The Tolay Fall Festival takes place over a span of 8 days over the next 2 weeks. The festival runs Thursday through Sunday this week and next. When you drive East on Lakeville Highway to the festival you can feel your blood pressure lowering. The unique beauty of the area, rolling hills, pastoral views and overall openness gives you a sense of connection with nature. Once you go up the long driveway to Tolay Lake Regional Park, that connectivity deepens. You crest a hill and then the whole countryside opens up, wide open space...ahhh.

Once you start your descent down the hill, you can see the area where the festival takes place. It looks sort of small from that distance, but as you near it, you realize it's pretty big. Go to the Tolay Fall Festival page and check out the google map. Hit the magnifying glass icon and zoom in...you'll see what I mean. Can you say "in the middle of nowhere?" How great is that? No distant hum of the highway, truly "out there," but still drivable by car, nice. Parking is $5 and festival is free. There are many activities for children and adults, but, to me, the big highlight of this event is the free guided tours given by the park rangers which can last 45 minutes or more. They have a few tractors that pull large carts across the dry lake bed and go up into the hills. On a clear day you can see San Francisco.