Hiking Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve (California)

February 26, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: california, fitness, health, hike, hiking, nature 2 Comments

Now if that isn’t a mouthful, I don’t know what is.

The final hike while in California was the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. After exploring the Marin Headlands the day before, we wanted a change of scenery and decided to go south. The Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is located on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Parts of the trail overlook Half Moon Bay.

I was excited to get a glimpse of the Redwood trees as I had never seen any in person. Now, coast redwoods are only found along the coast from Oregon to Monterey. The coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and can grow up to 360 feet tall. The oldest known age of a redwood is 2,200 years, but the average is 500 to 1,000 year old.

We decided to do the Purisima Creek Trail. It was once an old logging road. It can get steep, and some of the grade was about 15%. The views are worth it, and it was one of my favorite hikes of the trip. We ended up hiking about 6 miles or so.

At first, I thought this was a banana pepper LOL.

The Redwood Trees, themselves, did not disappoint. They were huge!

So many gorgeous views.

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Behind me…that is nature

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Jan 23, 2019 at 3:53pm PST

Hiking through California was a lot of fun. Even though it was the shortest, my favorite was the Anderson County Park, but I enjoyed each of them. Each was different and unique.

Anderson Park was a surprising and beautiful dam. I’ve never hiked a Volcano until Calavera Hills. Marin Headlands had beautiful views on the entire route. The Los Robles Trail was fun to get out of traffic for a while and of course, seeing my first Redwoods at the Purisma Trail was wonderful too. I hope to be back to California again and check out some more different hikes.

You Can See All Hikes Here.

California Hikes from the Trip:
Hiking Marin Headlands (San Francisco)
Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park
Mini Trip to Los Angeles
Hiking Anderson Lake County Park
Los Robles Trail

Questions for you:
Have you ever seen Redwoods?
What is a fun spot to hike near you?

Talk of Broadway (Redwood City, CA)

February 24, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, brunch, california, diners, food, Pancakes, san francisco 6 Comments

The last diner I went to while in California, was the Talk of Broadway. We were on our way south and wanted to eat before hiking. The Talk of Broadway was right on our route.

Atmosphere: B
The Talk of Broadway is located in downtown Redwood City. Redwood City is a lovely town, filled with restaurants, and shopping. The outside blends in other restaurants and the inside is a no-frills diner. There are a few booths, tables, and a small bar to sit. When we arrived around lunchtime, it was crowded but not overwhelming. I appreciated no one sat on each other.

Coffee: B
The coffee at the Talk of Broadway was brewed hot and fresh. In fact, the coffee station is in plain sight, so I watched them do it. It was a little darker than I would like but in all good.

Food: C
The Talk of Broadway has plenty of breakfast and lunch options. They are only open until 3 pm, so there isn’t anything heavy or dinner related.

There were many different unique pancake options including “pigs in a blanket” and sweet potato. The pigs in a blanket intrigued me, and it was a sausage wrapped in a pancake. I decided to order it because I don’t remember the last time I saw it.

I wish the pigs in the blanket had lived up to their excitement. They were kind of bland and boring. I was still relatively hungry afterward. I could have probably eaten two meals of them. Was it bad? No. Was it my favorite thing I’ve ordered from a diner? No.

Service: A
The waitress and entire staff were friendly. We had plenty of refills on coffee, plus our food came out fast. The staff was the highlight of the experience.

Cost: $
For my meal and coffee, the cost was $12.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
The Talk of Broadway was a decent diner. It wasn’t my favorite of the trip, but I would be willing to go back and order something different.

Atmosphere: B
Coffee: B
Food: C
Service: A
Cost: $8-12
Overall: B

You can see all diner reviews here.

Questions for you:
Where are your favorite pancakes from?

Hiking Anderson Lake County Park

February 20, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: california, hike, hiking, san francisco, sunset, views

I am still catching up on hiking posts from California. Anyway, one of my favorite hikes from the entire trip as the Anderson Lake County Park and Reservoir.

On the way up to San Francisco, my husband and I decided to stop at Anderson Lake also known as Anderson Reservoir. Located in Santa Clara County, it’s a 4,275-acre artificial lake. There are plenty of activities including fishing, boating, and hiking.

While the hike itself is less than a mile to get from the park to the Reservoir, it’s scenic and beautiful. In fact, it was one of my favorite hikes on the entire trip. I was not expecting that!

