Paramount Ranch- Agoura Hills

On Saturday, we made the 2 hour drive up to Agoura Hills/Calabasas area to see the Paramount Ranch. We recently saw Huell Howser do a segment on it on California Gold. We were intrigued. Huell and the Ranger rode up on horses and it looked like it was far from civilization. We thought it would be fun to "Hike" to the ranch.

Well, it turns out that it is right off the side of the road. No hiking necessary. It takes about 10 minutes to see.

Lights! Camera! Action!… In 1927, Paramount Pictures purchased 2,700 acres of the old Rancho Las Virgenes for use as a “movie ranch.” For 25 years, a veritable who’s who of Hollywood practiced their craft at Paramount Ranch including director Cecil B. Demille and actors Bob Hope, Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert. The diverse landscape was the real star of the show. It offered film makers the freedom to create distant locales such as colonial Massachusetts in The Maid of Salem, ancient China in The Adventures of Marco Polo, a South Seas island in Ebb Tide (1937)and numerous western locations including San Francisco in Wells Fargo. The art of illusion was mastered on the landscape.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…The golden era of movie making at Paramount Ranch came to an end when changes to the studio system prompted Paramount Pictures to sell the ranch. Paramount Ranch found renewed life as a film location when William Hertz bought the southeast portion in 1953. An ardent fan of movie westerns, he built a permanent western town utilizing Paramount Pictures’ old prop storage sheds. As a result, television companies began producing westerns at the ranch such as The Cisco Kid and Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre. William Hertz sold the property in 1955. The Paramount Racetrack opened a year later, and some considered it one of the most challenging in the U.S. Although it closed 18 months later, after three fatal accidents, the racetrack was featured in The Devil’s Hairpin, filmed in 1957. Most of the track still winds through the grasslands of the park.

Ride Off Into the Sunset… From 1957 to 1980, the ranch changed ownership several times, but filmmaking continued. After purchasing a portion of the original Paramount property in 1980, the National Park Service revitalized the old movie ranch. From 1992 to 1997, Paramount Ranch was used as the setting for the television show, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Whether watching filming or exploring the area, experience the drama and grandeur of the Santa Monica Mountains.

(from the NPS.gov website)

This is the train station used in Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman

The actors must have been really small, because everywhere HH went his head touched the ceiling.

Since it only took us 10ish minutes to see the whole town, we tried to hike some of the trails. It was pretty comical, we would start to follow what looked like a interesting trail only to be to have it end a 1/4 mile or so in.

It was a pretty place, an interesting find, but not worth the long drive up just to see that. It is worth it if you are passing through or are going to be in the area for another reason. Seriously, it is 5 minutes off the freeway with easy access.

There's a new Sheriff in town!

There was this beautiful old oak tree. It was at least 15 degrees cooler in the shade of this tree than out in the sun.

Photo Challenge - Week Four: High Angle & Sunset

Paramount Ranch

Well, I've been called out for taking a shortcut this week. I used photos I had taken, just not taken recently. When I looked over my photos that I took for this week, I was unimpressed. But, so I won't be called a cheater, I'm posting them.

Above is a shot of Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. My family and I drove out there yesterday for a hike, more on that later. I took this picture from the top of the trailhead, but if doesn't look very high.

This is a sunset from my backyard this week. I'm bored with taking photos from my backyard. Even though it is pretty, it's been done. So, I chose to share the ones below instead.

High Angle

This was taken from a bridge overlooking a small river in Yellowstone National Park. The Handsome Husband could not resist a little dipping of the toes in the cool mountain water. Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. We all loved it. I want to go back again. We saw so many animals: deer, elk, bear, mountain goat, wolf, and of course, buffalo everywhere. So incredible. You need a week to really see the park and you have to make your reservations a year in advance. Do it today.

Sunset

This sunset is in Maui, Hawaii. Last summer when we were at the Grand Wailea, every night had a beautiful sunset. This was one of many.

Happy Friday

Wishing you a happy weekend!

Westside Story

Westside Story

Updated with a new "bicultural" twist

HATED IT!!! I was so disappointed in the new Westside Story show I saw on Sunday night at the Segrestrom Performing Arts Center. First most of what the Shark gang say to one another was in Spanish. A lot of the dialogue between the Puerto Rican group is in Spanish. If I had not just seen this movie about 5 months ago, I wouldn't have known what the heck was going on. If I wanted to see a play in Spanish I would have gone to a different venue. Then, they changed the "I Feel Pretty" song from in the bridal shop to in Maria's bedroom right after the big gang fight and the two boys are killed. AWKWARD, doesn't fit at all. To add salt to the wound, the girls sing only the chorus in English and all the other words are in Spanish. WHAT!!! I was really looking forward to this song, as my aunt used to sing it to me when I was little. Bummer, way to ruin a great song that everyone was looking forward too. Tony's voice was average at best. I was also disappointed in the choreography for the scene in which the boys are singing about Officer Krupke. They are pretending to masterbate and hump each other. Oh, that makes the play so up to date and relevant - NOT! I was offended. I have to blame the director, David Saint and choreographer, Joey McKneeley.

