Living Desert

The Idyllwild Lemon Lily Festival highlights the uniqueness and rarity of one of Idyllwild’s most precious native flowers. This beautiful lily that grows only above 4,000 feet is a true gem. Join Huell and the good people of Idyllwild as they spend the day celebrating the Lemon Lily, there’s even a Lemon Lily song!

Travel to Santa Barbara Island, one of the eight Channel Islands, to learn about the history and nature of this beautiful place from its only human resident — a ranger. Huell actually walks the perimeter of this island to get a feel for this seldom seen part of the Golden State.

Huell visits with the Whistling Champ Carole Anne Kaufman at her salon, then stops in at her Mom's store — the Wizard of Bras... its a combo you won't want to miss.

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.

Huell visits two California restaurants that are great examples of "California's Gold". Fosters Freeze has been a tradition since 1946 when George Foster opened his first store and the company now owns over ninety locations and has become a California favorite. Founded by the five Havadijas brothers, the first Farmer Boys restaurant opened its doors in Perris, California in 1981. Their generous portions and farm-fresh food quickly gained a loyal following and at last count there were 68 Farmer Boys restaurants at locations all over Southern and Central California and in Nevada.

Join Huell as he learns about the sometimes-controversial history of this California landmark and gets a very special tour, including a vertigo-inducing trip to the very top if the spire which is set against the San Francisco skyline...

Huell first met John Nese -- aka the "King of Pop" -- back in 2000 when he did a program about the 250-plus vintage soda pops he sold in the store. In this special update, we'll discover that the store's inventory of vintage sodas has not only doubled in size, but now also includes classic candy bars. The real joy of the story, however, is finding out how his family has changed and grown since the first visit.

Join Huell as he travels to the town of Taft to celebrate it’s 100 years as an incorporated city with a celebration called Oildorado Days that takes everyone back to a time when rugged pioneers carved out a bustling community in the middle of one of the world’s most productive oil fields. There is everything from an oil field skills contest, queen pageant, melodrama and a petroleum industry trade show. We cap off the adventure with a dedication of a huge bronze statue of an oil worker that is sure to become a focal point of this historic town. 

Visit The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace with Huell and first daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower, as she gives a private and personal tour of the farmhouse where her dad was born and raised. During this informal tour, Julie talks about her father's memories of growing up in this simple, wooden home that used to be in the middle of a huge orange grove. It is a rare personal insight into the 37th President's early California years, and an authentic piece of California's Gold.

Huell travels to Central California to visit the 80 acre Masumoto Family Farm. Huell's host is David "Mas" Masumoto and his family who have a deep connection to the land. Mas is an award winning author of such books as "Epitaph for a Peach" and "Wisdom of the Last Farmer, Harvesting Legacies from the Land".

Napa valley has become one of California's main tourist attractions. Thousands of people flock to the area for wine tasting and vineyard tours every year. What most people don't realize is that California's rich wine history got it's start in southern California. In this grape filled adventure, Huell travels to one of the oldest winery's in California. The Guasti family established their winery in 1904 and at one time had 4000 acres of grapes in the Rancho Cucamonga area. A virtual town was built to house the employees and their families.

Situated 30 miles east of Indio, this popular stop for travelers and truckers who want to gas up, get a home cooked meal or browse for knick-knacks is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Huell spends the day with the people who live and work in this desert outpost as they enjoy this milestone.

We all know our deserts here in California are big. They cover huge areas of our state. And in this episode of "California's Gold," producer/host Huell Howser travels to the desert in search of big things -- and finds them! First, he travels to the Palms Springs area to visit one of six major wind farms in the world. Over 4,000 giant windmills are here -- some almost two hundred feet tall -- making clean, pollution-free energy representing the future of energy production.

Huell travels to Norco and tours the magnificent but now abandoned Norconian Hotel. In the mid 1920's, Rex B. Clark, an unmatched visionary of his time, accomplished the near impossible by constructing the world-class Norconian Resort in a remote area of southern California. The Norconian was an immediate success and frequented by the rich elite and Hollywood's finest. Unfortunately, the Club never made a nickel as the Stock Market crash and subsequent economic depression forced Clark to give up his dream after a ten year fight. The story didn't end there.

The morning of April 12, 1859 started like most other mornings for the miners working the Willard Claim on the West Branch of the Feather River just across the canyon from Dogtown. The men were hard at work washing the mountain away with the force of water pressure using the hydraulic mining technique. Then, as Chauncy Wright, one of the hired hands, bent over to pick up what he at first considered to be just another rock, he made a discovery that would end up in the record books. Because on that morning, Chauncy and his fellow miners uncovered a 54 pound gold nugget!

In this one-hour special, Huell retraces the route of the old Stagecoach line in and around Santa Barbara. Join him for a ride through history.

On May 10, 1869, the Last Spike of the Transcontinental Railroad was ceremonially driven into a polished California Laurel railroad tie at Promontory, Utah. Huell learns about its mysterious disappearance and re-discovery and also gets a special sneak preview of this rare artifact on a visit to the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University and the California State Railroad Museum.

It was the very first mining community in California, starting up operations in 1845. Before it closed down for good in 1976, it also held the distinction of being the largest, richest mine California has ever known, processing over $700,000,000 in metallic wealth.

