Bonita Falls

Bonita Falls, Ca
Thursday we were looking for adventure. We have been working our butts off trying to catch up from February's month-long vacation and we just couldn't take another minute of yard work or school work! Time to get in our PE credit! We decided to go hiking.
Jeff came up with the idea of Bonita Falls because he hiked this particular trail when he was a kid.
We loaded some lunch in our backpacks, filled them with water, and jumped in the car.
Bonita Falls is located in the Lytle Creek area off of Sierra Ave and is the second largest waterfall in Southern California. The entire trail is only somewhere between 2 and 3 miles, but consists of rough terrain including and dry and very rocky creekbed.
After following the road up to the Lytle Creek Ranger Station, we stopped in to get our Wilderness Adventure Pass. You must have a Wilderness Adventure Pass to park along the roads to hike or play in the water. Unfortunately, the ranger station is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays so we took our chances and parked without a pass. (We are such rebels!) Armed with only Jeff's memory (I won't say how old it is) we navigated the trail. By the way, I am using the term trail VERY loosely! The only thing we had to follow was the creek and we ended up hiking through the extremely rocky wash.

Here you can see the rocky wash area leading up top the canyon. The falls are located up the canyon between these two hills.

The kids were real troopers as we guessed the direction and crossed the creek several times blazing our own trail. I would recommend staying close to the south edge of the wash as the trail curves to the left and sneaks up on you before you know it. We almost missed it and would have if it were not for other hikers coming down from the area.
We finally turned off the wash and headed up the mountain a bit. There were many steep slopes and trees that blocked the trail that we had to either climb over or under. Although there were these conditions, it was still a trail that we could navigate quite easily. The main disappoinntment of the day was the amount of graffiti and trash in the area. It was difficult to take pictures because I did not want to capture the ugliness of the spray painted rocks and signs. If we hike in this area again, we will definitely bring a trash bag with us to collect the rubbish along the route.
We came upon what we thought was the end of the trail and sat down to enjoy a small set of falls, blocked by a fallen tree. we pulled out our lunches and the girls played in the water and among the rocks. However, the whole time Jeff was nagged by the feeling that it wasn't quite as spectacular as he remembered.

Our first stop. We thought we were at the end of the trail.

The girls and I were equally unimpressed so Jeff decided to go scout a little further up. It looked pretty steep to me so I agreed to "wait with the children" hahahaha! He came back down yelling for us to follow. We packed up quickly and scrambled up the cliff to see what he was so excited about.

 Now that is a waterfall! Finally we understood what he was talking about. 

We have had phenomenal weather here as of late and we were pretty sweaty by the time we reached the actual waterfall. The water was cascading off a cliff with tremendous force, misting us with water and cooling us off! It reminded me of a smaller version of Yosemite's Bridal Veil Falls. 
We thoroughly explored the tiny canyon and had we been better equipped would have jumped in the small pond that rests at the foot of the falls. The steep cliffs that are home to the waterfall were dripping with moss and plants, and water sprays up to ten feet away from the base. The sound of the falls crashing into the water was deafening and we could barely hear each other talking! Jeff said, "Now this is what I remember!"
After quite a while of playing on the slippery rocks, we decided we'd better head back as it was probably an hour and a half hike back to the car through the rocky wash. Natalie was starting to look a little wilted so I knew we had limited time before her feet stopped moving.
We headed back, once again blazing our own trial through the desert habitat and sediment wash alternately, avoiding cactus, hopping rock to rock, crossing the creek several times, and examining the patterns, shapes, consistency, and colors of the sediment. (We had to squeeze in a little school! We're calling it Earth Science)
We did hit a point on the return where the kids had had it, especially Natalie. We had hiked for about 3 hours in all on rough terrain and she was starting to mutiny. When we reached the driveway for Green Mountain Ranch (we had parked at the closest turnout to the Ranger Station) Jeff suggested that he get the car and meet us at the driveway. I consented and the kids plopped to the ground. While Jeff jogged further down the creek bed to get the car I "mentioned" to the girls that I was disappointed to have started the hike, but not finish it....well that did it! They were back on their feet and running after Jeff shouting to him to wait for them! Man, I LOVE a good guilt trip! Well, say what you want, but it worked. The girls not only finished the hike, but shed their shoes and socks to play in the dam at the end. The water was freezing so I decided to forgo that experience, but we had some wonderful moments sitting at the edge throwing rocks into the water and seeing who could throw the farthest or make the biggest splash. I smiled to myself when Katie said on the way home, "I am happy that I finished the hike."
What a fantastic day it was, full of sweet family memories and teachable moments. We learned to persevere, be patient with each other, and follow dad's directions. Best thing....NO PARKING TICKET! Yay! It was a successful day and so enjoyable.

Some of my favorite memories from our hike.

Road Trip!

