Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, CA

Joshua Tree National Park is a 2 hour drive East of Los Angeles, depending on traffic. In order for me to miss traffic on a weekday, I need to leave my house at 6am. When I leave later than about 7am, I run into some pretty bad morning rush hour traffic. If you plan on camping overnight, you might want to wait until after 10am, and check the traffic anyway to avoid the residuals from the morning commute. The park is open all year, but I try to avoid being there in the summer unless the weather is mild that day (the average temperature in the summer is 100 degrees Fahrenheit). I have personally visited in the winter and spring. Before you think of visiting, you should review the parks "Things to know before you come."

The Cottonwood Park Entrance

There are three visitor centers, the closest one depends on which direction you are driving from. When driving from LA using Highway 62, the Joshua Tree Visitors Center on Park Boulevard should be your first stop. If you use the 10 Freeway, the Cottonwood Visitor Center is for you. I always take the time to stop at the visitor center so that I can get a chance to use the bathroom, talk to the park ranger and pick up a map. When I visited in winter, there was a light snowstorm the night before, so I wanted to ask if any roads or trails were closed. I also ask their advice on hikes or nature walks I should do that day.

View from Keys Point with snow!

One of my favorite things to do when I visit a National Park is hike. At Joshua Tree, there are many different hikes you can do, all various lengths so you can pick one that's perfect for your ability. I have done the 49 Palms Oasis hike, 3 miles round trip, and the Lost Horse Mine hike, 4 miles round trip. Next time I visit, I plan on trying out the Mastodon Peak hike. :D

If hiking up and down mountains isn't your thing and you'd prefer something a bit shorter, Joshua Tree has a ton of nature trails. I have done the Arch Rock, Hidden Valley, Keys View, and Skull Rock nature walks. The nature walks are generally shorter and very flat.

If neither of those things interests you, there are a TON of other activities you can do (like backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, driving on backcountry roads). If driving and looking is your thing, the park is HUGE and there are tons of things along the road for you to stop and enjoy.

Basically, if you live within driving distance of this treasure, you should visit Joshua Tree National Park. :D

California Science Center and the Shuttle Endevour

The California Science Center (CSC) in Los Angeles was the recipient of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Entrance is FREE to everything but the IMAX shows. The CSC is located right next to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park, so parking is the same, $15. See the NHN post with regards to using the Metro to save some money on transportation to Exposition Park.

You do need a ticket to get to the Endeavour, but if you pick the ticket up at the box office it is free. If you plan to go when the Center is busy (and full of kids) then I highly recommend ordering a ticket online instead. The tickets are still free but there is a whole $2 processing fee. $2 to see a space shuttle? Worth it. Plus the money goes towards the future expansion space for the Shuttle (see EndeavourLA for donating to the project. You can even sponsor a Shuttle Tile.)

 Besides the Endeavour, there are many interesting things to discover within the CSC.The new Ecosystems exhibit is pretty cool, with eight different "Zones" to discover, including the Extreme Zone, the Island Zone, and the LA Zone. :D They have some really interesting Air and Space Exhibits, including the ones seen below, which includes the actual Gemini 11 and Mercury  capsules.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is one of the museums within Exposition Park, a stones throw from The University of Southern California. They are open seven days a week from 9:30am to 5pm except for New Years Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Ticket prices for adults are $12, but there are cheaper prices for students, seniors, and kids. Museum members, California Teachers, active military, and USC students (except on a game day) can get in for free. There is also free admission on "Free Tuesdays," which is what I took advantage of. While admission is free, if you are driving you need to pay $10 to park. If you would like to use mass transit, a really good idea, take the Expo Line to the Expo Park/USC stop.

I arrived around 10am on the Free Tuesday day for February. Early on, it was very quiet. Around 11am, it got very busy, and the school groups arrived, and there were kids everywhere. If you would prefer to be there when its a little more empty, the museum recommends arriving after 2pm.

The Diorama rooms I remember as a child are still there, including the African Mammal room, North American Mammal room and the Bird room.

