Over New Years, we packed up the kids and headed up to Northern California to check out Redding and Shasta Lake.
Michael and I have been through Northern Cali on a previous road trip and loved it! Since Michael had a few days off from work, we decided this would be the perfect time to re-examine the area.
The 10-hour road trip up to Redding was HORRIBLE!!! The kids did not do well at all. However, the minivan did make things a little easier. I was able to sit in the back seat comfortably in between both kids and tend to their one million needs and wants.
Once we got to our little cabin, we were pretty disappointed. I found this little "gem" on the internet and, of course, the pictures made the place look great. Lesson learned.
The place was right along the main interstate, the insulation was not the best in the place so there were lots of cold pockets throughout the cabin, and other little things. However, we did try to make the best of the place.
Our kids are spoiled. Actually, I think Michael and I are spoiled. We like having the kids in their own rooms. This cabin was a 2-bedroom. We gave each child their own room, while Michael and I slept on the futon in the living room. What is wrong with that picture?!!?
Nothing! Michael and I wanted to stay up and enjoy ourselves, so by us giving the kids the rooms, we were able to do that.
And, boy, did we enjoy our "after the kids are in bed" time! After our 10-hour drive, we were both ready for a drink or twelve. Michael and I had a great time getting to relax and talk without being interupted 20 times!
During our stay in Shasta, we spent lots of time buying warm clothes...when we left So Cal, it was warm. We were totally not prepared for the cold weather NorCal had to offer. We also did a lot of sightseeing, aka. lots of driving.
The Shasta area had been dumped on with lots of snow. Since we have two young kiddos, we didn't have many options in the way of hiking, since this wasn't Alaska and they don't groom their super popular trails.
It was nice to just drive around the National Forest. We drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park, but were not able to enter due to the amount of snow the park had received. We also drove towards Mt. Shasta (in the photo above).
We stumbled upon this state park, Castle Crags State Park, on our sightseeing drive.
We saw some pretty cool wildlife while in this park.
After our time in the park, we checked out a relatively short hiking trail. Since we had been riding all day, a little stretch of the legs was much needed by all parties in the vehicle!
We ended up leaving our cabin one night earlier than planned. We had pretty much seen everything in the area and wanted to get back home.
On the way home, we stopped at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. We were only supposed to be there for an hour, but Michael and Joey love their ducks, so that hour turned into three!
We took a driving tour, a walking tour, visited the visitor's center, and just enjoyed being outside and stretching our legs!
This was a great getaway, but we have learned that we are done having kids. The things Michael and I like to do are really hard to do with small children. Once the kids are a bit older, we can somewhat get back into some of our old hobbies. Plus, kids are expensive! A family of four is pricey, I can't even imagine adding one more to the picture! (Sorry Moms and Dads...we know that you were hoping for more grandbabies! Time to start pressuring our younger siblings!)
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