Amidst several identities like digital marketer, social media strategist, travel blogger, nature lover, wife, daughter, sister, friend and a mom, let me pick two identities for this post – nature lover and a mom.
I always find ways to let my daughter connect with nature to give her some extra dose of vitamin G (G stands for green).
Hap Magee Ranch Park (1025 La Gonda Way) in California is a beautiful green park that I discovered on our road trip to the Lassen Volcanic National Park.
It is an easy stop right off Highway 680. This park has a barn façade at the park entrance commemorating the park’s former life as a ranch.
I always find ways to let my daughter connect with nature to give her some extra dose of vitamin G (G stands for green). Click To Tweet
Picnic in Hap Magee Ranch Park
During summer, a shade under the tree is more comforting than a couch inside an air conditioned room.
Tweeting and chirping birds, pleasant wind and the smell of grass are bonus with the vitamin G.
This 17-acre park also has walking trails, separate play areas for younger and older children, picnic areas, and a dog park.
Hap Magee Ranch Park Park in Danville, California offers a tunnel of tubes that spray water on kids plus open fields & a play space for dogs. Click To Tweet
Free air life
I am a firm believer of the Norwegian word “friluftsliv” which means “free air life“.
I follow this principle not because Norway is the “world’s happiest country” in 2017 according to CNN, but because my mind, body and soul resonate with this philosophy.
I am a firm believer of the Norwegian word - friluftsliv which means free air life. #Travel #nature #wanderer #wanderlust Click To Tweet
I and Siddhartha were content to see our daughter Chirantana, excited and happy.
She was running all over, greeting strangers and started saying “Pakhi” which means bird in the Bengali language, our mother tongue.
Toddler’s playground in Hap Magee Ranch Park
Hap Magee Ranch Park not only offers a soothing green field to play, but also a lovely playground for toddlers.
A water area for bathing, sand area, swings (you name it). Hap Magee’s water feature is a combination of metal tubes that form a tunnel with water spraying inside as kids run through, and water spraying up from the ground.
A motion sensor activates the water feature on a random circuit.
Some sweet conversations with my little one while playing in a park amidst green was indeed rewarding.
Such rewards cannot be expressed through numbers or any statistics, but feelings alone.
Meeting with a children’s author
After our cozy picnic and playtime, only one thing was there in the back of my mind.
I wanted a photograph of all three of us as a souvenir for this beautiful day. To my surprise, a lady on her own asked us whether we wanted a photo! I was overjoyed and asked her to click one.
Later on she asked us to wait since she wanted to give a gift to our little girl. To our surprise, we found out that she gave her a book named “My Favorite Run”.
It is all about outdoor running outside which quite matches with friluftsliv – the philosophy that I firmly believe in. What a coincidence!
Tip: Check out this beach destination in Northern California from a fellow travel blogger at Maple Leopard.
Meet Katherine
Travel Realizations
Our sweet picnic in Hap Magee Ranch Park came to an end. We explored, met a new person, and moved on.
The residue is our experiences, memories, and the book. Whenever I will look at it on our bookshelves it will remind us about Katherine and our beautiful day.
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Chirasree Banerjee
Yes, Michelle, it is a decent park that I discovered on one of our road trips.
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner
This park looks like a lot of fun. Great pictures!