Beating the winter time blues!

The sun is out and I want to be outside with it! Sigh, the plight of the working class. Or, as my old colleague in Fort Bragg would say, “whatever”.

It’s winter time along the Front Ranger here in Colorado and for the moment I really get why folks come to live here: the air is crisp, the sky is blue, there are no obnoxious scents lingering in the air and the temp is upwards around 50. We went from a full out freeze, snow and generally nasty weather just a week ago to something that makes me want to put on my baggie shorts and zoris and hit the beach. I know that this weather won’t last and I suppose that’s what makes this hard core jones to be outside so poignant: it’ll be cold again soon, it’ll be inside weather again soon and…and…. well, hell, I am whining. It’s winter on the edge of the Great Plains. What do I expect? Even in Florida I suspect folks get the winter time blues.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! We mota heads need to stand united and learn to do cool things to banish those funky winter blahs! Everywhere I’ve lived over the past 59 years I’ve found ways to adapt, to have fun, to groove out in the great outdoors or in the wonderfulness of the great indoors. No need to hunker down, let’s get down and have some good old fashioned winter time fun. One of the great pluses of being out and about in January is knowing that travel rates, fees, hotel prices and crowds are down this time of year! Here’s a short list of cool things to do where you live, with or without mota to enhance the good times!

SoCal: Go to Knotts, Disneyland, Six Flags, Legoland....ah, gosh, so many amusement parks to choose from!

Take a short trip on Amtrak! End up at the iconic and forever beautiful Union Station!

Learn to surf in Huntington or ride your bike along the boardwalk in Newport!

Take in art galleries in Laguna Beach!

Walk the streets where the Rose Parade trundles along in Pasadena!

LA: be a tourist in your own hometown! Do Olvera Street (taquitos!), grab some lunch at Clifton's Cafeteria, check out the Hollywood sign, go up to the Griffiths Observatory and take in the view, put your feet in the cement prints of famous stars at Grauman's Chinese Theater and end the day at the Original Tommy's!

Central Cali: take in the wine countries outside Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo!
Drive Highway 1!

Check out San Simeon and see how real old fashioned big shots lived!

Drive on the beach in Pismo!

San Francisco: walk the Golden Gate Bridge, ride a cable car, rent a bike but no matter what, park the car and get around without it! 

Eat a meal in Chinatown! Take in an afternoon at a museum, hit up some local galleries in the Marina District!

Catch an opera and then pick up a copy of Howl at City Lights Bookstore!

NorCal: go sip quality vino in Wine Country!

Drive Highway from San Francisco to Eureka along the coast!

Walk among the redwoods and be awed by real live giants!

Get a med card, visit some dispensaries and indulge in some of the world’s finest organic, sun grown weed!

Eat some decent sourdough bread!

Watch real live hippies groove in their natural environment!

Southern Oregon and the Oregon Coast: see the caveman in Grants Pass!

Walk Ashland!

Groove on miles of endless empty beaches!

Hunt for Liberty Caps!

Portland: walk the river front!

Take a tram, ride a bike, do light rail but get around without your car!

Eat some conveyor belt sushi! Either Sushiville or Marineopolis Sushi Land will do just fine!

Go to Powell's City of Books and buy some graphic novels!

Seattle: Hit up Pike Place Market and see the sights!
Sip a hot cup of java at the original Starbucks!

Walk the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum's awesome outdoor museum!

Take the monorail! Ride a ferry! Ride the light rail from downtown to the airport!

Go to Archie McPhees!

The Puget Sound: Go on now, go find a brewery and relax awhile! Try Pike Brewing in Seattle or Chuck A Nut in Bellingham!

Get on your hiking boots and groove up in the Olympics!

Hit up the reservation casinos for a nice buffet, a show or some fireworks!

Boise: Grab some pie and some great brews at Flying Pie Pizza!
Watch a cheap movie at a second run movie house!

Walk the Greenbelt!

Saunter along in the Foothills!

Denver: do the zoo!

Cruise Colfax for great eats, cool entertainment and fantastic folk art!

Browse the Tattered Cover!

Buy some legal weed just about anywhere!

Hit the mountains and do some tubing!

The Front Range: Grab a coffee in Fort Collins! The Wild Boar or Mugs Coffee Lounge are both super and easy access to the university and Old Town!

Spend some time in the local Arc thrift stores and find some treasures!

Walk the Benson sculpture garden!

Eat some fiery green chili and whimper like a little girl!

Salud!