After climbing a volcano, I was ready for some serious relaxation. Since we have a hot tub at home, we are spoiled, and all I could think about was soaking in some hot water. That is when we found the wonderful and quirky Stewart Springs Resort, a historic clothing-optional mineral bathhouse in the mountains of northern Cali, east of I5. They were very cool about having a kid. I had anticipated the possibility of having to trade off bath time with my hubby, but we ended up being able to spa simultaneously. Read more »
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Tags: California, camping, children, Crater Lake, kids, Oregon, parenting, road, Stewart Springs, Travel, trip
Travel | admin June 23, 2009 | 
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The peak of the peak of Lassen Peak
This weekend my family and I hiked 2.5 miles with 2,000 ft elevation gain in two hours (only one way, that is) up a volcano, half of which was in the snow, at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Phew. The last portion was most grueling with some iffy snowy ledges and very steep scree-covered switchbacks. Read more »
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Anyone who travels knows that there is always one day/week/incident that serves to test your travel endurance, push you out of your comfort zone, and annoy you thoroughly. We have hit our wall. The truck needed to be fixed and a one day job has turned into three. Without a car, our camper parked outside a friend’s house on a busy street, and a gimpy dog who can’t walk very far or take Bart, we were forced into a Motel 6. Read more »
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While it was great to see friends and fam in Los Angeles and shop the vintage clothing stores in Venice Beach, the smog and congestion were just annoying. Additionally, surprise!, it was cold. Yes, cold in L.A.! Since we camped on the beach, I only warmed up when we were biking. Once we left the city, my body sighed with relaxation. Living so rurally for so long, I just don’t have the tolerance for people in my face all the time, driving through traffic constantly, and always waiting in lines or searching for parking… the minutes wasted. Up the coast, we found a great state beach to play on. We even attempted a swim, burrrrr.
Santa Barbara has a mini marine center where kids can pet sea creatures like sea cucumbers, star fish and crabs. There is also a little under water tunnel for them. My daughter loved it and ran around screaming, “fish! shark! water!”
Touching a Shark
Santa Cruz isn’t all hippies and stoners (okay, mostly), it also has a fun and fairly inexpensive boardwalk amusement park. My daughter was too young for most rides, a two year old would have had more choices, or even a more adventurous 20-month-old, but she loved the carousel, which is a hundred years old.
Historic Carousel with Daddy
By the way, I feel it is important to mention… that 30 Toddler Songs CD that I praised in a previous post, well, beware. My daughter asks for, “kids songs,” every time we get in the car and I’m ready to tear my head off and throw it out the window if I hear “Old McDonald” one more time.
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Tags: amusement, California, carousel, coast, kids, marine, park, road, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Travel, trip, west
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a Joshua Tree
My husband and I both thought that Joshua Tree National Park was named for one large amazing tree that an entire park revolved around. Ends up that Joshua Tree is just a type of tree. Seems the name is deceptive because it is not called Joshua TreeS National Park. Anyway, it’s a wacky spiky tree out of Dr. Seuss. Really, the whole park with it’s weird rock formations is out of the Lorax or some such Seussian thing. The view from Keys View was pretty amazing too; you could see the entire wind tunnel that is Cochilla Valley. Great place for kids, not so much for dogs.
Skull Rock
