[LA.pm] Fwd: OT: Visiting California with family

[John Kirk]

Hi Sawako Leslie and all,

  Happy to oblige.  Here's what I sent off-list.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 2:55 PM

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 12:54 PM, Gabor Szabo <szabgab at gmail.com> wrote:

> I hope you will forgive me for the off-topic question.
> My family (kids 9 and 13, my wife and myself)
> are planning to visit California in April. Besides the "obvious" places
> such as Disney Land, Seaworld, Universal Studio, the San Diego Zoo
> and "near by" Grand Canyon I would be happy to get some
> recommendations. What might be interesting for kids at that age?
> Please take in account that they hardly know any English.
>

  If you do plan to get as far North as San Francisco, or thereabouts, I
have two suggestions.

  On the ocean side of the San Francisco peninsula, only a mile or two down
the coast, there is a place at the shore where the slopes to the ocean and
the winds coming ashore are ideal for hang-gliding, para-gliding and flying
radio-controlled, engine-less model gliders.  It's always been one of my
life-enhancing experiences to watch folks get off work in the mid-afternoon,
drive their VW minibusses to the parking lot, unfold their hang gliders and
step off the cliff and simply fly for hours on end, up and down the coast,
higher and higher and, when tired of this, fly lower and step back onto the
cliff and drive home.

  At Monterey, South of San Francisco, there's an awesome public aquarium
that I've never seen anything like.  The Monterey Bay has absolutely unique
habitat for flora and fauna of the ocean, so the research center, there,
associated with the aquarium does wonderful work.

  The coastline of California -- especially for many miles near Monterey --
is just awesome.  Coves, offshore rock formations, the Torrey Pines and
other flora.

  In Southern California, where I grew up, I have some (awfully dated)
suggestions.

  There's a day hike I used to love, in the desert just past Palm Springs
North of the town called Indio.  It's a County Park, and called, I believe,
Painted Canyon.  I just relocated back to Southern California after being
away for thirty years, so I haven't been back to that location recently to
see how it's fared, being so close, by freeway, to "civilization".

  There's also a place in the desert North of the L.A. area called Vasquez
Rocks.  I loved it as a kid and, back then, it was owned privately and
operated as a day-and-overnite car-camping site.  Kids can climb under and
around a huge natural rock formation that is reputed to have been the
hideout of the bandit, Vasquez, back in the day.  I haven't been there
recently, either, but understand it's still available.

  My father was the curator for ten years in the forties and fifties of the
Southwest Museum, where there's a light-rail stop now.  I haven't seen it
lately, and have heard it's been ransacked by bureaucrats, but it might
still be interesting casually.  There's a horizontal, long pedestrian tunnel
with dioramas, leading to an elevator up to the hilltop museum.  It always
used to be a wonderful kids introduction to the Southwest Indians of this
several-state area.

  The San Diego Zoo used to be the best one I've ever seen.  Haven't been
there lately, either.

  Sorry to ramble on, but I'm back here because I've missed it so.  Feel
free to get in touch anytime, by email or phone.  I'll be happy to help or
host in any way I can.

               regards,   -- John Kirk
                                 (267) 882-7777
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