Just a few days after we returned from Switzerland, we packed up once again! Rubbing the jet lag from our eyes, we rooted out an empty suitcase, tuned up the Pilot, and started out on a girls' only road trip to Northern California.
Jeff had to work after almost a month of vacation so we left him behind (much to his dismay) and headed up north to see our good friends, the Carrs. It was Iris' second birthday and we couldn't bear to miss it!
I really, really, really love driving north...ordinarily. However, after so much travel in the last month, I decided to break up the trip into two pieces because I still wasn't feeling 100%. We left mid-morning and found ourselves in Fresno by late afternoon. We checked into the Holiday Inn and the kids enjoyed the Cartoon Network (a treat for the girls considering there is no cable at home!) while I kicked back with "Catching Fire," #2 of the Hunger Games Trilogy. ;) After a night of rest (and ardent page turning), we were ready to hit the trail once again. We took our time wandering through the agricultural areas on highway 99 and stopped at Bravo Farms to pick up some almond treats for our Swiss friends who showed us such kindness while we were there last month. I love driving this route this time of year because all of the almond and pistachio trees are starting to bloom and look so beautiful along the side of the road.
Finally, we arrived in Grass Valley and had a wonderful afternoon visiting with our friends Dick and Anita, whom we have not seen in almost a year. Dick and Anita have been like parents to me over the years and Dick still enjoys telling tales of my teenage exploits! Ahhhhh! I really love this family. Bob and Lisa were at a doctor appointment and they arrived home with the happy news that they are expecting baby number two!!! We are so excited for them and cannot wait to meet the little peanut sometime in October!
We had a great time planning and decorating for Iris' barnyard birthday party. Together Lisa and I made her a birthday cake in the shape of a cow! You better believe that halfway through we wanted to Skype our friend Nikki of Toute Sweet for a little advice!! However, Lisa saved it in the end and the cake turned out so awesome! So many people came out to celebrate Iris' momentous occasion.
Sunday came too quickly and we had to rush home for school on Monday. We miss our sweet Iris, but we are so happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to share her special day.
After spending 16 hours in the car traveling to and from NorCal, I have to say, I really, really love California. It is such a beautiful state and the landscape is so diverse. Switzerland is beautiful, France is charming, but California will always have my heart.

My New Favorite Place

Lucerne, Switzerland
We definitely saved the best for last! The last city we visited in Switzerland was pretty far from where we were staying so we needed some extra time to make the trek. Fortunately we had someone to let out the pups for us that day so we decided to make the drive. I had read so much about how great this city is and we wanted to check it out for ourselves. I must say, it did not disappoint!
The city of Lucerne sits at the edge of the Reuss River where it drains Lake Lucerne. The city is responsible for the water levels in the lake and you can see the dam from the bridges that link the old part of the city to the new.

Looking into the Chapel Bridge. Above the historical paintings are visible.

The most famous bridge being the Chapel Bridge, built in the 1300's is completely made of wood and over 600 feet long. The bridge is especially unique because it contains paintings of the city's history dating back to the 17th century. A fire in the early 90's ruined some of the paintings and now boats are restricted from the bridge and smoking is not allowed anywhere near it. The bridge runs by a stone tower that sits in the middle of the river and predates the bridge by about 100 years.

A view of the "old city" and the Chapel Bridge with stone tower

One unfortunate aspect of our trip to Lucerne was that by this time in our adventure we were quite travel weary. Although we were very tired and worn out, we still had the opportunity to see many of the most famous sights of this area. We immediately looked for St. Peter's Church (per Rick Steves) and rushed to the edge of the old part of the city to a beautiful church on a hill with twin towers. We soon realized that this church was not exactly the one that we were looking for, but we liked it so much we stayed and explored it a while anyway. We fell in love with this church and while Jeff and the girls explored the extensive cemetery portion of the church, I sat soaking in the sun by the water fountain out front. I really enjoyed this because not only was the sun warming, but the view of the city streets was laid out below me and two men stood at the fountain chatting in the sun while filling their watering cans. A cat played on the steps and wandered in and out of the legs of an older lady who stood in the sun on the steps as well. It was a picturesque moment in time and I really could have stayed there all day watching everything happen in the streets and listening to the men chat in French.

Two men chatting by the fountain

Alas, we had to move on. The next thing we went to see was the famous Lion Monument. This is a statuesque lion carved into a cliff at the upper edge of the old part of the city built a bit above a reflecting pool. The monument commemorates the Swiss guards who were killed during the French Revolution. The monument was a quiet, reflective location and we enjoyed sitting here taking in the sight and staring up into the intricate carving of the lion. We had a little bit of a strange experience here. After we had sat for a while taking in the monument a large tourist group came by. After photographing the lion and the group themselves, they started in on Natalie. Many of the people wanted to take pictures with her and I didn't really realize what was happening until I looked at the focus of their commotion, which was my daughter! After that, I got the strange feeling that they were trying to photograph us as well as they posed conspicuously in front of us. It was indeed a strange experience!

The famous family in front of the Lion Monument

We circled the upper portion of the city and walked along the old town walls left over from the Middle Ages, inspecting the watchtowers that hover above the city. From the top of the hill we took in the Reuss as it snaked through the city and the stunning snow-capped mountain backdrops behind the city. This place is truly picturesque! If I could have done this again, I would have started with this city instead of ending with it because we were genuinely way too tired and worn out to enjoy this area properly! We were travel weary and could not possibly take in any more.
The best thing about the day was the weather. It was a pristine day with temps in the 50's and the sun shining. It was the perfect day and the vibes here very much reminded me of Paris with people shopping along the riverfront and sunning themselves on benches and sipping espresso or wine at riverfront cafes. Tables were hard to come by!

You can see from the picture that people were enjoying the riverfront in droves. They placed pieces of faux fur on the chairs and blankets on benches so people can enjoy the cafe tables in comfort. It was the most beautiful day and Jeff and I dreamed of ditching the kids to enjoy a glass bottle of wine by the river! Instead we wandered through some shops in our travel weary fog and walked the bridge across the river back to the train station where we had parked that morning. We dragged our bodies into the car and headed home.
On the way back, we passed through a small city called Murten that we had stopped at earlier in the week. The city was quaint and mostly closed that previous day due to the fact that we went on a Sunday so we decided to stop there for dinner. While most restaurants were once again closed, we did find a small Italian restaurant where we were the only people dining! The waitress loved Natalie (our PR rep for the trip) and so we got lots of attention and some really delicious Italian food.
The day in Lucerne was amazing and someday I hope to return to that gorgeous city on the river. Please enjoy some of my favorite pictures of this place.