Global Winter Wonderland (Great America) - Santa Clara, CA

We went to Global Winter Wonderland at Great America with some close friends. It was such a great night!

Global Winter Wonderland is a multicultural lantern festival produced by the International Culture Exchange Group. The Global Winter Wonderland Festival is based on the Chinese Lantern Festival. It has distinction of being the largest lantern festival of its kind outside of China. This event enables patrons to “Travel the World in One Night” by viewing large replicas of the world’s most famous landmarks such as India’s Taj Mahal, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Mexico’s Chichen Itza, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and more! Global Winter Wonderland’s magnificent towering lanterns, some of which soar to over 50 feet high and 100 feet long, are built by Chinese engineers with modern technology. These lanterns even reflect the trendy green thinking of today, with their eco-friendly features of low voltage LEDS, fluorescent lights, and solar paneling.

Happy Halloween!

Jillian (blackjack dealer, age 2); Katherine (black cat, age 6)

Rockaway Beach - Pacifica, CA

Rockaway Beach is a shoreline area of the Pacific Ocean in the southern portion of Pacifica, California, United States, approximately 7 miles south of the city of San Francisco. It is located within a gently curving embayment with direct access via Rockaway Beach Avenue and providing easy access to Highway 1.

The beach itself is a popular place to visit with many restaurant and shopping venues although erosion has decreased its size over the years. It is noted for its scenic overlook, and is one of the cleanest in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This is probably the easiest beach for us to get a wheelchair on so far and it is very clean with easy parking. While in the area we discovered Rock 'N Rob's among the shops. They have excellent veggie burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Vieira's Resort (Family Reunion) - Isleton, CA

Vieira’s Resort is a fun, family vacation resort with all the amenities:  vacation cabins, tent campsites, RV campsites, private beach, picnic area, fishing, boating, Busaba Restaurant, Resort Store, Vieira's Resort Bait Store,  launch ramp and covered berths.

Vieira’s is located in the heart of the picturesque California Delta.  It is also convenient to a variety of historic and scenic sights, restaurants, marinas, parks and excellent fishing and boating.

We attended an annual family reunion there and probably plan to return each year.

San Francisco Zoo - San Francisco, CA

We took another trip to the San Francisco Zoo. This time, we discovered that the caboose on the Little Puffer Steam Train is wheelchair accessible! Also, although there is no wheelchair ramp, wheelchairs can be placed on the carousel! But, seriously, the train is wheelchair accessible! Yay!

Check out my older post for more information on San Francisco Zoo: http://jillianmichelestevens.blogspot.com/2011/05/san-francisco-zoo-san-francisco-ca.html

Apple Valley, CA & Lake Arrowhead, CA

Apple Valley is located at the southern edge of the Mojave Desert. Apple Valley, in combination with Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto and immediate surrounding areas, are commonly known as the Victor Valley. The primary thoroughfare through Apple Valley is State Route 18, which was given the moniker "Happy Trails Highway" within Apple Valley town limits, after the theme song of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, who once resided on Outer Highway 18. The Mojave River that borders the west side of Apple Valley, is one of only a handful of rivers in the world to flow magnetic north. The town is bounded on its southern edge by the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains.

Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community in the San Bernardino Mountains, within the San Bernardino National Forest, surrounding the Lake Arrowhead Reservoir. Lake Arrowhead consists of 6 communities including Lake Arrowhead, Twin Peaks, Blue Jay, Cedar Glen, Sky Forest, and Rim Forest. It was formerly called "Little Bear Lake", until around 1920, when a group from Los Angeles, the Arrowhead Lake Company, bought the lake and the land surrounding it, and changed its name to Arrowhead Lake. There are 400 guestrooms in hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts, vacation cabin rentals, condos, and rustic cabin lodges and resorts.

We went to Apple Valley to see Auntie Lesa and Uncle Scott. They took us on a one day road trip to Lake Arrowhead. Photos do not do it justice!

