126. LAX Airport Departure (10/9/2022- 10/10/2022)
- Reserve parking space with a small discount online; an email will come with QR codes
- Drive early morning, stay left lane to prepare to turn left into the garage for the terminal parking
- It would be chaos to park in front of the gate
- American Airlines, park at 4 (can also go to the 3 and 5 and the international terminal)
- $50 per day at the terminal
127. Long Beach West Harbor LA (2/20/2022, 7/30/2022)
- Drive further to LA maritime museum parking with google map search direction of 600 Sampson Way; lots of free parking on the 5th and inside roads on sunday; walk to see the cruise ship dock and USS Iowa battleship; the neighborhood inside (or across the street) is not that good
- San Pedro Seafood Fish Market (expensive fried seafood), walk on then to the endpoint of the harbor with fish boats and nets; it's time to turn around
- Next time - Long Beach Vincent Thoma Bridge (250 S Harbor Blvd, Los Angeles); Harry Bridge Memorial park is beside Hotel Maya; Carnival cruise terminal and queen Mary ship parking; West Harbor LA coming at end of 2023
- 7/30/2022 - Maritime museum free boat tour, announced on the website; arriving at 915AM, parked at 5th street all the way in; arriving at line 930AM, 2nd boat onboarding 1030AM, returning 1145AM, arriving back home 1245PM; one hour tour in and out of the harbor in the port of Los Angeles, big cranes and evergreen tankers, automation of loading docks and old warehouse buildings along the coast
128. Azusa Wilderness Park (4/23/2022)
- 100 N Old San Gabriel Canyon Rd, Azusa - San Gabriel canyon is a long stretch about 10 miles further north from the usual chinatown area; closer to getting to that address, there are a couple places where you can park and cross the street into a bike lane and walk in/out to the other side of the canyon; can also drive further up the hill, there seemed to be people walking
- Free parking and mobile rest room (not seen)
- Easy hiking, on the way to enter crystal lake (no access to the water); 1.5 miles with 0.5 miles of mud road on the fire lane, until at a point to the trail, but rocks were abundant, can't have line of sight to the end of the trail
- 52 minutes into the mountain area then to the east of LA; will be 40min to drive back to rowland heights chinatown area
129. Chino Hill Farm and Attractions (2/27/2022)
- Billy Egg Farm for eggs (36 minutes, then to chino hill state park in total 48 minutes)
- Rojo Farm for vegetable (in total 1 hour)
- Happy Together for HK Barbecue (all very close to each other)
- Maust's California Poultry (13107 E End Ave, Chino, Monday to Saturday 8AM to 530PM, cash no tax), 36 minutes
- Grand Avenue Park (no fee parking)
- Butterfield Park (no parking fee)
- English Springs Park (3/20/2022) - Park at center village drive, street parking busy place street corner park with lots of Chinese, no parking fee; on the opposite side, there are three other trails, McCoy trail, Eucalyptus trail, about three miles
- La Sierra Drive Trailhead (2/27/2022) - This is the best weekend on the yellow wildflowers. Mark the google search destination to the La Sierra trailhead, but then stop before it says you reached the destination. It's a suburban hike of a loop of 2 miles, moderate difficulty with lots of steep ascends and descends, but can be completed. Beautiful pictures.
