Life being on Edwards AFB

Edwards AFB "Middle of Nowhere" or "Middle of Everywhere", depends on how you see it. I am writing this as I leave this base, so I am going to sum up what we have done here in this post. This base is in the middle of the desert but you can go to the mountains, beaches, national parks or the city within an hour and a half drive. We are from Los Angeles, CA so getting Edwards meant that we would be close to our family.

The shuttle flying over the Edwards AFB clinic

  It was dark the first time I drove onto base, as I drove down Rosamond Blvd and seeing the sign that says "Welcome to Edwards AFB" I was in for a big surprise. Two miles past the sign and seeing nothing but blackness. I pulled over and calling my girlfriend (now my wife) I told her that I passed the sign but there is nothing out here, she tells me "it should be there". So having faith in her, I kept driving and after about 10 miles of nothingness, I get to the gate. After the gate, it's another two miles of nothing before I see the first building. The thing about this base is that everything is so spread out.  That was just over three years ago and it has been a great experience here.

To stay in Shape

Triathlons, you can do this swim, bike and run event here and many places around here. They have a triathlon club on base and they host duathlons, sprint and olympic tri's on base. I haven't done those but have done the Carpenteria tri. It is a fun race with a beach swim. The bike course is a little hilly but it's not that bad. 

Finishing the swim portion

 5K, 10K and half marathons on base. They have many of these races on base put on by various organizations. In 2014, they actually had a big base wide race with these three distances. This race is open to off base athletes and is the first of what is suppose to be an annual event. The cool thing about this race is that they lined some areas with planes. They had the F-117, B-52, F-22 and the F-35 to just name a few. I felt good for the first 10 miles of the race, running faster than my goal of a 9 min mile. This was probably why my calfs started cramping at the 10 mile mark and would cramp around every half mile. I finished 2 hours and 14 mins. Hopefully I can break 2 hours in my next one.

My wife and I after the race.

The Tough Mudder is one of the very popular adventure/obstacle races that everyone is doing. And I am one that was interested in participating. There where nine of us from base that ran with it. This race had some pretty interesting obstacle and a Lot of hills but this race felt long. It seemed that it should have been shorter for the amount of obstacle in the race and they made it longer for the shear purpose of making it long. But it was still a fun time.

Tough Mudder team

Being in the desert allows you to have countless trails to go running or mountain biking. Just be careful since it can get sandy and your tires really dig into it. The one thing to remember is to bring enough water so you don't die out there.

Things to do here

Shooting in the Desert

Shooting range on Base

If you like to go shooting, you can either go find a deserted place in the desert or go when the range on base is open.  The range on base is usually open on the first Saturday and second Sunday of the month. Just call Outdoor Rec to get their schedule.

Pismo clamming at Coronado state beach in San Diego. Just go at an ultra low tide and have a pitch fork to find them. A great time with the family.

 Sequoia National Park
You can go see the largest trees in the world here.  It is about 3 hours from the base. There are also tours to see the caves at the park. Make sure you have are in relative good shape since it is a long hike to the cave entrance. And watch out for the bears, they can sneak up on you.

A bear we saw crossing the street

Be ready when the squids come in. They do not come in every year. I would say it is actually a rare event when squid these size come in. These monsters that we caught where around 40Ibs and at around 300 feet down. Not much of a fight, it was more like reeling up a barrel filled with sand but it still was a great adventure.  This same year, there were reports that people were catching them at the peir.

 The poppy fields
 This is very close to base and should be filled with poppies but we never got to see it filled with flowers. The first year we were here there was too much rain and a weed or fungus grew and over took the flowers. The other years there was to little rain and the great bloom never happened. Even though we never got to see a field full of poppies, we got to go to the poppy festival.

 

There are lots of zoos here. The biggest zoo around would be the San Diego Zoo and you can spend all day there. But if you cannot  make it all the way down south the LA Zoo is always a good choice and it is next to Griffith park were you can go ride a little train, have the kids ride some horses around a little track and go see the observatory. If the observatory looks familiar to you is because it has been in many movies.

The Renaissance Faire
This one is at Santa Fe dam off the 210 freeway. If you have never been to one, it is something different you need to experience with the family. Many people are dressed up in costumes and they speak like they are in that era. You can go see the many shows, jousters and sword fights. Hands on entertainment like throwing knives, ninja stars, axes and spears at targets. It usually starts in April and runs every weekend. Check online when the military appreciation day is or
get a coupon before you go.


 

The Pet Expo at Orange County
There are a bunch of stuff to do there, for example hold a snake. Also there are every different kind of pet you can have here. And many pet demonstrations.

 Paint balling
There are lots of places to go here. There is actually a field on base that is pretty cheap but I have never been to that one. SC village and Hollywood sports are both good ones down south.

The Strawberry festival

There are lots of little ones around Southern California but the best one is in Oxnard CA. They sell crates of ultra fresh strawberries for pretty cheap. If you don't want to fight for parking here, park at the outlets and take the free shuttle to the festival. After the festival, you can either go shopping or take a short drive to the Naval base and spend some time at the beach there.

