With the price of gold at an all-time high, it's no wonder it costs $500 a week to camp in a tent at Roaring Camp Mining Co. in the Mokelumne River Canyon southeast of Sacramento.
One you've got your site and you purchase an inexpensive gold mining pan from the general store, your hard work could pay for the site and then some if you strike it rich in the river. Included in the steep price of camping is an instructional gold mining course for beginners. If you own your own dredging machine, you're alloted a stretch of river in which to harvest some materials for DIY grillz.
Though Florida pretends to be a mecca for theme park lovers, California is really where ride junkies should get their fix this summer. In addition to The Simpsons Ride, this year brings a lot of new goodies to the table.
First up is Six Flags Magic Mountain, which just finished a major $10 million renovation of the famous coaster X. Now known as X2, the ride features updated trains and fresh audio and visual effects. Riders spin 360 degrees in their seats while making the journey along a 36,000-foot track. This one should clearly be done early in the day, before the hot dogs and cotton candy.
Going to a ski resort in the summer sounds like a half-baked idea that your dad comes up with to save a couple bucks while getting some fresh air. Can't you just imagine standing at the base of a mountain while dear old dad waxes on about how beautiful it must be all covered in snow? Next year, kids!
But what if your old man was craftier than that and took you to the new 3,100-foot Heavenly Flyer zip line at Heavenly Mountain Resort? It's the longest zip line in the lower 48 and hits speeds of 50 mph on the way down. It would be a lot cooler if you had to hold on for dear life like on the zip lines you grew up with, but insurance companies get kind of grouchy about stuff like that: You'll have to settle for being strapped into a seat.
For $30 a ride, this is a unique way to experience some of the best views of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains. No doubt taking in the sights from 50 feet up at 50 mph will make for unforgettable daddy issues for decades to come.
(Btw, the Flyer doesn't re-open for the summer season until Friday, June 13.)
Last night 60 Minutes profiled the plight of the 600 or so medical marijuana facilities in the state of California. Back in 1996 the state of California passed a bill legalizing marijuana for patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, or "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief." The vagueness of the law has allowed many people in California to abuse their right to medical marijuana, and many enterprising entrepreneurs and doctors to make a tidy profit on opening "caregiver collectives".
This type of abuse would more than likely not be possible if the Federal government legalized medical marijuana. However, the Feds are at odds with California's law, resulting in DEA raids and arrests. Eventually, one would think the law would have to be changed somewhat, either on the state or federal level, in order to fulfill its original purpose of helping those with clear medical needs get their pot. Then again, is this any different than American doctors issuing scripts at will for big pharma?
Whatever side of the debate you are on, if you happen to be traveling to California and need medical marijuana, you won't have a problem finding a "caregiver collective", but you best know the rules:
·All patients must bring their original doctor's recommendation.
·Must have a California State ID or California State driver's license.
·Most upstanding collectives don't charge a fee to become a member of our patient registry.
West Hollywood, San Francisco, and Oakland are California cities with a high number of collectives.
California is not the only state with medical marijuana--AK, CA, CO, HI, ME, MT, NV, NM, OR, RI, VT, and WA have all legalized medicinal use of the drug.
Between the hipification of the Dinah Shore Weekend and the dehydrated hipsters of Coachella, Palm Springs looks poised to give The O.C. a run for its money as an oasis of California cool. (Hey, if our favorite world travelers have stayed there...) The mystique can only grow with last night's premiere of soapy CW teen drama "Hidden Palms," whose website proclaims, "Scandal. Suicide. Murder. Some towns get all the fun." The summer leftover even boasts two former featured guests on "The O.C." who apparently have been forced to move inland by the ghost of Marissa Cooper.
While the show is actually filmed on a soundstage in Phoenix, Arizona,
Kimberly Pierceall of the SoCal-based paper the Press-Enterprise notes on PE.com's tourism blog that the reviews of "Hidden Palms" have so far reflected the popular conception of Palm Springs as a place past its prime, while local residents are concerned that audiences will take the fictional seamy underbelly of the show for plain truth.
Still, with Kevin "Dawson's Creek" Williamson at the helm of the show, maybe a new generation of partiers will make like Paris Hilton's granny and flock to the desert instead of the ocean. The New York Times has already tantalizingly described the show as "a sick world, but one for which you wouldn't mind having the swatches."
· We love that we can easily take surface street from Hollywood to your front door, effectively avoiding freeway traffic.
· We love that rental car return and airport terminals are not connected by a shuttle--you simply walk.
· We love check-in and security are quick and easy.
· We love that your gate waiting areas actually have power outlets for our phones and computers.
· We love that you walk outside onto the tarmac and up the stairs onto your plane while overlooking the Southern California hills of Burbank and beyond--it makes us want to turn around, flash the victory sign, smile and wave at the paparazzi below, however, the luggage dude in neon orange doesn't usually appreciate that.
BUR airline options:
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, America West, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United.
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by DanielR
