Red Rock Canyon is located just 17 miles from the strip. Who knew there was so much nature near so much debauchery? Its proximity to a big city means it gets busy (four million visitors per year!). Because of this, we weren’t able to go the scenic drive through the park (which is timed, reservation …
Baker, Nevada is the closest town to Great Basin National Park. In summer months, there is more action here but during off season, there is not one restaurant in sight. There is a non-manned gas station and a small general store in a small hotel (with the nicest owners, one of which worked as the …
Three miles up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive winter visitors will find a road closed sign and a parking lot. There are a few hiking path options from here but at 7,500 feet elevation, the majority of the only road that goes through Great Basin National Park is closed for the season. We enjoyed the …
St. George Discovery Site is a large warehouse building built over the location where a local optometrist and his wife were leveling their property and hit the paleontologist jackpot. (They have since donated their land to science.) 200 million years ago St. George had a large lake where dinosaurs would come to hunt and swim, …
Rancho Guejito was established in 1845. It is one of the oldest vineyards in California. Nothing is better than drinking wine while cruising on a hayride through history while celebrating birthdays. Love this place.
Each Thursday before Halloween Oceanside’s Thursday Sunset Market is transformed into Haunted Market, where kids can don their Halloween costumes and go from booth to booth trick-or-treating for candy, honey sticks and miniature cheesecakes. Sunset Market is amazing but this festive version is even better.
2023 marks Oceanside’s 22nd annual Día de los Muertos event. This is the third year that the backdrop of one of my favorite events of the year is historic Downtown Oceanside. There is so much color, culture, craft and cempasúchil (marigold) in one place. The woman in the white huipil makes a life size paper …
It is mid October. There are a lot of cities and states that are smelling winter in the air as the weather cools through fall. But we live in Oceanside, where the sent of sunblock, seaweed, and melted popsicles never goes away.
Heritage Park is a small Oceanside city park with a collection of historic Oceanside buildings constructed in the late 1800s. Usually these buildings are closed to the public but today, as Oceanside Park and Rec volunteers passed out candy, the interior were revealed. I was expecting pumpkin painting, costumes, trick-or-treating and a movie on the …
Giant Dutchman’s Pipe is a tropical evergreen vine native to humid forests of Central and South America. Its flowers are a velvety burgundy color and smell of lemon drops. They can bloom up to two feet long by one feet wide. They are beautiful but deadly, if ingested they can cause irreversible kidney failure. It …
Petco Park is a 40,209 capacity ballpark named after the San Diego-based pet supply company (whose naming rights end in 2027). Petco Park is located in the middle of Downtown San Diego, and is home to the San Diego Padres. The stadium is beautiful, there is no other place I would rather watch a baseball …
Nissan Super Girl Surf Pro is the largest female surf contest in the world. It was developed in 2007, to showcase women in a male dominated sport. Now it is a three day event with sports (surf and volleyball), live music, merchandise and food. It has turned into a festival, and it is located right …
Wilderness Gardens Preserve is a 737-acre preserve in Pala, CA. It is one of our favorite places to go since we typically have the preserve to ourselves. Today we brought a bike so that we could walk further faster. Although it isn’t specifically a posted rule, I don’t think bikes are technically allowed at preserves, …
Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the second largest state park in the United States and, as a bonus, it is surrounded by public wilderness area. Anza Borrego is also the second place in the world designated as an International Dark Sky Community. Naturally it is the perfect place to come to watch the Perseid …
We are lucky living in Oceanside, for lots of reasons. One of them being there is a train station, providing a convenient and fun way to travel. There is also a train station in Old Town, San Diego, making it an ideal day trip. Old Town was orginally Kumiai land, but when the Spaniards arrived …