Nevada City! and Bunnies!

Nevada City Co-Housing

After more than a year of traveling, and many hours of deliberation we are moving to Nevada City!  We are so excited to call this small California mountain town our new home. Driving, it is an hour northeast of Sacramento, 1.5 hours to Lake Tahoe, 2.5 hours for San Francisco and 6.5 hours to Los Angeles.  We’ll let you know on the biking distances later.

We are in escrow for a three bedroom town house in the Nevada City Co-Housing community, NC Co-Ho for short.  We will have a den as well as guest rooms in the Common House.  Plenty of room for family and visitors. We can’t wait to get some food, herbs, and other plants growing in the ground.  The community members all seem really nice, and from what we experienced at community dinners, cook very well!  If all goes well we move in March 4th.

Outdoor adventures abound in this area.  Nestled in the Sierra Foothills, the landscape ranges from pine forest mountains, to oak cloistered meadow valleys, and Mediterranean climate farms. Hiking and biking trails start from just across the street. The Yuba River, state parks for camping, and snowy mountain peaks for skiing and snowboarding all less than an hours drive away.  We explore a few of the local parks and trails.

Yuba River as seen from the historic bridge.

Be careful in the river!

Gnarled tree trunk off a hiking trail in Lower Yuba River State Park

Lush greenery surrounds the trail

We lounge for a while on smooth river boulders and take in the scene

We are in town for the first brief snow of the season.

St. Canice Catholic Historical Cemetery

Downtown Nevada City was once the center of gold rush activity.  The “Mother Lode” financed and populated this area.  At its peak Nevada City was one of the largest cities in California, only less populous than Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Now, about 3,000 reside in NC, and 12,000 in Grass Valley, the neighboring town to the south.  The Victorian architecture and small pedestrian friendly roads show off during annual festivals such as the Constitution Day Parade, Nevada City Cycling Classic, and the most famous, Victorian Christmas. We will be sure to discover other town events and report our adventures.

The Marching Presidents and their friends. Image courtesy of E Territorial Dispatch

We heard that Nevada City and Grass Valley are hotbeds for live music gigs and festivals.  Master Fiddlers, folk and bluegrass, and contra dance are big.  We even spotted a flier for a drum and bass night at a local club/bar.  Perhaps Mags will live out her fantasy of playing in an all female rock band.

This town appealed to us the most because it’s a place where both Stu can live out his farming dreams, and Mags can have a successful physical therapy and fitness business.  It’s an ideal place to raise a family with good schools and plenty of babysitters in the co-housing community.  We also couldn’t resist the appeal of living in California, closer to many friends and family.

After initiating the home buying process we drive home, stopping in the hills of Santa Cruz to visit our dear friends Josh and Heidi, in their off-the-grid cabin in the woods.  The views from their home are amazing, ocean to one side, and forested mountains on the other.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the front yard

We enjoy a few mushroom hunting hikes, the Santa Cruz Fungus Festival, amazing healthy cooking by Heidi, and Quality Bunny Time.

Pink Coral Mushroom in the wild

Wall of moss and ferns

Banana Slug

Mags, Stu, Josh, and Heidi on a chilly valley hike

A deep stream rushes by the far end of these rocks

Josh and Heidi have four cuddling loveable rabbits. Bruiser weighs about 4 times as much as Mochi.  It’s so sweet to watch these fuzzy bunnies snuggle, hop, run, dig, and eat from our hands!

Punky Bruiser

Mochi and Bruiser

Thanks for taking some time off StopSmartMeters.org to host us.  We had a great time as always.

We can’t wait to get nestled in our new home, get to business, and get to know this small town and the locals.  Somehow Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls comes to mind.

In the meantime, we get ready for the move in Irvine with Mama and Aba Chuang.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to hang with family before we move.  🙂

The home we are in Escrow for! Hopefully ours soon!

More pics from this part of our travels here and here.