My Blog

Two Great Boating Lakes

 

Avid boaters probably already know about these boating lakes, but if you're new to boating or you just don't happen to know the prime spots, here are two suggestions.

Lake Shasta -- this is a prime house boating destination. Famous for the house boats and regular boats, Lake Shasta offers numerous house-boat rental outfits to choose from. Google house boat and Shasta and you'll see what I mean. Even better contact World Less Traveled, and we will put together a Shasta package vacation with house boat and other regional activities such as the famous Shasta train dinner trip. House boating is a super fun way to pass the day. Wake up fish, swim or just rest on your house's deck. Not recommended for families with small children who cannot swim. You will spend the entire trip worried the little one could fall overboard, and that is not fun. 

Folsom Lake -- regional readers can make this one a day trip. Out-of-towners can camp at Beal's Point and boat and hike throughout the day. Folsom is most famous for water skiing. You can also just float around, swim or fish. Numerous bike trails also surround the area so plan to spend some quality biking time. Watch out for major holidays and July traffic because the lake becomes crowded and sometimes even hazardous. So consider choosing a mid-week trip or avoid the month of July, which is prime vacation time everywhere.

 

Best Regional Swimming Holes

It’s hot out and time to splash in the pool. Here are some favorite swimming holes for your family to enjoy.

SunSplash (Roseville) – in our opinion, the cleaner of the water slides in the Northern California region. SunSplash has two kiddy pool areas for children 5 and under and fantastic and lengthy longer slides for the older kids. They also have a fun wave pool where you can either brave the waves or just sit in the shore area to cool off. We like SunSplash in Roseville and rate it for cleanliness and nice, well-behaved clientele. Also, when it’s really hot, it becomes crowded. Arrive early and expect to leave early to avoid the crowds.

Orangevale Aquatic Center – the lesser-known aquatic center isn’t quite as large as Folsom or Roseville, but its low-key status means fewer crowds. They have a large wadding area and a fun waterslide for the older children to enjoy. They also have a large swimming area and diving boards. Folsom and Roseville, although larger with more slides and bigger pools, become very crowded in prime summer season.

Family Fitness Centers – not known for their swimming activities, the Family Fitness Center on Greenback in Fair Oaks has two large pools (a lap pool) and fun play fountains. They also have a large Jacuzzi to warm up or soothe tired muscles. Their wadding pool is large-sized for the little kids to frolic. They offer swimming lessons, and you can sign up at the front desk.

 

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

The best view of the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska can be seen from the cruise ship, which is one of many reasons that if you're planning an Alaskan adventure, you should consider a cruise. The Hubbard Glacier will leave you overwhelmed and awestruck by its enormity, blue-and-white colors striated throughout, and the cracking, thunderous sound of the ice sheering off into the freezing waters below. If you do visit on a cruise ship, your captain's talents hopefully will bring you in quite close where you can feel the cold radiate off the mountains of ice. As you enter the bay, your ship will navigate the glacial field of icebergs to come as close as possible to nature's natural wonder. Look over the rails of the ship and notice some large icebergs floating around your ship's hull. Also, imagine that when you see an iceberg you only see 10 percent of the entire iceberg, as the remaining body of the ice is submerged beneath the surface. The opportunity to see the Hubbard Glacier is worth the price of the voyage. 

Truckee, California

Now that summer is creeping upon us (at a surprisingly slow pace this year), time to think about some weekend getaways or even some great vacations spots in the vicinity. Truckee is a favorite vacation town that is roughly two hours away from the Greater Sacramento area and offers the perfect cool spot to escape the imminent summer heat. Favorites ways to enjoy Truckee include camping along the Truckee River in the numerous state and county campground littering the banks going both north and south up or down the river toward Tahoe where it begins. Some campgrounds are first-to-come, first-to-serve so you won’t need reservations if you manage to arrive early enough. Others are reservation-only and you may need to have you travel agent research those ones. You may also find a rental home in and around Truckee. Truckee-Donner area offers numerous sized and types of homes to rent. If you want to feel out in the woods, avoid renting a home that backs up onto other homes in the development. Look for a house with a natural greenbelt behind it. Activities in the area include hiking, biking, rafting along the Truckee River, swimming at the public pool or in Donner Lake or the river (be careful of the current). Shopping is mostly limited to Old Truckee, which offers numerous boutiques and restaurants. A fun vacation is to take Amtrak from Sacramento and get off in Truckee and stay. The train ride is enjoyable for families with children who can get up and down and explore the train. 

