Experience and Explore: Portola Redwoods State Park Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this post, you can find it here. Though the drive into Portola Redwoods State Park is torturous, the view is amazing. I was too car sick to take pictures on the way in, but was able to catch some on the way out. Timing your departure from the park just right will reward you with views like these. Enjoy! 

Experience and Explore: Will Rogers State Park, Santa Monica

Will Rogers State Historic Park is located in the Santa Monica Mountains and is about a 15-20 minute drive up from the city of Santa Monica (traffic willing). The hike to Inspiration Point is 2 miles up and back and is a very easy hike.

The most interesting thing to me about Will Rogers State Park is Mr. Will Rogers himself...he's kind of like that guy Duke, that started Duke's Restaurants...have you ever read Duke's bio?!? Well, Will Rogers, from Oklahoma, started out as a "cowboy entertainer," and went on to be a movie star, newspaper columnist and radio commenter. You can read more about him here. Mr. Rogers bought this plot of land where he built a 31-room cottage and ranch as a weekend home for he and his family. Will Rogers himself designed the riding trails that wind through the mountains to the back to the ranch. I didn't know about Will Roger's story until I started to write this blog post, now I definitely want to go back and take he tour of his house which still stands and contains some of his prized possessions.

Will Rogers