Snowdrift- Running Springs

On March 9th, my family went for a drive in the San Bernardino Mountains for the sole purpose of playing in the snow. First we stopped in Big Bear for a bite to eat. We ended up at a place called Desi's and I would have taken photos but it was honestly pne of the most disgusting restaurants I've been in for quite some time. Their $8 or $9 burrito was small and bland and the chili (I don't see it on their online menu) was just a hair above room tempature which would have been about 64 degrees.

On our way back down the road we happened upon SNOWDRIFT a snow tubing area in Running Springs. We went later in the day and the cost was pretty reasonable. When we arrived there were only a couple of hours left, but with hiking two tubes and two girls up the hill that's all the time I needed.

The only negative was that my wife had to pay to simply watch. She had to walk in the park to take pictures and be there just in case one of the girls needed her. So it was an extra ten bucks to people watch. Otherwise, a pretty fun time playing in the snow.

Redlands Bowl

On a boring monday afternoon in February, I packed the car and headed down the road to the city of Redlands. The purpose of the trip was to mainly to walk around and take pictures of my girls. Alas, all the family pictures and very little snapshots of places and things to see. For those of you that don't know Redlands, It's a college town that has a wonderful downtown section.

Most the pictures you see with the benches and some of the buildings were taken at the Redlands Bowl  a little outdoor community theater that host a summer concert and play every year. I'm pretty sure the play is free to the public. We went one year (about six or seven years a go) and watched The Sound of Music. From what I remember it was very well done and a delightful performance to sit through.

Redlands also has the only shrine dedicated to Abraham Lincoln on this side of the Mississippi. The picture of my two girls next to the fountain is at the sit of the shrine. We didn't go in though, because well...I don't care that much for Lincoln and I don't care much for shrines built for people I don't care much about. Maybe next time.

We also stopped for some sweet treats at Dough'Lectibles Bakery. It's been awhile so I can't quite remember what I ate, but I do remember thinking it was Oh Sweet Pleasures! So if you're in the area, check them out you're sweet tooth will thank me later. Also, they serve a lunch and dinner, as well as do the Tea thing for the ladies. Oh, yeah and they make cakes.

MT. Rubidoux

Early one January morning, my daughter and I decided to hike Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside. Alright, I decided the place, but it was only because my daughter kept nagging me to take her hiking again. I had completed this hike once before for a Easter Sunrise Service. It was one of the more memorable services I have attended . Here is a link to some photos of last years service. I looked for current information, but I think it's still a little too early.

Back to the subject at hand, my daughter and I had an enjoyable time together and a blast on the hike. The only set back was the Parks Dpartment was doing maintence and construction to the roads and hillside that day. So all of the main access points were off limits. Thus we drove around for awhile trying to find a secret entrance. We finally found a back way, but it was no secret, half the neighborhood was walking the hill.  After we got to the top of the hill, we went off to explore, when we came back the road was taped off and been re-asphalted, leaving us cut-off from our exit route. The only thing to do was to put my daughter on my shoulder and leap acrossed the road in two olympian sized jumps.

Otherwise, it was a fun day with my daughter.

Oh, yeah and if you have the book Weird California check out the section on Mt. Rubidoux...One of my supervisors at work has been in those tunnels. Pretty cool.

The Elephant Seals of San Simeon

If you are on the Central Coast, you just have to go to San Simeon.  Not for Hearst Castle, though that is a fun trip too, you have to go to see the Elephant seals!  When we are cruising the coast, once a year or so, we always try to make this trip.  Where else can you get so close to such a large amount of wild animals.  Depending on the time of year you go, many different things could be happening on the beach.  Mating, birthing, fighting, and then theres the times when they are basically just laying there getting fat.  This particular trip was during the Elephant seals' birthing time.  There were so many new pups and mama seals, an a few proud papa seals lying with their harem or defending their harem against other alpha males.   It was so fun to watch all the different activities going on.  We stayed quite a while and I am so glad we did because we were able to witness a seal pup being birthed.  It was amazing!  Visit the Friends of the Elephant Seals' website for what's happening when and other great information about Elephan Seals.  Also, here's a link to some more pictures put to a little musical slide show, enjoy!

  This seal just had a baby.

The Little Town of Arroyo Grande

Near my parent's house is the small Central Coast community of Arroyo Grande. I've passed the place numerous times, but thanks to our WestWays magazine, decided to take a gander at the Grande. The main reason was to see their swinging bridge. The little downtown section is quaint and relaxling to walk around. Its filled with antique stores and other little knick-knack shops, most of which we by passed.

Upon looking for a place to eat, my usual rule of thumb is to find  local places that seems to be the filled with people (easy enough if you ask me). Thus we stumbled upon Alphy's Broiler. Their tri-tip sandwich was oozing and dripping with delightful goodness with every bite. It was the best sandwich I have ever eaten. Kellee and I loved this place and will be hitting this place up the next time we're in a 50 mile radius. Plus, the staff was really friendly and seemed to be grateful having people eat at their place. 

                          Afterwards we stopped in and had a bite of Ice cream @ Dr. Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab, a fun old fashioned ice cream parlor. Again friendly and helpful staff with amazing ice cream. The best one was a red wine ice cream they had made with wine from one of the local wineries. If you love ice cream like my family does, then this is a must stop for you.
The swinging bridge is the only one of it's kind in California. Here's the link if your interested in its history. Really though, it's pretty secure these days, I didn't feel much movement, maybe about as much as you get from the swinging bridges at Tom Swayer's Island in Disneyland. No...much less. But it was pretty cool to say we stopped by the only swinging bridge of it's kind in California.

The pictures of the church are just that, pictures of a quaint little church. But we liked the mailbox. It gives the town some character.

Legoland

Prior to going to LegoLand, I would have said this amusement park would not be my first choice or even maybe my 10th pick for a place to take the family. In fact, I think I might have decided on a miniature golf place instead. . I guess I didn’t get the concept. However, The Deanes had free tickets and three other tickets we could redeem for a dollar a piece. So we decided to turn our one day outing into two and see what Lego Land had to offer.

Honestly, I should have really enjoyed the place. It is definitely a place for younger children and since I have two of them it’s right up my alley. The rides we pretty interesting; such as: getting in a fire truck, operating a teeter totter thing to get the fire engine to move, and then getting out and pumping water through a fire hose to put out a burning building. You had to work as a team to finish the task. It was unique and really fun!  Plus all the miniature models of the different cities in the US were fascinating to view.

So with fun rides and interesting displays why did I not find myself enjoying the time? CROWDS! IT took 30-45 minutes to get on some of the silliest of rides. Plus it was hard to maneuver with our off-roading Jeep stroller. I couldn’t believe how many people were there, It made Knott’s feel like a ghost town. Sure, it was Christmas Break and everyone was on vacation, but really?! Everyone picked LegoLand as the place to spend their vacation?!

But, If I lived in San Diego and I knew that this was not a usual occurrence I would probably invest in season passes. The place had great potential but it was hard to see through with all the bodies herding through the place.

Mr. Einstein can I pick your brain for a minute?

Sweetness

Uh....Caught.

Now she's ready to drive my truck!

Up, Up, and Away

Seatbelts are for sissies