Balboa Park’s California Tower at the San Diego Museum of Man

Father's Day Adventure 2018

 

After being closed to the public for 80 years, Balboa Park’s California Tower at the San Diego Museum of Man is now open for public tours!

See a new view of San Diego from the California Tower! From the second floor of the Museum, you go up a staircase hidden to the public for decades. Then you climb seven floors, getting glimpses through narrow windows of the beauty outside. Finally, you climb a spiral metal stairway and emerge into sunlight where you will see a spectacular Southern California vista.

The Views

TO THE NORTH, the criss-crossing green cars of the San Diego Zoo’s Skyfari catch your eye as they glide over the canyon landscape just beyond the Old Globe Theater. You can see a bird aviary and sometimes hear animal calls — and maybe catch a peek of the Grinch! Beyond that, there’s the North Park water tower, and, even further away, in the distant northeast, the Cuyamaca Mountains.

 

TO THE SOUTH, you see the curving arc of the Coronado Bridge, busy shipbuilding yards, glittering downtown skyscrapers, the Coronado Peninsula, Mexico’s misty Coronado Islands, the flat top of Tijuana’s Otay Mesa, and beyond that, more of Baja California and Mexico. Airplanes fly past as they descend toward the airport, and red-tailed hawks often soar over the park’s canyons.

 

TO THE EAST, you see the ever-evolving heart of Balboa Park: beautiful park buildings, the Plaza de Panama, and the sports fields and trails. All this is set in front of the backdrop of the sepia and umber hues of the Laguna Mountains, as well as the antenna-covered peak of San Miguel Mountain. You may see helicopters land at the Naval Medical Center.

 

TO THE WEST is the Cabrillo Bridge, Banker’s Hill, more of downtown, the massive spur of Point Loma, and the glimmering San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, dimpled by the movements of sailboats and military vessels going about their business. To the northwest — just a few feet away — you see the brightly-tiled California Dome, the sister landmark to the California Tower. Look to the northwest over the dome and you may see Mount Soledad and the taller buildings of Hillcrest.

 

The History

All of the California Buildings, as the structures housing the Museum of Man are called, were completed in 1914, and officially opened in 1915 as part of the Panama-California Exposition. They were designed by Bertram Goodhue, who was inspired by the churches of Mexico and Spain. Even though the California Buildings resemble a church, they have never been a church and have been exhibition halls from the start — except when they were used as a Naval hospital during World War II. The Tower was closed to the public shortly after the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.

 

How it Works

Each tour group is in the care of knowledgeable, trained tour guides who will tell you about the history of the California Tower and other things. You will not be permitted to tour the California Tower on your own.

 

 

 
★ How high is the California Tower?
To the very top of the weather vane (which features the ship of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who sailed into San Diego Bay in 1542), it’s about 462 feet above sea level, or 198 feet above the ground. The viewing deck that visitors will go to, the eighth floor, is about 357 feet above sea level. The sea-level height includes the 254-foot mesa that the buildings sit upon.
★ What can you see from the California Tower?
 If the weather is clear, you will be able to see about 23 miles to the horizon, which means a 360-degree view would cover as much as 415 square miles if mountains didn’t block the view to the east.
★ Has the California Tower been in any movies?
Of course! The most famous is Citizen Kane (1941). In a fictional newsreel at the beginning of the film, the California Building doubles as Xanadu, Charles Foster Kane’s mansion in Florida. The mansion in the film is a pastiche of a variety of real-life buildings which demonstrate the newspaper magnate’s vast wealth. The California Tower has also been in Top Dog (1995), starring Chuck Norris, which features scenes inside the California Tower, and the California Tower had cameo appearances in Almost Famous (2000), Traffic (2000), and Anchormn(20

Am I really like Dora

A friend from High school recently posted on my facebook page calling me Dora the Explorer, as I am always off and doing something.  At first I was like NO WAY!!! Well as I have said it out loud to more and more people they totally agree with her, so I figured I had better figure out who this Dora character really is ... LOL

 

"Dora the Explorer" features the adventures of young Dora, her monkey Boots, Backpack and other animated friends. In each episode, viewers join Dora on an adventure in an animated world set … Moreinside a computer. The titular character seeks viewers' help in solving a puzzle or mystery she faces in each episode.

... I am thankful that my adventures do not have puzzle solving or mystery's involved.

