destination.

I just wanted to fill you all in on where my family and I are planning on going for our annual vacation in August (drumroll...):



The Sacramento area of California! We have been everywhere in the country pretty much (Grand Canyon, Florida, Niagara Falls, Seattle, Washington D.C., Boston), but the one state that we've never tackled in CA. In the early ideas, we thought about going down to Florida again since we hadn't been there in about 7 years and tour Busch Gardens and Sea World, but my mom vetoed that idea since she and my dad used to live there. So we've decided on this area of California since it has just about everything we want to see-


*Yosemite National Park (According to my Uncle Brett it's a must-see. He should know-he used to live in this area.)


*The Golden Gate Bridge and maybe even Alcatraz. We probably wouldn't spend a lot of time in San Francisco since Chad is coming with us and he just went four years ago, but he does want to see GG Bridge again and said Alcatraz was a very cool spot.


*The Redwood National Park is a little too far away for us to drive to in our rental car and my mom really wants to see a redwood on this trip. Uncle Brett said that if we drive along the coast we should be able to see some.


*Napa Valley is also one of the interesting spots that we want to see and since 4 out of the 5 going on this trip will be of drinking age, we might even sample some wine. The bonus about this is that the sightseeing is free and the only thing that costs any money is the sampling.


*We also would most likely drive to the coast and take a walk on the beaches and cliffs.

We're all pretty excited especially me and my younger sister since we've never been on an airplane before! So-calling all people who have ever lived in/visited this area: What are, in your opinion, the must-see sights in this area? If you were going back, what would you tour again? We are going in early to mid-August if that helps any? Also, we are trying to figure out if it's cheaper to fly into San Francisco or Sacramento-would anyone out there know? Thanks readers!

*I also wanted to say how truly touched I was by all the comments on the 'control' post. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person who inwardly struggles with this. If you are ever uncomfortable with posting on the actual blog but still would like to talk to me about any matters I put on this blog, please email me: amanda.hulke@gmail.com. Have a good day!