One of the best things about Huell Howser was his enthusiasm for learning about the various cultures that make up California’s population. Three weeks ago we looked at the Serbian New Year celebrations, and in this episode of Visiting, Huell explores how the Vietnamese community in Orange County celebrates the Lunar New Year, which this year is occurring this weekend, […]
The Central Coast of California (as well as the rest of the state) has been getting pounded recently by a series of storms — bringing powerful ocean waves, torrents of rain causing flooding, and strong gusts of wind that are knocking trees over and causing extended power outages. Right now is definitely not a good time to visit the coast, […]
I’ve never been to Ferndale but seeing the cows grazing happily in the fields and the first glimpse of the town’s main street at the beginning of this one-hour episode, I was strongly reminded of Mendocino County and the villages of Point Arena and Fort Bragg. Of course Ferndale is famous for its historic buildings — and you may recall […]
Happy New Year to everyone a couple of days (or weeks, or months) early! Huell did some episodes of his show Visiting that focused on the New Year celebrations of a few different Southern California cultural communities; these don’t always fall on January 1, but at least the Serbian New Year is observed in the month of January! This episode […]
Normally around Christmas I like to feature one of Huell’s holiday-oriented episodes. This year it seems I’ve run through all of the most obvious Christmas-related segments, so I’ve settled for one that originally aired on December 24, 2004. (If you’d prefer to see an episode about the holiday season, you can find one of my favorites by clicking here.) I […]
This Classic episode of California’s Gold first aired back in 1998. This wasn’t Huell’s only visit to the area; two years later he returned to explore Under Lake Arrowhead in an episode which I previously featured in 2018. The Arrowhead Resort reached the height of fame and glamour many decades ago, and since then has been somewhat in decline. After […]
Along with the Big Guy, I was a roadside spectator for all but a couple of editions of the annual bike race known as the Amgen Tour of California between in the first edition in February 2006 and its final run in May 2019. I first shared these images from February 2009 soon after the event; Stage 1 took the riders from Davis to Lake Berryessa, then across the Vaca Mountains to Napa County, eventually crossing the finish line in Santa Rosa — a total of 115.9 miles. Two days before the race, Friday, the Big Guy and I drove from Sacramento to Napa to scope everything out and pick a good place to watch. We drove past the first of two King of the Mountains checkpoints, near the Monticello Dam at Lake Berryessa. After accidentally taking the wrong road, we passed through Angwin and came over Howell Mountain, the location of the second KOM, driving in the opposite direction of the race route, then down into Pope Valley. We didn’t drive the race route along the western shore of Berryessa, but we did see some pretty sites on our way back to Route 128. On Sunday, we knew exactly where we wanted to go. And despite the crazy weather we bundled up and made the trip back over to Napa. Narrow bridge near Pope Valley Somerston Vineyards Not part of the peloton! Actually, on race day the wind didn’t […]
Wind turbines do come in many different sizes, but one of the most frequent topics about these windmills is how difficult it is to get an accurate sense of their enormous size from the ground. In a later episode of California’s Gold (Windmills, originally aired in October 2021), Huell gets the chance to climb to the top of a windmill and take in the view; if you watched last week’s featured episode, you’ll remember Huell recalled this as probably his most frightening experience! But this week he gets a feel for the size of these mighty blades while staying firmly on the ground. This episode of Visiting originally aired April 15, 1998, and is not to be confused with an entirely different episode of California’s Gold also titled Wind (original air date April 1997). The Palm Springs wind farm is still operating and offers both guided golf cart tours and self-driving tours with curated audio provided. You’ve seen the giant windmills alongside the road to Palm Springs. Well now you can learn all about them with Huell as he gets a special “Wind Farm Tour” in an electric cart. One of only 6 wind farms in the world, this is a great place to learn about one of mankind’s earliest forms of energy. (Click on the linked image below to see the video.)
I’ve been featuring episodes from Huell Howser’s various TV shows every Wednesday since September 28, 2016, and I still have loads and loads of episodes to go! Although Huell passed away in January 2013, he’s still very much remembered and missed, and he left behind a unique treasury showcasing many of the best parts of the state. This episode of […]