- Baps shri swaminarayan mandir (2/27/2022) - Just 5 miles from the La Sierra in an industrial and suburban community. Massive compound temple and statue place, need to take off the shoes before entering the main shrine. Very monumental establishments
- Madrugada trail (3/20/2022) - Park at the shopping mall outside of Albertson then walk to the opposite street, walk along the trail with lots of wildflowers. In total 5000 steps about an hour
- U pick strawberry (3/20/2022) - 13604 Cypress, in the suburbs, $3 per person $5 per basket, farm stand has cheap vegetable; $2 carrots and $1 lemons; park on street
- 33.99386, -117.77500; park at grand ave park, free parking but limited spaces, 2.9 miles
130. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve (3/26/2022)
- 15101 Lancaster Rd, Lancaster; best times are April mid month, from 10AM-2PM
- 2 hours 7minutes; 107 miles
- It is a California State Park for their is a $10 per car admissions. Take a senior along and it is $9
- http://parks.ca.gov/?page_id=627
- Trail map http://parks.ca.gov/pages/627/files/P%20R%20trail%20map.pdf
- Parked at roadside but they say police was ticketing earlier; about a mile's walk to the trail start
- Drive on and can right into the far north side of the poppy fields
- North has better scenes, two hours and 10,000 steps
131. Saddleback Butte State Park - Lancaster, CA
- 100 miles, 1 hour 40minutes
- End of March for Persion Daisy
132. Riley's Farm
- U pick schedule https://rileysfarm.com/index.php/u-pick/
- 76 miles, one hour 20 minutes, almost on way to palm springs
133. Laguna Lake, Fullerton
- Free parking, close to Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights
- Total 51 minutes to greatwall supermarket in rowland heights
134. Venice Beach and Venice Canals (2/26/2022)
- 55 minutes drive from 405 into 90W, then mark google map to 2335 ocean avenue at the Carrol Canal Court; parking is very tight so park whenever there is a spot; beachside is $9 fee
- Canals have many walking paths on bridges and along the expansive mansions; then out to the pacific avenue then into the beach boardwalk
- Venice beach has many colors and homeless; walk carefully; can walk into the city of santa monica but can't see the pier
- Venice Beach free parking - Free parking is available on most of the streets in Venice; the spots closest to the beach would be at Pacific Avenue and Strongs Drive near the Venice Canals. Near the Boardwalk, you can look for vacant spots on 18th Avenue, Mildred Avenue, and Venice Way
135. Peter S Schabarum Regional Park at rowland heights
- March 6th weekend has cherry blossom
- Weekday parking free, but weekend $7; can park at the nearby strip mall or at street for free parking
- 45min from home and 10min to the usual shopping area (within 3 miles)
- Also visit 17951 Colima Rd, City of Industry for wild flower
136. Balboa Island at Newport Beach (3/13/2022)
- 20min drive thru Jamboree Road then turn left into the Bayside drive, park at the CVS and Union Bank at the Pavilion
- The fallback would be the Starbucks close to the Porsche dealership; even further would be the corporate park outside of the fashion island golf club parking
- Do not drive into the island, narrow passes and all street parking no place to park
- Walk on the whole island can do 8500 steps. The south canal is more modern than the north
- Main road has the shops and two Cafe places with one mandarin shanghai restaurant
137. Riverside Orange U-Pick (3/27/2022)
- Early March to ripe
- 9624 Cleveland Ave, Riverside CA 92503; early March, 9-2pm open; $15 for 30 pounds
- 7525 Summit Street, Riverside, sponsored by ICAA, on Mar 26 and Mar 27; $12 for a bag of 25 or 30 pounds (3/27/2022) ICCA donation event; 45min, Highway 91 exit at 59 to Adam Street then inside of the Riverside neighborhood are ranches with many orange trees. Bring gloves (must) and push-cart (ideally); park on the mud road then pay for the bag
- 2049 Myers street Riverside then to Fairmount park
138. Solvang, CA (7/3/2022)
- 45min from Lompoc, Danish capital in America
- Set direction to Solvang Park. All parking lots are free and the big lots have restrooms. Its a small town with restaurants, bakeries, fashion brands etc.
- Expensive bakery shops $4.5 Danish cheese rolls
- Visited the Hans Anderson museum close to the bookstore, the mission, about two hours of slow walks
- Windmill, clocktower, mermaid fountain, red clog, Mission Santa Ines, bakery; mission drive, Paula's pancake house; Olsens bakery; Hans Christian Anderson Museum
- 40 minutes on 57 N then 10 W
- Free parking near a small airport at 1615 Mckinley Bracket airport coffee shop; or park at Bonelli Park Swim Beach Parking lot
- Walk the restricted paved road into an RV park then the side road on the right leads to the Frank Bonelli trail; on the left leads to the counter clock walk
- 205-3 hours hiking with 16000 steps, close to raging water park, walk to the street, then walk to the other side of the reservoir/dam to see the scenic views
- Wildflowers spotty in mid-March
140. Walker Canyon Riverside (4/9/2022)
- Wildflower, March to May; but drought in the recent years stopped the bloom at all in 2022
- 26900 Walker Canyon Road, Lake Elsinore. The driveway to the Riverside reserve place was blocked; walked into the blockade but the roads were not maintained
