Visiting Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley With family

Many may not be aware that nearly 90 percent of all American wines come out of California and 4 percent of which has its origin in the fertile hills of Napa Valley, a destination also known for its picturesque setting attracting tourists from all over. Though Napa valley is somewhat narrow with 30 miles in length and five miles wide at its widest point, Napa Valley, it is densely populated with roughly 125,000 inhabitants. The mild climate makes this an entirely agreeable vacation spot even during off season and you will find tourists pouring in at all times of the year.

The Napa Valley is a great place to go not merely for wine tasting but for a family vacation. There are many places a family can go together to have fun, learn interesting things, and relax. One amazing adventure you can take while visiting the Napa Valley is an animal safari. Just 20 minutes out of Calistoga is Safari West, a place that lets you experience things you could otherwise find only in distant Africa. You can take a tour through the safari seeing all of the exotic animals and their habitats you can even get face to face with strange animals.

Tasting wine in the several hundred local wineries might be your priority, but make it a point to spend an afternoon or two enjoy the area’s cultural offerings, from colorful markets and art galleries to hot springs and small museums. Regional operators offer a variety of programs including hot air balloon flights, bicycle-based trips, Napa Valley Wine Train rides and basic winery tours.

On your way to Safari West there is another place that you must see, the Petrified Forest. You can learn all about the history of Calistoga and how petrified wood is created. You can take a nice stroll along the meadow. It is a nice peaceful place to spend your dayand your family will no doubt be delighted.

A great way to tour Napa valley and keep your kids excited is by taking a cruise around the valley by bike. Together as a family you can enjoy the view and fresh air. The Bothe Park is a picturersque place where the whole family can spend quality time together. There is a large swimming pool under the trees perfect to splash around in, numerous hiking trails, and even horseback riding.

Another place of interest just outside the Napa Valley is the Lake Sonoma Fish Hatchery. You can see all of the steps of the fish hatchery and how it works. While visiting Lake Sonoma you should go explore the hiking trails and stop to have a picnic along the way. You can take a swim in the lake if you are carrying your swimsuits with you.

Never miss the famous the Okld Faithful Geyser. When you visit the geyser you will witness the spectacular geyser erupt every half hour and it is breathtakingly gorgeous. They even have a petting zoo where you and your family can get up close and personal with a variety of different animals. At the geyser they have a special picnic area where the family can have a nice lunch.

The Napa Valley is a place where you can relax and enjoy a perfect wholesome vacation with your entire family. The Napa Valley is a beautiful Countryside located in Northern California. As one of the most successful wine growing regions in the world it offers temperate weather and rolling hills filled with lush vineyards and black oak trees. What better place to spend a vacation with family!!

Hi im planning to go camping but have no idea which one to choose. I don’t know if Redwood national park is open late october, it’s a little more inconvenient to get this one. However, I wanted to know which one is more fun/interesting. I might have to settle for Humboldt.

Beaches, Redwood Forests — Santa Cruz Has it All

Want to sample the best that California has to offer? Santa Cruz offers a surprising combination of some of the state’s best attractions — beaches, redwood forests and a big city just an hour away.

Give up? Try Santa Cruz. Built along some of the Golden State’s most scenic coastline, this city gives you many of the state’s famous attractions in one easy-to-drive area.

We were amazed, for example, when we topped off a morning of beach sightseeing with a little seven-mile drive up to the sleepy town of Felton. Almost instantly we were taken from a bustling beach town to a forest so thick you could hardly see through the trees. It’s no wonder that the famed “Bigfoot” was spotted in the Redwoods not too far from here, and that today there is a Bigfoot Museum beckoning both the curious and the amused.

Fifteen minutes later we were back in Santa Cruz, enjoying the sweeping coastal views and watching as visitors and locals basked in the winter sun while enjoying lunch at one of the city’s many outdoor cafes. Most likely their menu choices included lots of fresh produce ‘ apples, berries, spinach, squash, tomatoes, etc. ‘ as these and other fruits and vegetables are all grown close to Santa Cruz. In fact, there does seem to be a lot of attention paid in Santa Cruz to diet and exercise. It’s hard to be unhealthy in a place where you can easily jog along spectacular ocean cliffs or hike the trails of a half-dozen area state parks.

If we were so inclined ‘ and we weren’t on this particular trip ‘ it would be a reasonable day trip from Santa Cruz into the San Francisco Bay area. And that’s why you’ll want to allow plenty of time for your visit: there is something new every direction you turn.

If you have the opportunity, we’d suggest a midweek visit to Santa Cruz. That’s what we did and, while it’s not exactly a ghost town during the work week, there do seem to be plenty of wide-open spaces to explore with little or no concern about traffic. Santa Cruz motels and inns had big empty parking lots during this January visit, and we’re told all of that changes on weekends.

Our base of operations was the Hilton Scotts Valley, a good choice for travelers who want their lodging a little ways away from the bustle of the beach. Scotts Valley is only a 10-minute drive to Santa Cruz, so it’s really not at all remote. Yet this hotel features huge luxury rooms — just as you would expect from a Hilton — and, we should add, some of the most courteous employees you’ll find anywhere.