Huell meets Joe Rinaudo whose passion is a 1926 Fotoplayer, which uses music rolls like those for player pianos to provide music and sound effects to silent films. Joe spent thousands of hours restoring his Fotoplayer and although the "talkies" made them obsolete in the late 1920s, Huell discovers there is still no better way to enjoy a silent movie than with Joe, his hand cranked projector and his Fotoplayer.

Huell visits a dry lake bed in the Mojave desert that is so gigantic that it is the site of Edwards Air Force Base and a landing strip for the Space Shuttle. In the 1920s and 30s it was also used by hot-rodders from all over southern California as a speed trails course for their fast cars. Muroc Dry Lake has remained off limits since WWII, until recently when the Air Force re-opened the dry lake bed, inviting back all the old-timers for a weekend of racing. Thousands of car enthusiasts showed up for this historic event.

Huell travels back to a bygone era when he tours the Aztec Hotel and the Wigwam Motel, two popular attractions along “The Main Street of America,” Route 66.

Walter Scott is one of the great characters of California history, and Huell travels to Death Valley to learn what his legacy is all about. Huell tours the amazing castle that now bears Scotty's name and walks through the dry desert that Scotty loved so much. Get an intimate portrait of this California original from those who knew and loved him.

Huell goes on a ladybug hunt in a secret location and discovers where ladybugs really come from. You'll be surprised and overwhelmed by what he uncovers.

Many "Okies" fled the Dust Bowl in their jalopies with signs reading "California or Bust." Out of options, they often ended up at the "Weedpatch camp," a federal labor and living camp for migrant workers in Kern County. Huell visits this historic camp, later immortalized in John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath," and talks with both the "Okies" who grew up there and the Latinos who now call it home.

Travel to the L.A. Tofu festival to learn everything you ever wanted to learn about Tofu and more! You’ll be surprised at the many uses for this versatile food that gets its start from the humble Soy Bean.

Huell spends the day paddling into Santa Cruz Island's famous sea caves.

Join Huell as he takes a look at the history of this Japanese American community in downtown Los Angeles, including the annual Nisei Parade and all its festivities: traditional tea ceremony; Ikebana or flower arranging and bonsai exhibits, plus more.

Huell travels to the little farming community of Sloughhouse near Sacramento. Once there he meets up with George Signorotti, owner of the last family-owned hops farm in the sate, and witnesses firsthand the harvesting and bailing of hops, which was once a huge crop in California.

Hike to the world's tallest tree in Redwood National Park with a group of fifth graders from a nearby school; admire fields ablaze with golden color of California's official state flower, the Golden Poppy, at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster; and climb to the top of magnificent Morro Rock for a beautiful view of Morro Bay.

How does Huell tour the White House and the Oval Office without ever leaving California? He travels to Hobby City in Anaheim and The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. The Hobby City Doll and Toy Museum contains literally thousands of dolls of all eras and styles, but it's what's outside that caught Huell's attention. Join Huell when he meets the "First Lady" of this exact, half-scale replica of the White House.

A driving tour of Kern County includes gold mines, a feline breeding compound and the town of Boron, California.

When do you think the economy car hit the American market? Most people would say the 70s or maybe the 60s, but you might be surprised to know that in 1930, the American Austin car company premiered a miniature car that could get 40 miles to the gallon. The cars were not a huge success with the general public, but Hollywood fell in love! Huell visits with a man who has the largest collection of these little cars in the world. We'll see some great cars and look at some fun film clips from Hollywood's golden age.

Located in beautiful Old Sacramento and regarded as one of North America’s finest and most visited railroad museums, The California State Railroad Museum is also part of the California State Park System. Huell explores the exhibits and rides beautifully restored railroad cars and locomotives that illustrate a railroad history unique to California and the West.

In this pizza extravaganza, Huell learns everything you've ever wanted to know about America's favorite food. He starts his adventure at Village Pizzeria on Larchmont Boulevard with owner Steve Cohen, who believes that pizza should be made the old-fashioned way. Next, it's off to the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas to get the other side of the story and explore new machines that can do everything in the pizza-making process. From old school to new school, Huell shows it all.

Take a trip to the southernmost and northernmost towns of the state: Enjoy a taste of the Horseradish Festival in Tulelake, near the Oregon border, the Horseradish capital of the world; and experience the sights and sounds of Calexico, a town that reflects its rich Mexican heritage.

Huell looks back at sixty plus years of film history when he visits the Paramount Ranch. It has posed as Tombstone, Arizona, Dodge City, Kansas and has stood in for the rolling hills of Montana and the dusty streets of Laredo. Movie-goers have been fooled into mistaking it for the Royal Gorge of Colorado, the Ozark Mountains, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Tom Sawyer’s Missouri. Producers have even passed it off as 13th century China, colonial Salem, and the island of Java.

Watch the exciting sport of the charreada or Mexican rodeo at a local Ontario arena; hear the crack of the bat at a baseball game played by the Stockton Ports, the minor-league team believed to have inspired the poem, "Casey at the Bat"; and listen to the sounds of San Francisco's Golden Gate Band, the oldest and only year-round municipal park band performing in the country.

America's only Nobel Prize winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill, chose to live in the hills above Danville, California at the height of his writing career. Isolated from the world and within the walls of his home called Tao (dow) House, O'Neill wrote his final and most memorable plays, "The Iceman Cometh," "A Moon for the Misbegotten" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Today the home and grounds are a National Park.