Free fun at national parks

My friend John Poimeroo sent me a quick note about upcoming deals at national parks that I thought I'd pass along. John reminds me that National Park Week is coming up (Ap. 16-24) and there are dozens of discounts, offers and deals valid during that special week. You can find them all online at nationalparksonline.org. The offers being made by park businesses and organizations are in addition to free admission to all national parks, being given by the National Park Service on Fee-Free Days in 2011.

So plan now for a national park visit and make a long weekend of it. You'll never forget the trip.

Details: Fee-Free Days in 2011 include National Park Week; the first day of summer, June 21; Public Lands Day, Sept. 24; and the Veteran's Day weekend, Nov. 11-13.

California secret: Lake Tahoe's best beaches

When most of California is baking in triple digit heat, what better time to go to the beach? But no, not the crowded coastline—it's so crowded, nobody goes there anymore (our apologies to Yogi Berra). You should head for the sublime beaches of California's North Lake Tahoe. We got some great ideas from locals about their beach faves:

Best beaches to dip your toes in the water: Moon Dunes Beach in Tahoe Vista, an open sandy beach guarded by a grove of tress and sand dunes or Sand Harbor in Incline Village, with a scenic granite outcroppings and long sandy beaches.

Best beach playground: Tahoe City’s Commons Beach has a big playground and expansive lawn area, perfect for resting in between dips.

Best beach for families: Kings Beach State Recreation Area is one of the area’s most popular spots for families, where a wide stretch of sand is ideal for picnics and playtime (with adjacent playground and barbeques). Parasailing, kayak rentals and paddleboats are also available from a number of shops in and around the recreation area.

Best beach for pooches: Have a canine in your clan? Then head to Patton Beach, just west of the marina in Carnelian Bay or Kaspian Recreation Area on the West Shore, just south of Sunnyside.

Details: North Lake Tahoe is a 45-minute drive from the Reno Tahoe International Airport, two hours from Sacramento International Airport and just over three hours from San Francisco International Airport. For lodging reservations, recreation and event details, call North Lake Tahoe at 877/949-3296 or visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: GoTahoeNorth/Zikas

A dreamy (free) home show in Santa Clara

Want to while away a Saturday with your honey without spending a dime? This weekend, you can dream about creating your ideal kitchen, bathroom, or outdoor room at the California Home, Garden, & Gourmet Show at the Santa Clara County Fairground. Pick up a San Jose Mercury News for a free entry coupon. You'll see some great design, a lot of 'green' ideas, and you can catch a few how-to and cooking demos. The seminars offer a lot of help for those looking to go solar.

Details: Friday Jan 8 (noon-8), Sat/Sun Jan 9, & 10 (11-6) at the SCC Fairgrounds (344 Tully Road, San Jose). For more, call 650/593-3462 or click here.

California whale watching tours on the north coast

Some flukey things to plan ahead for: weekend whale talks start January 2 at MacKerricher State Park, near Ft. Bragg on the Mendocino coast. Trained docents will spout off about the annual gray whale migration and about other marine mammals seen along the coast every Saturday and Sunday at 11 AM, January 2--March 21.

March 6 - 7, and March 19, 20 and 21 marks the Mendocino and Fort Bragg Whale Festival. The activities focus on three top whale viewing points: MacKerricher State Park north of Fort Bragg, Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park, and the Ford House Visitor Center at Mendocino Headlands State Park. For more about art and crafts, food tasting and events, click here.


Details: The talk/walk starts at the MacKerricher Visitor Center and then proceeds to the whale skeleton before caravanning to Laguna Point for whale watching. MacKerricher State Park is located approximately three miles north of Fort Bragg on Highway 1.Turn at the MacKerricher State Park sign, and park near the entrance station and visitor center. For more, click here.

Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade begins

It's older than the Macy's T-Day Parade and the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. Charting a 14-mile route through Newport Harbor, the 101st Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade kicks off on Wednesday, December 16 at 6:30PM and runs nightly until Sunday, December 20th. It is said to be the longest-running holiday boat parade and no doubt is one of the biggest, with more than 100 vessels "decked out" in holiday finery.