New, at least for me, is the Dinosaur Hall and the Dino Lab. The Dinosaur halls were filled with excited children. The Dino Lab was on the ground floor, away from most everything else. The Dino Lab is "a fully functional preparation lab staffed by paleontologists from the Dinosaur Institute." Basically, you can watch paleontologists prepare fossils for display or research.

From the Dino Lab

From the Dino Lab

Dinosaur Hall

One of my favorite rooms was the Gems and Minerals Hall. Walls of spectacular natural colors.

Another one of the exhibits I enjoyed was the Ancient Latin American Art hall, filled with artifacts from the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan civilizations.

I look forward to future visits and the opening of several new exhibits, including Becoming Los Angeles (July 2013) and the North Campus (June 2013).

Point Fermin Lighthouse, San Pedro, CA

The Point Fermin Lighthouse is located in San Pedro, CA (http://www.pointferminlighthouse.org/). The lighthouse was built in 1874, but it has only been open to the public since 2003. It's open Tuesday through Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. The only way into the lighthouse is during one of the guided tours, offered at 1, 2, and 3pm. No reservations are necessary. I joined a 2pm tour on a Tuesday, and I had the tour guide, Mary Lou, all to myself. I did see the 1pm tour return, and it consisted of about a half a dozen people. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the lighthouse and all of its keepers. The tour does require the ability to climb about 50 very steep stairs.
 

The Getty Villa, Malibu, CA

The Getty Villa sits just off Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, CA. (http://www.getty.edu/visit/) It is open 10am to 5pm everyday except Tuesdays and various holidays. It is free to visit, however you do need to get an advanced timed-entry ticket online before you go. It depends on the time of year, but I was able to get an 11am entry for a Saturday on the Friday before I visited. It definitely got more crowded and busier as the day went on, so I really recommend getting there before noon. Note that while the museum is free, parking is $15. 

Outer Peristyle, Getty Villa

This was my first visit to the Getty Villa, although I have visited the The Getty Center in the past. I started with the 12 minute film, The making of the Getty Villa, in the Museum Theater. I then browsed the museums first floor, which included antiquity pieces like The Lansdowne Herakles and Lion Attacking a Horse. The later piece, seen below, is on loan from the Capitoline Museums in Rome until May 6th.

Lion Attacking a Horse

Visiting the Villa isn't just about enjoying the art pieces, its also about admiring the architecture of the buildings and gardens themselves.

There are a few guided tours that you can enjoy. I participated in one of the architecture tours. There were also guided tours of the gardens and a collection highlights tour. Some tours require that you sign  up about 15 minutes before they begin. That does not apply to the Garden or Architecture Tours. Getting in line five minutes prior to the start time was more than sufficient for me. After the 40 minute tour, which required very little walking, I grabbed a bite to eat.

There is a museum store and cafe. The Cafe is not cheap, but I highly recommend an order of Housemade Peasent Bread ($4) and a glass of wine ($9-$10). If you are a foursquare user, a check-in at the Villa will get you 20% off at the store, just remember to show the cashier the highlighted special from your phone app.

After getting some lunch and picking up a couple of postcards from the museum store, I visited the second floor of the Villa, where the rotating exhibitions are held. At the moment, the exhibition on display is Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. They are in the process of adding a new exhibit, Sicily, but that will not be open to the public until April. Also upstairs were the installations Men in Antiquity and Women and Children in Antiquity, or as I like to call them, the rooms full of heads.

Men in Antiquity Head Collection

Women in Antiquity Head Collection

I spent about three hours at the Villa. You can take more time, or less. I definitely want to return to see any of the new rotating exhibits, as well as participate in tours that I did not get to participate in while on this visit. For you artists out there, they even have a program just for you: Drawing from Antiquity: Drawing with Gouache. Supplies are provided, and you get to draw with "gouache," an opaque watercolor used by artists since the 15th century. At least that is what the program tells me (my drawing skills do not extend past stick figures.)