Would that make Tim Diego

and taylor boots

M*A*S*H --- our view of the hike

I can not tell a lie, there were times in this hike that I didn't think that I was going to make it to the site, the first hill is a doozy .. but once you get past that the rest was a piece of cake :)

This hike is in a state park, which means that there is an entrance fee. We paid $12 and we did this in 2015 (let see in a few years how much prices will be) I don't mind paying the price as it helps the parks and provides wonderful places for us to hike. We finally arrived, it was Tim, Taylor and myself in our car and Kim, Destiny and Otto in their car. We had a bit of a hard time finding the entrance, I guess relying on cache placement isn't the best way to get their. When we paid to get in we got a great map of the park and the ranger told us where to park and where the trail head was, guess this will be a busy place. The best part of the park is that there is real bathrooms and to me that is important I am not a fan of peeing in the wild and I like to wash my hands after I potty so porta potties are not my favorite things. Okay lets go!!! We took the high road because it was suppose to be shadier and longer, but that is okay a little shade is better than no shade, and it was on the hotter side the day we did the hike. A little way into the hike and we found porta potties and the visitor center, where the children were able to touch the furs of many animals and I was able to get a medallion of my walking stick (you know the important parts of the trip, souveniors), please take cash as they do not have a working atm machine :( ... lets keep walking and no playing in the streams, something about a toad that is making the water unhealthy, but no worries I am on a walk and I am packed with plenty of water and snacks, just incase I get lost LOL

WE MADE IT!!!! I love M*A*S*H

 There were many signs like this around the area telling you were the original set had been and what you were looking at :)

 Group shot

 Picture from the area where the helicopters would land.

My collage of pictures, the little shed area had lots of pictures of what the site looked like in the days of filming

 Tim ... this picture is taken from the helicopter pad, and the tent area is where the mess tent use to be, there are trash cans and picnic tables, we stopped and had a bite to eat!

 WHERE OH WHERE DO WE WANNA GO NEXT????????????

Mount Soledad -- My Views

 On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court denied certiorari before judgement. Justice Samuel Alito stated in a personal statement that certiorari was not yet warranted because the appeal of Judge Burns' order has not yet been heard by the Court of Appeals.^[3] The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 contained a provision making space available for the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.^[57]

 

On July 31, 2008, U.S. Federal Judge Larry Alan Burns ruled that the cross could remain, writing, "The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death and sacrifice. As such, despite its location on public land, the memorial is Constitutional." The case was then sent to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as cases Nos. 08-56415 and 08-56436, which reversed his decision in 2011.

Architect Donald Campbell designed the present cross in recessed concrete. It is 29 feet (8.8 m) tall (43 feet tall including the base) with a 12-foot (3.7 m) arm spread.

 

La Jolla, is a beautiful place in San Diego county as evident from the above pictures. I am so blessed to be able to share this time in my life with my awesome nieces and husband. It was an honor to honor those that have served, whom are serving and whom will serve. Thanks to all who support the Mount Soledad monument and fight to keep the Flag at the monument.

 

you can read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Soledad_cross_controversy

 

Whatever the outcome maybe I am blessed and honored to have seen it in person

King Tut

The Exhibit is at the Natural History Museum in San Diego, Tickets are a small fortune, however Taylor wants to see this and whom am I to stifle the interests of children. I paid for 3 tickets and we get to go at 2pm on Jan 24 .. YEP i am excited

The forgotten pharaoh

Tutankhamun was one of the most enigmatic figures in Egyptian history. He was descended from the 18th dynasty, which established the New Kingdom and led it during a period in which the arts flourished.

As the son of the god-king Akhenaten, Tutankhamun became pharaoh at the tender age of eight, but died under mysterious circumstances at about the age of 19.
His successors erased his name from all monuments, meaning he was not recorded on any list of kings and faded into obscurity. Unknown and forgotten, he lay for almost three and a half millennia in the Valley of Kings until British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his tomb in 1922.
About Howard Carter

A worldwide sensation

The burial and treasure chambers shown at this exhibition cannot be seen in this form anywhere else in the world – not even in Egypt, because Tutankhamun’s original tomb in the Valley of Kings has now been almost completely emptied.
Tutankhamun’s treasures are now cordoned off behind glass in the display cabinets of the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo. The impression of space made by the tomb in its original state can only be experienced at this exhibition: virtual archaeology makes accessible worlds that no longer exist.

Family photos taken before derrick and maddy moved to Alaska 2013

most people run and hide from their mother in laws, well not me mine ROCKS. This picture was taken on a recent surprise trip to see her :)

New years 2013

We (tim and I and lisa) went to Gary and Franks New years eve party. The plan to stay a couple hours and then head home before all the drunk people were on the road .. .LOL before long red drinks were flowing as were orange ones a game of train was happening and then WOWSA the new year ....

Birthday IDEA for tim

Got to figure out what to do for hubby for his birthday and although it is 3 months away i like to be prepared. I am thinking that this would be fun and i am able to do it as i fall within the weight guidelines and i am still losing so i think this is what i want to do :) 
 
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Friday and Saturday 11:00am - 11:00pm
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Prior to scheduling/booking a date for this experience, Cloud 9's standard return and exchange policy shall apply. Once you have scheduled a date and received a booking confirmation, no refunds will be given. Rescheduling is allowed up to 72 hours prior to your experience, failure to appear on your booked date or to reschedule at least 72 hours prior to your booked date will result in the loss of the value of your experience. In the event your experience is canceled due to inclement weather you will reschedule your experience directly with your experience provider



http://www.cloud9living.com/los-angeles/indoor-skydiving

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