Family Getaways

Is your child a Thomas the Tank Engine fanatic? If so, here's your chance to experience all things Thomas & Friends and even take a ride on a train drawn by Thomas the Tank Engine at Day Out with Thomas: The Celebration Tour 2010, taking place July 30 and 31 and August 1, 6, 7, and 8, 2010. This popular family event takes place at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

You can take a train ride, meet Sir Topham Hatt, enjoy live music, create with Mega Bloks, enjoy storytelling, get a (temporary) Thomas & Friends tattoo, and even watch videos. There's something for everyone. Of course there are also plenty of ways available to separate you from your cash, with just about every conceivable Thomas & Friends product available for sale.

Traveling with an infant or toddler can be a unique challenge, especially when getting them to sleep. Marin parent coach, infant/toddler sleep researcher, and family therapist Angelique Millette has complied the following list of handy tips for traveling with children.

Angelique works throughout the Bay Area and across the country supporting families and helping them meet life's challenges. You can learn more about her and her services at www.angeliquemillette.com.

It's the summer time and many parents have been calling with questions about traveling with their young ones. I've put together a list of tips and suggestions, many of them tried-and-true, by parents:

Last summer we undertook a road trip to the Gold Country. About a three-hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, it's a fun long weekend or day trip that's steeped in California and American histroy. We had such a good time that when it came time to decide upon a road trip destination this year, we unanimously to head up there again. Like last time (which we wrote about here and here), our home base was the Gunn House Hotel in downtown Sonora, from where we explored the surrounding area, including Columbia State Historic Park. This time we made sure we went up in time to check out the annual Columbia Diggins 1852, a Gold Rush reenactment event held each year the weekend after Labor Day. 

One of our favorite places for a quick family getaway is the picturesque seaside town of Pacific Grove. Not as famous or flashy as Monterey, Carmel, and its other neighbors in the Monterey Bay Area, Pacific Grove makes up for this in charm, billing itself as "America's Last Hometown" and "Butterfly Town USA". With a close proximity to the Bay Area, plenty of things to see and do, and an amazing coastal location, Pacific Grove is an ideal place for a family getaway over a long weekend.

Winter can be an especially nice time to go, with fewer crowds and nice weather. Last week, we were there over New Year's and the temperatures were in the mid 60s!

The highlight of our recent road trip to California's Gold Country was our visit to Columbia State Historic Park in the Tuolumne County town of Columbia. In fact, much of Columbia is the park itself. While most of the small Mother Lode towns along Highway 49 are just dripping with history, Columbia takes this to an extreme due to the fact that its old downtown has been preserved to represent its mid-19th century heyday. It's the best preserved Gold Rush town, and a fantastic place for families with children since there's a lot to do and see. The downtown state park part of Columbia is also closed to vehicular traffic (stagecoaches excepted), so it's safe and families literally have the run of the place.

Marin Mommies presents a guest post by Bay Area mom blogger Naomi Tripi. You can read more of her tips for parents of babies and toddlers on her blog at www.tripibabytips.blogspot.com

Toddlers are wild and crazy, you might think that taking them out into the wild would be as natural as breathing, but it is really a lot of work. There are more ways for your snuggly little tsunami to hurt themselves out in the woods than there are in a public restroom! However, getting your favorite bunny-hopper out doors is good for them too. You might not be able to enjoy the peace and solace of nature like you used to, but with a few tips, navigating some of the common pitfalls will be much easier.

If you're looking for a vacation destination a little closer to home this summer, consider heading up to California's historic Gold Country in the Sierra Foothills. It's a relatively short 2-1/2 hour drive from the Bay Area, and there are plenty of things for families to do. You can visit historic mining towns, pan for gold, explore caves, go wine tasting (for mom and dad, of course), take a ride on a 19th-century steam train, hike, fish, and more.

We recently took some time off to take a road trip to the southern part of the Mother Lode, where we decided to make a home base of the town of Sonora in Tuolumne County. Sonora, first settled in 1848 by Mexican miners from the state of the same name, is located on the appropriately named Highway 49, which winds north to south through the foothills, Sonora is known as the "Queen of the Southern Mines," and with a population of over 4,000, is the "big city" by Gold Country standards. However, its old-fashioned downtown definitely retains the look and feel of the 19th century.

Last year we wrote about the proposal to help alleviate California's budget problems by closing 48 of our priceless state parks. This year, things are worse, and our state legislators have returned with another proposal, this time to shut down 200—80%—of our state parks! This is an incredibly short-sighted, harmful, and embarrassing proposal that ultimately will only serve to hurt the state of California, its citizens, and visitors.

According to the California State Parks Foundtion, the money from the state General Fund received by the state parks accounts for less than 1/10 of one percent of the entire state budget. In 2008 alone, there were over 80,000,000 visitors to the California State Parks, and numbers for 2009 were projected to be even higher. In fact, the parks are a valuable source of income for the state: for every dollar that funds the state parks, $2.35 is returned to California's General Fund by economic activity within surrounding communities. This decision could actually cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.