MARCH FIELD AIR MUSEUM

We went to the March Field Air Museum located in Riverside California, along the I-215 freeway, you won't miss the rows & rows of planes! It is a fun place to check out even if you are not an aviation nerd. Lots of exhibits and history for a good price. And it's March now, so what better time to post this! We visited in Oct 2017.

22550 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, CA 92518
It is open everyday except Mondays from 10am-5pm.
 https://www.marchfield.org/



Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children. Free for children under 4 years old.

Our AirBnB lodging was just 15 mins from this place so we had to visit it. I'm not a plane or military enthusiast but all of us were pretty excited when we saw the planes from the carpark. There is hardly a chance for us to see these amounts of historical planes at such close range and so vast a space.

First we were greeted by this magnificent SR-71 Blackbird! You won't be able to tear your eyes off it. That is a gorgeous sleek design if I ever saw one.

We had fun taking photos with this heavy Japanese turret gun. I've seen that battleship movie Yamato.

Commercial airline uniforms from the past also included.

There is a NASA & Russian space exhibit room. Here are some flight simulators for the kids.

Also a large exhibit on the different wars. There are window display rows on both sides.

After the indoor exhibit in the hangar, we headed outdoors where almost all of the planes were displayed. And there were many!

It was hot, dry, windy and very sunny, typical Californian summer in the desert. We all got a little crispy.

I recall there were Russian MiGs, US Fighter Jets, Bombers. I only know the B-17 bomber. Below is a B-17G Flying Fortress.

Hiding under the wing for some shade! I forgot my hat and sunglasses and of all colours, chose to wear black. You are not allowed to touch the planes.

Next to the March Air Base so we got to see planes land nearby.

There were also Vietnam-era helicopters.

It may take a few hours to explore the grounds if you want to read the boards in detail; a good idea to come earlier and allow some time to browse the gift shop. They stock nice pins, military patches and toys, of which I bought several pins.

That's it, there are way too many photos so I added a chosen few. I give this place a big thumbs up, just remember to bring water, a hat and slap on sunscreen! Oh and your cameras of course!

HEART ROCK FALLS CRESTLINE

We decided to head to the Heart Rock Falls (Seely Creek Falls) near Crestline for an easy hike, while I was in California last year. Neither my boyfriend nor I had ever known about it all these years. Have to say it is a lovely little hidden gem. Only knew about the Heart Rock through one of the recommended sight-seeing spots on my AirB&B booking (it was a family trip that lasted till end Oct though I stayed on till mid-November).

How to get there:
Take the 210 freeway, then onto CA-18/N Waterman Ave, then Highway 138 towards Crestline. Pass a few junctions and when you reach a brown sign 'Camp Seely' & its barricaded carpark, follow left on a narrow single-lane dirt road, yes you can drive through this although we had doubts at first. At the end of this road you will see a small parking area straight ahead (maybe good for 5 cars) and a barricade that starts the trail.



The drive up the mountains are always nice. The general consensus is that there is nothing much going for San Bernardino, although the national forests and surrounding mountains are totally worth checking out.

This is the start of one of the trail heads that is just at the end of the parking lot, past the barricade. I came here on two separate occasions. At the end of the post I will show the other trail.

This is the easier trail if you'd like a stroll first, it is evenly paved, nicely shaded, sometimes the wind gets gusty and cold.

The other trail is towards the bottom of the hill (right).

After about a mile stroll, you will come to this sign that directs you downwards right.

This hike is about 1.7 to 2 miles round trip. There is a bit of a slope and slippery areas (because of all the fallen loose leaves) after this paved area to get to the rocks so you can bring a hiking stick or wear proper shoes if you are not used to it. If you have climacophobia or bathmophobia or vertigo, please bring those and tell the phobias to pipe down and not disrupt your fun activities (at least that's what I do).

This is the descending slope, after that you will see some useful graffiti to know you're on the right track. It is probably a bit steeper than it looks in the photos.

The Heart Rock is after this rock ledge. A couple was ahead of us, walking their cute puppy.

I gingerly climbed and peered over the edge of the cliff. Aw it's dried up! It did rain last week though but I guess there was just insufficient water.

Sweet. I plan to come back when there's a waterfall going.

Wanted to go down there, but don't know how high we were up here, but yep it may spell death if I slip.

Oh yes, there was an incident at this spot. I saw an animal foraging in the high forest on the opposite bank but thought it was the couple's huskie puppy, but something wasn't quite right in its gait. So I asked boyfriend to look again for me as I have pretty bad eyesight even with my glasses. He said 'Yeah? It's their dog.'. Then I thought it was strange they were comfortable letting the puppy roam in the wild without supervision. And then I looked again at the couple and saw they were holding the dog. Hey..... if that's the puppy down there, then what was that I just saw?!

Turned out it was a bobcat. Both grey, and similar sized. Bobcat has bigger hind legs. Dammit... By the time we figured that out, we missed our chances to take pictures/ film it! I mean what if I'd just spotted Bigfoot lol. Trust my gut instinct the next time and snap first, ask later!

 Ah well. We didn't want any trouble with wild animals so finished our food before climbing down.

It's nice. Granite I think? Unfortunately there are some graffiti and litter around.

Wondering how I was to climb back up later? Well the same way I climbed down sorta.

The creek was almost dry.

I do not recommend going in the water but I know some people do, um leeches, folks. The water's pretty stagnant at this point and the leaves are rotting. We've had experience with leeches in the stream near Waterman Canyon, which may be linked to this. Not fun. Traumatised for life lol.

After that it was getting late so we climbed back up where we came from. This is the nice view driving back to civilisation.

