No Back Home

Last summer I was offered an opportunity to visit one of the few national parks in California I had yet to visit, the Channel Islands. Upon looking at the itinerary I noticed that an entire day was dedicated to kayaking around the island of Santa Cruz..in the sea! I was terrified to be honest. I […]

Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of California’s least visited parks. It is located about 5 hours north of the Bay Area, 3 hours north of Sacramento and 1.5 hours east of Redding. It’s location is most of the reason it is less visited than other parks and the fact that it is covered in […]

The state capital of California, Sacramento, loaded with history, is often overlooked as a great family weekend getaway destination. This is too bad since it’s filled with fun, family friendly activities that also include a little bit of learning too! The city got its start during the 1849 Gold Rush and later served as the state’s […]

When people think of Northern California they often just consider the landmark destinations like San Francisco and the Napa and Sonoma wine country. However, Redding and UpState California, the real northern California, is the vast area north of Sacramento all the way up to the Oregon border. This area features dramatic waterfalls, redwood forests, adorable […]

In advance of my trip to Memphis for the BlogHouse conference, I asked my social media followers what I should do in the Southern city of soul. Overwhelmingly the choices were to experience the civil rights history, the music and the food.  I had hoped to do all of these, but what really ended up […]

Visiting Southern California and and only have the time (or money) to do Disneyland and California Adventure in one day? Those of us who go to Disneyland often will say no, don’t do two parks in one day. It’s true, there is a ton to do at each of the parks and to really get […]

The long awaited LEGOLAND Castle Hotel California has finally opened! We were so excited to be one of the first guests to stay and experience the new hotel. Read on to find out what we thought and why this should be on your must visit list! Just as I recommended for the first LEGOLAND Resort, […]

San Diego is the ultimate family playground with so many things to do all over the city. From visiting the famous San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park to relaxing on any of the amazing beaches, you will not be at a loss for things to do in San Diego. The city itself is quite easy […]

If there is one thing that everyone in our family can agree on,  it’s our love for hot pools of water! It can be a jacuzzi or a natural hot spring, just as long as it’s hot. On our recent trip to Mammoth we decided to take some time to hop around to the different […]

One of the main attractions for our family visit to Universal Studios Hollywood was of course The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Having just finished book number 5, my 7 year old was hankering to visit our neighborhood theme park. While the Wizarding World of Harry Potter isn’t a huge section of Universal Studios Hollywood, […]

It’s almost that time of year again! The day little boys (and girls) look forward to all year long – trash truck open house! My son equates spring and summer with several things and the opening day to summer in his mind is the LA Sanitation Department’s open house (and the Fire Service Recognition Day!).  This […]

It has taken us 5 years of living in Los Angeles, but we finally made it to Universal Studios Hollywood. Wow! I wish we went sooner, but I am also sort of glad we waited. My son is just now 48 inches which meant he could go on every ride at the park. Visiting Universal […]

One of our favorite summer trips, with the best hike ever was to Zion National Park. This is one of Utah’s most visited parks and for good reason – it is an amazingly immersive experience whether you stay inside the park or not. On our last visit, we waited a little late in the game […]

One of the reasons we renew our annual passes at Disneyland every year is because of the many yearly holiday celebrations. We love Mickey’s Halloween party, the fantastic Christmas decorations and holiday themed rides and of course, Easter. There aren’t fancy decorations or unique parades, rather, following in modern tradition, there is an Easter egg […]

Since we first moved to LA I have had a list of things to do and places to visit. San Juan Capistrano has been on that list now for years. A few weeks ago we finally had the opportunity to head down to see what it’s all about. Read on to see what we thought […]

For years I have had it on my massive LA bucket list to take the train down to check out Mission San Juan Capistrano. However not being a California native I am not too up on California history so I wasn’t sure exactly why I needed to visit this jewel of missions so it continued […]

Truth time. Finding accommodation is often quite daunting for me. Because of this, it tends to be my least favorite part of travel planning. There are so many options these days between chain hotels, adorable boutique hotels, private home rentals from sites like AirBnB, Homeaway, GlampingHub, etc. And then you have to decide which neighborhood […]

Last week we headed up to the mountains for a day of skiing and snow play. I was so excited to finally don some winter wear and check out Mountain High (Mt High), Los Angeles’s closest ski resort. Unlike our last visit to Mt High, this trip was a total success. We left bright and […]

One of the biggest attractions for visitors to Alaska is to see wildlife in their natural habitat. This can be achieved almost everywhere in Alaska from seeing a bald eagle fly overhead in Anchorage to hiking with moose at Flattop Mountain. However, it is the bear that is perhaps the ultimate symbol of Alaskan wildlife. Seeing […]

When you tell most people you are going to Alaska they assume you are going on a cruise. For years I also thought that was the only way to see America’s last frontier. However, when I had the opportunity to chat with the PR for Anchorage, I learned that in fact a wonderful way to […]