacier Point is a great place to see the Valley below. We also got to see deer, a mama & a baby.

That was quite a full day! We decided to stay outside the park in a hotel just of Hwy 120. We thought about camping in the Valley, but decided with me along we all needed a little more luxury (or at least a hot spa for mom & dad to rest their feet it). It turned out to be a pretty good decision. We found out the next morning that there was a rock slide at the campground in the Valley and everyone had to be evacuated from the site at 7am that morning. No one was hurt, but there were some close calls.

The next morning we headed up to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir entrance. The Reservoir is such a beautiful color blue, and it has a great big Dam. It was cool to look at the river below. There was also a tunnel in the mountain that led to all the very long hikes. We just checked out the tunnel, and the butterflies playing in the entrance of the tunnel.

Next up on our tour is Tioga Pass. We drove back down to the Big Flat Oak Entrance to the park and this time turned onto the Tioga pass. There is so much to see & explore on that stretch of road. Every time I got fussy from being stuck in the car, there was a new place to get out and explore.

There was a great little lake (actually it's more of a large pond) that we stopped at for a picnic snack. Then on to Olmsted Point. It was fun to climb on those big rock slabs. (Don't worry I left the climbing up to mom & dad and I just got packed around for the ride). It's also a great view of the back of the Valley. (Yosemite is amazingly big).

Tenaya Lake was another great place for a rest stop. What a beautiful lake.

Tuolumne Meadows was another nice place for a break. It looks like a great place for hiking, when I bigger and I don't have to be packed around.
Our final stop in the park was Saddlebag Lake. Down a long dirt road there is a small lake, with a cool old wood dam.

We took the pass straight through Yosemite to Mono Lake and the small town of Lee Vining. We stopped for an early dinner, which included a great chocolate milk shake. (At least my head thought it was great)!Note to those fellow explorers. When driving up Hwy 395 from Yosemite, get gas where you can. There are plenty of small towns, but that is what they are, small towns. Not all of them had gas stations. We were forced to pay way too much, because we tried to wait for a cheaper place and passed the first station. By the time we found another place, we were so excited that we hadn't run out of gas, that we didn't mind paying.

It was a very quick whirlwind tour of Yosemite, but it was still amazing. When I'm bigger we'll have to go back and see more. Especially during the late spring when the falls should be flowing. I highly recommend checking it out!So when you're ready to plan your trip to Yosemite check out: http://www.nps.gov/yose/, we also liked http://www.yosemitepark.com/ to get info on places to stay.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! New Years Eve was a quiet night. We did watch the ball drop on TV, but thanks to time zones, we actually watched it drop at 9pm our time. I had to save my energy for the adventure to come on News Year Day.

My first New Years was all about the Rose Bowl. We got into Pasadena, CA, met up with some friends, and got to the parking lot (i.e.- the golf course that everyone parks all over) just in time for some tailgating. We tried to make into the stadium, only to be turned away. Guess why... they wanted little old me to have a ticket. Can you believe it, not even 6 months old, and strapped to my mom, and they want me to pay $145 dollars to enter the Rose Bowl.
My rant to the Rose Bowl People: You've got to be kidding, not only can I not even sit in my own seat, but from that distance the game is just a blur of color I can't focus on. I'm stuck on one of my parents the entire time. I don't even use the bathrooms! So, I know you're trying to milk as much money as you can from us football loving fans, but have a heart. Let us little ones in for free!

So after the shock won off, and a bit of finagling by my parents, a kind gate supervisor let me in with out a ticket. Thank you kind supervisor!

The game was great, loud and exciting. USC did romp on Penn State, but there were plenty of fans on both sides cheering until the end. I did take a quick nap during the game, but I still entertained all the USC fans around us. There is so much fun food there. I got to try a little bit of frozen lemonade, and yes, mom shared her cotton candy, but just a bit.

There was so much to look at the whole day. There were some great hits and plays by the teams. A real cool bomber that flew over during the national anthem. And the bands were sure fun to listen to. Plus football fans are endless entertainment themselves. (Well maybe not these fans, but most of them).
At the end of the game, you have to get one of the hot dogs for sale, just outside the gate. Delicious, or at least they smelled the way, mom wouldn't let me have a bite. Something about not having teeth. I learned leaving a football game is quite a process. I recommend continuing the tailgating until the crowds clear. And if you go to the Rose Bowl, or any game there you need to stop by Tommy's Burgers afterwards for some great, greasy, chili burgers. A perfect top off. My first football game turned out to be quite the adventure!

I hope you have a Happy New Year!