A “live steam” enthusiast watches families ride a small train through Rohr Park, in San Diego’s South Bay.
This is beyond cool!
The Chula Vista Live Steamers is a club in San Diego’s South Bay. Members build and operate their own small “live steam” trains that people can actually ride!
These friendly hobbyists utilize an elaborate network of miniature train tracks in a public park; the layout is called the Sweetwater and Rohr Park Railroad. During public run days, which take place in Bonita’s grassy Rohr Park one Saturday and Sunday of each month, anyone can watch or ride the small trains! Or if you’re inclined, join and become a member! If you have kids, visit their website, and you can schedule birthday parties!
Today I spotted one steam and one diesel locomotive (which is actually powered by gasoline). It’s winter, so things are bit slow. On Labor Day, I was told, a gigantic railroading extravaganza takes places, with many different trains running simultaneously! If you’re a kid (or a kid at heart), I can only imagine how utterly fantastic it would be!
Whether you’re a railfan, a model train enthusiast, a maker, a dreamer, or just like to see something really unique and fun, head down to join in the action and you’ll have a great time!
Should you walk down this path through Rohr Park in Bonita, you’ll eventually come upon something really cool and amazing.Run days for The Chula Vista Live Steamers are usually the 2nd Saturday and Sunday of each month. On Labor Day there’s a huge event with many trains operating.Adults love riding the trains just as much as kids. Hobbyists build and maintain the rail cars and working locomotives, and haul them to the park for some fun.Thrilled kids ride behind a small “diesel locomotive”, which is actually powered by gasoline. The tracks looping through the park provide a fun, scenic ride.Here comes the same train. The Bonita Golf Course is in the distance, beyond the tracks.This working steam locomotive is a very cool sight. But it’s so small that folks at a nearby picnic table seem to be giants.This tiny train is part of the National City and Otay Railway!A close-up photo of the live steam locomotive. In every detail, it seems a perfect reproduction of a full-size engine.Dedicated train hobbyists have gathered on the surprisingly large rail yard to enjoy the steam locomotive.This caboose in the rail yard seems to be occupied by the Creature from the Black Lagoon!A pair of tracks head for a good quarter mile along the edge of the Bonita Golf Course. You can see railroad crossings and a few small bridges!Occasionally, trains will run down the side of the golf course to another loop.An actual working railway turntable! This area is where steam locomotives build up steam pressure before running. The turntable is very busy on Labor Day!Checking out a super cool locomotive operated by a member of the Chula Vista Live Steamers!
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I was walking along the Embarcadero today when I happened upon a super nice lady who was trying to raise support for the Helping Hands Foundation! What is this organization? They help parents and children affected by a very unfortunate circumstance. According to their website, “Every year, 1 out of 2,000 children in the United States is born with an upper limb anomaly. During childhood, many more lose hands and arms to accidents or disease.”
I learned from the volunteer that they’re sending 100 kids with developmental disabilities, autism and other very difficult physical problems to our world-famous San Diego Zoo! How cool is that?
Would you like to provide a little support for this worthy cause? You’ll make the lives of children and their families so much better. You will add a little needed sunshine to this sometimes difficult old world. What could be more important?
This wonderful, smiling lady is spreading sunshine. She’s trying to help unfortunate kids live a better life, with days full of joy and happiness. Can you help?
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A fairy puppet and smiling puppeteer pose for my camera in San Diego’s wonder-filled Balboa Park.
I made a magical discovery today during my walk through wonder-filled Balboa Park!
This nice lady was passing by the House of Hospitality with a large fairy puppet, testing it for reactions from kids! I learned her daughter, Julie Otto, creator of Julie’s Puppet Creations, is going to have experimental, larger-than-life puppets featured at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater!
The production is called Whispers of the Forest, and it will be showing at the theater for a two week span, beginning the week before Earth Day. Fun marionettes will be featured, in addition to a 9-foot-tall talking tree, and it sounded to me as if it’s going to be great!
San Diego’s Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park has showtimes at 11, 1 and 2:30, Wednesday through Sunday.The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater is a place of magic and fun for kids and warmhearted adults alike!
