Category: California

Japanese Tea Garden: Tranquility, beauty and harmony in the heart of San Francisco

Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California Anytime I find myself in San Francisco, California, I always make time to visit the Japanese Tea Garden. This serene garden boasts natural beauty, tranquility, and harmony. It was originally created in 1894 as a Japanese exhibit for the...

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Potato Chip Rock hike up Mount Woodson

There is a lot of hoopla over the Mount Woodson hike to Potato Chip Rock in San Diego County. A quick internet search will yield a number of creative shots of brave souls who venture out on the thin, precarious, potato chip-shaped ledge to capture a daring moment in time....

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A lofty view of San Diego

San Diego is one of the most beautiful cities in the country—with its lush foliage, rolling hills and ocean views, one of the best ways to experience this coastal community might be in a hot air balloon. If you've never been in a hot air balloon before, let me encourage...

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Yosemite National Park

With all my years of travel, Yosemite, one of the nation's most popular and coveted national parks, has somehow eluded me... that was until recently. I've never kept track of how many national parks and monuments I've visited, but it's a lot! Yosemite is one that had been high on...

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Frazier Falls – an easy hike with a big reward

Frazier Falls is located just above Grayeagle, California and is about 6200 feet in elevation.  The 1.4 mile round trip hike is both easy and quite scenic.  This area experiences heavy snowfall in the winter, the melt-off  flows from the Lakes Basin into Frazier Creek on its descent more than...

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Five Essential San Francisco Experiences

Fancy a road trip along California’s famous highway 101 this summer? There couldn’t be a better place to end your journey than San Francisco. The ‘City by the Bay’ truly has it all—natural beauty, incredible architecture, world-class cuisine and its own quirky culture. During your visit to this northern Californian...

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Covert mission to uncover UnderCover Ale Works

UnderCover Ale Works and Sweet Palace produce completely different products, however both may share the "it" factor when it comes to helping a small community become a destination.  Nestled hillside off highway 70, just outside of Graeagle, CA, I discovered (thanks to my friend Debra) a covert local attraction fermenting...

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Death Valley: A fascinatingly inhospitable place

This was my first visit to Death Valley National Park and I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a fascinatingly inhospitable place.  From the salt flats, sand dunes, to the hikes and cliff dwellings through the canyon walls, Death Valley is a very interesting and unique place...

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Bodie State Park…A time capsule unearthed

Bodie State Park is a well-preserved ghost town that dates back to the mid-1800s. By 1880, Bodie, California was a booming town with a population near 10,000, and some estimate that it was the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the state.  By 1917, after the railroad shut down and...

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Mono Lake is Monolithic

Most will disagree with Mark Twain's description in his 1872 novel "Roughing It," where he describes Mono Lake as a "lifeless, treeless, hideous desert...the loneliest place on earth." Quite the contrary, Mono Lake is a beautiful ever-changing oasis.  The monolithic lake shimmers under the bright blue skies as it reflects...

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Into the heavens on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram

Palm Springs aeiral tram by Mike Shubic of MikesRoadTrip.com

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram is a pretty amazing local attraction, it's not just some basic chairlift taking you up a mountain, but rather an "aerial experience" if you will. The 80 passenger tramcars actually rotate during your ascent/descent, providing everyone with a fantastic view. When you consider that Palm...

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