http://www.californiafun.us California's Travel Blog Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:40:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The seasonal show of fall color in California is not limited to falling leaves.  Every autumn, beautiful orange and black Monarch butterflies return to the Monterey Bay area to mate.  One of the best places to see the display is at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.  Jodi Apelt ... http://www.californiafun.us/2009/10/20/monarch-butterflies-to-return-to-monterey-bay/ Mammoth Mountain opens its ski season Friday, Oct. 16, marking the second earliest opening for the Eastern Sierra snow monster.  Yesterday's storm dumped two feet of snow, with as much as six feet hitting the top of the mountain. Adding to the excitement of the second earliest opening in Mammoth history, ... http://www.californiafun.us/2009/10/14/free-skiing-at-mammoth-on-friday/ Fall color is peaking above 8,000' in the Eastern Sierra.  California Fall Color has posted a beautiful photograph of aspen leaves in a stream, each a dazzlingly bright tone of green, yellow, orange and red.  Weekly updates on this site report where the color is peaking throughout California.  Whoever says ... http://www.californiafun.us/2009/10/06/fall-color-peaks-in-the-eastern-sierra/ Coloma was where James Marshall discovered gold in 1848.  This past weekend, another first look at gold occurred near Coloma, where brush in drainages leading to the American River showed California's first gold of autumn.  For more about California Fall Color, CLICK HERE. http://www.californiafun.us/2009/09/14/californias-first-gold/ The National Park Service has announced that due to a wildfire it will close the Tioga Road from Crane Flat to White Wolf this Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 4 - 6).  There is, however a way past this seemingly impossible obstacle to Tuolumne Meadows and you'll have it almost entirely ... http://www.californiafun.us/2009/09/03/insider-tip-how-to-get-past-fire-closures-to-tuolumne-meadows-on-the-labor-day-weekend/ As one of Northern California’s crossroads, Redding was long a place to stop and fill up, with its restaurants then known as being more filling than fulfilling. That rep is changing with the arrival of Rivers Restaurant, a modern curve of glass and steel on a bluff overlooking a bend ... http://www.californiafun.us/2009/08/05/from-filling-to-fulfilling-in-redding/ Marshall Pike takes us to the Roosevelt Elk - the largest game species in North America - at Redwood National and State Parks in Humboldt County, California.  CLICK HERE to see the elk. http://www.californiafun.us/2008/04/08/roosevelt-elk/ Nine chances to win a getaway to Yosemite National Park and Mariposa County are being offered in the latest Yosemite Getaway Sweepstakes, running now through Sunday, April 13. This spring’s Grand Prize is a three-night stay at The Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley during a session of the 2008 Yosemite Vintners’ Holidays (Nov. 2 - ... http://www.californiafun.us/2008/03/19/yosemite-getaway-sweepstakes/ Feb. 1 is the deadline to sign up to attend a User Capacity Symposium, Feb. 6 - 8, in Yosemite Valley to explore how to approach limiting visitation to Yosemite National Park and other public lands. Participating will be public land managers, researchers, elected officials, tribes and ... http://www.californiafun.us/2008/01/31/how-many-people-should-visit-yosemite/ New Year’s Eve is one of the most popular times of the year to “pop the question."   At Ardenwood Affairs, a popular Fremont, Calif. wedding venue, Julie Ferrantino collects suggestions from brides and grooms about the best and worst wedding proposals.  Here's her top ten suggestions for creating a memorable ... http://www.californiafun.us/2007/12/27/popping-the-question-on-new-years-eve/