Mission de San Juan Capistrano

I've been to The Mission in San Juan Capistrano plenty of times.  It's the only mission I've really ever visited. But my hope is that my family will someday take a road trip and see all the missions in California, maybe  when my oldest needs to go to one for a school project, we're kind of an all-or-nothing family. But that will be another story for another time.

Last March we went to the Return of the Swallows Celebration that happens every year. Since my childhood I've heard a mixture of the legends that surround the story of the swallows, so this was the year I finally decided to partake in the festivies.

It was a gorgeous day at the mission with blue skies and fluffy white clouds overhead. Part of the celebration (alright the entire day) was a celebration of Italian heritiage. The aroma of delightful food filled the courtyard, vendors selling all manners of italian product, and an Italian group singing bad renditions of "that's Amore" is what you will encounter if you arrive on Italian Day. A word to the wise though, when you go, for almost any event, you should probably take some cash with you. I forgot and had to skate by on the the couple dollars I had.

Oh yeah, and another word to the wise.... There are no swallows flying around at the return of the swallows celebration!

But even if swallows are scarce, it was still a beautiful day to go, as evidenced in our photos.  And the mission is beautiful, a true American ruin.  If you haven't seen it, make plans, between the beautiful mission and the quaint little town of San Juan Capistrano, you wont be disappointed.

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.