Humbug Mountain State Park, Oregon

Looking for a part of the Oregon coast that is slightly warmer than the average beach and forest? Then check out Humbug State Park (http://www.oregon.gov/) campgrounds that sit at an elevation of 1,756. The surrounding mountains create a kind of shelter from the wind and protection from ocean breezes. You are not far from the beach, so you can camp and enjoy swimming, windsurfing, scuba diving or boogie boarding. If you enjoy hiking, take the trail to the top of Humbug Mountain and check out the amazing views. If you know anything about Oregon then know this, their state parks are absolutely pristine and well kept. The state takes great pride in their parks and travelers enjoy relatively inexpensive campground fees for the full hooks up and well groomed sites.

Prairie Creek Redwoods

Prairie Creek Redwoods (http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=415) located outside of Crescent City to the south is one of the larger State Campgrounds. The sites are sprawled along a corridor in the California redwoods and make one of the easier campgrounds to get reservations at, because it’s so large. Right before the campground entrance sits a large, open meadow where you might spot some deer grazing before you enter. The sites are large and spread apart so you do not gaze easily at your neighbor and many of the sites are in the actual forest. This campground makes for great hiking and biking adventures. Families can meet and do adjoining sites and enjoy a great cookout or BBQ. If you’re driving up from Central California, please be advised it’s about a five- to six-hour trek up Highway 101 and into Highway 1. This campground in particular has a nice, cozy family feel about it, as you can hear children screaming and giggling as they ride bikes up and down the trail.

Three Things We Often Forget to Bring on Vacation

When traveling or going on vacation, you may find common things you inadvertently forget to bring and wish you had. Here are the top three most commonly forgotten items. 

Underwear – what you say with a shock? How could you forget underwear? Well, underwear and socks are really the top two apparel items that often get left out of the suitcase. If your family only travels annually, it makes it even more likely that these essentials might get left out. Good advice: Buy some plain cotton stand-bys and always leave them in your suitcase (that goes for socks too). It’s a small investment for a creature comfort.

Toothpaste – another shocker that on the face of it seems like you would not easily forget to bring it along. Yet another surprise often left behind.  Nothing makes a trip smellier or more frustrating then missing your toothpaste or toothbrush for that matter. Best advice again: buy a toothbrush and toothpaste you never take out of your travel bag.

Hair Brush – how many times have you forgotten a hairbrush? What are you supposed to do to comb your hair – especially if no sundry shop is around? Your fingers only do so much. Just buy a cheap comb or brush and leave it in your travel bag. Women and girls with long hair, always leave a band in your bag. If nothing else, a good, old-fashioned ponytail handles your hairstyle problems. No need for curling or flat irons. Just toss your hair back.

Pack-and-Go Strategies

Packing – some people are good at it, and others just can’t seem to get it all condensed down to work. They sit on their suitcases. They smash, they push, they pull, and their bag ends up weighing a ton. Then there is the problem of no room once they get to their destinations. They have to carefully shop and may not purchase certain souvenirs for fear of breakage or no room. When packing, here are some enlightened ways to do and manage it on your trip. Many airlines charge extra for large luggage, so you should consider a small piece of luggage that goes into the overhead compartment, and then use these strategies.

Shipping – a lot of folks forget they can ship items back. In fact, breakable items are best shipped back with proper bubble wrap and peanuts to cushion the blows. And here is something you’ve probably never thought of. You can ship stuff to meet you at your destination too. Let’s say you have something heavy you don’t want to haul. Ship it ahead. If you have gifts for family and friends, ship ahead and present them upon arrival. Shipping forward gives you more room, and if you use UPS it’s not as costly as Fed-X. Watch out for UPS Ground – that can take weeks; but if you think weeks in advance you’re good with ground.