 
Mt Baldy is the highest peak in Southern California and is off the 210 freeway. Just take the windy road up to the parking lot. Once there, you have a choice of taking the ski lift to the trail head or start your hike from there. We choose to take the ski lift for the view and shorten the hike a little. Even with the lift, it is still a
 rigorous hike

.

During the winter you can go snow boarding or sledding at Mt High. Or just go find a place on the side of the road and make snow men.

There are many places to eat. This is the family out in China Town for my aunts birthday. For chinese food, you can go anywhere from Panda Express to some authentic places.

If you like backpacking or long day hikes, there is Point Reyes up north. There are hundred of miles of hiking and you can go to some grass land area to forest to the beach. The nice thing here is for the beginner, the camp sites have bathrooms.

Lake fishing

There are many big bass lake here. The lake known for big bass would be Castaic lake and it has the state record which is just a few ounces less than the world record. This lake also has a lot of big stripers. Pyramid lake which is also near by has a lot of smaller stripers. Don't forget to check out the small lake we have on base. It's located near the south gate.

The Ostrich farm near Solvang

Gaviota peir

Camping Gaviota

d
Peir fishing and camping. There are a plethora of peirs along the coast. I usually go to fish in Manhattan and Huntington peir. I go eat at the Redondo peir where there is a fish market which also sells live crab, clams and mussels which they cook for you. There is also small rides and games there. If you like camping near the beach then I go to the Gaviota area. The small town of Solvang is there which is a little Danish town.

Solvang, CA

Cherry picking
This is very close to Edwards AFB, about 30 min from the base off the 14 freeway. There is also peach picking the area. Just call the place to see if the fruit is ready for the picking.

Armed forces parade Torrance, CA

There are many parades in the area. There are big ones, for example the Rose parade on New Years day but most are small. Many of these parades are for the armed forces.

Charity events are a good way we met people and get involved with the community. There are Relay for life and the CHOC walk to name a few. This picture in particular was at the CHOC walk at Disney land. The event was to raise money for the Childrens Hospital of Orange County.

I got to go on my first cruise when stationed at Edwards. It was only a 3 day 2 night cruise to Ensenada. As active duty we are not allowed to go to most places in Mexico but cruises are allowed (at least at the time I went) by the military. So it is a good way to go and stay safe. We did a day in Catalina Island, Ensenada and a day at sea relaxing. We got to hold a lion cub and we just had to donate to the preserve so it was a win win.

Bon fires at the beach are always fun. Just make sure you bring enough firewood. Thing that I learned to have a successful bonfire. One, get there early. Bonfires are very popular. There are days that you have to get there at noon or earlier to claim a fire pit. We just make a day out of it. Spend time swimming during the day and the bonfire at night. The second thing is if you are going to park in the street read the parking signs and know when to move your car.

You can checkout all the amusement parks in Southern California. The main ones are Disney Land, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain and Lego Land. Go online to see the specials. When I was there Knott's Berry farm was free to military (past and present) and a guest in November. Also during the holidays they decorate the park.

The Grunion run. If you don't know what this is, it is when small fish come up to breed and lay eggs in the sand and that is when you grab them. Its a little bit harder than you think since the fish don't want to get grabbed. Research online when the season is and the days the fish are going to be there. Make sure you get a fishing license before you go out. It's a great time to go with the kids. Kids under 16 don't need a fishing license.

Geocaching, all you need is a GPS and some coordinates. Go online and find some caches and go hunting. I haven't done it in a couple of years but it was fun when I did. Gets you out of the house and explore your surroundings a bit. You go to places you probably wouldn't go other wise. 

Chill at the Queen Mary which usually opens in November. They have 2 million pound of ice sculpture. Dress warmly since it is really cold there. They also have ice skating and an ice slide.

Las Vegas is only 4 hours away. We went to see the Jabbawockeez perform. It is an easy weekend trip. If you go during the long weekend, be ready to fight the traffic back.

There are not many places in California were you can just park right next to the lake. Lake Isabella is one of those rare places. Just find an access point the lake from the main road and find a place to park. Make sure you have 4 wheel drive or you will get stuck in the sand. The water fluctuates here a lot especially with the drought so places to go changes frequently.

The Grand Canyon is about 7 hours away but worth the drive. Being one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and tourist from China and Europe are flying here to see it 7 hours is not that far. You can just go see it, hike into it, backpack or take a donkey into it.

Here is my wife at game 6 when the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup for the first time. You can go here or see the Angels or Dodgers play as well as the Clippers or the Lakers.

The Long Beach Aquarium (Aquarium of the Pacific) is a fun place to spend the day. You can feed the Lorikeets, pet some sting rays or see the massive aquariums. You can go eat at the Bubba Gump restuarant across the street and walk the marina there.

If you like planes the Miramar air show in San Diego is a good place to see them in action. Usually they will have it in early October. It is free to go but bring your seats and find a spot to see the show. You can also buy tickets to sit in the stands. There is a morning show and a night show. The planes are better during the day but the fireworks and Wall of Fire are at night. I would easily say that it is the best fireworks show I have ever seen.