You'll see everything from canoes and kayaks to million dollar yachts wend their way throughout the scenic harbor. The show is free and viewing areas are available on public beaches on Balboa Peninsula, at the Fun Zone, and on Balboa Island. And several restaurants and watering holes along the waterfront offer prime viewing (reservations advised). (And while you're in SoCal, don't forget about the great winter birdwatching, which I wrote about last winter.)

For free, kid-friendly fun, you can't beat this wonderful Southern California tradition.

Details: For more info on the parade, including viewing spots, click here. For lodging and dining info, click on the Newport Beach tourism website.

San Francisco and chocolate: a match made in Heaven

I love mine dark and semi sweet. Chocolate, that is. So I've gotta love Ghirardelli Square this weekend. Just the aromas alone will drive a chocolate lover wild. Why? It's San Francisco's 14th Annual Chocolate Festival, running noon-5 Saturday and Sunday. It's a tribute to all things chocolate PLUS a benefit for Project Open Hand, so what's not to like?

You can see a host of chocolatiers, listen to live music, and taste something delish at each booth. Don't miss cooking demos (like the Ghirardelli Chocolate School's Steve Genzoli or Kara Lind of Kara's Cupcakes). Kids will go for the Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest, at 2 p.m. daily. Or just buy some of the dark, semi-sweet stuff and take it home to whip up your own dessert-they have a bunch of recipes online.

Details: The festival is free, but tasting isn't: chocolate tasting tickets cost $20 for 15 tastes; pick them up at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. (I tried going online-fughedaboudit).

Fun pix for kids

A great egret wades in a lake near Karpavichi, Belarus; a cannibalistic praying mantis is shown in Los Angeles; an Australian crested pigeon is pictured, along with a note on the pigeons' secret way of alerting fellow birds to predators – a "whistle" emitted by flapping their wings when it takes off in alarm.

These are the photos you can see on an amazing website I discovered recently, that's a project of the Guardian newspaper, published in the United Kingdom. It struck me, as I scrolled through the pix, that this was a fabulous teaching tool for parents with little ones, anyone who is involved in home schooling, or anyone who loves animals.

Besides looking at pretty pictures, there are sections on Conservation & Wildlife, World News of animals, and Science & Zoology. There's also a series titled This week in wildlife.

Details: click here for the site. It's a free, fun "outing" to see critters, without leaving home.

Fee-free fun in the national parks

Tired of the 'staycation' but can't afford a big weekend splurge? So go take a hike... in a beautiful national park (that's me in Yosemite's Mariposa Grove, at right). The National Park Service is offering up one more fee-free weekend this summer. All 147 National Park Service sites that charge entry fees (ranging from from $3 to $25), will waive them on August 15 and 16.

Their goal: to encourage cash-strapped families to visit national parks (and thereby boosting local economies). Your goal: free fun, of course. *Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

A sampling of free national parks in California on Aug 15-16:
Death Valley
Kings Canyon
Lassen
Muir Woods
Pinnacles
Yosemite

Details: Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

Save money when you travel

So I was cruisin' around the CNN Money site, when I found this interesting tidbit: "In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon. "

Yikes! As if the price of gas isn't high enough. It's something to keep in mind during your summer driving season. So if you’re going to the wine country deal for foodies I wrote about, or to see the wildflowers in Tahoe I blogged about earlier, and especially if you’re driving up to Lassen Volcanic National Park for the upcoming free weekend I mentioned earlier, you'll want to keep your cruise control set to 60 MPH.

I knew 'speed kills', but I didn't know speeding could kill your fuel efficiency so effectively. The article concluded that the cost is even higher for vehicles with poor fuel efficiency to start with (hear that, SUV and RV drivers?).

Details: To read the whole fuelish story, go to the CNN link.

