Many who follow know that we are building our forever home together in the southern Idaho aka Magic Valley area. What you may not of figured out is I’m a native Californian. So it felt a little strange to fly back to Orange County as a tourist. Although I’m born and bred Californian, there’s still many areas within a reasonable distance to get out and explore.
While “visiting” my hometown area I got to enjoy a lovely, local preserve and a state beach. It’s hard to find coastal areas that aren’t beautiful and the OC does not disappoint.
Upper Newport Bay
This area is both wildlife preserve and a local county park. Newport back bay preserve can be explored on the water, sand, dirt, or pavement…there’s much to see and take in. Come play in the calm water, or go kayaking, boating, hiking or even bike your way thru the day.
There’s a bit of the expected wildlife including ducks and geese.
The narrow road might be ruled by the Canadian Geese.
Very nice views.
It was enjoyable to snap native plant photos and figure out what they were. The sage below was obvious after a quick sniff! Do you recognize any of the below plants?
Nothing makes hanging out near the ocean more perfect than hanging out with a great friend.
Newport Back Bay is a popular area to see birds, plants and beautiful scenery. The land was acquired in 1860 by the Irvine Company for ranching. From the 1930s to 1960 the bay was used as a salt works.
After flooding destroyed the land and salt works, preservation efforts began.
The State of California acquired most of the land I 1975 for a wildlife reserve and today is it one of the few thriving estuaries in Southern California.
Aliso Beach
We also spent a lazy afternoon and picnic at this small, local beach. Although not a great swimming beach, it’s scenic, walkable and will feed the soul.
Small parking keeps the crowd down. There’s a nice little cafe for a short lunch break. Can’t beat this little stretch of sand.
About the Photo Challenge
A weekly themed photo challenge hosted by Terri. Check out her Blog and come back to visit for more SundayStills and traveling posts!
More Sunday Still Posts
Thanks for visiting our travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, Why Local Parks make worthwhile tourists attractions.
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Although I’m a native SoCaler, I’ve never been to the beautiful places in your pictures. Maybe someday, I need to make a trip up the coast. We have been so lucky here on the coast to have had fairly mild temps so far. Gotta love the marine layer!
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I agree! It’ll be fun to play tourist in CA in the future and find even more gems I never knew about.
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Yes, you were born when we had the house in Compton but I think the hospital that you & Shelly were both born in was in Lynwood.
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That sounds as native as can be…lol.
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Hi Cheryl, you and Steve know more about the hidden park gems than anyone I know. It is strange to move away then come back for a visit. I like that because you can be a bit touristy for a change. Love the coastal scenery and photos. I hope it was cooler there than what most of the west has been experiencing these few weeks. Love the photos of Aviso beach, too!
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Being closer to the ocean definitely felt cooler but we ventured inland quite a bit so felt kind of the same as you. Making my way back to ID as we speak…another week of 3 digit heat…ugh.
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