Sierra Weddings | A Sierra wedding

A Special Wedding Day

Make your special day even better!

To help you celebrate your special wedding day, you might want to think about a Sierra Wedding at a winery or historic inn. We have compiled a list of different venues and locations that have the experience to help you plan your wedding with the settings and amenities for a dream wedding in the Sierra.

The locations we found offer different looks and feelings. We looked at several wineries, vineyards, and special one of kind locations.

These locations can offer open space, and lush green areas with lots of outdoor golden colors. Historic inns also offer different wedding styles and their grounds will surround you and your guest with a look and feel that makes your wedding stands out. Make sure your location will fit the needs of all your guests too.

Make sure your location is conveniently situated next to or near your reception location. All of our suggested locations will have a staff and lots of ideas for a great wedding. You want to pick a pace that will serve your needs, a staging area for rehearsals, a reception or event site to handle all your guests, or accommodate a rehearsal dinner. Make sure there is adequate lodging for the you and your new partner, family and friends. Have a great wedding!

Traveling Along Hwy 120 | Big Oak Flat to Yosemite National Park

by Writers Workshop

Your Highway 120 Adventure
Along your way to Yosemite National Park

After cresting the grade, you arrive at Big Oak Flat. Your first stop for a bite to eat is Old Priest Station. Make sure to fill up your gas tank or auto repair is available too.

Your next stop on Highway 120 will be Groveland. Here you can enjoy a picnic in the garden next to the historic Jail House. Yes, you can charge your electric car there too. Groveland has two charging stations. There is a community park in the center of town next to the Museum & Library. Well known in town are several restaurants, lodging, and B&B's, and a lot of unique retail shops. The community of Pine Mountain Lake with public golf and riding stables, and a general aviation airport is just down the road.

See Rural Airport News for more information on Pine Mountain Lake airport). Several businesses offer shopping and dining.

The small town of Buck Meadows is surrounded by the Stanislaus National Forest and is close by to a favorite swimming hole called Rainbow Pool. Far below is the main Tuolumne River with its “Wild and Scenic Waterway” designation and Class III, IV, and V whitewater rafting and kayaking.

The Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park is at an elevation of 4,872 feet and is known as the north gateway to Yosemite.

Yosemite is the first land in the USA set aside for public enjoyment by President Lincoln. The Lincoln Administration was the founding legislation for the National Park Service. So much has been written about Yosemite, so allow time to enjoy the glacial beauty, hiking, picnicking, and sparkling rivers and lakes.

My Favorite Restaurant | Find patio dining in the Sierra

by Writers Workshop

My favorite restaurant

My Favorite Restaurant
with Patio Dining

“Where would you like to eat?”

When that question comes up, here are some suggestions. You have lots of choices for restaurants with patio in the Sierra Foothills. You have many different cuisines and that the Sierra offers. However, you want one that has patio dining.

We are providing a guide to our recommended Sierra favorite restaurants. You can eat outside in quaint patios watching the world go by or in very historical locations that date back to the gold rush era. When you add good food and company together, the experience becomes a delight, from sitting on a side street in a historic town enjoying coffee to visiting the high country to take advantage of the incomparable calm and cool of what the Sierra gold country has to offer.

It's time to start thinking about patio dining. We found that there are many locations in the Sierra Foothills. Patio dining is as individual as the foods served, and every outdoor space offers a slightly different way to enjoy patio dining. The Sierra's patio and deck dining options will keep you busy enjoying the world walking by for a very long time.

In Murphys, several restaurants have an outdoor space that includes an outdoor seating area. On your way to Yosemite National Park, you will find a wide variety of patio dining places with a variety of views. One that combines both history and a sense of adventure is the Priest Station Café in 'Big Oak Flat.

The cafe is perched at the top of Priest Grade and is an excellent patio restaurant with a spectacular view.The property was purchased by Margaret & Alexander Kirkwood in 1853. A few years later, Alexander passed away and left Margaret, a young widow. Margaret remarried William Priest; hence the name Priest Station. Old Priest Station eventually grew into a stagecoach stop and was developed into a 22 building complex at the top of the grade. The station is in its sixth generation of family ownership.