Tourists are given a magic show by a busker near the reflecting pond in Balboa Park.
I took a Sunday stroll through Balboa Park. Here are some fun pics!
Duck enjoys the pool of water at the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor May S. Marcy Sculpture Court.Kid with painted face examines Man in White. This cool busker appears to be made of marble. He was entertaining surprised visitors on El Prado.Kid walks through a hula hoop on a stretch of grass.Guy shows some people his stuff in the Plaza de Panama.Folks wait on a bench for the free Balboa Park tram, which I call the green caterpillar.The San Diego Automotive Museum is having a food drive inside their front entrance. Stop on by!Happy dogs, walkers and a cool guitar-playing musician on a sunny Sunday in San Diego.Who doesn’t love colorful twisted balloons and soaring bubbles?
Member of the San Diego Argonauts gets ready to place a small sailboat into Vacation Isle’s model yacht pond.
A silvery sheet of water near the center of Vacation Isle is where dreams take sail. Tiny dreams with tiny sails.
Today I took a long meandering walk about Mission Bay, and spent a fair amount of time lingering around what is simply called the model yacht pond. Connected to the bay with an underground pipe, the pond rises and falls with the ocean’s tides. The tranquil sheet of saltwater, surrounded by grass, trees and the many picnic benches of Vacation Isle Park, has been enjoyed by model boat hobbyists for over half a century.
A very cool club called the San Diego Argonauts utilizes the model yacht pond for radio control model boating and racing. Every Saturday morning, their Scale Boat Division runs electric and steam-powered craft on the pond. Many of the tiny vessels are remarkably detailed, even museum quality. One tiny tugboat even blew its horn at me while I took some photographs!
Saturday afternoons is when the wind-driven sailboats come out to compete or practice. The Sail Division of the San Diego Argonauts has many skippers who’ve won National Championships!
Today I saw so many sails at once, I could hardly believe it! The model yacht pond was the scene of a glorious regatta. These model boat sails tack by remote control, so racing around the tiny floating buoys requires many of the same strategies as racing a full-size sailboat!
On Sunday the pond features model power boats, which can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour! I’ll definitely have to check that out one weekend! I’ll take pictures!
Model boating is a fascinating, beautiful hobby to watch. I’ll bet it’s a lot of fun building a boat and watching it float across this magical pond!
A scale boat enthusiast spends part of his Saturday in San Diego’s sunny Vacation Isle Park.Two electric-powered model boats navigate by radio control across the smooth pond.This small tugboat blew it’s horn as I took this photo!A model sailboat is made ready. The friendly guy who owns this boat showed me how the sails are moved by remote control.Another member of the San Diego Argonauts wheels his sailboat down to the bank of the model yacht pond.Wading out, in order to place one model sailboat into the water.The miniature boats look beautiful on the gleaming water. They operate in the ocean breeze much like actual sailboats.Three model sailboats tack to go around a tiny buoy.The model yacht pond can be found near the center of San Diego’s huge Mission Bay Park, which is the largest urban aquatic park in the United States.Many sails float dreamlike across the blue water.A fun day in the park for young and old alike.
Everyone has a great time at the 2015 December Nights celebration in San Diego’s glorious Balboa Park!
Saturday was the second day of the December Nights holiday event in Balboa Park. (It’s 2015, and we’re coming to the end of Balboa Park’s centennial year. It has been a real blast!)
I walked around randomly and took a bunch of photos during the afternoon, while it was still light outside. This year December Nights was just as wonderful as ever! At night, the lights came on and the scene was pure magic!
