I absolutely loved this space!!! Funky and cozy!!! We were traveling back from Palm Springs to Reno…read moreand called to see if the Lemon House was available! Lucky for us it was!!! The outside featured a stunning view of the mountains and the inside was like a nest! I slept soundly!!!

Cartago, Calif. I…read moredon't know anything about Spongebob except that it's a cartoon after my time. Google had this tourist attraction in Central California on the Eastern Frontier as Sponge Bob's home. The structure is just an area on the side of the road with a bunch of structures and gimmicky things. It's an ideal spot to stretch your legs and take a quick breather before continuing your travel adventures. The house itself appears to be for rent but if you peek inside the windows that doesn't seem to be the case. There's a motel or lodging type structures on the same lot so it can be a gimmick for the children to goof around in since there is nothing around. Access/Roads: Along HWY 395. This highway is paved throughout. Parking: Plenty in a small dirt lot. Costs: Free Nearby Attractions: Many many many things and places. Death Valley NP (Stovepipe Wells) is appx 80 miles East. Mount Whitney Access Point is 30 miles North. Manzanar Internment Camp is appx 30 miles North & I recommend every East Asian (American) to visit Manzanar and related internment camps. Uniroyal Gal (statue) is appx 38 miles South. The Eastern Portions of Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite can be accessed from this region. Additionally, the western portion of Mono Lake & Mammoth can be accessed. Distance: Los Angeles is 200 miles South. Reno is 300 miles North. Las Vegas is 250 miles East. Bakersfield is 150 miles West. Travel safely my friends. @cigarcpa

Wow! What an amazing find. This place totally exceeded my expectations. From the moment we walked…read morein, the staff was super friendly and attentive.

So this trip was definitely a spontaneous one - we planned it on Monday to go Saturday (today) and…read moreI am saying "spontaneous" because its the summer time and usually these kind of activities are full. Well that was the case for many of these tours. However, I stumbled across Kern River Tours and decided to give them a call. Luckily, they had open spots for us and even gave us a discount for being a first timer! We all saved almost $10!!! The lady over the phone for reservations was super friendly and nice. Since it was our first time, I had a lot, I mean A LOT of questions and she was just so helpful and patient throughout the whole reservation process. It was a quick over the phone reservation and the confirmation email came right away after I booked it. The email is very detailed with the trip and my order but also a list of items I should bring to the trip. It was very informative! Now to the activity. We came and we were instantly greeted by the friendly staff and even if we were a group of 7, after determining that it was safe for all of us on one raft, they let us all be in one which was awesome! Our leader Matt was very experienced and provided us the most smooth yet exciting experience during our II & III Express trip. We had a few fun splashes and Matt did a phenomenal job leading the group. They also had soft drinks ready for us at the bus and also watermelons at the shop upon our return! Awesome customer service! We definitely remembered to tip our team leader. And the best part was that I did not feel pressured to do so which a-lot of these activity places do - pressure you to tip but Kern River Tour did not. That was also awesome. I also bought the pictures during the trip which is pretty cool since you can't really take a selfie when you're on the raft paddling away! They were $50 plus tax - a little over $53 total for 25 images. It may seem overpriced but also who can stand and take all these action photos for you while you paddle away. Overall, the experience was great and I definitely recommend others to try!

If you're in the area, and espcially if you're a train enthusiast, visiting the Tehachapi Loop…read moretrain track is worth a stop. It's free to visit the historical landmark recording this engineering feat, where you'll also have a good view of the loop. It's not guaranteed that you'll see a train pass by (I didn't!) but it's still worth seeing. Free admission and free parking at the historical marker.

We completely lucked out in getting to the overlook moments before a long freight train passed by…read more The loop isn't just one big loop, it goes around and around and the train coils around the tracks like a snake. It truly was an engineering feat and it is still in regular use. We also noticed that the plaque recognized the efforts by Chinese laborers from Guangdong for building this loop. They were previously erased from history but I am glad their contributions are now acknowledged after so many years.

Darwin is an old mining town which was operational for almost 100 years. The mines have been closed…read moresince the 1970s, and less than 50 people live there presently. We spent a night at Darwin on our way from Alabama Hills to Death Valley.

I recently watched the 2011award winning independent documentary film "Darwin". I was fascinated…read morewith the very interesting lives of those living in this very small and isolated town of just 35 people located in Death Valley, California. I would highly recommend this film if you want to learn more about this very remote and unique place.

A beautiful and historical place to see and walk. If you're luck you'll see obsidian, but cannot…read moretake out. Leave as is. Highly recommended.

Super cool volcanic rock formations. You can still find lava. This is an ancient area and weather…read morehas changed its face continuously. It's BLM protected land so don't take any fossils you find. I recommend going when it's sunny, and not too windy as it really whips through this valley. If you plan on trying to climb then have someone with you. Wear the right shoes, hand grips and what not. You can't legally climb so maybe you aren't a dumb dumb and you don't so you don't fall down and go boom boom. Stay safe. Enjoy, respect the nature by taking whatever you brought in back out again. Don't ruin it with graffiti or trash. Stay beautiful. Desert Safety PSA: And for the love of God stay away from the desert if you don't know where you're at. There are old mine shafts out there from digging. Some covered - a lot not. They are deep. People have died falling not paying attention because who expects a friggin narrow but super deep hole to be there all random like? I'm talking miles and miles from streets and cities you may see one. DONT GET CLOSE TO LOOK! You can fall by slipping on the now uneven earth around it. You fall down. Your head goes boom. And then you don't come out alive. So stay out and stay on the trails.