Driving into Santa Cruz, you first wind your way through the downtown area where it soon becomes apparent that this is a beach city in every sense of the term. Like many other coastal cities, Santa Cruz does attract down-to-earth non-conformists who, for example, don’t have any hesitation using hair colors that looked like they were chosen from a box of crayons. Think about your worst fashion nightmare for your teenage kids, and that’s what you sometimes see on the streets of Santa Cruz ‘ which, of course is part of the charm. You don’t travel just to see places exactly like home.

Out on West Cliff Drive, where the views from these coastal bluffs are painting-perfect, you encounter the surf crowd. On any given day, dozens of free-spirited surfers are paddling out to ride some of Northern California’s most challenging waves. Long, narrow concrete stairways give the surfers easy access to the water not far from where the waves break. On the bright, sunny day we visited, maybe half of the pedestrians along West Cliff Drive were carrying surfboards.

Indeed, this part of Santa Cruz is Surf Central. And be sure and check out the tiny but informative Surfing Museum, just above the rocky shores, that features exhibits showing how the sport came about. Housed in a former lighthouse, the Surfing Museum includes lots of memorabilia and examples of different types of surfboards ‘ some so big and heavy that one wonders how the original surfers ever managed to get these things to and from the beach.

About a five-minute drive and we were back in downtown Santa Cruz. Just another few blocks out to the beach and we had arrived at the famed Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The roller coaster, thrill rides and buildings of the Boardwalk are an indelible part of the Santa Cruz skyline and visitors enjoy the nostalgia of visiting the West Coast’s only seaside boardwalk. The 75-year-old roller coaster is said to be just as thrilling as any of the newer ones, and that has been augmented by a host of other, more modern rides. Of course there are the bumper cars, the carousel, the huge arcade and, uniquely, a broad and beautiful beach where you can sun yourself and, in summer, enjoy a dip in the ocean.

The Boardwalk area is only one of the many beaches and coastal vantage points in the Santa Cruz area. Just south of Santa Cruz, there are some scenic state beaches near Capitola and at La Selva Beach. You can carve out a few hours and take a scenic drive on north on the Coastal Highway wher eyou’ll find many more beaches including Waddell State Beach. You’ll also want to check out the Roaring Camps Railroad, just a short distance north on Highway 9, where you can ride a historic steam train.

Our own drive north on Highway 9 was short but productive. Not only did we get a look at Henry Cowell State Park with its towering redwoods, trickling streams and recreation trails, but we also had a chance to stop by the small, inconspicuous wood building that now houses the Bigfoot Museum. Most days, proprietor Mike Rugg is watching the store all by himself and, no doubt, will be more than willing to share with you his many Bigfoot stories — as he did with us.

Understand that Mike has never actually seen a Bigfoot ‘ at least not that he can say with any degree of certainty. But he became convinced about the creature’s authenticity when he did a college term paper on the subject. While the professor gave him only a “C” on the report and dismissed his research as having as much ‘ or little ‘ validity as a UFO sighting, Rugg was undeterred.

Bigfoot is supposed to be a creature perhaps eight feet tall that resembles a gorilla and is said to roam remote mountain regions of the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and other locations. While little scientific evidence supports the claim, there are hundreds of sightings reported and one grainy home movie that Rugg is convinced is the real deal. Inside the Bigfoot Museum you’ll find a six-foot blowup of a picture taken from that movie, and there are also several footprint casts and other evidence of Bigfoot’s existence. Since the museum opened in July, visitors have added many more sightings to his wall-size pin map showing just where Bigfoot has been spotted.

Whether it’s Sasquatch or modern-day hippies, Santa Cruz has plenty to keep your vacation interesting and unique.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: Santa Cruz is on the California coastline between San Francisco and Monterey.

WHAT: A particularly scenic area that offers many miles of scenic beaches, coast drives, state parks and several access points to Redwood forests and parks. The city itself offers the West Coast’s only beachfront boardwalk.

WHEN: Year-round, as temperatures are typically moderate. In winter, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is open only on weekends. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, it is open all week.

WHY: Santa Cruz offers many different getaway experiences and visitor attractions in an area that is easy to navigate.

HOW: For more information on Santa Cruz, contact the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitor’s Council at (800) 833-3494 or visit www.santacruz.org. For more information on the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley, phone (831)-440-1000 or visit www.santacruzscottsvalley.hilton.com.

My extended family went on a cruise altogether last year and we want to vacation together again this year. Except, my brother in-law doesn’t want to go on another cruise. Which, the cruise was pretty boring (carnival). Unless you were 5&under, you had nothing to do. THANKFULLY WE HAD EACH OTHER! But, anyways, we want to go on vacation together in November, around Thanksgiving. We just have no idea what to do! We want to keep it around 00 (4 people). We live in the U.S. Where is there to go without freezing your toes off? We are willing to go to other country’s Thanks 🙂

I am looking for a rustic but clean cabin for my wife and I that is IN the redwoods in northern california….any suggestions, please

my friend was wondering if prostitutes and drug dealers go to the hilton garden inn in newbrugh because she thinking about having her party there but if drug dealers really go there then she will move it.
can someone please tell really soon?

