The Nature Center is within the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve and is operated by park staff and volunteers with County of San Diego Parks and Recreation. The 5,600 sq. ft. building is made from recycled materials and uses solar energy, natural light, and ventilation. Opened in 2009, it is Platinum-Certified by U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Links: San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
One of the interesting hotels in Julian is the Julian Gold Rush Hotel, a national historic landmark, which was established in 1897. Rooms are decorated with American period antiques, including canopy beds, armoires, and quilts. Our room came complete with a journal in which to record any haunting experiences we encountered during our stay. It was fun reading previous guests’ comments, but sadly we had no other-worldly encounters!
The Original Dog Beach in Ocean Beach (at the end of I8 at the mouth of the San Diego River) was one of the first official leash-free beaches in the United States. It’s so much fun to watch all kinds of dogs frolic freely in the ocean and on the sand.
Links: Original Dog Beach other dog friendly beaches/parks in San Diego
Badwater Basin is a closed drainage basin in Death Valley National Park that is the lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 282 feet below sea level. The basin is about 7.5 miles long and 5 miles wide. Telescope Peak, the highest point within Death Valley NP at 11,049 feet, is seen in the distance.
Links: Previous related post
These barrel cacti are part of the Huntington Desert Garden, one of 12 gardens at The Huntington in San Marino near Pasadena. The Garden has one of the oldest and largest (over 2,000 species) collections of cacti, succulents and various other desert plants from around the world, planted in 60 landscaped beds.
This pic shows part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (known locally as the Bay Bridge) in its illuminated nighttime splendor. It opened in 1936, six months before the Golden Gate Bridge. Approximately 270,000 vehicles utilize this bridge to cross San Francisco Bay each day.
Inspiration Point in Joshua Tree National Park is reached via a 0.3 mile loop trail and features great desert and mountain views and beautiful wild flowers when in season.
This pic shows the town of Santa Barbara spread up the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains that rise to a height of 4,864 feet.
St. Richard Catholic Church is the Roman Catholic Parish for Borrego Springs. I love the stark whiteness of the church set against the desert landscape.
This overlook is a few miles south of Santa Barbara and provides great views of large numbers of harbor seals from within the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve (via one mile round trip trail). In my pic it looks like a few of them are actually posing for the camera!
Links: Seal Watch pics Trail info
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