Antelope Valley Information

On the weekend of October 22 and 23 Edwards Air Force Base will host its Open House and Air Show. Admission is free and there will be plenty of interesting things to see. Edwards Air Force Base is located about 30 miles or so north of the Lancaster, California area. This is the base where the space shuttle landed in August. I am looking forward to checking out the air show and seeing some of the airplanes that will be on display. I check out their website and it looks like cameras will be allowed so hopefully I will get some nice pictures to share. If you want to learn more about the open house and air show click HERE.

Come and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Palmdale Fall Festival. This festival will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2005 and Sunday, October 9, 2005. It has a new location this year, Marie Kerr Park. It looks like there is a lot of things to check out including a farmer's market, aerospace expo, and arts & craft show. You can even get your flu shot at the festival if you qualify. There will also be a fireworks show on Saturday night. To learn more about all the cool stuff you can see and do at the Palmdale Fall Festival check out their web site by clicking HERE.

Yesterday we took a drive out in the desert to check out the Valyermo Fall Festival. This festival is the major fundraiser for a monastery, Saint Andrew's Abbey, located in the high desert of Southern California. I was not sure what to expect but it was a very busy place with lots of visitors. More than 25,000 people attend this Arts and Crafts Festival. In 1969, the monks began to manufacture ceramic artifacts. These were displayed at the festival for purchase. You can also check out these handmade and handpainted ceramics by clicking HERE. It was a nice day at the festival with lots to see. You can also read about the history of Saint Andrew's Abbey by clicking HERE.

I was just checking out some blogs and came across a good one on trail running. I have done some running here and there but nothing real major. I picked up some trail running sneakers last fall and had hoped to start doing more trail running. I found this blog to contain some good information about the sport and a lot of good links. I am putting this link on my blog to hopefully inspire some new trail runners and also learn more about trail running in the Western United States. Click HERE to check out the blog.

I was flipping through the pages of the Images of Lancaster book and saw some interesting pictures. During the 1920's the area was mainly irrigated agricultural lands. Alfalfa was the main crop produced in the area and was shipped to dairy farms. I drove by some alfalfa fields east of Lancaster a few months ago and they seemed out of place in the desert. Interesting to learn about the importance of that crop to the area. They also had some interesting pictures of coyotes that were trapped in the area and a hunter in Old Palmdale hunting mainly for bear, bobcat, and mountain lions. It was an interesting book to look through and learn some more about the history of this area. It may be difficult to find if you do not live near Lancaster, California but you can purchase it by clicking on the link below.

Over the Labor Day weekend a group of us went to see John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl. John Williams is know as "The Master of the Cinema" since he has written so much music for the movie industry. The Hollywood Bowl is a very interesting place. The seating is built into the natural hillside and provides for a nice place to see a show. The LA Philharmonic was the first to perform at the Hollywood Bowl back in 1922. You can learn more about the history of the Hollywood Bowl by clicking HERE. It was very pleasant listening to the LA Philharmonic play many movie songs. They played two sets each one hour. We heard music from many movies including: E.T., Schindler's List, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. If you would like to see the September Calendar of events at the Hollywood Bowl click HERE. Read more about the LA Philharmonic by clicking HERE and for more information about John Williams click HERE.

The LA County Fair is going to be opening soon!! The fair starts on September 9 and will run through October 2. You can get more information about the fair by clicking HERE. I am still learning about the fair myself. I hear that it is a very large fair. If I go and check it out I will let you know how it is. I wonder if the Hambone Express Racing Pigs are going to be there?

On Thursday September 1st Becky and I went to the AV Fair with a couple of our friends. We were actually able to walk to the fair from our friend's house. Thursday was $1 admission to the fair day. The AV Fair was a nice fair. We walked all around and got some good food. We also saw the Hambone Express Pig Races. I have seen pig racing back at the county and state fair in New York but nobody else in our group had seen them before. They are kind of fun to watch and a little bit different. The owners make up all kinds of famous pig sounding names for their racing pigs. I think George Bushhog won one of the races beating out Arnold Schwarzenpigger. If you are able to make it to the fair this weekend check out the Hambone Express Pig Races. They have races at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 o'clock. We also looked for the rabbits at the fair but I guess it was too hot for them so they were sent back home. The fair will conclude on Monday September 5th so if you get a chance this weekend check it out.