****

Okay I mentioned the other lower trail closer to the creek, from the parking lot you go down the slope, past the swimming pool at Camp Seely.

The view will look something like this after a short walk. It is a winding dirt path,  and rather uneven terrain. It goes uphill and downhill with some treading on small boulders and rocks. It is less windy. You can choose this way but I felt it was a bit more tiring.

We went further down the valley for this 2nd trip but came a bit too late in the afternoon so had to turn back shortly after.

Just to note I left one of my walking sticks (it was just a long branch I found in the stream) propped against a tree for whoever wants to use it. 14th or 15th November 2017, and you're most welcome lol.

Thanks for reading and see you in my next post.

MEET BONESY KITTY

Newest member of the cat clan!

He was named Bonesy because he was so thin after being rescued from under the house of my boyfriend's. He was probably stuck for about 2 days and would've starved to death if it wasn't for his incessant mewing below the boards.

Thankfully he was real friendly (grateful maybe!) with his new human family, not feral at all and about 7-8 weeks old I think. Within two weeks the kitten caught two rats in consecutive days. I asked bf, "Are you SURE it's a male? Because male cats aren't as efficient in hunting as females.". He looked again and said "Yeah I see balls.".

Anyhow we brought Bonesy to the vet to get fixed when I went to California last Oct, and guess what? HE turned out to be a SHE! The markings on her ass does make her like she has balls but yeah you can immediately tell she's 100% female when she does her belly flop! We call her Bonnie now.

Active one, we like to think of her as an ocelot. She loves to snuggle and suckle on people's neck and has a penchant for grooming hands. She also likes to jump all over the place, knocked 2 vases into pieces, and perch on bf's back. She and Miu play chase every wee hours of the morning and mid-morning when I was there.

Here she learns the joys of Cat TV from Miu. Miu was initially terrified of this tiny kitten lol.

Kiwi was not fond of her at first, and tolerates the rambunctious kitty at best. She often bops Bonesy's head & hisses when Bonesy gets too wild because grandma doesn't want to play!

Kiwi is still fat lol.

Obese Miu lost a little bit of weight after Bonesy made her gallop around like a mad cat.

Grandma Lucy says hi! She's afraid of something in this photo (think it was the sound of the air pump) and hiding behind our legs. The other chihuahua Dotty recently had a health scare and almost died, she has a blood platelet disease and medication seems to be helping. I hope she recovers fully. Unfortunately I do not have a nice photo of Dotty when I was there because I didn't think she was ill.

Bonesy's first Christmas and Christmas decor. Uh oh, look at her face.

Finally all three cats can co-exist peacefully and watch Cat TV together. Bonesy's in Kiwi's spot though. Actually there's a new stray cat on the porch (wondering if she is related to Bonesy)... don't know what to do yet.

All grown up. Hopefully she remains this size and not put on too much weight!

There I did it! First post of 2018 and something that is not my artwork. My last personal post was in Aug 2016. I have a boring life and there's nothing eventful to post, I just work work work =P

GOODBYE LUPIN HELLO MIU MIU

Sad to report that Lupin, that feral cat I blogged in April has passed away around end Aug. She died probably while secretly giving birth to her 2nd litter of kittens in the attic. Unfortunately that batch of kittens all died as a result. RIP kitties.

Before bf came to Singapore in May, I mentioned Lupin's first litter of kitties! Well, she had 2 boys and 1 girl. The 2 boys were adopted by other families.

Some last shots of Lupin. Skittish, she didn't like anyone touching her.

This is the cobwebs-covered female kitty bf kept, which we initially identified as 'Antbite' lol. She is now called Miu, Miumiu or Miyu because she responds to it. Here she is with Lupin her mother, and she learnt to eat kibble very early on, at under 4 weeks old.

The black male kitten! So cute =)

 And their striped brother!

This was why she was called 'Antbite'!! Red ants were biting the poor little creature in this shot because her favourite spot was in the bushes where there was a nest of them. Here bf is trying to get the ants off her and she started hissing whenever he came near after that episode - associated trauma lol.

 

2nd time a few days later, trying to take a photo of her, she was still grumpy!

Her soulful looking brother.

Kiwi cat sniffing at the striped kittens. The two black kittens were hissing at her for some reason, but not this striped one. This 'throne' is now Miu's fave sleeping spot.

When bf came back to California in end-Aug, Antbite / Miu has grown much. At first she kept hissing (now her trademark gesture) non-stop at Kiwi after being transferred indoors, and had to be kept in the bathroom to accustom both of them to each other. After a few days of settling territorial issues and swiping at faces, I think they have made peace, and Kiwi's being quite tolerant, sharing space and toys. Miu has grown friendly and very playful. Always hungry too. Yes, she was spayed a few weeks back and got her shots too.

Kiwi has taught Miu some cat etiquette, Miu imitates Kiwi by using the same litterbox and scratch post even though there are 2 separate ones for them. One litterbox is exclusively for pee, and the other for poop. One scratching post (the flat cardboard types) is ignored while the other is used all the time. So strange, maybe they're saving it till the older one breaks lol. Kiwi has learnt to pick up a toy in her mouth (which Miu always does), and then call out loudly at night. Maybe it's the new kitty resident or the new toy but it's something she hasn't done before, except once when she caught a live rat.

Kiwi found a new spot to sleep after Miu kept trying to sleep together with her. Two places Miu are not allowed are: the shelf layer under a table where Kiwi plays and chill out, and the top of the luggage which is still not packed away! Kiwi is not a lap cat, but will occasionally share a bed in the mornings.

Kiwi hates halloween giant spiders. Wave bye bye!