Tourists In Our Own Town: Consumnes River Preserve

How many hearts with warm red blood in them are beating under cover of the woods, and how many teeth and eyes are shining! A multitude of animal people, intimately related to us, but of whose lives we know almost nothing, are as busy about their own affairs as we are about ours. Squirrels are busily laying up provisions and lining their nests against coming frost and snow foreseen; and countless thousands of birds are forming parties and gathering their young about them for flight to the southlands; while butterflies and bees, apparently with no thought of hard times to come, are hovering above the late-blooming goldenrods, and, with countless other insect folk, are dancing and humming right merrily in the sunbeams and shaking all the air into music.

Wander here a whole summer if you can.

~ John Muir

All this extra daylight has us itching to explore and we've already lined up a few more summer adventures in the coming weeks. We've lived here just under five months, but already we've found so many beautiful places that have quickly become favorite weekend spots. The fact that we can drive a few miles and be in the state's capital, or a few miles in the other direction and be surrounded by nature has made us fall more and more in love with this city and I know we've barely scratched the surface as far as discovering all Sacramento has to offer. 

This past weekend we visited Consumnes River Preserve for the first time. The hike was fairly easy - if you count keeping a certain two year old from running headfirst through the thorny blackberry bushes lining the path or toppling down steep banks into the river as easy. Once Declan was safely contained in the backpack munching on graham crackers it was a nice relaxing stroll along a mostly shaded path with water along one side and green fields on the other. Gorgeous scenery every which way we turned and it reminded me of wandering through a swampy area that you'd usually find on the other side of the country, minus the gators though (thankfully!)

Next up we're planning a beach trip, a lake trip, and lots more hiking trips (as long as it's not sweltering hot). What's on your agenda this summer?