Ageless GlobeTravels
  • Home
  • Globe Travel Articles
    • Globe Travel Articles - Europe
    • Globe Travel Articles - United States
    • Globe Travel Articles - Australia
    • Family Travel
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Hotels We Love!
    • Restaurants We Love!
    • A World of Wine, Beer (& Liquor!)
    • Travel Stuff & Style
  • Susan's Tales
    • Expats in East Tennessee
  • Jim's Gems and Stinkers
  • Photography & Art
    • Vintage 1950's Photos of Greece, Turkey and Pakistan
    • Feature Fotos
    • Exploring Art History
  • About
    • Who Are We Following? Favorite Tweets and Links!
    • TBEX North America 2015
    • Partner With Us!
  • Custom Itineraries
    • LOGIN Customer Iteneraries

Part 4 of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip! Sea-Lions -Tall Ships -Caverns and Big Trees

5/8/2014

0 Comments

 
by Susan Smeder
Photographs by Carol Moreno
The last two days of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip were filled with Pirate Ships and Chocolate, Underground Caverns and Giant Trees!   What more could an eight-year old ask for? 

Now, San Francisco is a beautiful and sophisticated city full of places adults love to visit, so where would you head for some child-friendly fun?  Fisherman’s Warf and Pier 39 of course! 


Picture
Picture
Pier 39 is filled with fun arcades, shops, attractions and even a colorful carousel, but M.s favorite site was a pier filled with sea-lions.  The sea-lions at Pier 39 began arriving in 1990 shortly after the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake and they can number up to 900 members now during the winter months.  In the summer, they migrate south to the Channel Islands for breeding.  A small year-round group has made the pier their home year-round and they were there to greet M. as she gazed out to where they lazed in the sun. 

Picture
Picture
You can’t visit San Francisco and miss out on the colorful history of its maritime past.  The tall 19th century sailing ships docked at the Hyde Street Pier, are part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and kids of all ages love to explore them, dreaming of pirates and peg-leg sailors dancing jigs.  The visitor’s center has a wonderful collection of exhibits to explore telling the stories of voyage and discovery that took place from what was called “Frisco” by the sailors. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Playing pirate on tall ship can really work up the need for ice-cream, so Ghirardelli Square should be your next stop for a Salted Caramel Sunday or a Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cone.  Ghirardelli Square is filled specialty shops and restaurants, but what makes place so special and picturesque is the fact that it was originally a chocolate factory established by chocolate and coffee merchant, Dominico Ghirardelli. 

Lured by letters filled with “gold-rush” tales from his friend James Lick, Ghirardelli decided to come to San Francisco to open a general store.  Since he had apprenticed as a confectioner in Italy as a boy and spent many years as a chocolate merchant, setting up a factory was next.

By 1895, after a few moves, the factory was finally located in what had been the Pioneer Woolen Mills on North Street, and that is where you find Ghirardelli Square today.  Just a note: Factory Tours are not available at Ghirardelli Square, you must go to the San Leandro factory site to have a tour.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
While the amusements of the city are exciting and shouldn’t be missed, California’s unique natural sites are M.’s favorite places, so the last part of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip was dedicated to California Caverns and the Big Trees National Park.

Picture
What is now known as California Caverns, was discovered some time between 1849 and 1850 by Captain Joseph Taylor when he was target shooting on a rocky outcropping.  He noticed that his targets were being moved by a breeze which seemed to emanate from the rocks. When he investigated this curious phenomenon, he discovered the entrance to a cave which he named Mammoth Cave. 

In 1850, Captain Taylor opened the cave for public tours, making it the first cave through which people could take tours, in the state of California.  Early visitors included, famous author, Mark Twain and explorer-environmentalist, John Muir.


Picture
Picture
Picture
As the website indicates, ”experienced, professional guides lead groups into the recently discovered "Jungle Room," named for the array of crystalline "vines" covering the ceiling, many of them several feet long. Groups learn about the rich history of the cavern and the surrounding countryside, and cavern formation and geology”. 

The tour for that day was the “Trail of Lakes” tour due to the lakes that form in the caves during the wet winter months.  M. was truly a middle-earth explorer on this trip into the depths of the earth!


