HIDDEN VILLA
SHORELINE PARK
BAYLANDS PARK
Mary Poppins has sage advice for Silicon
Valley techies working on overdrive. Go
fly a kite!
Round up kids of all ages, at the designated
kite flying area at Shoreline Park,
Mountain View. The wide-open Kite Lot
seems to funnel the wind so that everyone
launches successfully. Bring a picnic, sit on
the lawn and watch the multi-colored aerial
display. Other locales include Sunnyvale
Baylands Park that boasts a bike and walking
path that leads to the wetlands.
Don’t forget that Menlo Park’s Bedwell
Bayfront Park will host its annual Kite Day
on May 4, 12 to 3 p.m. Found along Highway
101 and Marsh Road, the park features 160
bucolic acres, including a 2.3-mile flat hiking
trail around its perimeter, bike
trails and a natural wooded forest.
Locals agree it’s a great
place for dog walking and birding.
In March, the park stays
open until 8 p.m., and by June
and July, until 9 p.m.
If the kid in you prefers convening
with live animals over
KIDS
KORNER
sending kites aloft, visit Hidden Villa organic
farm and Rancho San Antonio Regional
Preserve both in Los Altos. You and your
posse get to gush at the newborn baby
goats, calves, pigs, lambs and more. While
at Hidden Villa, learn how to make cheese
or sign to take a class on another afternoon
or weekend. People love Hidden Villa for its
farm charm and quiet environs in the heart
of this hectic valley.
At Rancho San Antonio, you can go on
a self-guided tour of Deer Hollow Farm to
view livestock and barn critters. Lovers of
this regional park are blessed to have free
expanded parking, new bathroom facilities
and picnic areas to enjoy with friends and
family. The site’s hiking trails are abundant
offering everything from the one-mile flat
route to the farm to the killer-thigh, relentlessly
steep PG&E trail that’s 8.5 miles
round trip.
There are two more choices as well. The
first is Emma Prush Farm Park, East San
Jose. Many claim that it is home to California’s
largest working barn. And within that
barn are plenty of thriving livestock animals
such as sheep, goats, steer and pigs. Local
4-H club members maintain their animals
here as they prepare for competitions. While
you can visit and view these creatures, no
touching or feeding is allowed. Check out
the rest of the farm which includes a demonstration
orchard. Classes in the past have
included an introductory, oneday
course on beekeeping.
Then in Pescadero, there’s
Harley Farms Goat Dairy. Baby
goats arrive every spring, and
you can cuddle them to your
heart’s delight. The grownup
critters work hard supplying
milk that become products in
the gift shop, the former dairy stable. Goat
cheese, goat’s milk soap, goat’s milk lotion
… you get the idea. Call ahead, and you can
book a tour. Events also include candlelight
dinners which quickly sell out. Revel in the
experience of an authentic farm meal at a
20-person, hand-hewn fir table in an historic
hayloft as you eat on hand-crafted plates.
So, whether your inclinations run toward
hiking, golfing, rowing, kiting, biking—or simply
basking by the sea—the warming sun and
longer daylight exert their own gravitational
pull. They urge us to get out of the house
and frolic in our splendid natural surroundings.
To quote a popular song from way back
when, who could ask for anything more? n
HARLEY FARMS
GOAT DAIRY
April/May 2019 61