California Love.
We’ve made it a fun tradition to complete a project every place we go. It’s amazing how much we aallll learn during these projects! We’re currently studying early American history, and will be learning more specifically about California’s history this coming year but this project helped us transition into our trip to the wild west and keep a bit of our rhythm while stateside.
Here are a few of our resources for our California Project:
California: History, Geography, Climate, Economy, and Attractions
John Muir: Father of National Parks and Biography
Golden Gate Bridge: Brochure and Coloring Information Page
The Hollywood Sign: Brochure and Coloring Information Page
We had been studying Native American History and missions before so I didn’t include too much in this project
Some of our family-friendly California musts are:
San Francisco: Home to the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Alcatraz Island, SF Giants, 49’ers, incredible art museums (and our kids’ personal fav Musée Mécanique), amazing coffee houses like Blue Bottle, Sight Glass, and Verve, Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Exploratorium
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (one of our all time favorite family traditions) We highly recommend Zachary’s for breakfast and Verve for all your coffee needs
Columbia State Park: Just outside our hometown is Historic Downtown Columbia, an 1800’s gold rush town, complete with carriage rides, gold panning, live theater, and sweets!
Twain Harte: Lake days and Miniature Golf--all day every day. Twain Harte Market has a great selection of organic food, sushi made daily, and deli. Nothing beats Pizza Factory or El Jardine in Twain Harte!
Pinecrest Lake and movie under the stars
Yosemite National Park
Drive up or down Hwy 1 for some beautiful beaches, cliffs, and giant sequoia trees!
Of course we love road trips to Southern California but don’t make down as often. Our hometown (Tuolumne County) is old gold country, located in the foothills of California, so drives to So Cal don’t happen as often. If you’re visiting California, LA and San Diego are great but a drive north can’t be beat!