Tens of thousands stream into Balboa Park from across the Cabrillo Bridge. December Nights is one of the largest holiday festivals in the United States.This nice lady in an information tent usually works at the Balboa Park Visitors Center.Folks in Santa hats enjoy dancing at the Gator by the Bay stage in the Plaza de Panama.Lots of unique Christmas gifts were out on display for purchase throughout Balboa Park during December Nights.Of course, you can buy mistletoe from this guy near the Natural History Museum!One of many fun images near the Old Globe Theatre that celebrate local author Dr. Seuss’ classic book How The Grinch Stole Christmas!Kids by the Botanical Building paint a huge community canvas during December Nights.A close-up photo of colorful holiday-themed artwork painted by creative kids!Poinsettias of many colors fill the amazing Botanical Building.Mother duck and ducklings are a bit wary of all the excited humans crowding about the reflecting pool.One of the several Santas in Balboa Park will be stationed here at the Casa del Prado once night falls.Children file onto a stage on the Casa del Prado patio. Joyful dancing could be seen here throughout the day.Another Santa Claus will be stationed here in the evening near the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.Some fun holiday decorations next to an artist studio in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.Christmas presents dangle from a tree in festive Spanish Village during December Nights.Many glittery, colorful Christmas trees could be seen throughout Spanish Village.A funny Jungle Bells banner near the entrance to the world famous San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park.The one and only light up cotton candy! Just wait until it’s dark!Folks are buying goodies at the cookie shack near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion during December Nights.Another Santa will be seated in the colonnade at the organ pavilion, welcoming many kids.In mid-afternoon, the Peninsula Singers community choir was performing on stage beneath the giant Christmas tree.These folks enjoying a December Nights concert are dressed for the season.Deep friend bacon, cheesecake, candy bars, candy and cookies! Yikes! This stand is by the ride-filled fun zone, in front of the San Diego Air and Space Museum.These guys preparing food are in front of the Japanese Friendship Garden.Performers in folk costume wait behind the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages stage during December Nights in Balboa Park.Traditional costumes, holiday food from many nations and cultures, and cheerful crafts were found around the International Cottages!
Santa Claus is ready to leap from a helicopter onto the deck of the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum on San Diego Bay!
Santa has been known to make some pretty grand entrances. But this one takes the cake!
Jolly old Saint Nick paid a visit to San Diego today, and arrived by air as usual. He dropped in by parachute, landing atop an aircraft carrier!
A Toys for Tots toy drive is being held on Navy Pier next to the USS Midway Museum. Bring two new toys and you’ll receive free admission to the very popular museum. The Marines have a huge truck they need to fill up! Santa will be performing a whole bunch of parachute jumps throughout the day. Bring the kids!
Look! Here comes Santa Claus! I guess Rudolph and the other reindeer are getting lazy. Or maybe they’re just resting up for Christmas.
Old Saint Nick nimbly descends from the blue sky in order to greet the nice boys and girls of San Diego. Beats using a sooty chimney.Santa doesn’t need a tailhook when landing atop a huge aircraft carrier. Just a sturdy parachute!The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and the USS Midway Museum are collecting toys today at Navy Pier. And Santa will be parachuting several more times! Just for fun!A guy checks out an ejection seat during the Toys for Tots toy drive on Navy Pier. I wonder if Santa has one of those on his sleigh?Marines collect toys to help spread holiday cheer, with downtown San Diego’s skyline in the background.Here’s smiling Santa, with Mrs. Claus! Spectacular entrance! They wished me a Merry Christmas! And the same to you!
Shriner clown gives high fives to crowd during the 2015 Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon, California.
The 69th Annual Mother Goose Parade was held today in El Cajon, out in San Diego’s East County. The popular parade, which originated in 1947, is a highly-anticipated local tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season. This year the theme was super heroes, both fictional and real.