The Great Outdoors—And Indoors—With Satellite Internet

As far as natural beauty goes, Washington state and Colorado are two true jewels of the west. With Washington state being known for its beautiful, unbelievably tall redwood forests, and Colorado for its world-class ski resorts and rugged outdoors, it’s really no wonder so many people on the west coast choose one of these two locations for their annual vacation. When it comes down to it, as far as “great outdoors” go, these two have really got it covered. Unfortunately, with such natural beauty, there are some more modern aspects of city life that have been left behind in the past. Luckily, with satellite internet broadband service, nowadays at least everyone in these places, and many more, can stay up to speed and connected to the rest of the world via the ever important world wide web.

In today’s modern world, people are doing more and more online everyday. With new technology continuously changing they way we connect, the desire to stay connected is becoming much more of a need than a want. In modern cities all over the world, people are staying in touch with work, friends and family right from their cell phones. With new gadgets such as the more sophisticated iphone and Blackberry, people are now able to receive and respond to e-mails and text messages right from their seat on a public bus. And while such things may have become everyday habits for many people, it’s easy to forget that they actually are not the norm in most parts of the country.

There are many places out there where people still read a newspaper every morning. Where people still call each other on landline telephones, and where people still use their landlines the connect to the internet. While so many of us have probably already completely forgotten our days of dial-up service, for many people outside of major cities, dial-up is still a part of everyday life. But thanks to new satellite broadband technology, it no longer has to be.

All over the country, people are now able to ditch their old dial-up modems for new satellite internet service that is available to everyone, everywhere. Nowadays, people are able to stay connected at speeds up to fifty times faster than dial-up, no matter where they live. With satellite technology, there is no longer a need for the extensive hardware necessary for DSL service. And as a great alternative to cable internet, satellite service is just as easy and in some cases, much more convenient.

With a high-speed internet connection, one really does have the world at their fingertips. Offering people access to world news, foreign cultures, means to easily stay in touch with friends and family, and a plethora of information about anything you could ever want to know about, a high-speed broadband internet connection keeps you in touch with the rest of the world, regardless of where you live. Now that people anywhere have to option to connect much faster with satellite service, everyone can now easily enjoy places like the great outdoors of Washington state and Colorado with all of the comforts of the great indoors of home.

Find More Redwoods Resort Articles

My dream vacation is going to tornado valley with a small group that tracks tornado’s for a month and when they find them they go out and take picture and videos and so on, and study them. Basically to go on a small group to tornado valley and track tornado’s for a month.

Weird dream vacation… i know. But i really want to do it.

Whats your dream vacation?

New Zealand Vacation For the Family

With everything that a tropical vacation should have, New Zealand is the perfect place for couples, families, and anyone who wants to spend their days in a land so diverse it almost seems like a world of its own. On a New Zealand Vacation, you can experience everything from great dining to great golfing, and a coastline that is like none other in the world. The people of New Zealand maintain a deep connection to their ancestry and traditional culture, and invite travelers to experience the land that is uniquely theirs. Vacationers have found that the wine in New Zealand is exquisite, the shopping fantastic, and the beaches are some of the most beautiful in the world. New Zealand is comprised of two islands, where English is the main language, and Maori is a second one that is spoken. An abundance of fresh fruit, vegetables, seafood, and meats make this couple of islands the perfect getaway destination for thousands of foreigners every year.

The weather in New Zealand is for the most part warm and sunny. Many people have claimed that it is very similar to the climate of California in the United States. It has been known, however, to suddenly rain, so a good tip is to have an umbrella and rain gear kept close by. In the South Island, home of the Southern Alps, there is frequently snow, which makes skiers and snowboarders happy. The seasons are the opposite of the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, keeping vacationers wanting a break from their winter more than glad to travel to New Zealand for their summer. There are mountains over much of the islands, with some coastal plains as well.

There are abundant opportunities to take advantage of guided tours that take you to some of the best sights in New Zealand. The native people welcome visitors and are eager to share their culture. Experiencing the cities is a favorite activity for many people, especially those who love shopping, dining, and great entertainment. Of course the beaches are near perfect, where tourists can swim, sunbathe, snorkel, scuba dive, or spend the day offshore on a mini cruise. Renting a car and driving through countryside and mountains, or hopping on the train for a tour of the land is one of the best ways to take in as much of these paradise islands as possible. A New Zealand vacation is the perfect way to spend your time on a honeymoon, family vacation, or a romantic getaway.

Yes it’s the one, the only, incomparable Northern California featuring San Francisco. November 22 – 23, just two days in this beautiful city on the bay.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Related Northern California Family Vacation Articles

I have these type of dreams a LOT , well perhaps 4 times per yr. or so.
Pretty uncanny indeed
what happened in your case?
Thanks!