Disneyland - SETP Symposium

Disneyland is 120 miles from Edwards and depending on the time of day and traffic, 2.5-4 hours. If you plan to make multiple visits, consider the Southern California Season Pass or a Costco 4-visit pass.

If you're heading to Disneyland for an SETP (Society of Experimental Test Pilots) symposium, consider these suggestions to make your visit more special:

1. Six miles from Mickey, but worlds apart is Park Avenue: 11200 Beach Blvd, Stanton, CA‎ -(714) 901-4400‎. Check their website for no-corkage-fee nights and fried chicken nights. Don't take the kids!

2. Pack breakfast foods. Call your intended hotel first and find out if you'll have a refrigerator. Then, pack a cooler with breakfast foods, snacks and water. You won't regret carrying a snack into the Disney parks when you see the prices.

3. Splurge what you saved on breakfast at the Napa Rose inside the Grand Californian Hotel. Reservations are strongly recommended. The entree prices are high, but it's a good value and you can't beat the location.

4. Walk to P.F. Chang's. Walk from the Disneyland hotels south on Disneyland Drive and go left on W. Katella Ave.

5. Skip the parks. If you're tired of Mickey and Friends, consider visiting the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. It's 15 miles away from the parks.

6. Take the kids to the beach. Just because you're at a conference at Disneyland doesn't mean you need to take the kids to the parks EVERY DAY. Drive 10 miles south and enjoy Huntington Beach.

Pinnacles National Monument

Pinnacles National Monument is a long 267 miles from Edwards - budget 5+ hours to get there. This park is accessible from the west (Hwy 101) and from the East (I-5), but there is no road running through the park. So you need to decide before you head out what you plan to do.

If you head to the eastern entrance, be fuel aware. The last gas en route is in Coalinga, some 62 miles from the park. Also, the only campground is at the east entrance (but hotel lodging is more readily available at the west entrance). Admission is $5, or free with the National Parks Pass.

Dan accompanied me up to Pinnacles for a 1-night camping trip. We drove up Saturday morning (left 8am, arrived 1pm) and hiked a 6.7 mile loop. High Peaks Trail to Condor Gulch Trail. Along this hike, you get to see great rocky 'pinnacles' and the Bear Gulch Cave. It's not a cave in the traditional sense, but a cave-like area created by boulders piling up. Take a flashlight and plenty of water, since the High Peaks Trail is mostly exposed.

We camped overnight in the Pinnacles Campground. It had pay showers (bring quarters) and a pool (very cold). The 8pm ranger presentation in the outdoor amphitheater was excellent. Note that when we went, no open fires were allowed. You had to bring a camp stove on which to cook.

On Sunday, we drove over to the Old Pinnacles Trailhead parking lot and did a 5.3 mile out-and-back to the Balconies Cave. This cave is longer, with more bats, and is darker than the Bear Gulch Cave. And this trail was mostly level, as it follows the West Fork of Chalone Creek.

Why is Pinnacles neat? From nps.gov, here is a good summary: Pinnacles National Monument began as a volcano that first erupted about 195 miles south of its present location. It has traveled northward along the San Andreas Fault, and currently moves at a rate of about 2 - 3 centimeters per year.

Other than hiking and tame spelunking, this park does not offer much. But it was very refreshing to find a park with a 6.7 mile loop trail (you can make this loop longer, too).

Palm Springs

Plan 2.5 hours for this 140 mile drive - and make sure you head to Palm Springs other than during the summer. It won't provide relief from the heat! This trip is great for a normal weekend or 3-day weekend. But it may not be the best place to take the kids.

Our first visit to Palm Springs started at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (just southeast of Palm Springs). Don't bother - the lake is dirty and stinks, and there are dead fish along the banks. The visitor center is small and its only draw is a 15-minute video on the geological history of the lake. Between Palm Springs and the Salton Sea are several date orchards and associated gift shops. All are kitschy, but worth

dropping in for 15 mins. We stopped at Oasis Date Gardens (59111 State Hwy 111, Thermal CA) with our picnic basket. They have picnic tables and you can buy dessert inside (date milkshake).

In Palm Springs proper, we stayed at the 1950s themed Rendezvous B&B. This place was excellent because it had a great breakfast and cocktail hour (snacks and signature Rendezvous blue martinis). Plus, the staff was very knowledgeable about the local area. We bought discount tickets for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway at Rendezvous. The tram car actually rotates 360 degrees twice on each trip. So stand anywhere because you'll see it all. Worth the $23 - but arrive early because the place was packed by noon! At the top (summertime), you can hike in the San Jacinto State Park. In the winter, you can snowshoe or sled ride. Pack a lunch because the cafeteria looked pretty poor.