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
As if exploring underground isn’t amazing enough, you can also check out California’s “Big Trees” at the Calaveras Big Trees National Park.  These giant Sequoias are the earliest visited by tourists and the area became a State Park in 1931 to preserve the giant sequoias. The very first Sierra redwood was discovered and noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852.  Giant sequoias can grow to be about 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter and more than 250 feet (76 meters) tall.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The park is a magical and awe inspiring place for kids.  It’s a place where they can feel so tiny compared with the majesty of the tall redwoods and can learn to appreciate humanity’s small place in the huge world of nature.  I know M. has learned how important it is to protect and preserve these beautiful giants while discovering the Big Trees National Forest.  

A fun day with an important lesson is the perfect way to end The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip! 


Picture
0 Comments

Part 3 of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip - Monterey - Gravity Gardens - Jelly Bellies

4/29/2014

1 Comment

 
by Susan Smeder
Photography by Carol Moreno (unless otherwise credited)
Picture
Monterey, and the peninsula it sits on, was made famous by John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row, where he portrayed the gritty, colorful life of the waterfront fisheries.  

The area has actually played an important role in the history of California beginning as the home of the Ohlone Native Americans who hunted, fished, and gathered food on and around the biologically rich Monterey Peninsula. 

The town of Monterey was first established in 1770 by Father Junipero Serra as a major port for Alta California and served as the capital of California from 1777 to 1849, under Spanish and Mexican rule.   Monterey was also the site of the 1846, Battle of Monterey during the Mexican-American War, when the U.S. flag was raised the over the Monterey Custom House and California was claimed by the United States.

But this visit was not to be a day steeped in the heavy history and lore of California.  It was to be a day of pure fun, wonder, exploration and yummy food.


Picture
To start the day off right, it had to begin with the yummy food part at First Awakenings across from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Their old-fashioned, down home American favorites hit the spot and the hot chocolate was fantastic!

Picture
Picture
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans, and through their research, rescue programs (they have saved 501 orphaned and injured sea otters to date), educational programs and amazing aquarium facilities.  Just wandering through, viewing the colorful variety of jelly fish is awesome! 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
A walk around Cannery Row and a visit to the Wax Museum and the crazy House of Mirrors worked up appetites for Rosine’s and their delicious home style food and famous deserts.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Photo above courtesy of http://www.rosinesmonterey.com/

Picture
After a second night at the Hotel Abrego, and a little backtracking to the picturesque town of Carmel by the Sea for a delicious breakfast at From Scratch, it was off to explore the amazing Gravity Garden. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Gravity Garden is a natural rock sculpture garden just off highway 1, created by artist Jim Needham.  The sculptures are amazingly and precisely stacked without the help of bolts or adhesives!  A walk through this small sculpture is filled with gravity defying pieces of art!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The sculpture garden may have been intriguing, but the Jelly Belly Factory is a dream come true and a delight for kids.  What child wouldn’t want to find out how those tiny buds of pure deliciousness are made and get free samples?  Well, M. is now an expert on Jelly Belly production! 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Stuffed full of sugar, it was finally time to head off to Aunt Heidi's house in Columbia located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills for an overnight.  Relatives nearby can truly be a money-saver!  And lots of fun too!  The plans for the final day of this epic journey ?????...... San Francisco, California Caverns and Big Trees National Park!   Be sure to check back and read all about this final leg of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip! 
Picture
photo above provided by Susan Smeder
1 Comment

Part 2 of The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip - Communing with Nature

4/25/2014

1 Comment

 
by Susan Smeder
Photographs by Carol Moreno

Picture
There are places in California, such as Big Sur, that are so beautiful they seem spiritual and this day was to be spent communing with the beauty and peacefulness of California’s awe inspiring forests.  Some forests perch on the steep rocky coast where the Monterey Pines were planted in the 19th century as hearty breaks against the relentless ocean winds while others stretch toward the heavens cathedral-like, where tall Coastal Redwoods shelter quiet shaded glades full of ferns and moss covered fallen comrades and paths lead to delicate waterfalls.

