Daley Ranch House

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The Daley Ranch house was part of the 3,058 acre conservation area acquired in 1996 by the City of Escondido.  This building was built in 1925 as a summer cottage for the Daley family who entertained here until the 1980’s.  Ranger-led tours are offered on the 2nd Sunday of each month from 11am-2pm.

Links    City of Escondido    Friends of Daley Ranch

“Levitated Mass” at LACMA

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“Levitated Mass” is a sculpture by Michael Heizer consisting of a 340-ton boulder sitting above a concrete trench through which you can walk.  The piece is on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and does not require museum admission to view.

Links:   Wikipedia entry discussing rock transport     LACMA

Lake Fulmor

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Lake Fulmor is a beautiful oasis on Highway 243 between Banning and Idyllwild.   It looks like a great spot for some hiking, fishing, kayaking, or just relaxing.  An Adventure Pass is required to park in the lot across the road.

Links:    Forest Service

Petersen Automotive Museum

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The Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles underwent a $125 million renovation in 2015, including the addition of this distinctive facade designed by the architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, which is comprised of over 100 tons of stainless steel ribbon.   Design reviews have been mixed with some critics describing it as a “car wreck” and the “Edsel of architecture”.  What do you think?

 

Hawk Canyon

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A beautiful place for primitive camping is Hawk Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  The sandstone cliffs are salmon colored and an unusual shade of green, and were once part of a ancient marine environment.   Not far to the west is The Slot, an interesting slot canyon, and subject of an earlier post.

Links:   San Diego Union-Tribune     The Slot post

Japanese Garden at Descanso Gardens

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This pic captures the arched bridge that is part of the Japanese Garden at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge.  This 160 acre garden was originally owned by newspaper magnate E. Manchester Boddy and boasts over 1 million plants including one of the largest collections of camellias in the world.

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Temecula Wine Country Tour

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The Temecula Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) currently boasts over 40 wineries producing a wide variety of wines.  We recently went on a wine tour and were impressed with the beauty of the area and the quality of the wines.  This pic shows part of the Avensole Winery vineyard.

Links:     winery map       winery listing

Dinosaurs in the Desert!

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These are but two of the many dinosaur sculptures by Ricardo Breceda located in Galleta Meadows in Borrego Springs.  Kinda cool to look across the desert and see a couple of T-Rex.  Hopefully they survived this morning’s earthquake without damage!

Links:   Ricardo Breceda    previous related post

Berlin Wall

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The infamous Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin came down on November 9, 1989 after standing for over 28 years, and a chunk of it can be viewed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.  This section weighs 6,338 lbs and stands 9 1/2 ft tall.  At this spot you also have a great view of the surrounding countryside.

Links:      Ronald Reagan Presidential Library       previous related post

Upper Yosemite Fall

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Upper Yosemite Fall plunges 1,430 feet before heading into five smaller drops known as the Middle Cascades (675 feet), followed by Lower Yosemite Fall (320 feet) for a total of 2,425 feet.  The top of the falls can be reached by a 7.2 mile round trip trail (2,700 ft elevation gain) known as the Yosemite Falls Trail, which takes 6-8 hours to complete.  The trail begins at the Camp 4 area near shuttle stop #7.

Links:  previous related post1    previous related post2