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.

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.

Loma Linda Tour

Over the summer my daughter was in the hospital to have reconstructive skull surgery. During that time, there were times when I needed to get away from a cramped hospital room, so I would venture out and about. The Hospital is located on the campus of Loma Linda University. During one of my walks I found a self-guided tour map and thought this would be right up my alley.


First National Back of Loma Linda opened 1929...I think it's a Barber shop now

Someone should school these university on guided tours! I would walk to one site that was the old ampitheater and think, “Ok it must be around here somewhere, oh wait I’m standing on it! The Parking Lot.” Or fumbling around to find the Asylum building to see the place where they once housed rett butlers ( that’s right my one flew over the cuckoo’s nest reference slipped in there) only to find it torn down and is now a dorm for a new bunch of crazies…first year med students! Most of these examples might be a little off kilter(since I'm writing so long since I went I this tou), but the point is don’t send a person off on a wild goose chase to find history only to be shown parking lots and dormitories.


Bruden Hall

Not that the tour was all bad, on the Saturday evening I was there, the local congregation on campus had a choir and ensemble for families to listen to while sitting on the lawn area. It was right next to the hospital, so it’s a great way for depressed vistors to come and meditate.

Local Seventh Day Adventist Church Next to Hospital

Also, the statue of the good Samaritan caught my eye while driving back and forth to the hospital and was the monument that lead me on the self-guided tour. It’s a contemplative life-size piece in the middle of a court yard that sums up why the Seventh-Day Adventist started Loma Linda.

Good Samaritian

One intriguing piece was not placed on the self-guided tour (though it should be). While looking up interesting tidbits on the school and city, I came across a museum and thought if I had the chance I would go. So while exploring, I unexpectedly found the building; The museum of Embryology in the Shyrcok building. I went inside and snapped a few pictures before someone rushed out and quickly told me that no pictures of any kind were permitted. They then asked if I would like to go to the museum and if so I needed to set an appointment. So, I did for an hour later. When I came back in they politely asked that I remove all the pictures from my camera that I had taken out of consideration for the fetus and their families. I submitted to their request. The secretary then took me to a far off room and unlocked the door, she told me the amount of time I had (it’s been awhile, I think it was a half hour) to look around and then asked me to turn off the light and lock the door when I had finished.

The room was like any basic classroom with seat in the center, a podium, and screen to show slide shows. Against the walls of the room were cases and within those cases were what looked like someone’s science fair project mixed with old carnival freak shows ( I don't mean that to be offensive, it's really the only way for a layman to describe the scene) that never made it out of the womb. I didn’t understand the science aspect, but I was intrigued by the fetuses that had formed so misshapen; Siamese twins, Cyclops, and a host of other tragedies lined the shelves. Oh yeah, and there was a giant skeleton (If I remember correctly he was around 8 feet tall). The science fair project showed most of the different things that could go wrong in utero. I think if you have children you might walk away with a great appreciation of the miracle of birth, atleast I did with my one year old daughter just having gone through skull surgery.

Lastly, on a different topic altogether, I was surprised that in the Hospital Cafeteria they didn’t serve Coke or Pepsi fountain sodas. They only offered Sprite, Orange, or Caffeine Free Coke. I think their coffee was all caffeine free as well. This led me to more research and I found that Adventist don’t do caffeine, so since the hospital is run by the seventh day Adventist church it’s out with the Caffeine. Which I suppose is better for your body, so I understood but was still a little annoyed. What is more interesting about the town is they had their own meal named after them by Bakers. Apparently they were the first crazed health food vegetarians. So Bakers had (at one time anyway) a meal called, what else, The Loma Linda Meal. Most restaurants in the city have some sort of vegetarian dish to offer, or so I read. I suppose when Adventist starts the town and they are still a strong part of the community it’s best to cater to your clientele.

Tio's Tacos

It was last summer and I’d been itching to go somewhere interesting with the family, but had to be patient and slow down a little with Verity. She hadn’t caught up to speed on staying in the truck for prolonged periods of time. So, when I heard about Tio’s Tacos I figured this was right up my alley and pretty close to my backyard. The place is only a city or two from me and is a relatively quick and painless drive, yet it has all the weirdness I crave.

We went for lunch and the place was packed with people from local business in the area and that’s always a good sign. The food was Mexican fare, but it had a different twist to all the normal places in the area. It was good. Tasty, but just different. I’m not a food critique (as much as I would love to be one), so I’ll leave it at that. While most chefs will tell you it’s all about the food, in this case it’s not, it’s about the restaurant. The owner is also an artist. So the place is filled with his folk art. Every nook and cranny has something to see. From the small chapel to people made from Barbie Dolls, the place is alive with folk art. The food was good and the place was kooky. The next time you’re in the Riverside area, I suggest you stay away from the mundane mega-chains and grab a bite at Tios.

Home-made Church

I would seriously consider going to a church like this.

Weird artifacts thrown together to make a fountain

Cool Plastic People made of McD's happy meal toys!

Look Closely, they are peeing (and lactating) in the buckets!

Apple Pickin' in Oak Glen

Last week we took a trip to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen and went apple picking. This is something we've always wanted to do but hadn't until now. Two years ago we decided to go but when we got there it was two months past the apple season!