Wildflowers in North Lake Tahoe

When the weather is just right, the alpine wildflowers around Lake Tahoe (left) can put on quite a show (hey, free fun!), and they're bursting into bloom this month—at these high elevations, it's still spring. And an early summer hike is the best way to get great views of Big Blue while checking out the blooms.

“Several weeks of unusually wet and cool weather last spring has resulted in one of the best wildflower seasons on record,” says Tourism Director Andy Chapman of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

Result: the trails and paths throughout North Lake Tahoe are offering up an unusual bounty of colorful displays. But go soon:right now is the perfect time to hike the trails of North Lake Tahoe, when the days are sunny but cool. The region’s wildflowers are expected to hang around until the end of July.

Jump on the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile loop trail that traverses the ridgelines around Lake Tahoe. You’ll get easy way to access higher elevations ablaze with wildflowers; some of North Lake Tahoe’s best flower-spotting spots: the area northeast of Marlette Lake between the Tahoe Meadows and Spooner Summit trailheads; Paige Meadows, between Barker Pass and Tahoe City trailheads.

Don’t want to hike, or have toddlers in tow? Then stick to the heart of Tahoe City; within walking distance from restaurants and retail, you’ll find the Gatekeeper’s Museum and the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum at the Tahoe City Dam, both home to lush grounds bursting with wildflowers. And just about one mile north of Tahoe City, at Lake Forest Beach and at the end of Bristlecone Avenue, the lupine are blooming with what many local residents are calling the best showing in the last 30 years.

Details: For hiking trails, lodging reservations, recreation and special event details, call North Lake Tahoe at 877/949-3296 or visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com.
PHOTO CREDIT: Zikas, North Lake Tahoe Resort Association

North Lake Tahoe fires it up for the Fourth

One summer, I watched a Fourth of July fireworks show from the shore of a northern lake, and I'll never forget it. The bright colors reflecting off the water made each explosion look doubly powerful. And the crowd gathered along the beach watched in mellow rapture.

So where can you go this weekend? Well, how about North Lake Tahoe? It plays host to a number of independence events and celebrations, and it’s not that far away (North Lake Tahoe is a 45-minute drive from the Reno area, two hours from Sacramento, and just over three hours from San Francisco airport). My pal, Pettit Gilwee, emailed me the other day about some fun events. Here’s a summary:

Incline Village July 2 through Saturday, July 4: parade, dress-up-doggie contest, ice cream social, patriotic chalk drawing contest and rubber ducky race. Fourth of July Fireworks, July 4, 9:30 p.m. at Incline Beach.

Kings Beach Friday, July 3 Fireworks, 9:30 p.m. and can be best seen from the Kings Beach State Recreation Area. There’s also a Viewing Party at the North Tahoe Event Center, right on the water in Kings Beach ($10, live music and dancing, along with a no host bar and food available for purchase).

The Village at Squaw Valley USA. Groove to Hell Bound Glory, a live, free concert with a country, rock ‘n’ roll twist Friday, July 3, 4-7 p.m. in the Plaza.

Village at Northstar in Truckee, Friday, July 3: Arts & Crafts Festival showcasing more than 60 artists’ work. Evening outdoor showing of the movie Little Giants. Kids’ Parade Saturday, July 4, noon to 2:30 p.m --children are invited to decorate their bikes, scooters, big wheels, pets or themselves and then parade through the village plus Arts & Crafts Festival.

Tahoe City’s fireworks celebration begins July 4 at 9:30 p.m. at Commons Beach Saturday, Prime viewing: the beach, where family picnics are popular; or make reservations at one of Tahoe City’s lakefront restaurants (Jake’s on the Lake, Christy Hill, Wolfdale’s Cuisine Unique).

However you see the show, stay safe n' sane this holiday weekend. And Happy Birthday, America!

