Petersen Automobile Museum

I visited the Petersen Automobile Museum this past weekend for the first time. It's been there on Wilshire Blvd since 1994 so it is about time I checked it out.

I thought the exhibits were very well done. A lot of the sets are built to reflect the period of the car you are looking at so you feel like you are walking down the streets of early Los Angeles.

I imagine the displays change from time to time but right now they have a section dedicated to the making of the Pixar film "Cars". You are able to view some of the original storyboard drawings and concepts used to develop the film. There are also some full size mock ups of the characters that were used to promote the film.

There is also a very interesting exhibit about Alternative Power vehicles and how they have changed through the years. Another of my favorites was the Hot Wheels Hall of Fame exhibit. Every Hot Wheel Car ever made plus a full size Hot Wheel car like one I used to have as a kid.

California Poppies

The poppies this year are the best I have seen in about five years. It must be that we received just the right amount of rain this past winter. It's interesting because if we get too much rain or not quite enough, the wildflowers can be very disappointing. Whatever happened this year was the perfect recipe.

If you want to see them, just drive north on Hwy 14 from the Los Angeles area and exit at Ave I. Head west (left) and follow it until you get to the Poppy Reserve.

My dog loves to run through the poppy fields, or any field for that matter.
More pictures here if you like.

Colorado Springs Area

I am doing an event in Colorado Springs this week and had my first day off in 14 days. I decided to take a drive southwest to a city called Cannon City. Nearby I found one of Colorado's natural wonders, The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park.

The main attraction was built back in 1929 and boasts to be the World's Tallest Suspension Bridge. I found one other bridge on the web last night that also claimed this, but the Royal Gorge came up many more times on the search.

The bridge is over 1000 feet above the Arkansas river and over 1200 feet long. It was very windy the day I was there and as you walk across the wooden planks to the other side, the bridge sways much more than you think it would. The bridge apparently can support 2 million pounds so you can drive vehicles over it as well.

Other than the wind it was a beautiful partly cloudy day. On the other side of the bridge, there is a small Wild Animal Park where the have a few Buffalo, Big Horn Sheep, Donkeys, and some Elk. The holes in the fence were about 4 inches square so I could easily take pictures of them.

After that I boarded the World's Highest Single-Span Aerial Tram which hangs almost 1200 feet above the gorge and is about 2200 feet long. This gave me a great vantage point of the bridge but, because of the glass windows, made it difficult to get pictures without reflections. The wind also made this tram sway as you can imagine but it was definitely worth it.

Last but not least I took the Incline Railway to the bottom of the gorge and guess what? It is the World's Steepest Incline Railway. Wow, so many World's Greatest in one park. Not bad for the early bird price of $13 I paid to get in. Anyway, the Incline Railway takes you down to the bottom of the gorge to a walkway on the bank of the Arkansas River. Here you get a nice view of the bridge from underneath. The time I was there, the sun was in a position that I couldn't avoid for my picture.

On the way back I stopped at The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey and sampled a few of their wines. I left with one bottle of 2006 Merlot and headed back to Colorado Springs.

You can see some of my pictures here if you are interested.

National Cherry Blossom Festival

After at least a dozen trips to Washington DC over the past few years I have never been here to see the Cherry Blossoms. It was always a week early or a few days late. This time my trip happened to be right at the ideal time to see them.

I got up early Saturday morning and headed out around 7:00AM. It was pretty cold but a very clear day for taking pictures. There were a lot of people with the same idea so it was pretty crowded, even at 7:00AM. Also, this week is Spring Break for a lot of people so there are also a lot of families around.

I'm staying at the Marriott Metro which is only a short walk down to the Tidal Basin where there are over 3000 cherry trees which were a gift from Japan to the United States in 1912.