Buck Rock Lookout is a Really, Really, cool fire lookout. It was built in 1923 and has the first…read morelive in fire lookout. It's called a "4-A" style cab because it's 14 ft x 14 ft small live in fire lookout surrounded all around by windows. The stairways was built in 1942. It's open to the public from 9:30a-6p. The person in the cab is on duty and you can talk to him/her. From the Sequoia National Forest website: "Buck Rock Lookout sits perched atop a granite dome and offers a breathtaking view of the Great Western Divide and other spectacular high mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Access to the top is via a series of stair flights (consisting of 172 steps) suspended from the side of the rock." Pit toilet is available off on the Left before the stairs and the person on duty has to do those stairs everytime he/she needs to go! The stairs are fun, 172 steps, hold on to the handrails on both sides! It can be closed due to fires, lightening, etc. Worth going if ever in the area. One of my pics above. website: www.buckrock.org http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/lookouts/lookouts.html

If you know , you know. Cool place to check out , and the view is great. Stop by if your in the…read morearea.

Welcome to Bakersfield! While I have heard the occasional joke of the Bakersfield sign, I can't…read morehelp but take a moment of awe every time I drive by. I filmed some content including the sign recently, and it was really a fun time. I appreciate that the Buck Owen's old time western motif is still up despite having shut down. I am glad I took the time to soak it in and reflect on good times had.

I visit Bakersfield a few times a year, and for some reason, I always find myself drawn to the…read moreiconic Bakersfield sign. Maybe it's my way of saying, "I'm here" but whatever the reason, it never disappoints. The sign is massive, bold, and hard to miss. At night, it truly comes alive, lit up in bright, beautiful colors that give the whole area a pop of character. It's a surprisingly charming spot in this little town, and definitely worth checking out if you're passing through or just want a cool photo op. Bakersfield's got a gem here!

Fantastic geology, a mine that's big enough you can drive your vehicle into and a great view of the…read moreOwens Valley. Note you will need four-wheel-drive and high clearance for a couple of sections that are maybe 20 or 30 yards total. Most of the drive is very doable. And you can always drive a regular vehicle to the base of the mine road and then walk about 200 yards to the opening. There's also a foot path that goes down the sidewall of the canyon to a smaller mine as well.

Pretty cool experience. Go early in the morning to breathe in less fumes from cars going in and out.read more

A local treat that is on the left side of Highway 178 as you approach Trona, about 2.2 miles before…read morethe dirt road turn-off to Trona Pinnacles. One of the employees at Esparza's Mexican Restaurant (a good place to eat in Trona) said the Fish Rocks have been here for decades, and at one point when they were either cleaned or painted over, someone repainted the faces, and they've been there ever since. Although I don't condone graffiti, I can't help but love how these look, and as they've been embraced by many in Trona, who am I to argue? They sure look really cool. I am a night photographer and took star trails photos of these Fish Rocks a little while ago, so I'm ever so grateful for this great subject matter.

Between Ridgecrest and Trona, there are the Fish Rocks -- an outcropping of stones painted with…read moreeyes and teeth -- in Poison Canyon, not far from the turn-off for the Trona Pinnacles. Some call them the "Whale Rocks," but they're more commonly the "Fish Rocks" or "Fish Head Rocks." Poison Canyon, officially Salt Wells Canyon, was plagued with graffiti (and still is). The Fish Rocks came about some time in the 1930s or '40s (some claim even earlier, 1928) and became a favored landmark with the locals. When the heads were painted over in colors meant to match the pinks and beiges of the natural stone, along with the rest of the graffiti, the people of Ridgecrest and Trona became infuriated with the loss of their bizarre, though beloved Fish Heads. Someone repainted the eyes and teeth about a year later and this time they stuck and became protected. The Fish Heads can be seen off Highway 178. There are a couple dirt road pull-offs on the western side and you can walk right up to them. Though there is some graffiti on the surrounding rocks (a Mercedes sign I'm sure was meant to be peace, for example), but the Fish Heads are pristine. They're pretty trippy in person. The eyes and teeth are only painted on one side -- you only really see them heading northbound, from Ridgecrest to Trona. My boyfriend's dad was saying his friends used to throw beer bottles at them as they drove back to Ridgecrest from the factory in Trona at the end of the day. Back then the highway went right beside them. A dirt road goes right by them, but is broken up into a wash.

Though this site gives some amazing history about the pinnacles I would not have known otherwise,…read morethe road to get here is very long, very rocky and in some places questionable if I should cross them. It was extremely hot even though it's April. I didn't walk around as the temps too high. The highlights - you cross over where the salt has dried from the lake ( wash your car as soon as you can as salt bad for it!), the beautiful scenery of the pinnacles (obviously) but the mountains behind them, the history lesson, the train cars sitting on the tracks was kinda fun and interesting and best of all the Navy flying planes doing test runs. Loved that. So hard to believe so much of this was under water and that where these were created. It's other worldly with how alive our planet is and constantly changing. It's free to come here but be warned about deep sand, very rocky roads and the heat. Bring water and have plenty of gas in the tank. There's nothing around for quite a ways.

Out of this world! Free admission but make sure the roads are in good shape. I drove out in an SUV…read moreand some parts of the road were a little sketchy. Once you arrive at the Pinnacles, you can hike up really close to see them first-hand. The pinnacles were created out of tufa ("porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water" per Wikipedia), when the area was under a lake. If you visit in spring, you'll see some wildflowers as well. Very interesting spot and worth a stop on your way to Death Valley. Highly recommended!