Details: Visitor information centers are located at 380 North Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City and 969 Tahoe Boulevard in Incline Village. For lodging reservations, recreation and event details, call North Lake Tahoe at 877/949-3296 or visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com.
Photo credit: Tom Zikas/North Lake Tahoe

My favorite free fun in California

California is so blessed. Even in this terribly challenging time in the state (we're broke, I hear), there is so much to celebrate about living here. Without even spraining my brain, I can think of ten fun things to do that cost nothing, or next to nothing. What's on my list of favorite things to do?

Well, my favorite spot to take visitors for a hike is the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco at the other end of that gorgeous gorge-spanning bridge. Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Headlands never fails to impress them (and me, truth to tell). If there's time, we'll hike up to the top of Hawk Hill, or roam around Rodeo Lagoon, stopping at the beach for a picnic. If we have kids along, we'll stop in at the new Marine Mammal Center in its splendid new hilltop facility, usually filled with rescued seals, sea lions, and hard-working volunteers.

But most often, we just pull off into a viewing point, stand there slack-jawed and snap pix.
California. Gotta love it! What's you're fave free fun? Leave me a comment!

Summer Fun for Free at Lassen Volcanic National Park

This summer may be the best time in years to discover the wonders of Lassen Volcanic National Park; on certain days, you can come into the park for free. During these tough economic times the National Park Service will waive entrance fees on June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009. These fee-free weekends will be in addition to fee-free days on National Public Lands Day, September 26, and Veterans Day, November 11.

“We hope our invitation to visit these weekends will encourage many folks that have never had a chance to visit Lassen Volcanic will come and see this wonderful national park,” said Superintendent Darlene M. Koontz. “Many first-time visitors are surprised at how much there is to see and explore that they make plans to return the following season or year,” she continued.

Here, you can wander a unique volcanic landscape, pull out to scenic vistas, tramp through a pristine wilderness, and discover a diversity of wildlife and plants; wildflowers include iris, spotted coralroot, pyrola, violets, and lupine (shown above, left).

All roads in the park are now open, and lower elevation hiking trails in the park are now clear of snow. Bring your tent: campsites at Manzanita Lake, Butte Lake, Crags, Warner Valley, and Southwest Campgrounds are open now. The Summit Lake Campgrounds open June 26 and Juniper Lake Campgrounds open July 2.

The historic Loomis Museum and concession-run Camper Service Store (Manzanita Lake) are now open daily. The Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center is open year-round daily and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer months.

A number of other national parks are open free those same days. Why? The National Park Service wants to reinforce that national parks are places for everyone to have fun, reconnect with nature and history, and build a sense of ownership and stewardship toward parks and the environment.

Fun fact: Lassen Volcanic National Park began life as two separate national monuments named in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt; originally, they were Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument.

Details: For campground updates, current road and trail conditions, and further information, please visit the park website at www.nps.gov/lavo or contact the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center (530) 595-4480 daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cool deals in San Jose

Is the recession turning your vacation into a 'staycation'? No prob-the Bay Area has so much to offer that staying in the area is no hardship. But to make sure you get the most bang for your buck, look south: San Jose is rolling out the welcome mat with a raft of bargains (some are even free), from deals at local restaurants to the San Jose Giants plus a range of great hotel packages. Plan a daytrip or a weekend getaway in San Jose and you'll discover a world of fun in the South Bay.

Family fun stuff

Free fun: History San Jose at Kelley Park is a fond reconstruction of what San Jose looked like a century ago. Stroll amongst the Victorian architecture, then spread a picnic. There is no admission charge Tuesday through Friday, but there is a summer parking fee (or try around the corner on Phelan). The history park also sponsors free Family Sunday events. Tue-Sun noon-5; call 408/287-2290, or check www.historysanjose.org.

Free movies at the Starlight Cinemas: June 10-August 26, 2009. This traveling cinema series lets you take advantage of San Jose's warm, summer nights and enjoy a movie under the star-studded sky with good company. Movies begin at dusk so come early for the best seat. BYOCB: Bring your own chair or blanket. Explore one of three downtown neighborhoods each week and meet the people and businesses that give downtown its character:San Pedro Square:
Every second Wednesday; Historic District: every third Wednesday; SoFA District: every fourth Wednesday of the month. For a full schedule, go to www.sanjose.org.

