April 2019

Rt 66 Continued and a Tour of Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden — a fun Easter Drive

For the first time in many years it was just us on Easter. Church and out to breakfast then tracking Rt 66 from Los Angeles to San Bernardino Ca. and home for a surf and turf dinner.

The goal has been to lay the West Coast Rt 66 groundwork before my east coast trip along Rt 66 to Oklahoma then heading to NC and on to Fl. Looking to leave on 5-11-2019 to meet up with my college buds for a week in Nags Head NC then home to Ormond Beach FL.

Todays trip started on Old 66 from South Pasadena along Fair Oaks Ave to Huntington Drive then to downtown LA to the original end of the Mother Road @ 7th Street. We then headed back to Pasadena to see the Colorado Blvd Bridge through Pasadena to The Howard Motor Co building (opened 1929). Then to Monrovia to see the Aztec Motel (opened in 1924), to Arcadia and Rods Grill (new grill opened in 1957), then to Azusa Foothill Drive-In Theatre, opened on December 18, 1961.

We cruised by several signs for original Rt 66 locations along Foothill Blvd. and then on to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in Claremont for a driving brake. Great stop – an hour and a half stroll through several native Southern CA gardens.

Then on to San Bernardino to see the Wigwam Motel and The Original McDonalds location and Museum.

Back to Pasadena for Lobster and Rib Eye.

Great Day

Route 66 LA to San Bernardino

Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden

Then Home

April 24, 2019 4

With Chris back on the East Coast I decided to do two road trips myself – on Saturday to the coast at Rancho Palos Verde and on Sunday a full day trip up Rt 395 to Lone Pine and Alabama Hills BLM.

Rancho Palos Verdes

Rancho Palos Verdes is a city in Los Angeles County, California atop the Palos Verdes Hills and bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. A suburb of Los Angeles, it is known for expensive homes amidst large tracts of open space with expansive views of the Pacific Ocean. The highlight of the trip were the views of Point Vicente Lighthouse as you walk along the coastal trail. Point Vicente Lighthouse is 67 feet tall and stands on a cliff with a height of 130 feet.

Alabama Hills BLM Rec Area

The Alabama Hills, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada just west of Lone Pine, is one of Hollywood’s favorite filming locations. This monumental landscape provides a myriad of settings for movie backgrounds and evocative scenes. The beautiful rock formations of the hills bordered by a vast open plain rising majestically to the snow capped mountains beyond has been a prime filming location since the early 1900s. The rounded contours of the Alabama Hills appear in stark contrast to the chiseled peaks of the Sierra Nevada and, although considered geographically a separate range of hills, they were formed at the same time and are geologically part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Percolating water rounded the granite blocks and sculpted the many outstanding formations of the Alabama Hills. (per the Lone Pine visitors center.)

Fossil Falls

Along the way I stopped at turnout along rt 395 that we have passed numerous time on our way to Lake Tahoe – should have stopped here sooner. It’s a most a 3/4 mile hike through the lava field with a rewarding view. Located just off U. S. Highway 395 on the east side of the southern end of California’s Sierra Nevada, don’t expect to find either fossils or falls. What you will find, rather, is a spectacular lava flow sculpted by rushing water and wind late in the Ice Ages—a “fossil” of nature’s handiwork. As you hike the rocky trail through the formation, you’ll wonder at first where the “falls” are because the land immediately before you is relatively flat, but abruptly, you’ll come to the chasm that reveals the spectacular lava falls. Read more: https://www.desertusa.com/desert-activity/fossil-falls.html#ixzz5lejDhWm0

Paso Robles & Morro Bay

Four weeks after knee replacement and time for a road trip. This weekend was our winery’s (Jack Creek Cellars ) spring release party – pizza, gelato and of course wine tasting. To break up the trip we spent the night after the party in Morro Bay – the weather is SOCAL finally broke — the first days in the 70’s since early January and the clear blue sky’s made the trip enjoyable. To give my chauffeur a break on the way back to Pasadena we stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch and great views of the Pacific.

April 18, 2019 0

Los Angeles Union Station

Five weeks after knee replacement Chris convinced me to take a guided tour of Los Angeles Union station. It was an easy trip getting there by catching the Metro Gold Line which runs two blocks from our house directly to the station. The two hour tour was tiring but enjoyable since we got to view areas in the station not always open to the public and having points highlighted that we generally just pass using the station and not even noticing. The burger and beer before heading home also made the trip enjoyable.

Union Station Architecture

April 18, 2019 2

Poppies and Cactus

Six weeks after knee replacement and a bad case of cabin fever I headed out on my own to view the years spectacular wildflower bloom and the beginnings of cactus flowering season. First I headed to San Francisquito Canyon Rd in Angeles National Forest an area where I previously viewed California Poppies and then on to Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve the star area in northeast Los Angeles for the orange blooms. Unfortunately there were so many visitors I didn’t even attempt to enter he reserve but toured around the peripheral fields – the views were still specular. Leaving the reserve I headed further north to Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park – The park protects mature stands of Joshua trees and California juniper trees in their western Mojave Desert habitat. It was a several mile slog through sandy trails but very rewarding.

California Poppies

Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park

April 18, 2019 4

Route 66 – Early Start

Planning to head back to Florida in mid-May by car again. As you know we eschew the interstates and head out on the red and blue roads. This time I’m looking into following route 66 — also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America or the Mother Road. Last weekend I started the trip by heading west from Los Angeles on Sunset Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. to the “End of the Trail” sign on the Santa Monica Pier. The road trip took me through Beverly Hills and a walk along the bluffs of Santa Monica looking down at the Pier. Looking forward to tripping from Los Angeles to San Bernadino before we leave for real.

Beverly Hills