weekend trip ideas from sacramento needed. please help
 

We will be flying to sacramento in aug to see my mother for a week. She is going to keep our 4 month old while we take a 4 day trip somewhere. We have considered SF and sonoma, we've both been there separately and enjoyed it.We also considered Tahoe we love the outdoors, and Yosemite but have heard its very crowded and not as pretty that time of year. What do you recommend? Also, any other trips we haven't tyought about?

One thing to consider is the weather. Sacramento is usully quite hot in Aug.--98-103 (daytime) with evenings in 70s. Tahoe would be my choice- only 2 1/2 hr drive, the lake is beautiful.(weather warm in daytime and cools off at night) Lots of places to stay and choice of north or south shore, depending if you like gambling. <BR>Of course there is the "Gold country"-north and east of Sacto. (mostly highway 49) If you like the historical stuff..only 1-1 1/2 hrs away. <BR>Napa and Sonoma will be full of tourists and so far this year has been unusually hot. <BR>Ft. Bragg/Mendicino(my 2nd choice) area has wonderful"coastal" weather and beautiful scenery. However it is about 4-4 1/2 hr drive. <BR>I guess it depends on how much driving you want to do.

Good suggestions from Kay. I would add Half Moon Bay for a weekend of B&B quiet (the Seal Cove Inn is the best, but there are more. Anything east of the bay will be very hot in August except for Tahoe because of the altitude. Of course, SF is always a winner if you want a city.

When we used to live in California, we loved to get up to Lake Tahoe. Even there it can be warm in August, but not like the valley. You could combine it with some of the gold country towns on the way up/down such as Grass Valley, Nevada City on Hwy 20 off I-80. At Tahoe you could hike, bike, take boat trips, ride tram up for view. If you wanted, you can easily go to Carson City or Reno for gambling. <BR> <BR>Yosemite can get very crowded with lots of traffic in the valley in August. It is beautiful anytime of year--do you mean the water flow in the waterfalls would be reduced? Just out of the way on the route to Yosemite, but also a place I liked to go for a hike, is Calaveras Big Trees park on Hwy 4.

I'd always pick Tahoe from Sacto in August as a great escape from the dry but suffocating heat. Stay in the North or West unless you like casinos. Also on the way up there on 80 there is a very cute lodge, Rainbow Lodge. Just was ther a week ago. Very homey and rustic. As Kam says Half Moon Bay would be a great excape from the heat with a little longer drive. <BR>Kay, <BR>We're thinking of stopping somewhere along HWY 4 on the way to Mammoth to see big trees. Any suggesetions on lodging? I'm fairly picky, but clean and rustic is ok. 2 adults/2kids. Thanks for any info.

Suzie: We have friends who retired to Murphy's, CA. We haven't stayed there, but they recommended the old Murphy's Hotel (www.murphyshotel.com) Are you going to Calaveras state park? Some French friends of ours took their kids to the Gold Country and loved it. I wish I could remember where they stayed, but I recall it was a BW and the big plus was that it had a pool---as you know, it'll be HOT! Hope this helps.

Kam, <BR>Thanks for the info. We're planning on driving over the Ebbetts Pass to Mammoth with visits to the Caverns and Big Trees. Have looked into the Bear Valley Lodge which looks nice and also has a pool. The down side is it puts us farther out of the cavern/big trees area. I'll check out the Murphys Hotel which would get us closer to the area we'd like to see. We're thinking just one night as there is too much to see in Mammoth to cut into our time there any more than we already will. Thanks.

A few years ago I went to a great B&B in Coloma, which as I recall isn't far from Sacramento. They did a hot-air balloon trip which was spectacular, and there was also white-water rafting, a half-day trip. The balloon actually covered some of the same territory as the raft - they brought the balloon down and it skimmed the water we had rafted on the previous day. I can't remember the name of the B&B but I suspect that if you search B&B's in that area, you'll find the one that does those trips. We loved it.

Further to my last post - I just searched it myself and found it. It's the Coloma Country Inn.

Suzie, Agree with only one night, but I think you're going to like Murphys. Our friends love it--quiet, lots of trees etc. He's originally from San Jose and then lived in L.A. for a long time where he worked as a biologist for LA County. Now that they're in Murphys, you'd think they'd found Nirvana! I think you have to share a bath in the old hotel, so I would go for the newer lodge, but do have a dinner at the hotel. Sounds like a great trip. Only been to Mammouth in the winter!