Tag Archives: California
Nov-2014
Nestled is the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains some 330 miles north of Los Angeles is a alien landscape featuring a lake so inhospitable it offers almost no life in its waters. This is majestic Mono Lake. Formed over 700,000 years ago, its waters are trapped in the valley’s low spot with no natural outlet. With […]
Nov-2014
Most families head to the Los Angeles area for a weekend getaway at Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios or Magic Mountain. But does family fun have to come at such a cost? Of course not, Los Angeles is filled with great budget-friendly family adventures. Skip the amusement parks, here are five relatively inexpensive opportunities […]
Nestled within the Santa Ynez Valley of San Barbara County is the Danish style town of Solvang, California. Translated to mean “Sunny Fields,” Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danes who looked to escape the harsh winters of the Midwest. They settled 9,000 acres of a Mexican Land Grant next to the […]
Perched above Los Angeles in Griffith Park with sweeping views from downtown, the westside to the heavens above, is the Griffith Observatory. Built in the early 1930s on part of the 3,000+ acres park given to the City of Los Angeles by Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, the observatory was built with funds from the Griffith […]
Oct-2014
Nested into the foothills above San Bernardino is the historic farming area of Oak Glen, California. Over the last 100 years the farms of Oak Glen have been home to some of the best apple orchards found in California. The area features the scenic, “5 mile loop” that skirts along the base of the mountains […]
Jul-2014
Tucked into the foothills and crest lines of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is Sequoia National Park. Home to giant Sequoia trees, beautiful meadows, and breathtaking vistas the land was incorporated into a National Park in 1890. But man had already done its damage cutting down hundreds, if not thousands, of giant Sequoia trees for logging. […]
Jun-2014
California has the 8th largest economy in the world, that’s right…8th. Larger then Canada, Australia and Russia. So what does California do for a capitol — they go all out. Located in central California on the banks of the Sacramento and American rivers is Sacramento, the state capital of California. We started our trip in […]
Jun-2014
3 days, 72 hours — was how long our “kid-free” weekend lasted! It was a dreary five-hour drive from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, but the excitement set in as we crossed over the Bay Bridge. We finally arrived in, the City by the Bay, San Francisco. We planned and reviewed our map to […]
Jun-2014
As I sit here writing this, our two kids are feverishly packing and singing, “Everything is Awesome” while asking every hour if it’s time to leave for LEGOLAND. The small colorful plastic blocks built by the Danes, number around 560 billion, may have taken over our Household. While you’re likely to see us hiking a […]
What happens when you have limitless money, power and what seems like time on your hands…you build the most lavish and opulent residence in the United States, Hearst Castle. Originally a landholding grant bought by Hearst Family in 1865 at 30,000 acres, the real story of the castle starts in 1919 when William Randolph Hearst […]
Jun-2014
What served 47 years in active duty in the US Navy, visited every ocean in the world, was too big to cross the Panama Canal, and was the 41st of her kind to be made? Give up…I’m talking about the USS Midway–one of the most historic aircraft carriers the U.S. ever had. Now docked in […]
Jun-2014
Formed millions of years ago by glacier movement during the Ice Ages Lake Tahoe was carved out of the granite of the Sierra Nevada Mountings. The lake was later divided after a dispute that involved gunfire between California and Nevada giving California 2/3 of the lake and its shoreline and 1/3 to Nevada. While these […]