What an amazing time we had at the Shasta Renaissance Faire !…read more There were knights in armor fighting, jugglers , musicians, brilliant stage shows, wandering minstrels, a very funny jester, a king and his court.. Pirate ship, Viking ship..too much to list. They had turkey legs, meat pies as well as mead! I will be back next year for sure!

What feels almost impossible to ever get tickets to attend a show, my grandma was able to secure…read moretickets for the December 26 "A Christmas Star" and the "Oasis in Space" shows a whole month in advance. I can see why that they sell out fast; 65-ish seats inside the viewing area under the dome. I recommend sitting in the last 2 rows for optimum viewing when looking up. However, as a Christian believer, the story of "A Christmas Star" was special to watch with an interesting perspective on the North Star. There was an intermission between both shows where the exhibits were opened up for people to walk up to interact and explore. The exhibits were within the same room, so a very small space. Half of the people left after the first show. The small gift shop at the entrance of the planetarium was open as well. Oasis in Space was more of a show regarding our solar system which was interesting, but nothing too exciting like the first show. I am glad I got to have this experience of coming here to this little Redding, CA gem as I am a lover of stars and planets. Just know that you will need to book tickets in advance!

Took eight friends last night to the Schreder planetarium. Horribly disappointing. To start off,…read morethe temperature was in the high 70's and very stuffy. The technology was right out of the 60's, blurry, scratchy, dim, etc. The presentation was very dry, and quite frankly boring. Four of our party left within the first 45 minutes. I wished I had something nice to say about the experience, but I guess my expectations were way too high.

Amazing time once again this year at the annual strawberry festival. Held at west valley highschool…read morein happy valley. Tons of sweet treats including their famous shortcake which is HUGE and includes a big portion of vanilla ice cream. Lots of food vendors as well. Craft vendors, face painting, air brush tattoos and even pony rides for the kids. And don't forget about the gotta have super DELICIOUS kettle corn, made in front of you and given to you while it's still warm. Can't beat that. Live music and dancing. Fun times for all ages and a awesome experience for the entire family. A must go to for anyone that's never been. Every May is the time this event happens. We had a blast!!

Pass on the Sysco Buckets of Strawberrys over Sysco Cake and Sysco Ice Cream. What a joke. Millions…read moreof Strawberrys produced locally and not a single strawberry product to be found. Clearly a money grab and a shameful one at that. If you're going to represent a product, highlight the local farmers and businesses that revolve around it.

Paesano Days is a local three-day Italian heritage festival in Anderson River Park, held annually…read moreon the first weekend of August. The event features a Spaghetti feed and other italian food, live music, raffles, and vendors of various crafts. But the centerpiece of Paesano Days is the 32-team, 128-person, double-elimination bocce ball tournament. This was my rookie year in the event, replacing a friend who had moved to SoCal. The pressure was on, because my buddies who make up the team I was joining won the tournament two years ago and lost in the finals the year before that. After easily winning our first match on Friday night, we got crushed Saturday morning 11-0 by a group of four gals who the God of the Catholics had apparently decided were going to skunk us. It was utterly ridiculous how often we caught bad breaks in that game, which was over in about 10 minutes. That put us in the losers bracket, which is a tough route to the finals. You have to win about 5 or 6 matches in a row to reach the final, and then you have to beat the team that went through the winner's bracket twice. We made it to Sunday, which is the annual baseline goal of my team. The highlight of the tournament was beating the team of flat-bellied youngsters who take the game very seriously -- kin of the former MLB outfielder and vice-mayor of Redding, Rick Bocetti (known for his claim that he urinated in the outfields of every major league ballpark during his career). The youngsters looked like they'd just seen prophetic visions of how they were all going to die in a fire when we finished with 'em. And I rolled the winning ball. Sweet. But in our second game Sunday morning we got hammered, in large part because my teammate and I on the west end of the court got 'four-banged" by playing stupid and rolling bad. ("Four-banged" = your opponents scoring with all four of their balls in one frame.) It's hard to come back from getting four-banged when you're playing to 11. I had more than held my own throughout the tournament up to that point, but that decisive four-banger was mostly my fault. Bummer, but it was pretty cool getting schooled by an 75-year-old ringer -- the tight-roller from Siciliy who was at my end of the court. That old guy was a sweetheart, but spoke halting English in one of the most impenetrable accents I've ever heard. Old Sicilian: "Dominic.....eeesa ma sona." My partner: "Excuse me?" Old Sicilian: "Dominic......(pointing at his son and partner Dom).........eeesa ma sona." My partner: "Uh......yeah. I think it's 4-2." Whoever rolled a good shot -- us or them -- the old guy is mumbling, "Bella........bella......eeesa gooda." If you're going to get your ass handed to you, it's an honor getting it handed to you by the old pro from Palermo who might have been there when they invented the game.

RVing on the Sacramento River and happened to be there during Kool April Nites. A car enthusiast's…read moredream come true. We had such fun seeing all the classic and modified cars, some with high performance and super charged engines. Every day was a different Show and Shine with so many cool cars!

Go son. Nice 59 Chevy Apache. Road race that thing. How does it handle over 125 mph? Take it to…read moreLaguna Seca.

What an incredible experience! While traveling through Douglas City we reached out to Nancy, who…read moreown's and operates One Thing Ranch, to see if we could come by and see her animals. She was very accommodating and we were able to visit with, pet and feed her beautiful llamas and alpacas later that day. They are curious and incredibly cute creatures. Beetle Juice the Alpaca was my favorite. Such beautiful markings. Nancy is extremely knowledgeable regarding everything llama and alpaca. She even showed us how she uses the sheered fur to create thread/garments. You can tell she cares deeply for all of her animals and it's so wonderful that she takes the time to educate tourists and the local community.

Fun, up close, and personal experience. It was very educational. We enjoyed ourselvesread more

This was a fun experience for all ages! We learned a lot and had a great time!!…read more alpacas!

We had such a good time! It took about an hour, by appointment, to learn about the alpacas and…read moremeet them. So much fun and a learning experience. It's a working farm, the animals are clearly well cared for. There is a cute boutique for alpaca related merchandise. The tour is free, but given they are taking time out of their workday to show you around, donations are appreciated. This is a great stop for families and kids.

The older I get, the more red wine feels like a toxic ex: charming at dinner, destructive by…read moremidnight, and somehow still texting me the next morning. But I listened to a friend, bravely risked a night of sleep, and tried a glass here. For the first time in years, I drank red wine without suffering the consequences! Apparently, we're back together, and things are getting serious. Now I'm excited to go home, cook Italian food, build unnecessarily elaborate charcuterie boards, and live my best red wine life again!

Love Adrienne she's super knowledgeable and helpful. Love that the tasting fee was waived with a…read morepurchase of a bottle. Great clean vibe too.