Now that summer is in
the air, it’s a great time to get out and take a road trip! Here are just a few
things you can do in the areas near and far around Palmer’s West Campus.
Included are the miles away from campus for each location.
•
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and
Planetarium – 1660 Park, Ave., San Jose, Calif. (8.39
miles)
With more than 4,000 artifacts, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum houses
the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in western North
America. The Museum opened in 1966 and welcomes more than 100,000 guests per
year.
• Happy Hollow Park &
Zoo – San Jose, Calif. (9.09 miles)
If you have kids, make sure
you visit the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. Not only is the Zoo celebrating its
50th year, it has also been awarded LEED® gold status under the U.S. Green
Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Happy
Hollow’s 16 acres offers the zoo, rides, education center, restaurant and
more.
• Natural
Bridges State Beach – Santa Cruz, Calif. (39.88 miles)
Natural
Bridges State Beach has an ocean-carved natural bridge off the coast, mudstone
bridges carved into the cliff, and tide pools where you can view sea stars,
crabs, anemones and more. The State Beach consists of 65 acres, a eucalyptus
grove (to which up to 150,000 monarch butterflies migrate each winter),
saltwater and freshwater marshes, Coastal Scrub and sand dunes.
• Monterey, Calif.
(78.37 miles)
Located on Monterey Bay, Monterey is not only beautiful, it
also offers a number of unique attractions, including: the Monterey Bay
Aquarium, Fisherman’s
Wharf, and Cannery Row (where
John Steinbeck was inspired to write his novel of the same name). Monterey is just a short drive
to Big Sur, Pebble Beach and Carmel-by-the-Sea.
•
Napa Valley,
Calif. (99.77 miles)
Napa Valley is world-renowned for its
wineries, but there’s more to Napa than just wine-tasting and tours. Other
attractions include: museums, galleries, theatres, fine dining, bed and
breakfasts, spas, and more.
• San Luis Obispo, Calif.(191.85 miles)
San Luis Obispo is
located in the middle of California’s Central Coast and features beaches, lush
hillsides and 30 miles of trails. SLO offers eco tours, biking tours, museums,
spas, golf, horseback riding, kayaking, and more. You can also visit the
legendary Hearst Castle, a
National Historic Landmark mansion and former home of newspaper magnate William
Randolph Hearst.
• Yosemite National
Park – (182.60 miles)
Yosemite covers an area of more than
760,000 miles and is known for its waterfalls, granite cliffs, Giant Sequoia
groves and breath-taking wilderness. Visitors go to Yosemite to camp, rock
climb, hike, bike, appreciate the wildlife and flora, take the eco-friendly
shuttle bus, downhill and cross-country ski, snowshoe, and more. Yosemite is
open year-round, with some sections closed during the winter.
Looking for
something a little different? Check out these unusual attractions:
•
Monopoly
in the Park– Discovery Meadow, near the
Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose, Calif.
• SanJose.com’s
Top 10 Ghost Towns
•How Weird Street Fair– May 1 – San Francisco, Calif.