 Our family has recently had two more incredible trips to Ardenwood Historic Farm. Honestly, I cannot praise this place enough as a destination for families with young kids. It's been, hands-down, one of the best discoveries that we've made in the East Bay since moving here with our toddler. Winter, spring, summer, and fall, there is always something wonderful to do at this park. Fall seems to be the busiest of the seasons at Ardenwood, with Perry's Pumpkin Patch, the Harvest Festival, and the Haunted Railroad. But for our family this fall, the thing that made Ardenwood really special was the beginning of monarch season!
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 Not this weekend, but last, I went on a really interesting 6.5-mile loop (with 1,200 ft of elevation gain!) through Las Trampas Regional Park in San Ramon. This hike offered stunning views of the entire Bay Area, wind caves, and a "box canyon" called Devil's Hole. I was surprised to see that golden poppies and sky lupine were still blooming late into October. I am glad to have done it while the skies were still clear. We are experiencing a historic wind event that is spreading wildfire in Santa Rosa and bringing smoke down to the Bay Area.
 I don't know why exactly, but I was expecting this park to be lame. I guessed from looking on the map at how close it is to both interstates 580 and 680 that it was going to be nothing but exposed ridgetop hikes with deafening traffic noise. While there was some hiking along the exposed Calaveras Ridge, the hike I took descended into a canyon and I could neither hear nor see the busy freeways nearby. It was unexpectedly tranquil!
 This is a throw-back to a trip I made down to SoCal in late March of 2015. I don't know exactly why I didn't post my pictures before, but Joshua Tree National Park has been on my mind recently. I went to my old album to look at my photos, and I was really inspired.
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