Day 24

Grand Central Market                          Los Angeles, CA


Located on S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles is the oldest and largest open air market in this area.  Since 1917 people have been buying fruit, veggies, meats, spices and a bunch of other things from the Grand Central Market.  Pretty sure you could get any kind of spice here and a bunch of random things for cooking especially Mexican food....They also have tons of eating places, mostly Chinese and Mexican food but they had other types also.  Parking is free for an hour with purchase at the market...Cool place to grab something to eat, shop, or just walk through and look at everything..

                                                           Tons of fruits and veggies

                                                  Lots of people looking for good deals

                                                                   Spice!

                                                         So gross I had to take a picture!!!!

Day 23

Angels Flight                                       Los Angeles, CA

Built in 1901 Angels Flight is the "Shortest Railroad in the World".  When the ride opened it cost one cent to ride and lasted one minute.  It would transport passengers along the steep grid of Hill and 3rd streets and Bunker Hill.  In 1969 the train was dismantled to make way for all of the changes that had been happening in that area.  26 years later they began to reconstruct it a half a block down from it's original location and in Feb of 1996 it was reopened, with a one way fair of 25 cents. 
I had seen this many times in old pictures of Los Angeles and had always wanted to go check it out and finally I went however it is closed for about a month for repairs!!!!!  I was bummed but at least I got to see it and it was running because they were doing so tests on it, so at least I got to see it going back and forth.  We decided to take the 200plus stairs to the top so we got a good work out!!!  Almost to the top is a little park called Angels Knoll, it over looks a lot of downtown LA and there is an area that was in a couple scenes of 500 days of Summer, the bench has a little plaque on it so you can sit in the exact bench that was used in the scene..  Finally got to the very top of Angles Flight and to look down on to the tracks you can see how steep it is, crazy!!  the view is great!  Wait until it is open again and check it out!!!  It's only 25cents a ride!!  I will go back when it's working for sure!!  :)

                                                          Entrance to Angels Flight

                                                                 The train car

                                                               View from Angles Knoll

                                                                   At the top!

                                                                         HI Brad!!

                                                                 Look how steep it is!!!! 

Day 22

Los Angeles Public Central Library                              Los Angeles, CA

 I have always heard that this library is beautiful, so I had to check it out!!!  Located on 5th street in  downtown LA, the outside of the building is very pretty and it is surrounds by trees and cool water fountains.  There is an older and a newer part of the library, the Rotunda is part of the older part and it amazing,  I couldn't stop taking pictures and just looking at it, there is so much detail!  Throughout the library are small exhibits to look at, one of exhibits being featured right now is Forty Years of Sesame Street Illustration,  sooo cute!!  The new part of the library is cool very modern and makes the library huge, it goes 3 stories below the ground!  Free to get in however parking is so outrageous and you need a library card to get validation, so don't forget your card!! Or if you don't have one still go and just get one when you're there!!

Day 21

San Diego County Fair                               Del Mar, CA



  We decide to take The Coaster to the fair,  the Coaster is a train that travels from Oceanside down to San Diego with several stops along the way.  What a great way to go! We cruised right along the coast, didn't have to worry about traffic, could just relax and enjoy the ride.....We got off the coaster and then on to the shuttle which took us straight to the fair..
The first thing we did when we got there was eat!! Fried girl scout cookies, fried brownies, chocolate covered bacon, fried butter and even FRIED KOOL-AID!!!!!  haha it was kind of hard to find something that is not fried!!  We got some BBQ'd chicken and it was super yummy! Then we went to check out the awesome photography exhibit, so many great photos, I am entering for sure next year!!  Then we checked out the horses, saw the Turkey races, a really cute dog show, the goats, the cows, the bunnies soo much to see there!!  We also watched a horse show the kind where they jump over the jumps, it was super cool! I have never seen that before!  There is soooo much to do and see here, it really is an awesome fair.... There are tons of things for adults and kids to do here and a lot of things are free!!! It's $13 for adults, Kids & Seniors are $7 and kids 5 and under are free...If you take the Coaster you get $1.75 off of your ticket..... The Fair runs through the 4th, for a fun day out check it out!!

                                                              Waiting for the Coaster!

                                                           View from the Coaster ride

                                            OMG!!!!!!!!! How do you fry Kool-Aid?!?!

                                                                  Turkey Races!!!

                                             Cute doggies all rescues and so cute (for little dogs)

                                                   I love this pic!!  Little Piggy!!!

Day 20

California Citrus State Historical Park                     Riverside, CA



I wasn't sure what to expect here, but I was very pleasantly surprised!!  There were so many citrus trees it was really hard to believe!!!    There are 2 sections to this park, we started at the upper part first, they have the welcome center, with a small museum inside explaining how the orange fields started there.  There are several trails around so we decided to go to the top to check out the awesome view...After hiking up there we drove down to the lower part of the park which had tons of very well kept picnic areas and of course more trees!!  You are not allowed to pick the fruit however we did take a few off of the ground(not sure if you are supposed too) but they were the best tasting oranges!!!!!!  So so juicy!!!  It is a great place to visit, tons of hiking trails(dogs on leashes are allowed) really great picnic areas and some history!  It's a state Park so parking is 5 dollars but the park is FREE!!!

                                                     All the different smudge pots

                                                             Citrus trees everywhere!

