Great Outdoor Activities Every Guest Must Do While Visiting La Jolla

The most difficult decision to make when planning a vacation to La Jolla is determining what to do with all it has to offer. La Jolla offers an excellent array of fine and trendy restaurants covering a wide range of cuisines, from fine dining restaurants perched atop jagged cliffs to out-of-the-way French Bistros. World famous for its indulgent soft sand beaches and year-round vacation sunshine, guests are awed by La Jolla’s watercolor sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. Originally designed as a safe place for children to wade, Children’s Pool is a man-made pool-into-the-ocean that one was a children’s beach but is now a famous haven for wild Harbor Seals. Visitors enjoy venturing out along a cement walkway over the water to watch the seals and their youngsters lounging, playing and slipping away into the ocean. Nearby, you will find the beautiful La Jolla Cove bathing beach and tide pools.La Jolla is home to one of the most spectacular waterfronts in Southern California, complete with remarkable caves, rugged sandstone cliffs, soft sandy beaches and picturesque sunsets. La Jolla Cove is a protected marine sanctuary with an idyllic crescent of sandy beach sheltered from the ocean waves. The Cove is a wonderful place for swimming, snorkeling or just people watching. Continuing south you’ll pass through the grassy Scripps Park- a staging area for family picnics, Fourth of July fireworks and free summer concerts.A visit to The Cave Store affords visitors the opportunity to descend a 100 year old stairway, into a manmade tunnel, down into the fascinating and mysterious Sunny Jim Cave – the largest of several ocean caves in La Jolla Cove. The cave’s first owner, Sunny Jim, hired two Chinese laborers in the early 1900′s to dig this underground tunnel down to the cave. Using only picks and shovels, they carried all the dirt out by hand. In the 1910′s, the only way the public could get to the cave was by lowering themselves down a rope. Today, you can take 145 stairs from The Cave Store. Sunny Jim Cave is the only sea cave in California that you can enter from a stairway.Be sure to take a drive up Nautilus Street to the pinnacle of the city, the top of Mount Soledad. Dr. Seuss and his wife Audrey lived for years in the Seuss house on this mountain. From the park at the peak you can see San Clemente Island 65 miles west in the blue Pacific, North County beaches to the north and the San Diego downtown skyline and the Mexican border beyond to the south. The view is simply spectacular at night. The site is well known for the controversy generated by the Easter Cross war memorial that towers above the peak. There is no admission charge, the park is always open. Torrey Pines Glider Port Park lies within Torrey Pines City Park on 350-foot oceanfront cliffs between La Jolla and Torrey Pines State Reserve. The rugged sandstone bluffs overlook Scripps Pier and San Diego’s scalloped coastline. If you have ever dreamed of soaring like an eagle without powered assistance, you can register for a 30-minute flight lesson, then head out tandem with an experienced instructor for the adventure of a lifetime flying off the cliffs, over the ocean. Those less dare-devilish can simply watch as pilots and their strange crafts leap off the cliffs into the wind and soar away.

The La Jolla area has many great accommodations. Here are three informative websites with useful lodging information: Bed and Breakfasts in Carlsbad, Hotels in Del Mar California and La Jolla Hotels.

