On Sunday, my daughter and I made a return trip to Pomponio State Beach, which is one of our family's favorite beaches. We had a blast playing in the lagoon that formed from the creek's run off into the ocean.

We made an encore trip yesterday to Venice Beach, one of the beaches of Half Moon Bay State Beaches. The wildflowers were not quite as amazing as last month, but we got some sunshine to brighten things up.

We had another gorgeous day at the Half Moon Bay State Beaches. This time we tried out a new-to-us beach: Dunes Beach. 

Our family took a weekend jaunt to Pomponio State Beach, one of our favorite beaches.

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.

I've been working on building a landing page for all of the California State Parks that I have visited, and in sorting through the many parks of Northern California, I started to notice that there were several parks that I visited many years ago that have not made it into my blog. Although I do have photos from those trips, they are from older cameras and the quality of the images is not as good as the camera I am using now. So this is a single post to remember three trips from years past: 1) Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve (in Guerneville), 2) Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park (in Tahoe), and 3) Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (in Big Sur). The photos are not as good as what I can do now, but the memories of these places sure are powerful and dear.

Today, my little daughter and I had a glorious day in Half Moon Bay with our friends, another mom who has a young son. We went to the western portion of Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve to have a nice picnic by the creek under the redwoods. The little ones threw rocks in the water of the creek and ran or crawled under the redwoods, checking out sticks of interest and banana slugs. Then, my daughter and I went on to Half Moon Bay State Beach on our own to "say hello to the ocean" before driving back to Livermore. Redwoods and beaches? What more could anyone ask for?

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.

From January through March, you can often see elephant seals at the at the Kenneth C. Patrick Visitor Center located at Drake Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. Before you go, you should definitely check out the tips on viewing these amazing sea mammals. We got to see a lot of pups and a few bull males on our visit.

Rancho Corral de Tierra is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), which is managed by the National Parks Service. This 4,000-acre parcel of land is the newest acquisition to the GGNRA, and it features both stunning vistas of the San Mateo County coast and prominent views of Montara Mountain, which dramatically rises 2,000 feet in just over 1 mile.

The National Park Service explains the name of the park on its website: Historically known as "Rancho Corral de Tierra Palomares" (Earthen Corral), the property encompasses the majority of the 1839 Mexican Land Grant to Francisco Guerrero y Palomares where he built the first adobe on the San Mateo Coast at Denniston Creek.

I have been putting off visiting this park for a while now, mostly because it's not precisely clear from the NPS website or the GGNRA website (link here) about where you can park to access the trails of the park. Because the park is so new, the trails, signage, and parking are all poorly communicated. I found a nice write-up about a hike on the POST website (link here), and decided to give that a try--I ended up rerouting when I arrived at the parking spot that POST recommends, and I chose to access the park instead from Coral Reef Rd. in El Granada. It was actually quite easy! I just drove to the end of the road, and there was parking near the sign making the end of the county maintenance.

I am kicking myself now that I waited so long to visit this park. This was one of the best hikes I have been on in a very long time! See a map of my trip and loads more photos after the jump.