Wisetrips Travel Blog

For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to join our friends at a house in Forestville (on the Russian River), with a stop to kayak with  Burke's Canoe Trips . I had called Burke's one day earlier to make reservations for two kayaks: one two-seater for Inna and me, and one single-seater for Alex. We were told to arrive before 11:00, as it usually took 3-3.5 hours to complete the 10-mile downstream journey to Guerneville. Trip de…

Inna made one-day hotel reservations at the Portola Hotel & Spa at Monterey Bay  for the April 5 - 6 weekend. She wanted us to explore Monterey, Carmel, and Point Lobos Natural Reserve. Saturday, April 5, 2025 At around 09:30, we started our long drive to Monterey via US-101. Traffic was relatively light, and we arrived at the Alta Bakery & Cafe  at 10:35. We parked our Tesla Model Y and sat at an outdoor table nea…

Since I had a few free days off work, Inna and I decided to plan a mini-vacation nearby. At first, we considered spending a few days in South Lake Tahoe, but the nearby Mosquito Fire worried us about air quality. There were many inexpensive homes for rent, but we thought the air-quality risk was too high.  We also considered driving to Pismo Beach, where I really enjoy surfing and walking on the beach. We enjoy staying at …