12 Hidden Fun Locations in San Diego

If you love to travel, and always look for the best deals to do so, you probably know about TravelZoo.com. Travel Zoo scours the internet for the best travel deals every week, and shares them with its thousands of followers. Travel Zoo also provides local tips and locations to increase the flavor of any journey. I was happy to find a great list of hidden gems in San Diego in this week's email. As a San Diego local, I can vouch for most of these. But even I was surprised to learn about places like Queen Califia’s Magical Circle and swings overlooking the ocean near UCSD. Take a look for similar ideas for hour and half day activities in and around San Diego County.

Quickest Way To See All 50 States

An L.A. Times article describing one man's geospatially analyzed plan to road-trip to all Lower 48 States in the shortest time possible. Tack on flights to Hawaii and Alaska and it's still possible to see the country in a week with continual driving.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trb-fifty-states-road-trip-20140625-story.html

Colorado Plateau and Grand Staircase

Sunset over Grand Canyon

I love geography and geology! Which is why I have been studying them for the past few years. The best part about studying Earth Science is that field studies are required to see and understand geophysical features and processes. So I went on a week-long field trip to parks around the Colorado Plateau. We memorized layers of the Grand Canyon and Grand Staircase, discussed water use and allocation in the arid Southwest, the influence of different cultures and agriculture on vegetation and land use, and much more. If you're coming out this way, bring water. We're running low.

See group pictures here: https://grossmontcollegefieldcourses.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Standing on the Bright Angel Fault

Bright Angel Canyon and Trail

Navajo Bridge at Lee's Ferry

Arch and Rainbow Point at Bryce Canyon

Bryce Point Overlook

Wall Street, Navajo Loop Trail, Bryce

Grosvenor Arch

 

Eric found a dinosaur footprint

Weeping Rock at Zion

Private Tour at Johnson Farm Dinosaur Tracks

Newspaper Rock at Valley of Fire

More pictographs at Valley of Fire

10 Great Out-of-the-way State Parks

 I love locations off the beaten path that leave you feeling like you discovered a great secret that you get to keep. State Parks are some of those locations. This article from USA Today lists 10 from around the US that offer unique experiences. I would add Custer State Park in South Dakota, Snow Canyon in Utah, and Lake Ahquabi in Iowa. All are worth checking out though. What State Park would you add, that's off the beaten path? 10 Great, Hidden State Parks

Fun Festivals!

Festivals for EveryoneIf you read this blog, you know I love random summer festivals. Here's an awesome list from the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323855804578511042541521814.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5

The Land of the Free

From Yahoo. Check out Yahoo's list of Top 10 free places to visit. What would you include on the list? I would add Great Basin National Park, Temple Square, and Balboa Park. http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/america-s-best-free-attractions.html

Great Basin National Park

While driving back from the Northern California Geology Field Trip Class, I finally made it to a place I have long sought to visit. Great Basin National Park is on the eastern edge of Nevada and quite out of the way from any major or even small city. The tiny hamlet of Baker, NV sits at the base of the park, but there is not much else even close by. Ely, NV is an hour west and Delta, UT is a few hours east. The siren call of this remote wilderness is the unique biological wonder of bristlecone pines on Mt. Wheeler. I have visited the other major stand of bristlecones in the White Mountains east of the Sierra Nevadas in Cali and discussed those in an earlier post on here because they are the coolest trees ever. I'm not a big plant person, preferring rocks to most vegetation, but bristlecones are the oldest known living individual organisms (as opposed to colonies or clones) in the world. And these trees live in some of the most inhospitable environments in the world, growing at and above treeline in remote great basin locales. The Methuselah Tree is over 4,400 years old; it's location kept secret by park officials to prevent defacement. To read more click the title of this post to go to the park website. Enjoy the pics, all of which are copyrighted A. Keller 2011.

NorCal Geology

This summer I had the wonderful opportunity to take a geology field trip class to Northern California to visit the Modoc Plateau and Lassen Volcanic National Park. These are areas I had never visited before and the chance to see them for such a cheap price was more than enough incentive to go. I met up with the class at Devil's Post Pile and left my car in Mammoth to continue in the vans with the class. The following day we drove to Lava Beds National Monument. Lava Beds has the largest collection of lava tubes in North America so spelunking was the name of the game. Bats live in some of the caves, one cave even has ice in it year round. The area was also home to the Modoc Indians before they were sent to the Klamath Reservation. A small band came back and fought a gorilla war against US troops. Led by Captain Jack, they hid out amongst the lava outcroppings and kept the soldiers at bay for 6 months before half the group rebelled and turned in Capt Jack. Just east of the monument is the remnants of the Tule Lake Segregation Camp where thousands of Japanese Americans were illegally held during WW II. We toured the camp "jail" and saw some of the scribbled notes on the walls left by occupants.

Colorado

Having a truck driver for a friend can be interesting. He rolls into town randomly, we go get food, and he tells me what parts of the country he's visited, usually making me jealous. I've mentally debated numerous times becoming a trucker for the ability to see so much of the country, constant driving, and the slightly flexible schedule. It's not conducive to dating or family life though, plus there are enough other things I want to do. Anyhow, said friend quit his trucking job at one company and was starting at another in Colorado. The wonderful part was that he needed a ride to CO and of course I was happy to comply. We drove all night to get him there by morning to start training. Afterward I got to choose my route back and took a rather squiggly shaped tour though Rocky Mountain National Park, Leadville, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and towns along the way. Driving out of Leadville was fascinating to me as I passed so many 14,000'+ peaks, including the highest peak in Colorado Mt. Elbert. I saw the head waters of both the Colorado and Arkansas Rivers. These are not terribly far from each other, but both flow thousands of miles in opposite directions. Rocky Mountain NP is an all right place to visit, but not high on my list of places to return to. Black Canyon of the Gunnison is now one of my favorite places ever! A massively deep canyon only a couple hundred yards across, I watched the sun set over the rim, tinting the steep rock walls with glorious shades of pinks and yellows. Enjoy the pics, all are Copyright A. Keller, 2011.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Headwaters of the Colorado River, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

National Mining Hall of Fame, Leadville, CO

Old Schoolhouse, Leadville, CO

Mount Elbert 14,440' Highest in CO

Mount Massive 14,428'

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

I'll be back to tell you about my geology field trip to NE California, including the Modoc Plateau and Lassen Volcano.