Musings
Last Adventurer
#preservethegood

As you’ve seen above, #preservethegood could mean anything – it could mean helping someone in a time of need; it could be picking up trash on a trail, or a wilderness area; it could be educating people on leave no trace principles; it could be making a difference in any way you want; and it could be just about anything you want as long as you are focused in keeping the magic and the unique positive things in this world and this life. In terms of tangible things, I encourage you, my readers and followers to use the hashtag when you post a photo of something amazing; or when you’re talking about something exceptional you – or someone else has done to improve the world. I look forward to seeing how all of you end up preserving the good in 2015, and you can rest assured that as always, I will keep preserving the good where I find it as well, because as Plato says, “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” 

#preservethegood
Hiking, State Parks
Last Adventurer
Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

As I mentioned previously, Waimea Canyon is a site that is most definitely one of the “must-view” locations on Kauai, and in the world; and as I also mentioned, the best way to experience it is to hike it. While there are many great hikes through the canyon, the best hike in my book is the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. It is the best hike to me because at four miles roundtrip, it is accessible, it has stunning views of the canyon from inside the canyon, and it ends at the top Waipoo Falls. It also allows the hiker the chance to swim in a waterfall, which is a once in a lifetime experience.

Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

Strange Spots

Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa

Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa

In the middle of a huge lava field, halfway between Keflavik International Airport and Reykjavik lies Iceland’s most popular tourist attraction, the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa (or simply “the Blue Lagoon”). While a majority of Iceland is visually stunning, with tall snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, and green expanses, this portion of the country looks more like the moon. The Blue Lagoon as well looks like something from another planet with its iridescent blue shade and steaming hot water. While Iceland is the world’s leader in geothermal energy because of its position on a number of volcanoes, and does have a number of natural geothermal pools, the Blue Lagoon is not one of them.

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum

In the far southeast corner of San Diego county lies a small town, Campo. Campo is well-known historically for two things - the ancient Gaskill Brother's Stone Store, where a shootout occurred in 1875; and for being the nearest town for the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail ("PCT"). The PCT starts at the United States-Mexico border, and as Campo is only 1.2 miles from the border, it is the jumping off point yearly for PCT through-hikers seeking to travel South to North on the trail. Campo is also home to a unique and hands-on museum, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. The museum is the main location and headquarters for the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association ("PSRMA"), which was founded in 1961, and has been the preeminent group for railroad enthusiasts in the greater San Diego region for over fifty years. Since 1980, the museum has been open at the location in Campo, and from that point on has been a place where old railcars and engines are stored for public visitation, a place with an excellent interpretive museum about the rail history of Southern California, and on occasion, a place that provides tours along the rail line from the old Campo railroad station (adjacent to the museum) on the trains that the association owns and operates.

Bruce Lee's Grave

Bruce Lee's Grave

Seattle is home to many internationally recognized tourist destinations, such as the Space Needle; and it is also home to many tourist destinations - such as the Fremont Troll and the Lenin Statute that are slightly strange. One of Seattle's popular tourist destinations is Bruce Lee's grave, and is something that like the Space Needle, is sought after by thousands of domestic and international visitors on a yearly basis. Among other things, Bruce Lee was the founder of the martial art known as Jeet Kune Do; and was and is one of the most well-known and pre-eminent martial artists in cinema history. After his untimely death in 1973, his wife had him interred at Lakeview Cemetery. Since that point in time, his grave site has become a destination for people wishing to pay their respects to him, the effect he has had on their lives, and a spot for celebrity grave seekers and others to visit. While rumors regarding the popularity of his grave site are difficult to substantiate, as he is interred in a cemetery and not an amusement park, his grave has been named by Time Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Celebrity Gravesites" in the world, and is rumored to be visited by over 10,000 people a year.

Whaley House Tours: Where historic facts meet historic legends.

Whaley House Tours: Where historic facts meet historic legends.

For most people, the trouble about ghosts, spirts, and everything surrounding the paranormal is the lack of hard, verifiable evidence. Along these lines, many “paranormal” locations have a variety of conflicting stories that have no basis in fact or history and are easily debunked. With this as a baseline, the Whaley House stands out as a location that possibly provides solid evidence of paranormal activity, and has a primary goal of preserving San Diego’s history. Recently, I had an opportunity to tour the Whaley House with Jokie Tolentino, the Director of Museum Services for the Save our Heritage Organization (“SOHO”), the organization that manages and mantains the location. While I did not experience anything paranormal (that I noticed during) our walk, talk, and tour, I did leave the Whaley House with a greater appreciation for the location.

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Haunted San Diego

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Haunted San Diego

San Diego is best known for being “America’s Finest City”, but like most locations, it also has a stranger, darker side, built on speculation, myths, rumors, and legends. With Halloween just around the corner, along with the shorter days and cooler nights of fall, now is a great time to explore these thirteen locations to search for monsters, ghosts, aliens, and whatever else may be out there. I’ve compiled this list from my experience and from what “evidence” is present in the public domain about these spots. I’ve subjectively ranked the spots from “most active” to “least active”, or for the skeptical readers out there, from “most credible” to “least credible”. Irrespective of how you feel about the supernatural, this is a great list of San Diego locations that add historic flavor to a fine city that are worth a visit.

Fremont Lenin Statue

Fremont Lenin Statue

For many people, the terms "Lenin" and "Communism" evoke dark memories of the Cold War, and the potential for mutually assured nuclear destruction. For other people, however, the remnants of the former Soviet Union are noteworthy for their cultural significance in the world's larger historic picture. Irrespective of how one feels about the former Soviet Union, its art, propaganda, and iconography, one can view some of it with ease in Seattle in the form of a giant, sixteen ton iron statue of Lenin which now sits on Fremont street corner. Originally designed and constructed in 1988 by Emil Venkov, it was later consigned to a trashheap (literally) after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Slightly before it was scheduled to be melted down, a Seattle resident, Lewis Carpenter found it, and felt that it should be preserved. For $41,000.00 Carpenter was able to purchase the statue, and move it to Fremont, where it has resided since, despite mixed feelings about its presence. Since Carpenter's passing in 1994, the statue has been for sale on numerous occasions, however, as of the present date, no party has stepped forward to make an artistic purchase of this magnitude.

Fremont Troll

Fremont Troll

One of the more interesting pieces of public art in Seattle can be found in Fremont; although technically, if one’s being honest, a lot of interesting things can be found in Fremont. In case you’ve never heard of Fremont, it is a suburb of Seattle that was its own town until it was annexed in 1891. Today, Fremont is known for its claim that it is “the Center of the Universe”, for its unique and funky vibe, and for its street art. Even though the reclaimed giant statute of Vladimir Lenin is fairly impressive, the Fremont Troll is by far the most-well known piece of art in Fremont.