Filoli Gardens - Woodside, CA

We went to Filoli Gardens specifically for our annual spring photos. Unfortunately, we got there 45 minutes before they closed so we had to really rush through. It is very expensive so we will only come back if there is a special deal going on.

Filoli is a country house set in 16 acres of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre estate, located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Lake, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Filoli is open to the public. The site is both a California Historical Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

California State Capitol - Sacramento, CA

Since we were already in Sacramento, we stopped for an outdoor tour of our State's Capitol building. We were just minutes late before they closed the inside for tours. We'll definitely have to come back some time.

California State Railroad Museum - Sacramento, CA

The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, USA, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento at 111 I Street.

The museum features 21 restored locomotives and railroad cars, some dating back to 1862. The "Sierra Scene" shows a large scale mockup of a construction scene high in the Sierra Nevada representing Donner Pass circa 1867, featuring the locomotive Gov. Stanford. Other exhibits show how the influence of railroads changed American society, influencing travel, commerce and daily life, as well as the lives of railroaders and the diversity of people who work on railroads. Changing exhibits featuring photography, ephemera, and artifacts from the museum's collection, add depth and incidental information to the overall story of railroad history. The Museum has an extensive educational program for elementary students from across the region to help them learn about railroad history using re-enactments, costumed docents, and including train and handcar rides.

Sawyer Camp Trail - San Mateo, CA

We were a little late to school today because we got distracted with the beauty of this place and stopped in for a roll again.

Muir Woods National Monument - Marin County, CA

Kind of just decided we needed to check out some redwoods. So we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County.

Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County, California. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles north of San Francisco. It protects 554 acres, of which 240 acres are old growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sawyer Camp Trail - San Mateo, CA

We have passed by this trail many times on the way to school but finally had time to stop and check it out. 

Sawyer Camp Trail is a popular six mile trail located in the San Andreas Fault rift valley in San Mateo County, California near Hillsborough and the San Mateo Highlands. Approximately 300,000 people use the trail every year. It provides excellent views of San Francisco Peninsula's Crystal Springs Watershed. The trail is managed by San Mateo County and totally surfaced in asphalt. There is considerable biodiversity along the trail due to the variation in habitat and the presence of serpentine soils. In particular the plant communities of Northern coastal scrub, grassland and California oak woodland are present.

Pacifica, CA

It was a little too warm on our side of the peninsula so we took the ten minute drive to Pacifica... where we immediately needed our jackets.