More hiking can be found at The Indian Canyons or at Tahquitz Canyons. Both are on Native American lands and charge a nominal entrance fee. Check out the Palm Springs Visitor's Center for a discount ticket (military discount is applied too). Before your trip to Palm Springs, you can get a visitor's guide mailed to you (at the above website). The hikes in Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyons vary in length and difficulty, but they're pretty good. Trails aren't signed well, though.

You're undoubtedly hungry after a long day of

hiking, so walk from Rendezvous south on North Palm Canyon Drive to downtown Palm Springs. It's a 20 minute walk. Don't take the free bikes from Rendezvous because you'll assuredly get hit by a car en route. Palm Canyon is a busy street. There are so many great restaurant choices - pick one and you'll probably pick right. Or, check out the collection of menus at Rendezvous first. Our favorite low-key place: Fisherman's Market & Grill (235 S. Indian Canyon Dr.). You order at the counter and seat yourself.

On day 2, check out the Palm Springs Air Museum (active duty military & family free). The museum is small and you may only spend an hour t

here. Take a drive through a few old neighborhoods and view the 1950s architecture. At 1350 Ladera Circle, you can see Elvis' Honeymoon Hideaway.

If you have an extra day, consider driving through Joshua Tree National Park. Or camp overnight there. Great hiking and fabulous rock formations await you! En route to Joshua Tree's northern entrance is Pioneertown (left on Pioneertown Rd, go 4 miles). We were there on a cold, foggy day. And I'm not kidding - this is the creepiest place in California when vacant in the winter. No admission charge. Just weird facades and in summer, possibly a bowling alley and ice cream parlor.

Madera Wine Trail

The plan was to stay home for the long weekend and Valentines Day, but we can’t resist a good trip around California. A month ago our neighbors purchased tickets for the Madera Wine Trail Wine and Chocolate Weekend. At the time they told us about the wine trail, this was the only weekend in February we would be home between planned trips and travel for work so we declined the invitation. However on Friday, with the three day weekend looming we decided a short outing was in order. This trip was an up and back outing – making it perfect for a weekend getaway.

The Madera Wine Trail includes a host of wineries only some of which participate in their Wine Trail weekend. On Wine Trail weekends you purchase a wristband and work your way around the participating vineyards for wine tasting and assorted other goodies. Of course if your just passing through on a non wine trail weekend all these places offer tastings and would make a nice stop to break up the drive.

We called Mariposa Wine Co. ahead of time to inquire about their special couple’s package. The package included our wine trail weekend glasses and wristbands, lunch for two, a special “wine bottle” valentine, a bottle of “love potion # 9” wine and a cupcake to share. Mariposa Wine Co. really went all out with the theme. The wines, both red and white, were delish – so much so we purchased the “mystery box” full of 12 assorted wines. Mariposa is well North of the other participating vineyards and made a great starting point for our wine tasting.

If you didn’t want to do the couples package at Mariposa – Appellation: California Wine Tasting Visitors Center offers a group bus options that includes wine. They go to 5 of the participating vineyards starting at 12pm and returning at 5pm. It looked like a blast. We stopped in on our way out of town on Sunday to taste a few wines and enjoy some cheese from a local vendor.

I will really quickly run through the other vineyards although Jeff will probably go into more detail on the wineries.

Quady Winery focuses mostly on desert wines and wasn’t really our thing. If you like desert wines they had quite the variety and the grounds are lovely.

Birdstone Winery has a wonderful inside and outside tasting area. We particularly enjoyed the white wines here, although they had quite a selection of reds as well.

Chateau Lasgoity had both reds and whites – we didn’t really get to enjoy the property because of the crowds. We would like to go back on a non trail weekend.

Ficklin Vineyards was our last stop. It was also my very favorite. They are known for their ports but had a variety of reds and whites also available. In addition they support a local wild cat rescue and had a few of the wild cats available to view. (You can also "become a fan" on Facebook.)

I had no idea this little wine region even existed. We have driven through Fresno a few times looking for a little stop to break up the drive back to Edwards. This wine region is the answer. You could stop in to one vineyard or make a day of it by exploring the Medera Wine Trail.

Elephant Seals

If you find yourself driving up Hwy 1 make sure you check out the elephant seal Rookery at Piedras Blancas. The rookery is twelve miles north of Cambria and four miles north of the entrance to Hearst Castle. We've been there on several trips and it never ceases to be both entertaining and educational. Friends of the Elephant Seal provides docents to explain the behaviors of the animals.

On this particular trip in early January the elephant seals were giving birth to their calves. The beach was littered with the little guys - sticking close to their mom's as they sunned themselves. The juvenile males provided a show by "sparing" or charging at each other with loud vocalizations. A boardwalk provides an up close view that is not intrusive to the seals.

There are many spots for seal viewing along Hwy 1 but none as accessible or fun-filled as this one.