I was not the only person to feel this way. As we were leaving, everyone was confused as to what they just saw. NO ONE appreciated the fact that it was half in spanish and half in English. This is the first time I have ever felt that I wanted my money back. I can't believe I paid good money to see this trash.

Photo Challenge - Week Three: Breakfast and Books

Breakfast

MMMM Trader Joe chocolate croissants. The Handsome Husband's FAVORITE!!! They are in the frozen section and they are delicious. You set them out the night before, they poof over night and you pop them in the oven in the morning. HH thinks they are better than the ones we ate in France. I have to credit Alyssa for this great find. BTW, one is 9 points. hehe.

Books

Books excite the imagination! I love books. They take you to far away places, introduce you to new ideas, different people, and inspire dreams. It is no secret that I love to read. Here is a small sampling of my DK Eyewitness travel guide collection. I have two book shelves full. I love the color photos, the diagrams of Castles and maps of the cities. They are chock full of information.

Click here to see Cynthia's photos.

Staying on track

I joined Weight Watchers July 1st.

I have lost 12.2 pounds.

I have been tracking my points religiously since July 1st.

It has made a difference.

I have excellent weeks, good weeks and bad weeks.

Every Friday morning I am held accountable for the choices I made the week prior.

I didn't think I ate that much so why was I gaining more and more weight every year? First it was 10lbs with each baby, but then it just kept creeping up on me. I've tried several attempts at WW, but I would stop tracking my points (food) after about two weeks. Too hard, too lazy, didn't want to face up the the fact that I did indeed eat that much! I was not disciplined, I was too busy. I have found it comes down to choices. Do I want the hamburger or the french fries? Do I want to use 14 of my 29 points on a Costco hotdog? Sometimes I do. I should not have a hamburger, french fries and Costco hot dog all in one day. It will blow my points sky high! But, if I do, tomorrow is another day and I will begin again. Recording everything shows you exactly what your choices were.

What has made the difference this time?

I'm not in a hurry to drop a large amount of weight in a short amount of time.

My iphone has a app that makes it super easy to track your points.

You can look up food from your kitchen and from a lot of restaurants and find points before you eat.

And then the app records those points.

The app also has a point calculator so you can look up points on the fly.

You can look up your activity and record the extra points you receive from exercise.

The iphone keeps track of your points and subtracts them from the total each day, both daily points, weekly points and activity points.

But...

You have to be honest about what you are eating and record every little thing you put in your mouth. You are only hurting yourself by not recording EVERYTHING!!!

You have to make choices.

You have to be disciplined.

You have to realize you will be eating this way for the rest of your life.

You can treat yourself.

You are not deprived.

You will then reap the rewards.

Photo Challenge - Week Two: Clouds and Hands

We had a great week weather wise. When I say great, I mean, we actually had some weather. We had a little wind and rain last weekend, then a heat wave and finally thunder and lightning and a downpour! I got some great pictures of clouds.

Here is my hands photo. The handsome husband and I forming a heart with the sun making it all glow. Isn't it romantic? He even put The Rifleman on pause so we could take the picture. AHHH. I'm taking this picture one handed right into the sun. I couldn't even see the monitor to see if I got it right. If I could have seen what I was doing, I probably would have made him take more, but I was on borrowed time as it was!

See Cynthia's photos here.

30 Things Photo Challenge

Self Portrait

Favorite Shoes

I'm doing a 30 Things Photo Challenge along with my friend, Cynthia. She is very artistic behind the lens of a camera, so basically, I'm going to just try to learn from her. The real challenge is suppose to be 30 things in 30 days, but I am in no way that ambitious. So Cynthia and I decided we could do two items a week on the challenge. Here is my first two: Self Portrait and Favorite Shoes.

I have to tell you that there is a very funny story and some unbelievably embarrassing shots that go along with the favorite shoes image. The self-timer on my camera is only 10 seconds, which seems like a lot of time unless your wearing high heels, a long tulle skirt and have to jump to position yourself in the middle of a king size bed. I can tell you that I worked up a sweat!!! I know, it just sounds wrong! I'm sorry I just gave you that horrible visual! I never achieved the right angle, position or composition for my original idea, so I had to think up something different. In the end, I held the camera and worked my core muscles to hold my feet in just the right position to get this photo. More trouble than it was worth.

Cute centerpieces

On Thursday night, HH and I attended The Festival of Children charity event. They had these cute teapot and cup centerpieces. Each table had the same centerpiece only done with different flowers. They were so cute.

They had these great seating sections along with very tasty food, dessert and drinks. We had a great table of people, but we were too close to the band and we had to yell to each other to be heard.

Have a great LONG weekend!