Creek art
Over the hill
There are a number of hiking and mountain biking trails in the area of Lagoon Valley Lake and the Peña Adobe. In my search to find a path toward Jack Hume Grove, I stumbled upon the Malaka Trail. It took me across a creek and up the side of a steep, oak-studded hill that sits right next to Interstate 80. […]
Bowling Ball Beach, by accident
Sadly, I didn’t get to see any of the rocks that gave this beach its name; and in fact we didn’t even really know where we were during our visit. Our intended destination was actually a spot named Schooner Gulch — but we took the wrong trail and wound up on the next beach to the north. A huge pile […]
Peña Adobe
The Peña Adobe in Vacaville is another one of those sites I’ve passed by on hundreds of occasions, wishing to stop but never finding the time to do so. Well, I finally got there! This historic adobe, built in 1842 by one of the first European families to live in the area, sits right beside Interstate 80 and yet exists […]
The Adventure Continues… Half Dome
If you’re like me, it’s very likely you will never have the chance to climb to the top of Yosemite’s majestic Half Dome peak — but don’t worry, because Huell has already done it for us! This hour-long episode of California’s Gold has plenty of breath-taking scenery and moments to make us just a little bit envious, too. The hike […]
Doran, Doran
One of our first stops whenever we head over to the Northern California coast is Doran Regional Park. The Big Guy has been using this small corner of Bodega Bay to retrieve ghost shrimp (used as bait) for something like 30 years now. Even if we somehow forget to check the tide tables or even the local weather, stopping to […]
A walk in the garden
I didn’t spend too much time in the small garden abutting the redwoods of the Jack Hume Grove in Vacaville. The flowers were few, and the sun was very bright when I arrived, not long after 12 noon. But a few colorful autumn blooms did catch my eye as well as the attention of some insects. Sadly, although there were […]
The upward trail
I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I arrived at the Browns Valley Open Space trailhead in Vacaville, although I did know there’s no actual parking lot and I would need to leave my car alongside the road. That really wasn’t a problem since traffic is fairly minimal. But I’ll admit I felt intimidated when I realized that once […]
The Adventure Continues… Cotati
Even though this one-hour episode of Road Trip is titled “Cotati,” Huell actually spends his day exploring the wider area of both Cotati and Sebastopol in Sonoma of County. I’ve passed through both places along Highway 101 quite a few times and even enjoyed staying in Sebastopol on a number of occasions. So it’s great to learn more about the […]