Under the Radar Family Travel

01/20/2025

The Napa Light Festival started Friday. Great displays for young and old, but bring a hat. 🥶

01/16/2025

The Annual Napa Light Festival begins this weekend! Not to be missed. This free event is an opportunity to see the beautiful city of Napa at its best. The first 2 weekends include light shows on several of the buildings.

Napa does Art After Dark! This festival in downtown Napa features a unique lighted art walk. Original artwork includes light art, video art and lighted sculptures.

01/01/2025

Happy New Year! Once again, time to wrap up the year in travel. While my photo of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS gathered the the largest response, the destination everyone voted for were the Christmas lights in East Sacramento. The Thank you, but no thank you prize went to the Oakland Zoo. Perhaps I should have mentioned that Sac Zoo members get half off.

12/15/2024

Rainy days make for indoor days and free passes from the library means a trip to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Rainy days also mean less traffic. 😊

12/14/2024

The Fab 40's district in East Sacramento is once again a glow with yuletide decorations. The best decorated streets are in the low 40's (40th to 43rd).

12/12/2024

The Monterey Bay Exploration Center in Santa Cruz is one of my favorite hidden gems. Steer an underwater submarine and learn how sound travels through water. Located in the very edge of the Boardwalk area, it's free and filled with dozens of hands-on activities about sea life.

12/01/2024

Walking up the wharf in Santa Cruz was greeted with dozens of sea lions hunting for fish. Very cool experience.

11/30/2024

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz offers a variety of exhibits for kids to explore and the volunteers are great and very engaging, but the real highlight is traveling down to the tide pools below the cliffs. Look for the slightly hidden path through the mobile home park.

11/29/2024

Looking for a family friendly podcast to fill those empty miles to Grandma's house? Try Smash, Boom Best. It's a funny compare and contrast program that's highly entertaining. Centaurs vs unicorns, roller blades vs ice-skates, or my favorite, Spiderman v Batman. Check it out.

Our final debate of the season is a superpowered smackdown between two heroic icons: the spunky web-slinger from Queens and the brave guardian of Gotham. Ne'er-do-wells beware, because it’s Spider-Man vs. Batman!

11/16/2024

The Nevada State Museum in Carson City is an under appreciated gem. Kids will love the replica of the mining tunnel, abandoned ghost town, and mastodon fossils. Kids free. Grown ups $10.

11/16/2024

Drove from Carson City to Tahoe via Cave Rock to take in the view of Emerald Bay from Inspiration Point. Great drive to some incredible views. Hurry before the snow sets in!

11/15/2024

There's still a few weeks left to check out the Dragon Light Festival in Reno. Great family fun activity. Just bring a good coat.

11/01/2024

Happy Halloween!!

10/22/2024

Some additional pics from Napa Valley State Park. A bike trail from St. Helena to Calistoga runs through the park. Got up early to run a few miles at first light.

10/21/2024

Napa Valley State Park. Hiked up to Coyote Peak starting from the Vineyard Trail. In 4.5 miles went from manzanita trees to pine forest to oak trees to redwood.

10/17/2024

Potter fans can head to Rocklin tomorrow for a free outdoor movie experience.

Quarry Park