Stargazing in Northern California
A 3-hour drive north of San Francisco past Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, you reach the Mendocino Coast, home to the fifth-generation owned Little River Inn. The oceanfront property perched on the hillside overlooking the Pacific, feels nestled in its own world, far away from the lights of a city. Indeed, it’s the perfect locale to see the stars on a crystal-clear night. Even better now that the property is offering the Stargazing Family Fun package. Spend 2 nights in an ocean view room with two queen beds and you’ll receive a Little River Inn travel blanket, loan of their custom stargazing kit with special binoculars, star map, star guide and flashlight, hot chocolate to enjoy while stargazing one night, and detailed information on stargazing in the area. Cost of the package for a family of 4 begins at $430 a night.
Returning from Acadia National Park one summer with the family, we wisely timed our return drive to coincide with the annual 
Over the years, I’ve given travel advice to friends, family, neighbors, editors, strangers, you name it. Once people know you’re a travel writer, the questions quickly follow. And believe me, I’m happy to point folks in the right direction. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing this blog. But I was stunned and delighted to get the following email:
I was recently snorkeling with a trucker in the Keys. When he heard I was a travel writer, he asked what my favorite state was. “Based on cruising?” I asked. He nodded. “Oregon,” I said. “Mine too,” he answered, and this is a guy who’s spent his entire life driving back and forth across the States. I’ve been fortunate to go on two phenomenal driving trips of Oregon with my brother, Jim. We first spent a week driving along the Oregon coast, dreaming of buying a second home in Yachats. This June, we returned to drive the interior. To be honest, every one of those days on that weeklong trip could easily make my Top 5 list of the year, from touring Hood River’s “Fruit Loop” with our friend Kirby Neumann-Rea to rafting the Imperial River to hiking along the rim of Crater Lake to biking around the campus of the University of Oregon. All was bliss.