So we have a new hobby, which we are calling "Exploring". Yeah, pretty original title, and a pretty original idea. The gist?

1) Find a free day to explore

2) Look at the map and choose a city that neither of you have been to

3) Explore it!

For us, that typically means finding someplace nearby to hike, and spending the day with hiking, walking around "downtown", and seeing any sites that the interneters recommend, all the while while lugging around the camera (wife likes to hold it most...can you guess why?). We are becoming small-town Southern California experts! Yesterday, we explored Fillmore, CA. They claim a population of 14,000, but they are probably counting the tractors as people too. It was beautiful. The hike was nice, albeit nothing super unique, and let us spend some time in nature. Ah...the nature of nature. It gets to ya, in a good way too. I think that sight is the most important sense in experiencing nature. I wasn't sure--touch is very important too, and so is sound, but

sight...very important. I was just thinking about that. We also went to a fruit stand sorta place, and wandered downtown. What did we learn this trip about small town SoCal?

a) It is quiet, very quiet. We were jealous

b) Sometimes people don't take advantage of their biggest advantages. Biggest advantage to living in small town SoCal? Property, right? But most everyone lived on small plots, with little to no yards! And all the while, empty land sitting all around the town. Crazy! Why is that?

c) Just because an avocado is 25 cents, doesn't mean it is worth it. But the oranges probably are worth it. And they were.

Here are a few pictures. We like this new hobby. We have explored a few communities, and are ready to add a few more. Do you have any suggestions? It just needs to be less than a two hour drive away, and be interesting