Barack Obama's California College Days

Step back in time to the olden days of making pottery the Gladding McBean way. The 118-year-old company in rural Lincoln, near Sacramento, is the nation's only remaining major manufacturer of terra cotta. From decorative to functional, McBean's terra cotta is acclaimed for its distinctive style which graces landmark buildings in big cities and small towns across our state.

Huell travels to Pismo Beach -- 10 miles south of San Luis Obispo -- and learns how its famous clams, plentiful in the region at the turn of the century, branded an identity for one of the last classic California beach towns.

Huell attends a lively recreation of an old-fashioned harvest near Modesto where the participants use vintage equipment and farming techniques while dressed in authentic attire.

Huell visits Yosemite's high country for a walk through spectacular Tuolumne Meadows.

The Desert View Tower stands 3,000 feet above sea level, three miles east of Jacumba in the Imperial Valley. The four-story, cut-stone structure was built in the 1920s by Bert Vaughn, who owned the town of Jacumba. The pre-highway trek to the Pacific Coast was arduous so Vaughn commemorated the pioneers who struggled across the arid desert. Join Huell as he climbs to the top of the tower to see the spectacular views of the desert below.

Join in the centennial celebration of the arrival of the first steam train to this isolated mid-coastal town. As part of the celebrations, the town's citizens have recreated the events exactly as they happened a century before. Huell passes through the historic tunnels and tressels in a period steam engine as he descends into this festive town.

Huell travels to the mountains above Fresno to tour "Big Creek"' which was America's first large-scale integrated hydroelectric project, begun in 1911. This massive engineering marvel consists of 23 generating units in nine powerhouses with a generating capacity of approximately 1,000 megawatts, and six major reservoirs with a storage capacity of more than 560,000 acre-feet. Not only do we get a behind the scenes tour, we'll also meet and hear some great stories from a one of the first families that worked at this remote Edison outpost.

Explore Beauty Ranch, once the home of one of California's famous authors, Jack London. Now the estate is part of the Jack London State Historical Park in the Valley of the Moon in Sonoma. It is at this home that London wrote many of his most famous books, including "Call of the Wild," "White Fang" and "The Sea Wolf."

Soar above our state as we look at the Pigeon Courier Service at Avalon on Catalina Island, once the most expeditious means of communication with the small island. Next, Huell visits the Twenty-Nine Palms Air Academy, created during World War II. Huell goes up in the air with some of the original pilots at this, the largest glider school in the country.

We all know about Hearst Castle, but few people realize the Castle is surrounded by a 80,000-acre working ranch owned and operated by the Hearst Foundation. Huell gets a first-hand look at the Hearst Ranch from Steve Hearst.

Trace the lives of two men whose unique dreams in the early part of the century helped them to create two of our state's most amazing buried treasures. First, we visit the Underground Gardens of Baldasare Forestiere, an incredible labyrinth of tunnels, courtyards and vines. Next, we visit the Burro Schmidt Tunnel, where for 50 years an early pioneer of the Mojave dug a 2,000 foot tunnel through a mountain.

One of California's biggest and most beautiful forests is one we never get to see -- the incredible kelp forests off our coast. Travel with Huell from Monterey to San Diego to see how kelp grows, how it is harvested and how it finds its way into the common foods we eat.

Huell's off to Amador county and the town of Volcano. It was once a thriving, gold mining town in the 1850s and 1860s, but Huell has set off to discover the mysterious cave in this mountain community which served as a Masonic lodge.

Huell joins the centennial celebration of Colonel Charles Young's tenure as superintendent at Sequoia National Park. Young led his "Buffalo Soldiers" during a historic summer working in the second national park ever created in the United States. Young discovered and named a majestic Giant Sequoia after an individual that inspired and influenced his life, Booker T. Washington. After nearly 100 years, this tree has been rediscovered and stands as a monument to both Colonel Charles Young and Booker T. Washington.

Chicago millionaire William Wrigley brought excitement to the Catalina Island every year, when his Chicago Cubs baseball team came for spring training each season through the late 1940s. A ball field was built and visitors came from Los Angeles and other California cities to watch the "Catalina" Cubs.

A visit to the 31st Annual Griffith Park Sidecar Rally. It's a get-together of sidecar enthusiasts and it turns out these contraptions that hook on to motorcycles have quite a colorful history and come in all shapes and sizes.