When we first got to Anderson Lake Park, we were confused and thought “wow this is small”. We missed the turn to climb to the actual reservoir. We easily found it after a little searching. We like to think we took the “car scenic” way.

To get to the top, the trail itself is steep. There isn’t any scrambling, but you do climb quickly. The top is worth it though. I don’t know what I was expecting, but everything I expected was blown out of the water.

You could definitely hike around the reservoir, but we were running out of daylight and time. I would love to come back sometime and do so!

On top of the dam

Dam selfie

After checking out the damn for a little while, we looked over at the view of mountains. You could see for miles, and with the sun setting, it was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.

In all, it was one of my favorite hikes of the trip and that I’ve done period. Even though it’s only about a mile, it’s well worth the drive and stop.

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Hiked so high, almost touched the sky.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Jan 21, 2019 at 5:26pm PST

Other California Hikes:

Mini Trip to Los Angeles

Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park

Questions for you:

Where is your favorite spot to watch the sunset?

Do you like hiking? Where is your favorite spot?

Mel’s Diner (San Francisco)

February 17, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, california, coffee, diners, food, review, san francisco 2 Comments

While in San Francisco, I knew I wanted to go to another diner. I hadn’t picked any out, but a quick google search led me to Mel’s Diner. There are a few locations in the Bay area, but the location on Lombard street seemed like our best bet.

When we arrived for breakfast, it wasn’t too crowded. Getting through San Francisco traffic is another story, but the diner itself was quiet.

Atmosphere: A
Mel’s Diner and Drive in the sticks out like in San Francisco. You can’t miss the shiny, chrome, exterior, and the large Mel’s sign. The inside is just as retro, and you feel like you’re in a flashback. There are big metal booths, shiny bars, and tables, and you can see the kitchen.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh, and there were plenty of refills. I appreciated everyone from the waitress, to the manager, and other wait staff came around each table to bring coffee refills.

Food: A
Mel’s Diner and Drive-in has all of the diner favorites. There are plenty of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. They are well known for their chicken. I decided to order the chicken and waffles. After living in Alabama two years ago, and going to John’s City Diner, I’ve been looking for good chicken and waffles.

These were delicious. The chicken was crispy without being overdone, and the waffle was nice and crisp without being burnt. Burnt waffles and soggy waffles are my least favorite.

Service: A
Our waitress was friendly and brought plenty of refills, and the food came out quickly. I couldn’t have asked for better service.

Cost: $
For my meal and coffee, it was $18.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
I liked Mel’s Diner and Drive-In, and if I’m ever in the area again, I’ll be back.

You Can See All Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:
Have you had chicken and waffles before?
What is your favorite diner in your area?

Hiking Los Robles Trail and Open Space

February 15, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: california, fitness, hike, hiking, history, nature, sports 1 Comment

It feels like this was forever ago. While in California, we hiked five different locations between 2-9 miles. Nothing was overly strenuous but each was fun and challenging in its own way.

Los Robles Trail and Open Space is located at the southern portion of the Conejo Open Space. It’s located near the highway, and you would never guess there are over 200 acres in the park.

We were traveling north from Carlsbad to San Francisco and wanted to get out and stretch your legs. When I googled short hikes, I found the Los Robles Trail and Open Space. One commenter wrote: “perfect for when you’re stuck in traffic and want to get out of the car for a short walk.”

What I didn’t realize until later was the trail’s historical significance! On Feb. 28, 1776, Juan Bautiste de Anza and nearly 200 settlers came through the Conejo Valley on a similar trail while traveling from Mexico to San Francisco.

While we were out, we saw several other hikers as well as plenty of mountain bikers too.

The Open Space

Lots of mountain bike trails too

A very old tree

Views

The end of the trail to a neighborhood

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Trying to catch a sunset and eating hair. Typical.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Jan 20, 2019 at 6:07pm PST

You Can See More Hikes here.

California Hikes:

Hiking Marin Headlands (San Francisco)

Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park

Mini Trip to Los Angeles

Questions for you:

Are you good at road trips? Can you drive for a long period of time without stopping? (not me LOL)

Where is your favorite spot to hike?

FueledByLOLZ

Running and Laughing through the Garden State

Tag Archives: california