Road Trip!

...sort of!

Nick decided to tag along with me today on a little outing. It was a rough start, but after I "blew up" I think he understood that spending time together should be about "relaxing" and having fun, rather than nagging his mom about what time he "has" to be back into town! Ha...sometimes raising your voice is a good thing?

I have discovered that there is one thing in life that I can't handle...and that is being on a "schedule." I would have LOVED to have been able to spend a few more hours driving around the foothills, just to see what I could discover. I had two choices today...go alone, or ask Nick to join me. He seemed interested, and this was a great opportunity to spend time together so even though I sacrificed a few more hours of adventure, I'm glad I chose to take him along! :)

We picked up a California Road Atlas, and headed east...

Traveling along the backroads, we saw some pretty amazing things, as well as discovered a new place to go on a hot day...

We drove beyond Bridgeport...(which is where I would have liked to have stopped, but have been there before so we kept driving). Here is a picture that Nick took along the way...

And here is a shot of Bridgeport from above...

We found this cute little "water hole" (?) I guess I don't know what you'd call it...but there was no one there so we spent nearly an hour just hanging out.

...and saw these little guys...

A few miles up the road, I slammed on the brakes and threw the car into reverse so I could jump out and take pictures of these...

Thinking they were the biggest dandelions I had ever seen, until...

Apparently, this was the very first long distance telephone line in the country. My parents have been here...but I hadn't come across it yet. This was one of the cutest little buildings I have seen in a long time!

Nick and I took turns having our own little photo shoot...

And then we kept driving until we reached another "familiar" place.

The Yuba River is by far one of the most beautiful, serene places I have ever discovered. When we first moved to California, this was one of the very first places my dad took us to. I was about 6 months pregnant and simply "hiking" would have been considered good exercise. However...we (kind of) got lost and ended up "scaling" cliffs (picture that for a moment). I acquired poison oak (one of the few times I've had a reaction to it) and because I was pregnant, couldn't take anything so I had to suffer through it...

This was the very same river I took a few girls (and Nick) to in late summer of 2007, and had my very first near death experience. This was the first time in almost two years that Nick and I have re-visited it. Seriously...it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced, as Nick and I both plummeted down the side of this hill in a failed attempt to climb it.

The river in itself is incredible. Here is what it looked like today:

After spending a few hours away today, I realized once again that there is so much to discover in northern California. Looking forward to having another opportunity for a road trip in the near future!