Recent Travels in NorCal

Hello there friends!

I’ve been on some really fun adventures this summer and since it’s a new area for us I figured I’d share some of the highlights. We’ve been mostly doing day trips on the weekends, but we did make it all the way to Humboldt County for a long weekend with Scooby a few weekends ago and it was a blast! He does make our trips a bit more complicated, but he loves an adventure as much as we do. Now if only we could get Sal more acclimated to the car it could be a true daily excursion (ha, yeah right! He cried pretty much the whole way from SD to Sacramento on the move up).

First up is Sugar Pine Reservoir (Placer County, California), located approximately 7 miles north of Foresthill:

It’s pretty sad to think that this beautiful area we just enjoyed on a hot summer day is now a part of the evacuation area for the Mosquito fire. Leo and I cannot get over how many bodies of water there are around here that you can actually swim in! So different than the “look, but don’t touch” bodies of water in SoCal. So many of the lakes are crazy clear too. So nice!

We did a little hike and then enjoyed a float session in the lake. I tell you those tubes I bought when we first moved in were fantastic buys! I have used them countless times. I could float all day ever day I think. It was a pretty perfect day. *Note: just make sure to bring some cash as it costs $5 to park in the lot and they do not have any way to pay electronically. I had to sheepishly confess to the attendant/ranger(?) that I did not have any cash and – while he did say not to worry about it this time – I still feel guilty! Scooby had a ball practicing his swimming – I just wish we’d gotten a picture. It was too cute.

Lucerne Harbor Park – we made a quick stop here on the way up to Fortuna because it was such a perfect time to snap some sunset pics. The name of the town caught my eye right away because I see the brand Lucerne so often at the grocery store. IMO it’s always fun to make that kind of connection.

Possibly the best part of the trip was driving through the Avenue of the Giants. Do not miss this if you are in the area, there’s SO much beauty and tranquility to enjoy:

Make sure to stop at this adorable spot for some fun souveniers (and bathroom!) after enjoying the scenic drive. They had a great selection of stuff so it was hard to chose what to bring home, but we eventually settled on a mug and a sweatshirt. Now I wish I’d bought one of the handmade bird houses for the backyard too. We made it a super quick stop as pets are not allowed so Scooby stayed in the car with the a/c blasting:

We also got to visit the ocean, which was sooo nice! I really miss being close to the ocean and it was nice to be able to take Scooby to a beach where there was basically nobody else around so he could run free for a bit. We thought he’d calm down with age, but even at 4 that does not seem to be happening lol. Oh well, he tries to be a good boy.

It was a little chilly at the shoreline, which was a welcome break from the 100+ temps pretty much everywhere away from the coast. I told Leo I would seriously consider living closer to the Oregon state line as the weather, vibe, and people were all so lovely!

And finally, the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. What a cool spot to check out! I would imagine that it gets a lot busier than what we experienced (we saw about 2 other groups of people the entire time we were there), but I think certain parts of the park were closed due to the nearby fire. We still had a great time as it was a gorgeous day and there was plenty we could still check out. I would love to go back and bring my nieces. *Parking is $10 and it appeared to be cash only