The Mother Goose Parade has become the second largest parade west of the Mississippi . . . and until today I’d never seen it in person! So I figured I had to go check it out! Here are a few fun photos…
Mother Goose Parade, A Celebration of Children, is the second largest parade west of the Mississippi. It’s celebrating its 69th anniversary this year!A young boy hugs Mother Goose before the parade begins.And here comes a live goose! It was honking in a friendly way, much to the delight of everybody.Kids gravitated toward the goose. It gravitated toward some offered food.Dave Scott from KUSI News was introducing television viewers to Mother Goose and “Other Goose”! It was the funniest thing I saw all day!An inflatable Mother Goose balloon floats in the blue sky as the parade is ready to begin.The Mother Goose Parade is underway! The fun annual tradition in San Diego’s East County draws enormous crowds.These friendly guys on horseback are from the El Cajon Mounted Police.Truck 6 of Heartland Fire and Rescue sounds its loud horn and siren as it passes by!A big, patriotic American Legion float in the Mother Goose Parade.The Boy Scouts parade the colors down Main Street in El Cajon.The marching band of Christian High School in El Cajon provides stirring music during the parade.Cal Fire had a huge bulldozer in the parade! Wildfire poses a big threat to San Diego’s East County neighborhoods.Families have gathered on a beautiful Saturday morning. Kids and adults watch the Mother Goose Parade, which this year has a super hero theme.The Lions Club showcased America’s true super heroes–those who serve to defend our freedom.Kids wave from a float dedicated to raising awareness about childhood cancer.A bunch of wacky clowns following the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine made lots of people smile.This equestrian group had superhero horses! Now I’ve seen everything!And at the end of the parade, as always, there was Santa Claus. The jolly old elf and Mrs. Claus seem to be enjoying the sunny Southern California day. Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!
Zombies and ghouls gather for a scare at Balboa Park Halloween Family Day.
At first today’s Balboa Park Halloween Family Day seemed uneventful. A lot of park visitors out enjoying a sunny late October day. What could possibly go wrong?
The San Diego Police could not stop the frightening scene to come. Their skeleton crew was taking a lazy Saturday nap in the park.Everything seemed peaceful and normal. A baby stroller headed down El Prado, carrying a sunflower.The San Diego Zoo was showing a two-toed sloth to costumed kids eating candy for Halloween.This MTS lady seemed happy and so did the pumpkin behind her. But little did the visitors to Balboa Park know…danger was lurking nearby…The Doggie Costume Contest in Spanish Village promised to be a fun, tail-wagging affair.This witch assured me she was a nice witch. Not one of those wicked ones. But I don’t know about all those spooky symbols on the sign beside her.The glassblowers were making beautiful pumpkins. There’s nothing very scary here, right?Now wait a minute. I see Godzilla strolling near the reflecting pool. Perhaps he emerged from deep waters to wreak havoc on San Diego. I hope not.More nice pumpkins. These are arranged among harmless, pretty flowers and various exotic plants in the Botanical Building.A lady, with a skull face painting, poses in a beautiful Dia de los Muertos dress. What could possibly go wrong today?Oh, no! Here come the evil clowns! Now we asked for it!And now zombies are converging on the Plaza de Panama! One is limping horribly toward an undead bride in a wedding gown!And now look! A crowd of limp, staggering figures is assembling in the plaza. What are they going to do?They’re going to dance! It’s Michael Jackson’s Thriller!
It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You’re paralyzed…
A scary flash mob, brought together by the San Diego Civic Dance Association, performs Thriller during Balboa Park Halloween Family Day.
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike!
What a bunch of spooky fun! So much fun, they did it again and again!
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Chargers football players helping to raise money for kids today included Sean Lissemore, nose tackle, and Tyreek Burwell, tackle. Everyone was having a great time!
Today was Union-Tribune Kids’ News Day in San Diego! I can’t believe this is the third year I’ve blogged about the special day. Time flies!
Every October, smiling Chargers football players and cheerleaders, kids and volunteers station themselves at busy intersections around San Diego. Waving at folks in cars, they hold up special edition newspapers, printed just for this day, which motorists eagerly purchase. The proceeds go to help our local Rady Children’s Hospital.
In the morning I happen to walk through one of the key intersections while heading to work, so I had to take a few photos. This year I’d like to say thank you to the San Diego Chargers, Union Tribune and all the volunteers who make this possible. Over many years, millions of dollars have been raised by Kids’ News Day for Rady Children’s Hospital, helping to save thousands of young lives.
Do you want to donate? There’s no better cause. I urge you to click here!
A generous motorist at a Mission Valley intersection donates money for a special edition newspaper containing articles about kids, written by kids!Two cool volunteers raise money for Rady Children’s Hospital by selling special newspapers during Union-Tribune Kids’ News Day in San Diego.
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