For really affordable family entertainment, the San Jose Giants hit a grand slam. You can't get much closer to players than you can at historic Municipal Stadium; and who knows, you could be watching the next Barry Bonds (word has it that the San Jose Giants should have one of the strongest teams in their history for the 2009 season). Tickets start at just $10 a seat. Plus, the best BBQ in baseball is right here at the newly renovated Turkey Mike’s BBQ. For more, call (408) 297-1435 or visit www.sjgiants.com.

DINE DOWNTOWN Restaurant Week: June 3-13. For the first time ever, more than 25 downtown restaurants invite you to dine in Downtown San Jose over the course of 11 days. It begins June 3 with $3-or-less sampler plates at the City Bites Kick Off Sampler Event. Three-course dinners range from $20, $30 to $40 at more than 25 Downtown restaurants, from A.P. Stumps, Billy Berks, Il Fornaio, Morton's The Steakhouse and more. Reservations recommended. For the full list, please visit www.sjdowntown.com/dinedowntown.html.

Lodging

Spend your holidays in style this Memorial Day and Independence Day with “stay two nights and get the third night free” packages at Hotel Valencia Santana Row. Includes: a stylish guest room for two, deluxe continental breakfast at Citrus and two complimentary Vbar cocktail coupons. Rates: from $189. Complimentary night can be applied to current stay or can be used for a future reservation (gift certificate to be provided by hotel at check-out). For reservations, click on Hotel Valencia and enter the promotional ID: PROHOL, or call toll free 866/842-0100 and ask for the Holiday Promotion Package. Holidays include: Memorial Day Package Friday, May 22 – Monday, May 25 Promo Code: PROHOL; Independence Day Package Friday, July 3 – Sunday, July 5 Promo Code: PROHOL. (Rates for double occupancy, exclusive of tax and subject to availability.)

More hotel deals: Click on the Doubletree Hotel San Jose’s “Winchester Mystery House Package” and book a deluxe overnight stay, starting at $119 per night, and two admission tickets to the fab mystery manse.

The Dolce Hayes Mansion is making it easier to go green and help the environment during these upcoming summer months with the “It’s Not Easy Being Green” package from $169.

Or craft your own percs at the Sainte Claire Hotel; starting at $159, the Design Your Stay package comes with nice amenities and any two added features: early check-in (10 a.m.), late check-out (4 p.m.), in-room dining certificate ($25 value), a gift certificate to Il Fornaio restaurant ($25 value), a $25 gift card to the Westfield Mall, valet parking or a $25 gas card. For more information, call 408/295-2000 or visit www.thesainteclaire.com.

Details: check out the complete list of fairs, festivals, and free fun when you get a copy of the Official Visitors Guide; contact the The San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800/SAN-JOSE (800/726-5673) or visit http://www.sanjose.org.

Things are rosy in San Jose

Portland, Oregon, bears the official nicknamed of the Rose City. But maybe San Jose, California, deserves to be called Rose City II (or, too). The city boasts two outstanding rose gardens and this is the month to tour them both. Floral displays are at their peak and both gardens are free.

Check out the Heritage Rose Garden at Taylor and Spring streets, for a variety of bloomers, from lilacs to roses. It's just off Guadalupe Gardens and Guadalupe River Park and makes for a nice afternoon stroll.

Then swing by the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden at Naglee and Dana avenues, in the heart of the Rose Garden Neighborhood. The garden covers more than 5 acres, with more than 3,500 rose bushes and some 180 varieties.

You'll get a sneak preview of top roses here: the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden receives All-America Rose Selections (AARS) award-winning roses before they're released to the public. Funding cuts threatened the health (and AARS accreditation) of the garden, but in 2007, the nonprofit Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden rode to the rescue, clippers in hand. This year, the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden was "rededicated as an official All-America Rose Selections Test Garden, one of 23 in the USA and the only one in Northern California," according to Wikipedia. But the garden still needs volunteers and donations.

