Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe 4th of July at home!  Here are some photos of a day trip that we took to Placerita Canyon at “Oak of the Golden Dream” in the Santa Clarita Valley in Southern California.  It’s where gold was first discovered in California when it was Mexico’s territory.  Francisco Lopez discovered the gold on March 9, 1842 under an old Oak tree.  It pre-dates the John Marshall discovery at Sutter’s Mill which was in 1848.  

The Tataviam people who had originally lived in the area 

The murals are located in a storm drain that you need to access to see the Oak tree

Stay strong and safe!

Take care Everyone!

 

 

 

Driving Through a Snowstorm in Wyoming – Road Trip, Day 6 Ep.12

Lex and Neek sez:

When we left Gillette, Wyoming on our way back to Midvale, Utah, there was already a heavy amount of rain coming down, worse than the day before when rain prevented us from seeing Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  We had seen a TV news report that morning in our motel that a heavy snowstorm was coming to Wyoming and that the roads in and out of Casper, Wyoming would be closed starting at 3pm.  Our hope was that if we could make it past Casper by noon, we would miss the snowstorm.

It was nowhere near winter as far as the calendar was concerned, but this late May storm was about to rock our world, and not in a good way!  We did drive through the pouring rain fast enough to reach Casper by 11am.  We stopped at a local gas station and as we pulled in, we saw a temperature reading of 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  The rain had let up a little bit, so we thought since we were heading south that things might warm up.

Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota – Road Trip Day 3 Ep.4

Neek sez:

Anyone who has seen the movie, Dances with Wolves, may recognize Spearfish Canyon since several scenes were filmed in the area. Spearfish Canyon is actually older than the Grand Canyon in Arizona and was only accessible by horseback until 1893. It’s located in the northern part of the Black Hills in South Dakota. According to legend the Sioux and Cheyenne used to spear fish in the creek and hence the name, Spearfish.

Road Trip Utah to Wyoming – Day 2 Ep.2

Lex sez:

Neek, Sar and I woke up early in our hotel room in Midvale, Utah. It was 5:30am and I felt groggy after the long journey the day before, and strangely hungry. Fortunately the hotel breakfast room opened at 6am and they had waffles, which all three of us loved. We packed the car, checked out, and hit the open road again!

Driving on the Interstate 80 heading east, we drove through Park City, Utah. As we passed through, we were surprised to see hot air balloons flying over the former site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Springtime at Lake Balboa

Neek sez:

The ducks were a little feisty when Lex and I visited Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley, California.  A boy and his grandparents were feeding them with loaves of bread which made them go a little crazy.  The lake is filled with reclaimed water from the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant and has been a home for ducks, geese, cormorants, seagulls, turtles, and fish.

Traveling the World in One Day! – The 2017 Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show

Neek sez:

Lex and I walked through 7 continents including Antarctica.  We also skydived over the Colorado River, rode on a gentle camel, and were mesmerized by two South Korean characters who beckoned us to the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games.

We did all of this in only one day at the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show which took place at the LA Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The Desert Dwellers – Visiting the Vasquez Rocks Interpretive Center

Neek sez:

I love interpretive centers!  They are thoughtful, informative and give you answers to questions about the places you visit.  So, starting off, this is what I learned:

The history of Vasquez Rocks starts with the native people, The Tataviam who were here from 200 B.C., years before the first Spanish explorers met them in 1769 when they numbered in the hundreds. 

Do You Recognize this Place? – Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, California

Lex sez:

In the town of Agua Dulce in the Sierra Pelona Mountains is a 932 acre area called the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park.  These are huge rock formations from an uplift about 25 million years ago.  The Tataviam people were living here in grass huts within villages for centuries before the Spanish arrived.

But it was bandit Tiburcio Vasquez, who used these rocks to hide out from authorities in 1873 and 1874, whose name is associated with this amazing formation.

California Rainstorm Brings a Surprise!

 

It’s been a while since California has gotten rain and boy, did we get a lot! We also received a bonus with the rain.

 

It was such a wonderful sight!

A Magical Mystery Winery Tour in Roseburg, Oregon

Lex sez:

One of the highlights of our recent Oregon trip was getting together with relatives to go wine tasting!  My sister Mac had won a prize at work the previous year for herself and guests to visit three different wineries in the Umpqua Valley in Oregon for tasting and lunch.  So since there were so many relatives coming up to see my other sister (for the record, I have three sisters, all drinking wine in the video!) get married, Mac decided to invite many of us as her guests!

We all met in the parking lot of the Paul O’Brien Winery.  There our tour guide, who really did a wonderful job, informed us of the wineries we would be visiting, which up until that point was a surprise!