- Walked the hills up, moderately steep, 3500 steps and came to a stop sign that says trespassing will violate the laws, so just stopped there; no wildflower bloom
- 45 minutes drive into 91 exit 51 to 15 south exit 81; there were about 10 parking spaces available
141. Lompoc, CA (7/3/2022)
- Arrived the town close to sunset, lacking city plans, small and outdated. Lots of smoke Shop, CBD shop, liqueur shops
- Ocean Avenue has the hotel O'Cairen, a large motel with hot breakfast offers in a nice breakfast setting. To the west, drive five miles to see the flower fields. Check the website explore... for live updates on the flowers
- Lomoc flower field, set google direction to - 3314-3568 W Central Ave, Lompoc, CA 93436
- https://explorelompoc.com/flower-fields/
- Another five miles has the surf Beach of the Amtrak station and Ocean park
- The 45min to Solvang
142. Topanga Malibu (4/16/2022)
- Topanga cafe
- Nathan Stein Park, 900 Via Panorama, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274
- Fred Hesse Ju Community Park 29301 Hawthorne Blvd, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
- Los Leones Trail (4/16/2022) wildflower at end of January, free parking on street with many posh hikers with fashionable sports clothes, 2 hours hike to the first stop of overlook views, then drive 5min to Paseo Miranmar Viewpoint for the coastline and downtown LA (part of the Topanga state park). The drive was completely in wealthy neighborhood, there are probably 4 parking slots along the street way that's closest to the top (should not go again); close to Malibu; Pacific Coast Highway to Sunset Bl to 1st light, turn on to Los Liones and there is plenty of free parking
143. LA Fleet Week (5/29/2022)
- Free parking lot at 460 W 7th street parking lot (that says Sunday parking is free) or at 5th that's closer to the water close to the maritime museum; arrive early at 9:30am
- Walk 20min to the Battleship Iowa, wait for 10am gate open for security checks
- When inside the exhibitions, walk directly to the "Ship Tour" line at the very end, all lines will point to the shuttle bus service at the port of Los Angeles dock 46 where the big boats are park din the restricted areas
- Each ship tour is 45min, toured USS Essex and USS Portland
- Food truck vendors are all very expensive with $15-$35 per plate food
144. San Diego Downtown (4/30/2022)
- Annie's canyon trail (4/30/2022) - not long, moderate (way down), difficult (way up) in narrow pathway in the slot canyon, close to Torry Pines
- Maritime museum and Midway museum (4/30/2022) -
- Set direction to the Ketch and Grill restaurant, 1360 North Harbor; lots of parking on the street, next time try the metered parking right after the Midway Museum
- Little Italy (4/30/2022) with Art Walk, from the Midway Museum, 25min walk into the India Street then about 15 min back
- Los Penasquitos Canyon trail, between Mira Mesa and Carmel Valley, has waterfall, not climbing steps
- Otay Lake - Chulta Vista dam, very flat, less than an hour
- Blacks beach trail head, at a neighborhood area, park at roadside, about an hour, not steep
- Next time - The taco stand, El Pescador Fish Market, Phil's BBP, Liberty Public Market
145. Hearst Castle, San Simeon (7/2/2022)
- https://hearstcastle.org/
- Set google direction to Hearst Castle visiting center. This is a CA state park facility
- Ticketing has various tours to choose from. First timer - the grand tour, on-site ticketing is 10min for each bus, $30 with 30min on the ground outside and 20min in five guest entrance and party rooms; bus rides up and down the hills, in total it's 100min guided tour, well worth the experience
- Saw many animals on the ranch, zebra horses, black angus, goats; massive property and full of history of American political life and Hollywood entertainment industry
- The visiting center has cafeteria of the usual sandwich
- Ideas for visits in the next time - 1) San Simeon is less known beach with modest motels on the highways, 13 miles of donated beach land to CA state park 2) there is a school by the Hearst family on the beach side of the highway, that has exhibits 3) it's part of the Paso Roble society with lots of luxury wineries and ranches
146. Escondido Falls near Malibu
- Google direction to Visitor Parking for Escondido Falls
- 2 hours for 71 miles
147. San Diego Deer Park Monastery
- https://deerparkmonastery.org/
- Advance planning and registration required
148. Old World Village, Huntington Beach (7/9/2022)
- Set google direction tot he old village deli, it's about 19min from the Bolsa Chica state beach; parking lot is free but small
- Similar to Solvang, this is a strip mall in the guise of the Germantown. Most of the shops are local, such as piano lessons, salons, cafes and restaurants (traditional American breakfast $16). The deli place has many of the European snacks, cooking sauce, sausages and probably fresh baked goods but the bakery was not open
149. Arroyo Pecadero Trailhead (4/23/2022)
- Park at roadside very early (before 8am?); no other parking spaces; opposite the road has plenty of parking yet pedestrian crossing of the roads are not allowed
- 7531 South Colina Rd, Whitter, CA
- 50minutes drive, very close to rowland heights
150. Soda Lake Road
