Barack Obama's California College Days

The Western Bluebird once flew across most of California and beyond, but now they are in dire need of our help. Huell joins up with Bob Franz and the Southern California Bluebird Club, who have been working with many other groups across our state to help bluebirds make a recovery. They suffer as much from habitat loss as they do from the introduction of non-native species. Huell takes a springtime tour of some of the nest-boxes filled with hatchlings as he learns about what has been and can be done to help these blue feathered friends that are part of California’s Green!

Before there was Disneyland and other large amusement parks, there was Busch Gardens. Huell goes to Pasadena where he literally uncovers the lost and largely forgotten original Busch Gardens, a botanical paradise, which amused visitors from 1905 to 1938.

The Carrizo Plain is a southerly extension of the San Juan Valley, about 20 miles southwest of Bakersfield. Its 250,000 acres allow visitors to imagine what much of California was like 300 years ago. Huell learns about its rare plants and animals, as well as its human history.

 

 

 

 

 

On this adventure Huell heads up north to the Avenue of the Giants to see some of the biggest trees in the world. Besides all the natural beauty Huell sees, he also meets a great bunch of people from all over our state.

Huell heads to Fallbrook in San Diego County to find out about the rich history of avocados in our state. This episode brought you the now-famous line, "now that's an avocado-eating dog."

 

 

 

 

 

Huell visits a lumbermill... or is it a working museum? Join Huell, the founders great-grandson and a cast of characters at this historic place.

 

 

 

 

 

Join Huell as he visits the magnificently restored Camarillo Ranch, which was named for “the last Spanish Don”, Adolfo Camarillo, who assumed ownership of the gigantic 10,000 acre ranch in 1880 at the age of 16. The city of Camarillo is named after the charismatic and successful Adolfo, who is known for having bred white horses. Huell takes a special tour of the ranch and “La Casa Grande,” the 6,000 sq. foot Queen Anne Victorian Camarillo built for his wife, Isabella.

In this episode, Huell visits the historic William S. Hart Park and Museum in Newhall.

Huell meets up with Harry Medved, author of "Hollywood Escapes," a book about movie locations in California. Harry tells Huell all about the long history of Leo Carrillo State Beach, and why it is probably the most filmed beach in the world.

Once owned by famous Hollywood move star Leo Carrillo, Los Quiotes is a 27-acre historic park in the lovely town of Carlsbad. It contains and protects many of the original historic structures and outbuildings associated with Leo Carrillo’s use of the ranch. This ranch was Leo’s way to escape the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and a place for he and his wife to “get away”. This beautiful ranch eventually fell off the radar and was almost lost forever, until a group of concerned citizens stepped in.

Huell goes to six different restaurants in L.A., including Olvera St. Juanita’s and La Luz Del Dia.

The Hearst Ranch began with the first purchase of land by George Hearst in 1865 and is the largest privately owned working cattle ranch on the California coast. Now, through a historic conservation plan, at least 18 miles of coastline including close to 1,500 acres will be available for use by all Californians.

Huell hears about the future of the ranch, and how all Californians will be able to enjoy its scenic vistas and learn about this critical wildlife habitat.

Half Moon Bay rests on the Pacific Coast between forested hills and some of the most beautiful coastlines that California has to offer, and is located approximately 25 miles south of San Francisco. Join Huell as he visits this charming community.

Huell visits Newport Beach to learn about two historic "boats." Family owned since 1919, Balboa Island Ferry has provided continuous service between Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula.

Huell spends the day at Otow Orchard in Granite Bay to learn the ancient art of Hoshigaki: the drying of persimmons.

 

 

 

 

 

During World War II the Kaiser Shipyard in Richmond ,California built 747 ships while working 24 hours a day and 365 days a year for the war effort. With full medical care, housing, daycare and 24 hour meals, it was the model of efficiency and the forerunner of Kaiser Permanente. Huell and Luis visit the site of the Kaiser Shipyard and talk with people who worked there throughout the war, including some "Rosie the Riveters" who took the place of the many men who were overseas.

At one time Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. In the 1930s farmers choked off the four major rivers that fed the lake and it quickly dried up. Once the home to millions of birds and herds of tule elk and antelope, the lake bed is now covered in agriculture. But like all things great in California, the lake refuses to disappear completely.