Want to learn how to help, or to deadhead your own rose bushes? Check out the Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden and their blog, for rose growing tips and upcoming events.

San Francisco treat: tulips in Golden Gate Park

I've always meant to make a spring pilgrimage to visit the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden, in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Last week, I finally made the trek and I'm so glad I did. At the far west end of John F. Kennedy Drive and wedged into a corner of the city's big, oblong park, this little gem is pretty enough to be a park all by itself.

Laid out before a tall, Dutch-style windmill, this garden was named in 1962 for the late queen of the Netherlands (a fascinating, fiesty, and complex lady). The windmill once worked—it pumped irrigation water into a reservoir on Strawberry Hill, inside the park—but now serves mostly as a postcard-pretty backdrop for visitors snapping pix of the flowers (like me). But the real stars are the wide variety of tulips and other annuals (including Icelandic poppies). They were still at their peak when I snapped my pix, but go soon—the show is an ephemeral beauty, and can disappear with the next rainstorm.

Details: In San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden is open, free, on John F. Kennedy Drive near the intersection with the Great Highway. Bring a picnic and make it a totally free day. Or, since you're out at that end of the park, pop into the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant for a pint of their California Kind (amber) or Fleishhacker Stout handcrafted beers and a pile of garlic fries and wild Dungeness crab cakes. Yum.

Free fun on Saturday in Napa Valley's Yountville

Step into gourmet Heaven today—Saturday— in Yountville (in the heart of the Napa Valley). The Taste of Yountville features 15 area restaurants (several bearing Michelin stars), 20 local wineries and an array of mustard and olive oil producers on hand for tastings.

The event is free, from 11- 5 PM and includes live entertainment and an arts and crafts show; but you do need tasting tickets (available on site for $1 each) to sample the goodies. Wines from the Yountville appellation may include Andretti Winery, Bell Wine Cellars, Domaine Chandon, Hill Family Estate, Jessup Cellars, St. Supéry, and others.

I’ll be there, foraging with a couple of foodie friends. And I will write a wrap-up next week, but don't miss the event waiting for my story–make a daytrip today!

Details: www.yountville.com.

San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden in bloom

I've never seen such awesome blooms. The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is bursting with flowers right now.

My friend Linda and I went to see the cherry trees and apples trees, and they are indeed beginning to blossom, pouring out clouds of delicate pinkish-white flowers.

Designed by Baron Makoto Hagiwara as a temporary exhibit for the city's 1894 Midwinter Fair, the 5-acre garden is now a much-loved part of the San Francisco landscape.

The cherry trees are dotted throughout, as delicate accent pieces to the streams, sculptures, and bridges (like the stylized Moon Bridge‚ a favorite photo spot in the garden).

But what knocked us out were the azaleas: loaded with blooms in intense colors. Splashes of port wine reds, sangria scarlets, and cabernet purples. Set against the carefully pruned dwarf trees, these vibrantly hued bushes stand out like punk rockers at a Bach recital. Bring your camera.

Details: Garden admission is $5, $3 kids. Or visit free: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-10. Go early for a more tranquil, tourist-free garden. For more info, check the San Francisco Convention and Visitor's Bureau website.
Lunch stop: Marnee Thai, at Irving and Lincoln, 415/731-9999. It boasts of its "authentic Siamese cuisine", and sits just a few blocks outside the park. We enjoyed the samosas and curry chicken.

Family daytrip: a hike and a mission

Every California parent knows that it's coming: that day when your fourth grader will have to study California's historic chain of 21 missions. So why not make it fun for the whole family and plan a day around a mission outing? And heck, you might even figure out that these charming old adobe buildings are kind of neat to visit even if you don't have a kid currently studying them.