                                           I was just pretending I got it off of the floor! :)

                                                  One of the paved trails...They have both

Day 19

March Field Air Museum                                 Riverside, CA


So Day 19 was Father's Day so I wanted to find a place I have never been that my dad would like also and I found the perfect place!!!  March Field Air Museum located in Riverside, was really cool especially for my dad who worked for McDonnell Douglas/Boeing before retiring.  They have tons of different types of airplanes out there on display and for 3 extra dollars you can take a little tram around and the guide tells you the history and interesting facts about the planes and how they were used in history.  You can't go in the planes but you can walk up to them and get close enough to really check them out....One of the planes however you can go into if you want to have a kids Birthday party in it!! Kind of cool if your kid loves airplanes!  After the tour we went inside the hanger where they have some smaller planes and many different things on display...
10 bucks to get in and 3 extra for the tram tour  Very much worth the price!!
My dad really enjoyed it!!!  :)

                                                     me and my dad inside the museum

                                                             Some of the planes

                                                                          Stealth

                                                     Displays inside of the museum

Day 18

The Debbie Reynolds Auction at the Paley Center for Media                           Beverly Hills, ca


What a fun and interesting day this was!! My good friend James and I went to the Debbie Reynolds Auction in hopes of buying the Laurel and Hardy car and a little famous white dress ;)   We got there just before it started and it was packed!!  The big theater was full and so we were in an over flow area surrounded by so many costumes from tons of old movies that were worn by people such as Marilyn Monroe, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, etc...... It was amazing to look around the room and see the costumes and then see the video or picture of it.  The auction begin and the 4th idea went for $210,000, I was like WOW!!!  and that was just the beginning,  that amount of money was nothing!!  We decided to head upstairs to check out what was up there, 2 huge rooms just filled with costumes, furniture, pictures, old movie posters and even a lock of Mary Pickfords hair!!  (weird)  Debbie Reynolds originally bought these items hoping that some day she would be able to open a museum, however it was never able to happen so she decided to auction them off, it really is a shame because it was so cool to see all of this and it would be perfect for a mesuem!!!!  We stayed for several hours and saw many things bought for tons of money including the original ruby slippers that were only used for 2 weeks and never shown in the film go for 910,000 well over a million after fee and taxes!  We wanted to wait for the White Marilyn dress but it was going to be awhile for that, it ended up selling for 4.6 million about 5.52 million after taxes!!!  So so crazy!!!
It was a fun day!!  She is having another event in December, if you are interested in movie history it is something to check out!!

                                                           The overflow auction area

                                        The famous white dress however it is now yellowish/tan

                                                               James car he wanted!!

                                   the Dorthy dress and shoes in front of it never used in the actual movie

         

Day 17

Batiquitos Lagoon                            Carlsbad, ca


Thanks to my friend David telling me about this place I decided to check it out!!  I have passed this place many times and have never stopped!  but after David let me know you could have dogs there I thought I better check it out!!  Myself along with my mom, dad, brother, sis in law, nephew and 3 dogs all headed down there for a day at the lagoon....  The lagoon is huge and on one part of it you can rent jet skis, water bikes, paddle boards, etc and go water skiing, or the other side where we went it is just a beach and you can relax, get some good sun and watch the doggies play..... Technically the dogs have to be on a leash but it is rarely patrolled so as long as you are keeping an eye out you can have them off of the leash..... Parking is free and the beach is free, it's a great place to check out!!

                                                        Waiting for me to throw the ball!!

                                                        my nephew having the best time!

                                                             Just hanging out eating watermelon

                                                       Kaden and the doggies!!

Day 16

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve           Huntington Beach


Having grown up in Huntington Beach, I really can not believe I have not been here!!  I have driven past it hundreds of times and always said I need to go their one day so finally my mom and I went!  We went in the later afternoon so the sun was out, their was a slight breeze and it was very beautiful.  There are 2 areas you can enter at, we started with the entrance off of the middle of PCH, getting out of the car you can here sooo many birds!!  We walked across the bridge, looked across the way and we could see thousands of birds called the Least Tern.   Over on a small island was all of their babies so the parents were flying and diving for fish to feed them....  It was really cool to watch...We also saw a black and white sand piper, which I have never seen before....We walked a little farther and then you can see another area that you can not see from the road and there were several other types of birds.  It is a great place to come to bird watch or for a walk or a run, there are lots of trails and not a lot of people, however there are no doggies allowed here... A wonderful way to spend a couple hours and it is free!!!

                                                       Entrance into the wetlands

                                                        Thousands of Least Tern birds

                                                             A close up of a Least Tern

                                                               Black and white sandpiper

                                                                Other types of birds

Day 15

The Terranea Resort           Palos Verdes


The Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes is an amazing place to stay!  Thanks to my good friend Carylynn (who works at one of their sister resorts in Colorado) we were able to stay here!   The views here are awesome!!  Everywhere you look is Ocean!  There is a lot to do here, they have 3 Ocean view pools, a waterslide, a private beach with a cave, a spa, a golf course and hiking trails!  The hiking trails are actually open to the public so you don't have to actually be staying at the resort to enjoy a beautiful 2 mile hike around the resort, the trails are also dog friendly!!  If you need a quick local get away this is the place to go and relax!!!

oh and also you will never see any seagulls here because they have a guy here who's job is to keep them away and he does that with his hawk and his owl!!  We were wondering around the resort a man drives by in a golf cart looking thing with these 2 big birds chillin on perches, no cages!  So of course I had to talk to him plus I wanted to see them up close and ask why they were there!  So, he flies the birds around the resort and the seagulls stay away!  I have never heard of that, so cool!!  The Owl was sooooo pretty, I didn't take a picture cause I didn't want him to freak out or anything, I wish I would have though!!

                                             View of the resort from the private beach

                                                              One of the many trails

                                                                        The lighthouse

                                                                   One of the 3 pools

                                                     Me and my friends getting some sun!