Great Hiking Trails in North Texas: Look Just North to Beavers Bend Resort Park

If you are looking for great hiking trails in North Texas, consider Beavers Bend Resort Park in southeastern Oklahoma. It is just 3 hours from the Dallas/Fort Worth area (the Metroplex) by car. Beavers Bend Resort Park includes Beavers Bend State Park which offers free admission. The resort offers serious nature lovers the chance to hike along ridge tops, over creek bottoms, through tall stands of timber, and into areas so remote one can almost experience what early-day explorers must have felt upon seeing the area for the first time, at its pristine best.
McCurtain County features some of the most beautiful territory in the country. The Ouachita Mountains rise and fall dramatically along the lower reaches of the Oklahoma-Arkansas line, which is densely covered with one of the oldest short-leaf pine forests in the world, as well as heavy populations of hickory and oak. Unlike most American mountain ranges, the mountains run east and west, not north and south. Cursing through those rugged ranges are several lakes and rivers, the Little, Mountain Fork, Upper Kiamichi, Poteau and Broken Bow.
The area was named by LIFE magazine as one of the “100 Places To Visit in Your Lifetime” and Dallas Observers voted McCurtain County the “Best Getaway from Dallas.”
You can pick up trail maps at the park’s nature center. There are seven trails you have to choose from, one for every skill level – from serious stroller to avid trekker.
Trail #1: Take-it-easy route. The South Park trail. 1 mile. For those who want to stay on level ground. Watch eagles fly overhead and wildlife scatter as you stroll by.
Trail #2: The Easy-Does-It Hike. The Junction with South Park. 1 mile. Also a good choice for those who want a less intensive hike and want to get “back to nature” but just a little while.
Trail #3: Beyond Beginner. Beaver Creek Crossing. 1. 5 miles. A bit more challenging. Several steep climbs.
Trail #4: Beyond beginner but not intermediate. Deer Cross – Cedar Bluff. About 2 miles. Some climbs, but not extremely steep.
Trail #5: Walk on the wild side. Cedar Bluff – Beaver Lodge Trail. 6 miles. Lots of steep grades. Designed for the more serious hiker.
Trail #6: Born to hike. Skyline. 6 miles. Steep terrain. Experienced hikers only. If you don’t have time to take the longest route (see below), the Skyline is the next best option. More challenging to some than the Cedar Bluff, nevertheless, you’ll need to be able to withstand elevation hiking. But the views you’ll see will be well worth the climb.
Trail #7: The extreme challenge. The David Boren Hiking Trail, named after the U.S. senator and former governor of Oklahoma. The David Boren Trail offers 16 miles of hiking Trails with 4 miles of multi-purpose ( mountain bike) trails that wander along ridge tops and over creek bottoms. The 12 mile Boren hiking trail runs from south to north. Starts at the low-water dam at the south end of Beavers Bend and then connects with the Beaver Lodge Nature Trail, full of steep grades. The trail is well defined and is a narrow, one-person trail – which means no bicyclists to watch out for.
Where do you stay if you travel to the Beavers Bend Resort Park? Glad you asked! The park is home to the forty-room Lakeview Lodge, and there are forty-seven different Beavers Bend cabins. Is camping more your style? The park also offers RV and tent camping. In McCurtain County, your weekend hiking getaway can include almost any kind of lodging – from a rustic cottage to elegantly-appointed log cabins nestled in the towering pines to a unique bed & breakfasts, modern motels and luxury resorts.
So, if you are looking for great hiking trails in North Texas – either for yourself or to accompany your family or that special someone – the Beavers Bend Resort Park is a great option. With many trails to choose for everyone from beginners to seasoned hikers, this is a great option that is only 3 hours away from the Metroplex by car.

A Great Feature That Your Cable Provider Offers

I’m a huge film viewer and I should have invested in some stock in Blockbuster because I am always there renting and returning movies for my high definition television.
The workers at our local Pine Bluff store even know me by name. I am not ashamed though, I love movies, and they give me an escape from my long brutal day at work. One day after viewing my latest rental, I was channel flipping and I discovered many HD channels I didn’t even realize I had.
One of these was part of the pay per view feature through my cable provider. I was growing with joyfulness as I browsed down the list of movies I haven’t seen. Many of them weren’t available at my DVD store because they were sold out.
I found at least six of them I wanted to watch that weekend. I decided to settle on one just to see the difference in the DVD HD quality image versus the on demand movie. As soon as it started, I detected a difference.
Wow, was I in trouble now, I no longer will have time to do the long chore list I have at home because I have discovered HD pay per view. After going through almost every flick in the list, I had to go back to my video store.
It has been a long time since I visited the store and they were all worried because they didn’t know what happened to their most popular consumer. I told the workers about my discovery and they were all grinning shaking their heads.
I picked up a few more movies and returned home. A few days later, I checked the high definition channel for pay per view movies and there were several new ones available. I was so happy that my cable company was on top of my needs and delivered such great movies in quality high definition picture.
I returned the flicks to the rental store and returned to my television for flick watching. Having HD movies available with a few taps of my remote has helped me save time, money and gas.
The high definition pay per view movies are cheaper than the ones at Blockbuster and I don’t have to drive 5 miles all the time anymore. I see my friends at the video store roughly once a month now because that is all it takes for me to get what I need in between the time my cable company offers new movies for me to see.