Recently, I spent a day exploring a lesser-known nearby site, Fremont's Mission San Jose and topped it off with a hike up nearby Mission Peak. The cost: $3 ($2 for kids) in the donation box at the mission (the park is free), so it's almost free fun for the whole day (don't forget your picnic lunch).

The mission is a pretty cool re-creation of the 1809 church, completed in the 1980s using real adobe bricks and careful methods; it was the last reconstruction of an entire mission done in California.

The hushed, dark intorior of the church is bright with a gilded reredo (altar) and lots of painted garlands and floral decorations on the walls. Look up at the church's chandeliers (kind of gaudy-looking) and you'll notice they're mismatched, a mark of the reconstruction's historical accuracy. It reflects how the remote outposts received their decorative objects in their earliest days: a bit here, a bit there, and if it didn't match, so what? There's also a model of a monk's room or cell (stark), a neat cemetery, and a scale model of the mission with a cutaway section so you can peek inside.

The hike to the summit at Mission Peak Regional Preserve takes about 5 hours, but the beauty of this park is you needn't go to the top to have an enjoyable day. If you've got youngsters along (or you're slightly out of shape), you can get breathtaking views of the south bay after just a few minutes on the trail.

Yes, that means the trail rises steeply, so bring hiking poles if you've got 'em and set a leisurely pace. I saw tons of families with little kids there the day I visited (some with in strollers, obviously planning to walk just to the first viewpoint and then spread a picnic). I hiked for a while, then sat down to just scan the skies, look out to the bay, and watch the hang gliders who launch here spin in lazy circles.

Details: Mission San Jose, 43300 Mission Blvd., Fremont; www.missionsanjose.org.
Mission Peak Regional Preserve is accessed from the east end of Stanford Ave. off Mission Blvd.,
Fremont; note that parking is tough on weekends, so arrive early. But go soon: the hills are fresh and green and the days are sunny and cool; this is not a hike for a warm summer day.
Fremont is in the south east bay; easiest way to reach the mission is via I 680 and Mission Boulevard.

Finnegan's free fun: whale watching

The spring migration of thousands of gray whales is underway. This miraculous journey begins in Alaskan waters and moves south along California's coastline to birthing and breeding waters in Baja California. Then in spring, the whales—now accompanied by their young calves—reverse course and swim north along the California coast to return. All through March, you might spot the state's official marine mammal— the gray whale—heading north.

These animals are huge (up to 50 long and 45 tons each) but because their babies are with them, they hug the shore for protection from predators on the return trip. And that makes a number of California State Park offer prime viewing locations. And the cost: a nominal park entry fee (which means its practically free).

“Whale watching is an exciting family adventure,” says Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks. “I would suggest a little research on whales along our coast to get the kids primed, and then find a safe spot where crashing waves won’t interrupt your adventure. And, bring the binoculars!” Look for the whales' spouts of vaporized water (up to 12 feet high) as the whales surface every three to five minutes to breathe.

To find any California state park, go to www.parks.ca.gov/.

Some key spots:
HUMBOLDT COUNTY Patrick's Point State Park (Palmer's Point and Wedding Rock), Trinidad: (707) 677-3570 MENDOCINO COUNTY Mendocino Headlands State Park: (707) 937-5804; MacKerricher State Park (Laguna Point) on the Mendocino Coast three miles north of Fort Bragg: (707) 964-9112 or (707) 937-5804
MONTEREY COUNTY Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park (Vista Point, Highway 1): (831) 667-2315; Point Lobos State Reserve: (831) 624-4909; Point Sur State Historic Park: (831) 625-4419
ORANGE COUNTY Crystal Cove State Park: (949) 494-3539
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY Montaña de Oro State Park: (805) 528-0513 San Simeon State Beach: (805) 927-2035 SANTA BARBARA COUNTY El Capitan State Beach: (805) 585-1850
SAN DIEGO COUNTY Silver Strand State Beach: (619) 435-5184

PHOTO: Courtesy California State Parks, 2009