 I only had a short amount of time for a solo hike today, and Sunol was already at maximum capacity when I arrived at 9:45 this morning, so I decided on a whim to try hiking at Vargas Plateau. This was my first time to hike this park in the dry season, and it was so different from what I have come to expect from only ever hiking here in late winter and early spring. I learned a lot, and I have a new loop planned for the next time I come back here.
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 The Callippe Preserve Trail is a trail maintained by the City of Pleasanton that circles around the Callippe Preserve Golf Course. My daughter and I had an unusual hike here this morning before the heat set in. Click "read more" to see maps and photos and to read about our hike.
 We went to a new-to-us beach that is part of the Half Moon Bay State Beaches: Venice Beach! I was so impressed with all of the wildflowers blooming along the Coastside Trail.
 The weather was so gorgeous today in the Tri-Valley and the East Bay. I don't know how we've gotten so lucky this late into June to have had 4 or 5 days in a row of temperatures in the 70s when it's normally closer to 95°F. The forecast predicts that it's going to start getting hotter tomorrow, so my daughter and I made the most of this amazing weather by trying out the 2.7-mile paved nature trail around the Lafayette Reservoir. It was our first time to this park, and we had a blast.
 On Sunday, I took a 6.5-mile solo hike deep into Morgan Territory, a park local to me in Livermore. This hike combined legs of several other hikes that I have done in the park before and it comprised a really good "greatest hits" of the park, or at least the part of the park that is most easily accessible from the main staging area.
 Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. My daughter and I decided to celebrate the cooler weather by going to a park that is new to us: Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area. We took a loop trail of a little more than 2.25 miles. It was such a nice outing! A really great option for families with young children.
 Yesterday, my daughter and I both finished school for the year. Although I have work to do still, I submitted the final grades last night to the registrar for all the classes that I teach, and she had her last Zoom circle for her toddler class of the 2019-2020 year. So we decided to celebrate today by exploring a new park: Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, which offers amazing views of the San Pablo Bay and the mountains to the west in Marin County, such as Mount Tamalpais.
 I hiked a long loop at Sunol Regional Park this past Sunday, and my daughter got a little jealous of me having my solo adventure. So on Monday of this week, she asked to go to Sunol as well.
 This 8-mile hike through Sunol Regional Wilderness was a welcome return to a beloved park after its temporary closure earlier this spring. This loop, which was new to me, hits many of the highlights of the park: Little Yosemite, the cave rocks, and the old barn in the High Valley. It offers gorgeous views of the distinctive Maguire Peaks, and I saw so many of a favorite flower of mine: mariposa lilies! I love these gorgeous flowers that look like delicately painted china teacups.
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