Road Trippin’ Through Yuba City, California

Our guest post comes from Kim Ruccione, RN, a city slicker at heart. Kim grew up in a small ethnic community 20 minutes outside the urban jungle of Manhattan.  Road Tripping for her family was taking a wrong turn off the Brooklyn bridge.  Day Trips to the Jersey shore were the summer highlight. Kim became a travel nurse and experienced places from Nantucket to Hawaii.  Kim considered it a thrill to spread her wings and get paid and has been trippin’ ever since. Now a Clinical Laser Nurse Specialist and mom of two elementary age girls, she’s published several articles in Dermatology journals and has lectured to Physician’s internationally. Kim’s girls have a goal to visit every state by the age of 15; Kim hopes to help them achieve that goal.

photos courtesy of Kim Ruccione, RN

You could literally trip through Yuba City and pass a little gem of a town. It’s a little pot of gold! Considered a nesting place among the Sierra Foothills, and founded in 1849, it was established as a distribution center for supplying the Gold Rush 49ers. There the Yuba River and Feather River converge and further downstream, the Feather flows into the Sacramento River.

Located  about fifty miles from Nevada City, Auburn, Sacramento, and Chico, and a quick 120 miles from San Francisco and Tahoe, it’s a center stage attraction that gets missed too often.

Yuba City is a great place for couples to keep their skin healthy for all their traveling adventures to come. Start out by planning a complimentary consultation for your skin care needs at Family Physician’s Medical Spa. Easy to find on Plumas Street, this medical facility offers Chemical Peels to rid your sun spots, brown spots, and fine lines from too much sun exposure. Local hunters especially enjoy the quick, simple process to improve their overexposed weathered skin. It’s not just for women!

Hair Removal, spider vein treatments, and even Botox can be performed in less than one hour. Traveling medicine and vaccines are also offered for couples who like overseas adventures.

Continue down Plumas Street lined with towering palm trees. It’s a great strolling area to peek into antique, consignment stores, and flower shops. Lunch at the City Café, dining alfresco, is beautiful on a spring or summer afternoon. A retro burger and milkshake shop like Linda’s Soda Bar and Grill makes for a fun diversion. You can even sample local brews and throw back a burger at Sutter Buttes Brewing. For the more “flavored couple,” Sopa Thai Cuisine and Cilantro’s Mexican food are both favorites. The Happy Viking is a great sports bar eatery for all enthusiasts.

photos courtesy of Kim Ruccione, RN

Remember to stop by the local Sutter County Community Museum to get a glimpse into Sutter County’s history. It’s filled with memorabilia of life in Sutter County and surrounding communities including the Sutter Buttes.

Next, don a ball cap and some sunscreen and go lose yourself among the wildlife in Yuba City.

Sutter National Wildlife Refuge, makes an easy day trip with beautiful sites to meander through and explore. The refuge is 2,600 acres of wetland and grassland habitat.

The Sutter Bypass, a floodwater bypass from the Sacramento River, supports wintering populations of more than 175,000 ducks and 50,000 geese. There, hunting, wildlife photography, and observation opportunities abound for everyone to enjoy.

photos courtesy of Kim Ruccione, RN

Seeing 50,000 geese taking flight is an awesome sight! Visit this vast wetland of wildlife October through January when the birds are in high numbers. You’ll see local species and not-so-local species, alike. Scheduled tours with a Ranger are available. Plan a couple hours for a leisurely visit.

Before sunset, drive westward toward the Sutter Buttes, the smallest inland mountain range in the contiguous states. The sunsets are amazing. Don’t drive the extra seven miles from Yuba City to Sutter; just park the car facing westward. One favorite spot is Hope Point Church on George Washington Blvd. off Hwy 20 W. Saturday service has incredible, uplifting, spiritually hip music. Pastors Ray Bennish and Bob Best will lift your spirits! It’s a great way to ignite a couple’s connection. Pastors Gary Moore and Todd Keough send the word through humor, wooden dummies, and reflective chuckles.

Whet your appetite with a little diversity in a long drive. Get out and stretch your legs and your ever reaching knowledge while discovering Yuba City.