But before the serious hiking began, an early morning drive up the Central Valley Coast brought its own delights!


Picture
Picture
Picture
Elephant Seals……

According to the “Friends of the Elephant Seal” website, the Northern Elephant Seal is an extraordinary marine mammal.  It spends eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5800 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest. The Piedras Blancas Rookery is located on Highway 1 seven miles north of San Simeon on the California Central Coast.


Picture
A stop at Sand Dollar Beach was a must, to collect those beautiful white disc shaped shells.  M. figured out the secret to finding them.   Check the kelp piles on the beach for sand dollars tangled among the sea grapes!  

Picture
Picture
Picture
The first hiking stop was Limekiln State Park.  Yes, this park was originally a site of a lime kiln used between 1887 and 1890.  You can hike an easy trail to the old kilns where lime was extracted.  Barrels of lime were slid on a cable out to Rockland Cove, where they were loaded onto ships. The lime was a key ingredient in the cement that was used for construction in San Francisco and Monterey.  Fortunately the kilns have been long exhausted and are just part of the frontier history of California.   

Picture
Picture
Picture
Beautiful Limekiln Falls is the reward for this redwood forest hike, but as the trees tower and the deep forest quiet envelopes, the forest trail becomes a magical place.  M. even found shamrocks where leprechauns might have hidden and hollowed redwood giants where secret elf homes might be concealed.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Big Sur coast is home to some amazing marvels of nature.  McWay Falls is an 80-foot waterfall located at the edge of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and flows year-round.  It is one of only two California Pacific Coast “Tidefalls”.  They are named tidefalls because they empty directly into the ocean.  Due to landslides over time, the McWay waterfall empties into the ocean only at high tide.  At low tide, it showers onto a beach below the rocky cliffs that can be accessed only by boat.

Picture
Picture
Before heading into Pfeiffer State Park, some recharging was in order and Nepenthe Restaurant is one of the most scenic and delicious places for lunch (or dinner!) on the pacific coast.  Imagine being perched high on the cliffs of Big Sur gazing out at the vast blue Pacific Ocean while dining on casual California cuisine and favorite Nepenthe family recipes.   

Picture
Pfeiffer State Park is named after the Pfeiffer family, who were pioneers in the Big Sur country. The park stretches from the Big Sur coastline beaches, high up into the nearby 3,000-foot ridges and is known for its stunning redwood groves, so exploring the park from forest to beach was quite an adventure!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Relaxing on Pfeiffer Beach is a perfect way to relax after a day full of hiking!  

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
After a full day of hiking in Big Sur and a short drive further up the coast, the boutique Hotel Abrego in Monterey offered a much needed night of rejuvenating comfort. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
With a cozy in-room fireplace to sit by and clean comfy beds to fall into, M. again sank into sleep dreaming of all the fun she would have the next day at the Monterey Aquarium.

Be sure to check back for Part 3 of The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip! 

Picture
Picture
1 Comment

An Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip

4/21/2014

1 Comment

 
by Susan Smeder
Photography by Carol Moreno
(unless otherwise indicated)
Picture
Sometimes, Mothers and Daughters just need to hit the road together!  My daughter and granddaughter planned to do just that, when they decided to explore the California coast as M.’s eighth birthday gift. 

The celebratory road trip was a week-long excursion, full of interesting stops, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and it was packed full of education, exercise, fun surprises and memory making experiences, all geared to amaze an eight-year old.  But don’t be surprised to hear that they kept her mother entertained as well!


Picture
Part 1 of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip:  

Solvang was the first stop, to start the day with a yummy Pancake breakfast.  The fairy-tale “Danish” village in the Santa Ynez Valley was founded in 1911 by a group of Midwestern Danes who wanted to establish a colony in sunny California.  The half-timbered town is full of Danish restaurants, bakeries and ice-cream parlors.  The shops display Danish wares, especially beautiful ornaments one would find at a European Christmas Market.  You can imagine how a village straight out of Hans Christian Anderson would delight a little girl! 


