World Pub

World Pub in Auburn, CA

I went for a hike in Auburn with my friend Jaime who is part of the #hiketweetup group in Sacramento. I've been on the hike before, so I'm not posting about it, but we did stop at the World Pub post-hike so I could try the Fox Barrel Mystery cider (A pear/ginger blend). From the outside this place is a total dive bar, but once you are inside, the interior is new and clean, though a bit basic.

They make up for lack of ambiance with their beer selection. There are like, 60 beers on tap, and a ton of specialty beers in the fridge. Unfortunately, the Fox Barrel ciders they had in house did not include the mystery flavor, but did include the pear and blackberry ciders. Both were good - very light, not syrupy like some ciders can be.

This may become a favorite after-hike stop in the future.

cold canyon stebbins trail

I've been on part of this trail before (the the homestead trail portion), but this time we hiked the loop where you get a beautiful view of Lake Berryessa. It's 4.75 miles, and the middle 1/3 is pretty strenuous...you hike along the ridge of a mountain, along 5 undulating peaks.



When we stopped at the top of the first peak for a snack, we got to see the top side of some flying turkey vultures. and also at one point actually heard the sound of a (crow?) large black bird's wings flapping in the air - pretty neat.

House of Siam - San Jose

This Thai restaurant is beautifully decorated, and my pineapple fried rice was brought out in an actual hollowed out pineapple - Yum!

Saugus Iron works

In Saugus, Massachusetts. this is the first successful ironworks in the new world.


these area the giant bellows for the furnace.

The Saugus ironworks is also home to the first garbage landfill in the new world...

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are for sure worth a visit.


One of the ponds.


Part of the five senses garden.


View from the meditation garden out to the water.

I'd like to visit again in a few years to see how the gardens mature.

Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park, Maine



view from the top of Cadillac mountain.



Sand Beach.



Fall color


This is #10 of 10 NPS locations I have visited before the end of October.

Charlestown Navy Yard

In Boston, this is the home of "Old Ironsides," and the first U.S. Dry dock.




This is #9 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before the end of October.

AAA maps dispensers

I went to my local AAA office to pick up some maps and travel guides for a trip I'm taking, and noticed on my way out that they had an all-hours map dispenser. I think this is awesome.

Muir Woods

I visited Muir Woods National Park, which is near Mill Valley, CA in the north SF Bay Area, with a couple of friends on a day when 2.55" of rain fell.


One of the great things about Muir woods is looking up at the tall redwoods, unfortunately, the rain was coming down so hard that if you looked up, you'd get a stinging rain drop in your eyeball...


I wish I had been able to take more pictures, but the lens kept fogging up on my camera, and it was getting so wet I thought it might stop working.



This is #8 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before the end of October.

Bishop's Peak

Off Foothills blvd, in SLO. I didn't make it to the tippy top, but it was a good hike with some nice views of the valley.

Kings Canyon National Park

Park Sign

Kings River

Canyon view


Roaring River Falls


This is #7 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before the end of October.

Sequoia National Park

Entrance to the park

Black Bear eating pine cones

General Sherman Tree - biggest tree by trunk mass, and some random park visitors


View from beetle rock, looks like the blue ridge mountains...

This is #6 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before October.

Chabot Space and Science Center

Today we went to the Chabot Space and Science center for a friend's wedding. I was an excellent venue for a wedding, and interesting to see it without the masses of people that would be there on a weekend.

Alcatraz

Today I went to Alcatraz Island in the SF Bay. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It's a pretty quick ferry ride out to the island from pier 33 in SF, and there is an audio tour of the prison included in the price of the ferry ride. Because of this, everyone does the audio tour, and if you take your headphones off for a little but, you will experience something rarely found in society today, a totally quiet environment with just the sound of the shuffling feet of all the visitors. I found it a little surreal.

This is #5 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before October




I'm pretty sure I went here in Grammer school, but I didn't remember anything about it, and decided anything I did before I was about 15 could be redone and called "new."

Murphys

Murphys is a small town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains off HWY 4. I came up in events realted to the Ironstone Vineyards Concours d'elegance Car show. Main street is where it's happening, small shops and plenty of restaurants...There is a large butterfly bush on main, that lives up to it's name it was swarming with Monarchs today.

Stebbins Cold Canyon Hike

A 45-minute drive west of Davis (15 minute west of Vacaville, CA) bring you to Stebbins Cold Canyon and the Homestead Trail. This is part of the UC Davis Natural Reserve System which contains many locations for outdoor activities/research.

When you get to the parking area (marked only by a silver gate), there is no obvious signage to get you to the correct trail, only after you have found it (cross the dangerous road with no visibility, and veer right on the trail) and walked on it for a while, do you find a information placard and sign-in area(also after two very narrow gate passages (we had a bit of a time getting through with the child hiking carrier.




We stopped for a picnic lunch at the cold storage remains at the end of the homestead trail a very shady area with lots of rock foundation to sit on.



The trail is half shady and half exposed with a fun little "living tunnel".

Lafayette reservoir

In Lafayette, CA The Municipal Utility District owns a reservoir which they very generously (for a small fee) allow day use to, you can go on the water with non-motorized craft, you can fish from any of the many docks that surround the lake, and you can run or walk your dog on the 2.7 mile paved trail (I hour of walking) that encircles the lake.

Loch Leven Trail

Off Hiway 80 near Soda Springs, there is a 5-mile roundtrip trail to the Lower Loch Leven Lake. This trail is pretty much all uphill to the lake, and down hill on the way back. You cross a stream over a wooden bridge, train tracks (at your own risk) and lots of boulders. The trails is very rocky in some places, very dry and powdery in others (maybe just at this time of year). The lower lake is very pretty - totally worth the hike...




There is an optional extension to the higher Loch Leven Lake that is a 7 mile round trip hike.

Fair Oaks Horticultural Center

I visited the Fair Oaks Horticultural Center today for the open day. The Center is interesting, there is a community garden for residents, and demonstration gardens. They had a demonstration on blueberries while I was there.

Pony Express Trail

A group of friends and I and our dogs hiked a bit of the pony express trail today. We started off of Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, off highway 50 in California. Part of it goes through a popular snowsporting area (called Sierra-at-Tahoe), it was funny to see the building and runs in the summer.

This is #4 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before October

Hidden Falls Trails

I went hiking at Hidden Falls Trails with two friends, we did the long loop at about 5 miles, a lot of the trail is in shade but on super-hot days there are long stretches of exposed trail in some places.


The Placer Legacy Program has done an excellent job on these trails, they are nicely marked, there are great stone stairways and a perfectly beautiful overlook to the falls.


The areas near the creek have many wildflower examples including the one above.

UC Davis Arboretum

Today I went for a walk with some friends through the UC Davis Arboretum - There are many themed gardens mostly California natives, a southern CA native area, and northern CA area, a Mediterranean garden.

Rosie the Riveter Park in Richmond, CA.

I went to #3 of 10 National Parks Service sites today - This must be a newly acquired National Park, because it is not listed on my 2000 version of the NPS Map, but it is listed on the 2006 version.

I sure hope it is new, because this location does not live up to the standard of the NPS, it looks more like a city park. also, I was unable to find the red oak victory ship which also houses the NPS passport stamp that I was looking for. The signage at this park is terrible.