Our daughter is in preschool this year and the month of September was all about apples and the color red. We thought we'd complete the month with apple picking. Faith loved it and we got some great pictures out of the trip.


The cost of apple picking is expensive for apples, but not for a family outing. Everyone in our party, except Verity, had to purchase a bag to put apples in. We opted for the small bag which cost $7. We spent an hour helping Faith pick apples and photographing her doing it. It was a beautiful day and well worth the $21 spent. I wish we had asked more questions before we went picking. Towards the end of the session we realized that some trees had a blue ribbon around the trunk and we overhear other families discussing what this meant, they seemed to know but we never figured it out. Going during the week is always a good idea, except for this day as there was a large homeschooling group and there was very little solace.







Down the road was a place called Snow-Line that is somewhat famous for their apple cider donuts, thanks to Huel Howser. The donuts were good, but plain. I believe the catch is that they are pretty much made to order and we are not accustomed to getting our donuts that fresh. Better than the donuts was the cider itself. They had a large counter with samples of many types of apples and cider. The apple cider was fresh and deliciously creamy, almost buttery in a really good way. After trying all the apple varieties we were assured that Gala really is the best. If you don't know then try them, they have a perfectly crisp texture and sweet taste.

Here's an apple!

Frogs like apples too!

Little girl and a big tree

The Real Knott’s Theme Park: Calico

Somewhere in the desert twilight just outside the Barstow lights, the Spirit of Walter Knott lives. While his name might be plastered all along Buena Vista sights and Cedar Rapids moguls might pedal his name for their profit, there is still a spot, a blimp on the map, that shines like silver with Knott’s glimmering touch. Calico is such a ghost town.

The town is a mixture of odd, historic, amusing, and amazing. It was once a thriving mining town that hit the payload with silver and Borax. 86 million was extracted in silver and 45 million in Borax while the town was booming. At its height over 1,200 people lived in the town, had 22 saloons, their own "Chinatown, and red-light district.

But, when Walter Knott found the town it was in ruins; Dilapidated. Everyone had gone; mining had come to an end. It was literally a ghost town. Knott bought the town and moved various local pieces to his Orange County theme park (that you can still find there). But he didn’t just level the town and keep the historic memorabilia. No the town has his signature stamp all over it. It has a replicated school house, bottle house, mystery shack, and talking dummies. Of course, the Knott family no longer owns the property, they gave the land over to the state and it is now a national park. Thankfully, our grand state has kept the soul of the town alive.

Two major fires have hit Calico; eighty percent of the original town is gone, but that shouldn’t stop a person from visiting a bygone era. It still looks and feels like an old western ghost town, only mixed with modern quirkiness.

A couple weeks back we decided to go out there and check the town out. Actually, our Sister In-law Michelle was heading out to scope out some photography sites and possibly get a Christmas pic of her kids. Since she knows I enjoy visiting these kinds of places she decided to invite us along. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about going to Calico. I just thought Faith would like to hang out with her cousins and I would finally get a chance to see the Stephen and Michelle’s new house.

I figured we would probably be there about an hour, walk around and look at knick-knack shops, take some pictures and call it a day. But to my utter delight the place was awesome! We ended up getting there about 12pm and leaving around 5:30! The only reason we left was that the sun was going down, the town was closing up, and it was getting cold.

There were lots of different things to do while hanging out in Calico; great places to take pictures, pan for gold, watch gunfights in the street, take a train ride, walk through a mine, see the mystery shack (this is a replica of the same one that was once in Knott’s Berry Farm, but IMHO the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz was far superior), and check out the cemetery.

We also ate at the Restaurant in Calico, it was all right but nothing to brag about. I recommend the Firehouse Chili which is homemade. Also if you have children, keep in mind that the children’s meals are adult prices. It might be better to go into Barstow and eat at the McDonald’s Train station (which I can no longer stomach since be marooned there for hours when our car broke down) or hit up the first Del Taco also located in Barstow.

So next time save your money, stay away from the multi-mega- million dollar corporation that dangles Knott’s name like a carrot on a stick and head out to a little town in the desert that still carries on Walter Knott’s Spirit.

Calico Slide Show

Glen Ivys Hot!

For our Birthdays my parents got us gift certificates to Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, CA.. This is our second time going to GI and we have loved it each time. I was going to take a lot more pics but was just too relaxed. Besides it would be too hard to try and take a picture with red clay mud all over or trying to snap a pic while getting a massage. Anyhow, most guys will think this is something more for just the ladies, but you would be way off base. The spa's are relaxing and incredible, nice cafe on site, relaxing atmosphere, stimulating steam rooms, and serene pools make for a nice getaway.

Graber Olives House

On their last trip to California as a family, we spent one of their days at the Graber Olive House in Ontario. We started out by eating lunch at the original Juan Pollo (who besides having some of the best chicken around also owns a Route 66 town and the unoffical McDonald's Museum). Then we headed over to take a tour of the plant. The Graber family has been selling their delicious olives since 1894 and the business continues to remain in the family. The Grabers don't use machinery past the 1950's and still hand pick their olives so that they are sure to only pick the best rippened olives with the most succulent nutty flavor.

Hangin out at Juan Pollo

The Sorting Machine to sort by size

The Canner

"Look but don't touch"

Conveyor Belt

Boxed by Size

Packaging

Some weird Indian tent