Huell visits the Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro to relive the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of February 1942.

Huell treks to Mammoth Lakes with the Dept. of Water and Power to look at the immense snow pack and how it relates to Southern California’s water supply.

Set within 600 acres of rural countryside in Gilroy, California, Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park combines beautiful gardens, amusement rides and a little bit of history to create a unique attraction. Huell is on a special quest, however, as he searches for the Tree Circus. Bonfante Gardens is home to the last remaining trees created by an extraordinary man who literally wove Sycamores, Box Elders, Ash and Spanish Cork trees into works of art.

Following the coastal "Redwood Route" as it has since 1885, the Skunk Train takes Huell on an inspiring ride through ageless redwoods and over spectacular mountains. It began as a logging train transporting valuable lumber to the Mendocino Coast, and now provides passengers a glimpse of history and scenic beauty.

Huell gets a tour of the largest wooden buildings in the world, the vast blimp hangars at the U.S. Marine Air Station at Tustin. He then travels to the Seabee Naval Museum at Port Hueneme and the Marine Base at Camp Pendelton, to get a firsthand look at the history of an honest-to-goodness military institution — the quonset hut.

Huell travels in search of the geographic center of our state and in the process visits a whole string of towns that lay claim to being " the center of California." With the help of locals and a cartographer from the U.S. Geological Survey, Huell finally locates the exact spot and marks it by planting a state flag.

Huell visits the historic lumber and railroad town of McCloud, located at the foot of Mt. Shasta, California's second highest mountain. Included in this adventure is a trip on the famous McCloud railroad, a visit to the local swimming hole located in a magnificent natural setting and a tour of the town and its quaint, old buildings.

Huell revisits the California Zephyr, a magnificent train which traveled between Chicago and Oakland from 1949 to 1970. Huell climbs aboard one of the original restored silver "Vista-Dome" cars and travels through some of the most spectacular scenery in the state, heading west from Lake Tahoe. Huell shares the ride with a group of people who worked on and rode the original Zephyr.

Huell learns about tidepools on a trip to San Diego. He is joined by biologists and other experts who introduce him to the marine animals and plants that find a home in the harsh conditions of the intertidal zone.

Huell's off to the Maritime Museum of San Diego to learn about building ships in a bottle, an art form believed to have originated in the 18th century. These tiny masterpieces are also important pieces of Maritime history.

Visit a place that very few Californians have ever seen: the St. George Reef Lighthouse, eight miles off the coast of Northern California, in Crescent City. Join Huell as he is airlifted to the tiny reef which holds this now-abandoned century old treasure. This one-of-a-kind structure reaches 142 feet in the air and is a "wave washed" lighthouse, meaning that it takes the brunt of the sea from all sides. This adventure is a rare treat.

California has many defining icons, but few sum it all up like swimming pools. In this episode, Huell tours five historic pools which have all played an important part in our State's history. Starting in L.A. at the pool at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel painted by famous artist David Hockney and the Olympic pool at the L.A. Coliseum, site of the 1932 Olympic games, Huell travels north to the stunning " Neptune Pool" at Hearst Castle and finishes up at two great lost pools in San Francisco, the Sutro Baths and the Fleishhacker pool. Put on your water wings and jump on in.

A century ago, it was the hub of Northern California -- a crossroads where over the years you would have encountered Mutsune Indians, Franciscan padres, fierce outlaws and a host of other fascinating characters.

The Chumash called it Wimal. To Conquistador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo it was San Lucas. Today it is known as Santa Rosa, and its 54,000 acres of open land 24 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara is the newest addition to Channel Islands National Park.

Huell travels to remote areas of the desert to take an up-close-and-personal look at mud pots. He later tours Leonard Knight's "Salvation Mountain."

It's the oldest Japanese-style garden in the United States. Located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the Japanese Tea Garden has been part of that city's landscape for over one hundred years. In this episode of "California's Gold" host Huell Howser strolls through the serene garden enjoying its paths and bridges and flowering cherry trees. Huell also learns of the garden's rich history from descendants of the original Japanese family who at one time lived on and cared for the grounds.

In this episode of "California's Gold," Huell salutes the railroads by "riding the rails." Catch is, he won't be riding on an actual train!