Along one of the turns, we saw a crashed van pulling a boat on the side of the road where yellow caution tape was up. We all had our theories about what possibly could have happened. Did the van get too close to the edge? Did foul play happen because it looked like gunshots in the windows? We’ll never know. We pulled over by the lake for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the serene views. When we got to the dam, we stopped and marveled at the history of all that this land holds and tried to imagine riding this trail via stagecoach. It was an adventure even by car.

It's a round-up of my favorite SoCal Beach Piers because Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer...unless you are in Southern California and can hit those beaches all year long. SoCal beach piers are those iconic structures you find on postcards and t-shirts. They are an immediate way to identify which beach it is, and each beach comes with its own look and personality.

Do you remember why road trips are important? When was the last time you hit the open road for days? Whatever happened to road trips full of long stretches of open highway, dive restaurants and diners and "I pulled over for this" moments?

Evergreen Lodge: Not only did it have everything I was looking for, but activities for the kids, a rustic, but comfortable cabin, a solar-heated saltwater pool--and onsite restaurants. This meant less time cooking after a long day, and less frustration of hauling and trying to store food.

Convincing my teenage daughter to hike Pinnacle Peak Mountain turned out to be more than family travel, it was a mother-daughter moment that brought us together.

IBEROSTAR, Cancun It's like a page out of paradise where I can lie in a...