Yosemite Village | A must stop on the valley floor

by Writers Workshop

Yosemite Village Plazza

Yosemite Village is located in Yosemite National Park at an elevation of 3996 feet (1218 m) and was primarily developed to house federal offices and commercial business that wanted to be located in Yosemite Valley. Situated along the north side of the valley floor, its permanent population includes National Park Service staff and some concession employee.

The Village is the site of some useful facilities, such as a fire station, a post office, a medical clinic, a convenience store, restaurants, gift shops, a school (kindergarten through eighth grade), and the park's headquarters facilities, and main visitor center.

The Yosemite Lodge is located on the west end of the village near Yosemite Falls. The Ahwahnee Hotel is a few blocks to the north. Like Camp Curry, Yosemite Village is characterized by shed style architecture making heavy use of native wood.

A post office opened in 1869, originally named Yo Semite, with its name changed its name to Yosemite in 1908 and to Yosemite National Park in 1922. In 1906, Major H.C. Benson started Fort Yosemite at the site of what became the Yosemite Lodge. Federal troops were stationed at Fort Yosemite until 1916, with the creation of the National Park Service.

Yosemite Village was designed by National Park Service landscape architect Charles Punchard, Jr., among others.

Tourism is the New Gold in California

by Writers Workshop

California is the most visited state in the country and has 12 percent of the U.S. travel market. Tourism translated into approximately 317 million domestic and international travelers during any given year. Travel and tourism expenditures amount to over $75 billion each year providing employment for over one million residents.

While much of the tourist travel is in the major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Orange County, the state’s vast transportation system roads and rural airports have been critical to the success of California’s tourism industry in less urbanized parts of the state. Because California is well known for its outdoor and recreational activities such as hiking, sightseeing, camping, fishing, skiing, mountaineering, and venues for these activities are typically located outside of major urban areas, general aviation airports located in smaller communities play an important role in tourism.

Our Sierra Travel News was launched in 2011 to bring awareness to the Sierra foothills. We cover all seven counties that make up the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

California’s smaller rural airports are critical for providing emergency response services to natural disasters including fires and earthquakes. They also play an important role in disaster preparedness and response, both natural and terror-related. The 13 California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) basis located at our rural airports play a major role in fighting wildland fires.

Most non-pilots do not realize that our rural airports play an important role in saving many lives through emergency and critical medical services that are provided through aviation, particularly in more remote communities. Examples include medical and life flights, flights carrying donated organs, and the retention of world-class medical professionals in smaller communities.

Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies also rely on our Rural Airports with aviation to enforce laws and maintain public safety in California. Agencies such as the California Highway Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Border Patrol, along with local county sheriff ’s departments rely upon aviation and airports to carry out their law enforcement duties.

Vacation Rental Homes | Find the best vacation rental that are right for you.

by Writers Workshop

Summerhouse - Tahoe Luxury Properties

Is a Vacation Rental Home right for you and your family?

Vacation rentals usually occur in privately owned vacation homes (known in some parts of the world as holiday homes). The variety of accommodations is broad and inconsistent because each property is unique to its own soundings.

The property might include a fully furnished home, cottage, condo, or townhouse that equals a hotel or motel. The traveler arranges to rent the vacation property for a designated period of time. Some rent on a nightly basis, although the more prevalent vacation rental industry practice is typically weekly rentals.

Vacation rentals can range from budget studio apartments to lavish, expensive private villas. Pice your location and the amenities you desire for you and your family.

Vacation rentals, particularly condominiums or apartments, offer many of the same services hotels offer to their guests, e.g., front desk check-in, 24-hour maintenance, in-house housekeeping, and concierge service. At the other end of the spectrum, Our Sierra Travels will focus on the accommodations in the Sierra foothills.

You can select vacation home rentals near major resorts and attractions like Yosemite National Park, Columbia State Park, and Lake Tahoe. You will find information on ski resorts, hiking and biking trails, and other activities as well on our website. These privately-owned, fully-furnished homes and condos offer many advantages over regular accommodations. Rental homes are ideal for the entire family and ideal for larger groups by keeping everyone together in one central location and thus bring down the overall cost of rental rooms down.

There are vacation homes near all the attractions and resorts located in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, and Tuolumne Counties. Come up to the Sierra Gold Country for our attractions and the beauty of the foothills and the high Sierra. Enjoy sightseeing, explore our many historical landmark buildings, and go hiking, biking, skiing, or just relaxing with a great book. You can take in a play at one of community art & entertainment locations.

