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“Pic of the Week”, September 12, 2014: Sunset, Pismo Beach, California
One of my favorite stretches of the California coast is that around San Luis Obispo. Thirty years ago this was relatively undeveloped, but that’s much less true today.
This week’s photo is of a sunset in Pismo Beach. It was a lovely fall evening. We were just checking in to our hotel when I stepped out on the balcony and took in this beautiful view. Fortunately I had my camera at hand and got a decent photo of it.
Sep 11, 2014
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.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
John Steinbeck Country: 2) Salinas. The National Steinbeck Center
John Steinbeck is one of the greatest writers in American history and certainly a favorite of mine. This is the second installment in a series describing my visit to John Steinbeck country. In part one we looked at John Steinbeck’s boyhood home in Salinas. This post discusses the other significant Steinbeck attraction in Salinas, the National Steinbeck Center, a museum focusing on the life, times and writings of its most famous citizen.
The Steinbeck Center Foundation was established in 1983 and fifteen years later (June 27, 1998) the center itself was finished and opened to the public. The center is the most significant archives of Steinbeck’s work anywhere, and presents Steinbeck’s life, its formative processes and significant events, and …
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
John Steinbeck Country: 1) Salinas. The Steinbeck House
I greatly admire and enjoy the writing of American novelist, John Steinbeck — in fact, you’ll see a quote from one of Steinbeck’s books underneath my blog’s banner. Steinbeck was born and grew up in the small farming town of Salinas, California, in 1902. His formative experiences in and around this community were extremely influential on his life view and future writing, including his Nobel prize winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” .
It had been decades since I’d last stopped in Salinas and I knew that a new Steinbeck museum had opened in town which I very much wanted to see. So while doing an (all too short) California road trip with two of my Arthur C. Clarke buddies, electronics engineer …
Tagged California, John Steinbeck, Monterey, Salinas, Steinbeck House
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
A backpacking trip to Sequoia National Park: Pear Lake (The Lakes Trail)
Most folks visit Sequoia National Park to see its giant sequoia trees, the largest living things on the earth! That’s a great reason to go and there are wonderful hikes through these amazing forests of giants and the meadows that surround them. But Sequoia National Park also provides access to the high Sierra Mountain range comparable to what you find in the high country of Yosemite National Park (like around the Tioga Pass Road).
When I lived in Southern California, Pear Lake was one of my favorite places to go backpacking, having made five separate trips there (two with my oldest son when he was just a boy, and one with my dear friend Dr. Gary Schwartz, the best oncologist in …
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
Mission San Juan Capistrano. The “Jewel” of the California Missions
I love honesty in advertising! When a place as historically famous as Mission San Juan Capistrano tells you it’s “Worth a Visit”, it’s not only a believable claim but likely one of the most understated in all of California. Founded in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra, San Juan Capistrano is one of a string of missions in the state and home to the state’s oldest surviving buildings. This is a much beloved place and is known as “The Jewel of the Missions” because of its beauty. Despite severe earthquake damage in 1812, which collapsed the roof of the Great Stone Church (still in ruins) and killed 40 people, Capistrano has endured and still functions as an active church. It …
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
“Pic of the Week”, August 1, 2014″: Serra’s Church, Mission San Juan Capistrano
While exploring the grounds of Mission San Juan Capistrano — known as the “Jewel” of the California Missions — you’ll come upon a small chapel. It’s Serra Church, the oldest church in California, named after Father Junipero Serra who founded this mission (and eight other California missions). Our highlighted photo includes the “Golden Altar”, an early Baroque-style retablo, which is a relatively recent addition to the church. The altar is from Barcelona, handcrafted almost 400 years ago of cherry wood and overlaid in gold leaf. It was installed in the Serra Church sometime between 1922-1924.
Serra Church was built in 1782, six years after Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded (on All Saint’s day, November 1, 1776). It was one of the first …
Tagged chapel, church, Father Serra, mission, Mission San Juan Capistrano
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
Yosemite National Park: Hiking in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
The state of California has some pretty remarkable scenery. Where else can you find the world’s …
Oldest trees (bristle-cone pines)
Tallest trees (redwoods)
Largest/most massive trees (sequoias)…
…but in California? I know it’s a rhetorical question, but there’s no area I know of that offers such variety.
As one might imagine, to walk in a grove of giant sequoias is a most memorable experience. If you’ve never felt small and insignificant in life, you likely will when you stand beside an ancient sequoia tree. The largest density of sequoia trees is in California’s Sequoia National Park, south of Yosemite, including the tree known as “General Sherman”, the world’s largest living thing. Yosemite National Park has two groves of …
.All Trips / California / Southwestern USA
Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, California
“They call it paradise, I don’t know why.
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye. ”
The Eagles
There’s a lot of great reasons to visit sunny Southern California. It has a near perfect Mediterranean climate with months of sunny dry days. There’s lots of fascinating sights to see, like those centered around the movie industry and the many family theme parks (Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Legoland). But you’ll certainly not find solitude here and there are very few “wide open spaces” left in the …
Tagged beach, California, Crystal Cove, hiking, Newport Beach, tidepools