Purse – if you’re going to carry a purse as your second bag, buy an oversized bag to carry extra and then invest in a small purse or wristlet to put in your credit cards and money in. You can slip the small purse into the big purse and not get dinged for three bags, which you cannot carry on the plane. Even if your big bag is not filled for the trip to your destination, carry it anyway. You can put gifts and souvenirs in the extra space for the trip home.

Shoes – women get a pair of sandals (in summer), as sandals work with both slacks and dresses. That way you don’t need to pack an extra pair of shoes that take up valuable space. In the winter, consider a black pair of fashionable, low-heeled boots that go with everything. Make sure you can walk great distances in them. Men should consider a nice loafer or black tennis shoe made of leather than can pass for all occasions.

 

Henderson, Nevada

If you want to plan an actual family trip to Las Vegas, but you don’t want to expose your children to the common perils of the infamous Strip, plan a trip to stay in Henderson, a community outside of the mainstream casinos. Vegas does offer family fun with its sky-high amusement park and various shows that are not R-rated; but for the most part it is a city filled with adult subject matter. If you think that a casual stroll down the Strip will be PG rated, you are absolutely incorrect. The main casinos are casinos without a doubt. Picture of showgirls in barely there costumes are everywhere. Suggestive material can be found at every corner. So, if you want to enjoy the adult fun, stay somewhere like the Springhill Suites Marriott in Henderson, which is outside of all the mainstream antics. The Marriott was running extremely low rates for a full suite at a shocking $80. Since the facility was new, you did not encounter that smoke smell. They provide a full breakfast. The kids cans swim during the day and you can hire a sitter to go out at night. You are promised no exposure to unseemly material that you may not want to introduce to young children. Henderson itself is a typical suburb with lots of shopping and is surrounded by the austere mountains that are quite beautiful. As you drive down the highway, watch for some interesting rock formations.

 

Tips for the Walking Warrior

When you travel, is your preferred choice to really see the sites to walk everywhere? No buses, cabs or rental cars for you. You love to walk. Some people whose love of walking can often be ruined by blisters that hurt their feet so bad, they have to give up the “chase.” And there are just some people whose feet are tender and no matter what shoe they wear short of fuzzy slippers, they end up with blisters. So don’t resort to wearing slippers on the road, try some of these remedies.

Moleskin (http://www.drscholls.com/drscholls/productSearch.do?method=doProductDetailsLookup&searchArg=67) -- this product looks like a skin-colored animal skin and feels like suede. Cut out a piece to fit the shape of blister-prone areas and place the sticky adhesive side down on your skin. Moleskin prevents chaffing and rubbing that causes blisters. Some people even get blisters on the bottoms of their feet, and this product works really well and won’t roll up and off areas to leave them unprotected.

Blister Treatment (http://www.drscholls.com/drscholls/productSearch.do?method=doProductDetailsLookup&searchArg=71)-- not everybody can catch blisters before they form. Moleskin will not work as well once a blister has formed and most especially once they have popped. Try Blister Treatment pads with medication to dull the pain and enhance healing. The big problem once a blister pops is that you may still be touring and not want to stop walking. So, at least Blister Treatment will give you some relief to continue on your journey.

Band-Aids – Band-Aids are everyone’s catch-all blister relief and really just a court of last resort if you can’t find some kind of Blister Treatment. Band-Aids don’t treat and often roll up and off. But should you find yourself somewhere without anything more than a Band-Aid, it’s definitely better than nothing. And if you’re a parent, you should always carry some kind of Band-Aid in your backpack, fanny bag or purse – if for no other reason than to soothe an upset child who thinks the mere sight of blood is cause for a trip to the emergency room. Oh, and make sure you have your child’s favorite cartoon character on them – that will definitely soothe all wounds.