Huell travels to the Tehachapi Mountains to visit The Cesar Chavez Foundation. Set on 187 acres, the buildings where once home to a tuberculosis hospital and then it's where Cesar lived and labored during his last quarter century as he fought for better rights for migrant workers. Now the Center is a carrying on Cesar's dream and welcomes visitors to learn about this important chapter in our state's history. Huell gets a very special and personal tour of the Center from Cesar's son Paul.

They were once a mainstay on menus throughout California. You could go to the beach at low tide and pluck them from the rocks. Kids would have parties on the beach and roast them by the dozen. They have gone from a California tradition to near extinction. In this episode, we'll take a close look at the history of Abalone in California. The Native Americans who once lived up and down the coast of California were the original abalone eaters. Not only did they use the flesh for food; they used the mother of pearl shells for their crafts.

There is a reason that old lighthouses could send a beam of light for miles. Most lighthouses used a Fresnel lens, which looks like a beehive made of glass. These lenses are works of art and the one that graced Point Fermin Lighthouse is no exception. In this adventure, Huell learns the history of the lens, which was removed from Point Fermin and changed hands many times.

Before it was dammed in the early 1900s, John Muir called it more beautiful than Yosemite Valley itself. And now, in a one-hour special, Huell travels to this historic and spectacular place to document its past and talk about its future.

 

Huell tours a reconstructed village of the Ahwaneechee Indians, who inhabited Yosemite for thousands of years.

Join Huell as he travels to the western-most point in California in search of the Cape Mendocino Lighthouse which was activated in 1868 and finally abandoned in the 1970's. After over 20 years of neglect a group of locals banded together to move the light house to Shelter Cove and restore the lighthouse to its former glory. Huell also stops at the entrance to the Humboldt County Fairgrounds where a full-sized replica of the lighthouse actually houses the original fresnel lens.

Huell travels to Chico to join the celebration of the arrival of thousands of waterfowl that come from the north to spend their winters in the temperate North Valley climate. Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Sandhill Cranes, Pintail Ducks and many more, fill the rice fields and wildlife refuges throughout the area. The Snow Goose Festival has grown to be one of the major Birding and Wildlife events in the state of California and you'll be amazed at the shear beauty of this spectacle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spend the day with Huell at Angel's Stadium as he meets up with the good folks at West Coast Turf and learns all about the grass that they install at venues all over California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huell goes in search of the crookedest street in the world. A small section of Vermont Street in the Potrero Hill section of San Francisco is just miles away from the more famous Lombard Street. Which street is crookeder? Huell grabs a gang of experts and finally solves this mystery.

Luis Fuerte, Huell Howser’s longtime cameraman joins Val Zavala to reminisce on working with Huell and give behind-the-scenes stories of the following three episodes.

CALIFORNIA'S GOLD WITH HUELL HOWSER #909
BIG THINGS IN THE DESERT

Join Huell as he hops over to the Pasadena home of Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski, who have turned their house into a living museum filled with almost everything bunny! Over 21,000 bunny collectibles: most of their furniture, light fixtures, kitchenware, toiletries, books, and games are bunny themed. And lounging around their house, they have seven real bunny pets that do not live in cages, and are litter box trained!

 

 

Huell spends the day with Sgt. Gruber and the LAPD K9 Unit. We’ll see these dogs in action as their handlers put them through all the paces.

Huell tours the Glendale office of Classic Arts Showcase, a free cable TV program comprised of video samples from the worlds of ballet, opera and theater. This program is the vision of philanthropist Lloyd Rigler, who practiced the cost-effective use of resources in order to achieve the greatest good.

Jutting out into the Pacific Ocean from the spectacular Big Sur Coast, the Point Sur Lightstation stands as a silent sentinel to a bygone era. Point Sur, a National Historic Landmark, is the only complete turn-of-the-century lightstation open the public in California. From 1889 until 1974, families lived and worked in the buildings atop Pt. Sur. The families are gone but the unique stone lighthouse still guides ships with its light. Many ships perished on the rocks off Pt.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your very own island? What about an island off the southern coast of California? Join Huell and the family that owns this special island as they return to their little slice of California. It takes three separate boat rides to get there and your feet might get wet, but it is well worth the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the world's first motel, the Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo; a stop at Pozo's Saloon, a stagecoach stop, and chat with the last remaining citizen of Moy Mell, where a colony of people called Dunites lived in the sand dunes from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Discover the colorful history of the Beach Boardwalk, the last remaining oceanside amusement park in the West Coast; meet the pioneers of surfing and the inventor of the wet suit, and enjoy salt water taffy and other sweet treats at Marini's, a family-run business for over four generations.