 A month ago, I visited this area of Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore. In my post on that visit, I opined that this area would be a great place to bring a little one. In this trip, I did just that: I brought my toddler to explore this shady, creek-side portion of this lovely park.
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 My husband is a lucky duck in June because he gets to celebrate first father's day and then his birthday back to back. For his birthday this year, we went to one of our favorites: Pomponio State Beach, between San Gregorio and Pescadero.
 This park has a lot in common with one of its neighboring parks, Don Castro. Both of these Castro Valley parks are primarily focused on the swim lagoon at the center. Indeed, Don Castro's lagoon was modeled on the one at Cull Canyon, which came first. Here is the blurb about it on the park's website see here and here): The lagoon won the 1966 Governor's Design Award for Exceptional Distinction for Recreational Development in the category of landscape. When the swim area was constructed, a secondary dam was built to provide an inner swimming area complete with a sandy beach. Never previously tried, this innovation made the swim area water level independent of the reservoir's, unaffected by summer draw-downs... It is ideal for families with small children, who will enjoy splashing in the shallows and playing on the white, sandy beach. To see more photos of the park, and to read more about our little adventure, click "read more."
 So this was not a hike, but--boy!--was it a great experience for this not-so-lonely hiker and her hiker-in-training. We went to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience (formerly the Lindsay Wildlife Museum), which abuts an amazing city park in Walnut Creek, Larkey Park. Between the museum, the playground, and the swim park, this is just a dream for any family of young children in the East Bay.
 I hiked the northernmost part of this segment of Crystal Springs with two other mothers who have very young children. Because the trail is paved, it is perfect for people who use strollers. We didn't make as far as I would have liked, but we had a lot of fun nonetheless.
 This Sunday, the whole family explored one of my favorite parks, Sunol Regional Wilderness. We didn't hike, but we did discover a great swimming hole.
 Despite flawless weather, I did not have the best day today at Garin Park, one of the two parks in the complex of Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Parks. I made the most of it, but I was really off my game.
 This was a milestone hike for me: my 149th and 150th parks visited! I opted to do this hike, recommended by the EBRPD for their 2019 Trails Challenge, a moderate 5-mile hike that links the two parks together via the Chabot-to-Garin Trail. It was a really different hike than what I normally do because it wanders in and out of a lot of suburban space in Castro Valley. I don't know that I would do this specific trail again, but I definitely plan to visit both of these parks separately in the future. They are very different from each other, but both Don Castro and Five Canyons are really wonderful parks. Click "read more" to see more photos from my adventure.
 This 6.2-mile loop through the northern portion of Redwood Regional Park was a variation on the hike that I originally intended to do--apparently there was storm damage from the rainy winter that we had, and the Stream Trail was closed from the Fern Trail to the Skyline Gate Staging Area, where I parked. But, I made do and adapted my hike. It was SO lovely. It gave me a chance to see even more variety in the types of forest along my route.
 Joaquin Miller Park is a wonderful city park, managed by the City of Oakland. It's amazing to me how lush and remote the park feels when it is so close to such a major urban area. I went on a 4.4-mile lollipop trail that took me on a pretty thorough tour of this park. Click "read more" below to see more details of the hike and more photos from the day's adventure.
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