Mason, 6, recently traveled with his Grammy (our publisher, Charmaine Tincher) his Papa and K Cup to North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains to visit family and attend his cousin’s high school graduation. Mason saw mountains and the rivers that tumble through them for the first time. The family drove from Venice to a small town south of Asheville, where they rented a cute cabin and Mason spent lots of time playing with his cousins.
“The best part was seeing my cousins,” Mason says. “We saw a really big waterfall. There were river rafters going by. One of the rafters lost his paddle. I couldn’t get it, and they couldn’t get it back because the river was too fast. The weather was nice all the time, not hot like it is here.”
Mason also visited a gem mine, where he sifted through a bucket of sand and discovered semi-precious stones. He brought these home as keepsakes. Mason made many memories on his trip and cannot wait to go back to the mountains and visit his cousins again.
“My cousin Cameron was graduating from high school. Everybody got dressed up, and they had fireworks at the end.”
“I made an ice cream taco at my aunt’s ice cream shop. I filled a folded waffle cone with mint ice cream, Sour Patch Kids and Oreos.”
“I played a lot of Super Smash Brothers and got to battle my new friends.”
“I went gem mining. You scoop up the sand, put it in a screen, and put it in water. Then you find the gems!”
“Being in the car for a long time, you need to bring an iPad.”
Tannon, 8, spends his summers in Northern California, where his champion snowboarder mother grew up at the base of snow-capped Mount Shasta and where his stepfather, Venice Lifestyle’s editorial coordinator, has spent two decades vacationing and fishing.
“Northern California is a great place to catch trout,” Tannon says. “I like to go camping, hiking and swimming in the really cold rivers with my family. I also get to visit my grandparents.”
For Tannon, Northern California is different from Florida because the mountains are full of trees and trout streams.
“I stay in a small town called Dunsmuir, and the river runs right through it,” Tannon says. “I love Florida because I can catch lots of different species of fish. But the fish are easier to catch in California. I have been fishing in Northern California with my grandpa since I was 3 years old, and my stepfather is a great fisherman, too. California is beautiful and so much fun. I love being out on the river.”
Five Things I Learned
“You have to have the right tackle. Hook size matters because not every fish’s mouth is big.”
“I use lighter line in California. You need a heavier line in Florida. You might catch a big snook!”
“I use nightcrawlers in California. I also tie flies. I tied the ones on my hat.”
“I cast a worm, leave the spool open and let the line sit in a whitewater eddy until I get a bite.”
“Be careful beside the river. If you slip and fall in, it’s cold and fast.”