Big Break Regional Park

The next night, we went to a campfire presentation at Big Break.  Located on the Delta, close to where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meet, Big Break is another park in the East Bay Regional Parks system.  It gets its name because a levee flooded the area near the park in the late 1920s.  Unable to pump the water out of the farm it had flooded, the area was declared a navigable waterway, and the nearby dry land became the park.

Here, the campfire presentation began during daylight.  The rangers and docents organized about a half-dozen different activities -- bird-watching, a game of tag, observations of Delta water under magnifying glasses to view water-life, observing animal bones and remains, a nature walk through the parkland, and (of course), smores-making.

Campfires at the East Bay Regional Parks

Last weekend, we went to two very different parks in the East Bay Regional Park system.  We also participated in two very different sets of campfire activities.  Both were a lot of fun!

On Saturday night, we went to the Anthony Chabot campground for an evening campfire.  The campfire is held at an ampetheater situated high above Lake Chabot.  It is about a 20-minute drive above Highway 13.

The campfire started at dusk.  Park rangers made a presentation about bears.  Among other things, we learned about differences between brown and black bears.  "Smokey the Bear" also made an appearance.

Overlooking Lake Chabot:

 The ampetheater:

Dogs welcome on leash:

Doggy fan of Smokey the Bear:

Watching the presentation:

Smores!

Outside Umbrella

From Orchard Supply to our backyard:

China Camp Beach

We went to China Beach and McNears Beach yesterday. It was gorgeous!  There was a pool, a rocky beach (my son cut so beware of sharp rocks (he was even wearing beach shoes).  It was gorgeous, and we enjoyed reading about the history of China Beach.

The Steinbeck House Restaurant, birthplace and boyhood home of John Steinbeck, Restaurant!

One of the things on my Old Bungalow bucket list is to go the the Steinbeck House Restaurant.  This is a literary landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  It is the birthplace and boyhood home of John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for literature in Stockholm, Sweden in 1962.

The restaurant is open for lunch from Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 to 2:00PM.

Reservations are recommended!

Information:

831-424-2735
www.steinbeckhouse.com
132 Central Avenue
Salinas, CA  93901

On the second Saturday of each month, join the Steinbeck House for high tea!

The Steinbeck House Restaurant is owned and maintained by the Valley Guild, a volunteer, non-profit organization who purchased the property in 1973 to preserve its Queen Anne-style Victorian authenticity and maintain the beautiful Salinas landmark and treasure!