Vacaville is an easy town to spot: it’s about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco, with a brightly colored playground for kids at the Nut Tree Plaza. I know plenty of people in Northern California, like Vacaville folks, who live in a small, quiet community, then commute into one of…
I know it’s been almost a decade since there was a sighting of Delta and Dawn, the humpback whales that swam from the San Francisco Bay up the Sacramento River. But I still think about their little trip every time I make a trip of my own over the Rio…
About 10 years ago, Elk Grove was the fastest growing city in the United States, but I remember when it was just a sleepy farm town, with maybe 50,000 residents. My friends and customers in Elk Grove say people are coming from Sacramento and the Bay Area because technology has…
One of the many advantages to living in the forward-focused state of California is all the great incentives we receive for installing solar panels on our homes. Compared to many other states around the country, California has some of the most generous incentive programs available, making it seem almost irresponsible not…
It’s still pretty nice outside in Lathrop, even though the calendar says it’s fall. In fact, the climate here tends to be pretty mild and comfortable year round, which makes it easy for families to enjoy all our many parks have to offer. But, just because we don’t have some…
If you live in some of the more mountainous communities in our area, you know summers are scorching, but winters can get chilly—cold enough that you probably have two separate wardrobes. This time of year, most folks have their summer clothes tucked away in the back of their closet because,…
Granite Bay residents are no strangers to water conservation. Thankfully, the Stage 4 restrictions were moved back to Stage 2 last April thanks to improved amounts of precipitation—and the efforts of local citizens. While this is great news for Granite Bay, it doesn’t mean we should all go out and…
When I’m in Davis, it seems like every building is using clean energy. There are solar panels everywhere in that town, especially once you start getting closer to the UC Davis campus—from the Jess Jackson Sustainable Winery to the Segundo and Tercero Dining Commons, as well as throughout the UC…
There’s a lot of new construction in Sacramento lately, and I’m not just talking about the new downtown arena, Golden 1 Center. There are new houses galore, and I’ve noticed one style, in particular, has really come back into fashion—the three-story row house. Now, three-story row houses are no stranger…
One of my favorite stories about Placerville is the history of the Bell Tower. After a series of fires in 1856, the citizens realized they needed an emergency warning system for the town’s protection. A bell was ordered from England, and, when it arrived, it was hung in a wooden…