Vacation rentals provide unparalleled space and privacy which are so often lacking in the single room locations offered at hotels or motels. Vacation rentals offer all of the amenities of your own home, like multiple bedrooms, fully-furnished living rooms, and many other comforts, vacation rentals are a great way to vacation like a local. Thanks to the available kitchens, you can cook your own basic or gourmet meals and don't have to eat out for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner - unless, of course, that's what you want. Preparing meals this way can be a great way to save money, especially if you are traveling with the kids.

And that is part of the most surprising thing about vacation homes; despite popular perceptions to the contrary, quite often they are a great travel lodging bargain. Many rental properties cost no more than a nice hotel room, even in popular resort destinations, but you get so much more with a vacation home rental. So the next time you are making travel plans, be sure to look up the vacation homes available at your destination. Renting one just might be the start of the holiday of a lifetime. Come and enjoy our mountain fresh air, there are vacation rentals ready to meet your needs.

Cozy B&B | Find the perfect location

by Writers Workshop

Find that Cozy B & B

A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodations and includes breakfast and typically does not offer other meals. Most bed and breakfasts inns are private homes or family homes offering accommodations with fewer than 10 bedrooms.

During the California 1849 gold rush, miners would often be on the move searching for gold and only needed a place to spend the night and have a good breakfast before heading out to find gold. Today, guests are accommodated in private bedrooms with private bathrooms, or a suite of rooms. Breakfast might be served in the bedroom, a dining room, or the host's kitchen.

B&B's and guest houses may be operated as either a secondary source of income or a primary occupation for the property owner. Often the owners themselves prepare the breakfast and clean the rooms, but some bed and breakfasts hire staff for cleaning or cooking. Properties with hired professional management are uncommon (unlike inns or hotels) but may exist if the same owner operates multiple B&Bs.

Before the California miners arrived, the custom of opening one's home to travelers' dates back to the earliest days of Colonial America. Lodging establishments were few and far between in the 18th century and travelers' relied on the kindness of strangers to provide a bed for the night. Hotels became more common with the advent of the railroad and later the automobile; most towns had at least one prominent hotel.

During the Great Depression, tourist homes provided an economic advantage to both the traveler and the host. Driving through a town, travelers stopped at houses with signs reading Tourists or Guests Welcomed and one could rent a room for the night. While little more than short-stay boarding houses, the rooms brought needed income for the homeowner and saved money for the traveler. A tourist home or guest house represented an intermediate option between inexpensive campgrounds or cabins and costly hotels. The motel fad of the 1950s and 1960s later filled a niche for travelers needing only a bed for the night. Today, most large

hotel chains offer the traveler an economy service hotel that offers breakfast too.

Most of the B&B's in the Sierra Gold Country started as private homes and were inspired to open B&B's to tourists. The private homeowners updated their properties as a B&B. With the advent of the renewed interest in B&B's and the increasing interest in historic preservation. Spurred by the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976 and assisted by two crucial pieces of legislation, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the Tax Reform Act of 1976, (which provided tax incentives for the restoration and reuse of historic structures), B&B's in the Sierra Gold Country have sprung up and now offer the traveler many unique lodging opportunities.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, B&B's increased rapidly in numbers and evolved from home stay B&B's with shared baths and simple furnishings to beautifully renovated historic mansions with luxurious décor and amenities. Many B&B's created a historical ambiance by adapting historic properties as guesthouses decorated with antique furniture and one can now travel back in time.

Yosemite Lodging | Find lodging near Yosemite National Park

by Writers Workshop

Traveling to Yosemite National Park

Your adventure to Yosemite
On your way to Yosemite National Park

Highway 120 - After cresting the grade, you arrive at Big Oak Flat, your first stop for a bite to eat is Old Priest Station and make sure to fill up your gas tank or event auto repair is available if needed.

Your next stop on Highway 120 will be Groveland, California. Here you can enjoy a picnic in the garden next to the historic Jail House. Yes, you can charge your electric car there too. Groveland has several charging stations.

There is a community park in the center of town next to a Museum & Library. Well known in town are several restaurants, lodging, and B&B's, and a lot of unique retail shops. The community of Pine Mountain Lake with public golf and riding stables, and a general aviation airport and many other businesses that offer shopping and dining. Groveland has a lot to offer visitors all year round.