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| Mystery Spot Fun |
My mother flew out for a week long visit, and boy did we manage to pack in a lot of Northern California adventures! One of the highlights of our trip was ziplining in the Redwood forest! We spent the morning having so much fun zipping from tree to tree but did not get any pictures. Before returning to San Jose, we visited Santa Cruz's Mystery Spot for an afternoon of mystery.
Two days later, we were back in the Redwood forest for a morning of hiking at
Mt. Madonna county park. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day: perfect for hiking! Design inspiration was abundant here in the Redwood forest!!
We kick-started our hike with the Self Guided Nature Trail that starts and ends with the ruins of Henry Miller's home.
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| Inspiration All Around |
This one mile trek features several stone foundations, partial walls and stairwells surrounded by the natural elements reclaiming the forest.
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| Natural and Man-made Textures |
After we concluded the Nature Tour, we set out along the Tan Oaks Trail. The Redwood trees are simply majestic, many of them dating 400-1000+ years old!! Our ziplining tour guides shared some Redwood Tree knowledge. Redwood trees thrive when surrounded by other Redwood trees in tree rings. We also learned how to differentiate younger trees based on the presence of lower branches and bark textures.
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| Mother & Daughter Tree Huggers |
When I wasn't looking up at the tree canopy, I was admiring all the flora and fauna found on the forest floor: moss, flowers, clover and banana slugs!! Shortly into the forest, we spotted our first banana slug climbing up a tree trunk. As we trekked on, we found a total of 4 banana slugs. Towards the end of this particular trail, there were several fields of clover. In one particular clearing, we delighted in how the clover leaves closed themselves in the presence of the bright sun.
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| Flora & Fauna Found on the Forest Floor |
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| Wine Tasting!! |
After a perfectly delightful hike, we were reluctant to leave the trail and return to civilization!
Instead of whining about it, we wined and dined to celebrate! We visited a few of the local Morgan Hill wineries for some wine tasting!! We discovered some new favorites and purchased a few bottles to enjoy back home!!
All in all, it was a lovely day, filled with inspiration and beauty!!
Stay tuned for more adventures with Mom!
I have yet to make it your neck of the woods, maybe one day! It's beatuiful!
ReplyDeleteNorthern California is absolutely gorgeous--pretty much year round. As you can see--there is so much to see and do! And the quilting community is pretty fabulous too!! Please let me know if you ever do make it out here as I'd love to connect in person!
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