Tilden Regional Park - Berkeley, CA

Tilden Regional Park is a 2,079-acre regional park in the East Bay, between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Ridge. The park contains numerous trails, providing facilities for hiking, horseback riding and bicycling. In addition to major areas of wilderness, the park includes attractions such as a model farm, an environmental educational building, a golf course, a ridable miniature steam railway, and the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Another noteworthy attraction is the old-fashioned Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round.

Much of Tilden Regional Park is situated in the upper stretches of Wildcat Canyon which is also the location of Lake Anza. Lake Anza is about 980 ft long and the water is somewhat clear. The lake is accessible by car and available for activities such as swimming and picnicking. Jewel Lake, smaller than Anza, is accessible only by trail.

We met with family for the day to celebrate Grandpa Howard's 70th birthday, with a majority of the time being spent at the Botanic Garden.

Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park - Foster City, CA

Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park encompasses 20 acres overlooking Central Lake, the largest water expanse in the lagoon system, and is home to the William E. Walker Recreation Center. Besides the wonderful waterfront setting, the Park includes an outdoor amphitheater, sailboat tie-up facilities, boardwalk, lawn areas, and a gazebo on the lake.

We loved watching wind surfers so we stayed for a few hours. There are plenty of places to sit and have a picnic. A band was setting up for a free concert in the amphitheater but we didn't stay long enough to enjoy the music.

Foster City Art & Wine Festival - Foster City, CA

This annual festival with the Carnival and Artist Reception takes place along the Lagoon in Foster City, California. The festival runs all weekend and includes arts & crafts booths, food vendors, live music, craft beers, local wines and the art expo in the Recreation Center. We spent most of the day here.

Bay Trail - Burlingame, CA

This section of the Bay Trail runs mostly along the edge of San Francisco Bay, starting at the mouth of Marina Lagoon near the San Mateo-Foster City border and ending just south of San Francisco International Airport in Millbrae. The Bay Trail is a dedicated paved multi-use trail for most of the route, with only a few short sections that require taking surface streets. This segment runs through the San Mateo County cities of San Mateo, Burlingame, and Millbrae. It passes through Coyote Point, which is a major destination in itself and has a network of trails running through it. Most of the Bay Trail along this route is exposed to the full force of the bay winds, which tend to blow southeast down the bay. Travelling south to north requires fighting the wind on the way up, but allows taking advantage of the tailwind on the return trip.

This segment ends at the threshold of the San Francisco International Airport. There are as yet no off-road trails bypassing the airport, so this makes for a natural endpoint. SFO is the busiest airport in the Bay Area, and is one of the busiest in the world. Large hotels, motels, restaurants, and auto rental yards surround the airport. Many of these businesses are located right along the Bay. However, the Bay Trail manages to squeeze by them on a paved path right next to the waters of the Bay.

We love this area so much that we plan to come back quite frequently. Due to the heavy winds, it can get quite chilly so bring a jacket or sweater. Also because the winds it is a perfect place to easily get a kite up in the air!

Sausalito, CA

Mommy and Daddy's anniversary so we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to play in Sausalito.

Monterey, CA

We spent the weekend in Monterey because mommy was working on putting together a conference package for her work. We got to stay in very luxurious and exclusive rooms at both Monterey Plaza Hotel and Intercontinental Clement Monterey. We had upgraded view rooms both nights and the balcony of our room at Monterey Plaza Hotel was just ten feet above the bay.

While mommy was busy at meetings, we got to check out all the unique shops at Cannery Row. When she was done, we headed over to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We like it so much that we ended up getting a family membership.

Seal Point Park - San Mateo, CA

Seal Point Park is part of Shoreline Park in San Mateo. This park has a three acre off-leash dog park and many walking and biking paths that wander through natural and restored habitats. It also has large grassy hills with views of San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo Bridge and San Francisco Bay Bridge on clear days.  Keep your eyes open when on the trails because Seal Point Park is home to many types of native wildlife. The park also has a natural stairway as well as kayak and wind-surf launch areas.

We stayed here for about an hour but could have easily brought a picnic lunch and stayed longer.

Port Royal Park - Foster City, CA

Tucked into the southern-most point of Foster City, Port Royal Park offers 4 acres of soccer fields, restrooms, playground, and walkways for a lovely afternoon stroll. This happened to be walking distance to home.