Picture
Photo provided by Wikipedia Commons (above photo only)
Picture
Picture
Photograph above by M.
Picture
Picture
The Spanish missions of California are an important part of the history of the settlement of the west coast, and a stop at the Santa Ines Mission, was a chance to introduce M. to this fascinating period in time.  Mission Santa Ines is 210 years old and was established to link the missions in Santa Barbara and Lompoc, California.  One of its primary goals was to teach the native Chumash the Spanish way of life including cultivating, livestock husbandry and of course the Catholic Religion.  A large earthquake damaged the original church in 1812.  The mission was extensively restored at the beginning of the 20th century and restoration continues today.  

Picture
Photo Provided by Wikipedia Commons (above photo only)
Picture
Picture
Picture
Ostrich Land….. located just outside of Solvang.  Who wouldn’t want to stop and feed the Ostriches and Emus and see the cute little baby Ostriches and Emus!   

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Morro Bay State Park has a Natural History Museum that is full of fun interactive exhibits that teach visitors about wind, water and tide forces in the bay and the ecology of Morro Bay Estuary. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
After visiting the museum, everyone should at least view the impressive Morro Rock, which is a volcanic plug located in Morro Bay and is tied to the mainland by a causeway.  The California native tribes, the Salinan and Chumash, considered the rock to be a sacred site.

The Chumash had settled the area as far back as prehistoric times, as early as 6500-2000 B.C.E., and their village was near the mouth of Morro Creek. The right of the Chumash people to climb Morro Rock for their annual solstice ceremony is now well established, but it is illegal for the general public to climb it.

While you can’t climb the rock, taking in the view and visiting the heron estuary, watching for otters, doing some paddle bording or just walking the beach is all part of the Morro Bay Experience. 


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

And who can resist home-made Salt Water Taffy?
Picture
The Best Western Plus Cavalier Hotel in San Simeon is perfect for families staying overnight. The rooms are comfortable and beach views from the rooms are lovely.  


This photo (above)of BEST WESTERN PLUS Cavalier Oceanfront Resort is courtesy of TripAdvisor
Picture
Picture
 A late afternoon spent swimming in the heated pool, picking up shells on the beach at sunset and sitting in front of the warmth of the huge cracking fireplaces facing the beach as evening fell was an enchanting way to wind down after a busy day.


This photo (above) of BEST WESTERN PLUS Cavalier Oceanfront Resort is courtesy of TripAdvisor
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
M. finally fell asleep in her huge fluffy bed, probably dreaming of the next day, which was to be filled with more amazing explorations in Big Sur.  Be sure to check back for the Part 2 of the Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip!

Picture



Footnote
:   A town bearing the name of Santa Inés (Saint Agnes) was to be built around Old Mission Santa Inés. Because this latter development did not materialize, the new town founded east of the Mission came to be called “Santa Ynez.” The settlers did not know Spanish, so they spelled “Inés” as “Ynez.”  (info courtesy of Santa Ynez Chamber of Commerce Website)

1 Comment

A More Simple Climb!  On the Way to Whitney

8/13/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

My Daughter Just Climbed to the Summit of Mt. Whitney!

8/12/2013

0 Comments

 
3:00 am start! 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Hot dry climb!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Summit!
Picture
Picture
Signing the Summit Record!
Picture
Picture
Finally! Cooling off after a grueling hike!
Picture
0 Comments

    Living Vicariously!

    This Page is dedicated to following my daughter
    Carol Moreno's,
    love for outdoor adventure.

    She's a backpacker, mountain climber, hang-glider, yoga-teacher and adventure enthusiast!.........

    But not a writer...... So I follow her photographs........ She's a fantastic photographer and a true California girl!

    - - Susan (Mom)

    Categories

    All
    A More Simple Climb! On The Way To Whitney
    An Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip
    My Daughter Just Climbed To The Summit Of Mt. Whitney!
    Part 2 Of The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip - Communing With Nature
    Part 3 Of The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip - Monterey - Gravity Gardens - Jelly Bellies
    Part 4 Of The Epic Mother-Daughter California Road Trip! Sea-Lions -Tall Ships -Caverns And Big Trees

    RSS Feed

Web Hosting by iPage
✕