Tag Archives: things to do

Hobbies To Try Before You Graduate

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  1. Start a side project: Sometimes time can get too busy, but it’s also important to support your hobbies and interests. A small side project can help you with this and cater to your interests.
  2. Join a club: It’s not too late to get involved or try something new on school campus. Joining a club can help you reconnect and meet others, so don’t be afraid or regret that you should have joined earlier. Joining right now can also be the perfect time.
  3. Playing games with friends and family: It could be simple board, card, word, or even video games. It’s best to make the most of the time you have together.
  4. Attending events: All schools have events like school dances and spirit weeks, but a lot of cities also organize events for residents. Check out the local events around you to reconnect with your community.
  5. Writing: Maybe it’s a letter to your future self in ten years. Maybe it’s a diary or a scrapbook that you can look back on to remember old memories. Either way it’s sure to bring nostalgia back to your future self.
  6. Cooking: It’s one of the most useful life skills to learn before graduation, and it’s also rewarding to eat and see your recipes come to life.
  7. Exploring different cuisines: There are countless different cultures out there, so why not take the time to explore them all? You can learn how to cook them (like in #5) or you could also explore and support local, small businesses.
  8. Learn a new talent: There’s always something, no matter how small, that you want to learn. It could be a magic trick, photography, drawing, literally anything! Learning a new skill can truly bring out a passion of yours that you didn’t know.
  9. Go somewhere new with your friends: Instead of just sticking to the usual campus and hang-out areas, explore or travel somewhere different and fun.
  10. Something new!!!: It could be small; it could be big. Sometimes just trying, despite what fears you may have, is the best way to go.

Best Beaches for the Summer

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It’s summer, and one of the summer activities that are always good but especially on hot days is to take a trip down to the beach. There are a lot of local beach spots that are great for swimming and scenery or to just relax and unwind, here are some of my personal favorites.

Laguna Beach: Laguna Beach is one of my personal favorite beach spots. There are many beach choices in this area. One of the best beaches at Laguna Beach is Heisler Park. This is because it is great for walking on as well as swimming since it is sandy and not rocky. This beach also has a marine reserve with tide pools that you can explore as well. Another great beach in Laguna Beach is Treasure Island Beach. This beach is a great spot to snorkel and observe sea life, and it is also good for swimming and has clear water as well.

Balboa Beach: Another great local beach to visit is Balboa Beach near Newport Beach. It is a very calm beach and is great for swimming, and is a great place to relax as well. There is also a pier with fishing and restaurants, as well as a ferry to the nearby Balboa Island. The beach is also very clean with clean restrooms as well.

Crystal Cove: One of the best local beaches to go to is Crystal Cove in Newport Beach. The surf is also very calm and it is also a good spot for swimming. It is also a good spot for snorkeling and has coral reefs and lots of sea life as well. It also has several tide pools to visit and is great for taking a walk as well. There are also hiking trails above the beach that give great views of the ocean.

Huntington Beach: Huntington Beach has a large variety of activities to do as well. The areas close to the beaches there are good for swimming as they are mostly calm, but some areas of the beach have larger waves making them a great spot for surfing and there are in fact several surfing competitions held in the area. This area is also great for paddleboarding and there is also a pier on this beach, which has fishing and views of the ocean as well as great spots for photos.

Corona Del Mar: Corona Del Mar is also a very scenic local beach with plenty of things to do. This beach has views of much of the local coastline and is a great place to get photos, with cliffs and rock formations, and you can even see as far as Catalina Island on some days. The beach is located in a cove which makes it very calm and good for swimming. It is also a great snorkeling spot as it is clear as well which allows for great views of the sea life. I would recommend walking on this beach as it has walking trails along the beach, and it has great views of the sunset as well.

I hope everyone has a great summer and that this helps you to find the best activities this summer!

Walt Disney World: Things to Know and Places to Visit

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In May of 1965, Walt Disney Productions purchased almost 28,000 acres of land in an area southwest of Orlando using multiple dummy corporations. On October 15, Disney decided to announce its creation by asking the Governor of Florida to confirm the rumors of a new location, calling it “the greatest attraction in the history of Florida.” This resort, opened officially on October 1st, 1971, is what we now know as the Walt Disney World Resort. It includes 4 different parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. The now 50,000-acre property also includes various other locations, including water parks, a sports complex, and various golf courses.

Some things to know

  • Stay hydrated. The Florida weather, especially during summer, can be pretty extreme, due to high humidity and heat, and staying hydrated can help visitors withstand the conditions.
  • Stay cool. Find air conditioning, or even use a portable fan to avoid the weather and reduce the risk of heat stroke.
  • Plan ahead. On average, around 160,000 people visit the resort, so making reservations and knowing where to go can make visiting easier and faster.

In addition to these 3 tips, guests should also know that Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios both have a thing called virtual queues. Enter the queue online with the My Disney Experience app, which will provide a group number and an estimated time for getting in line. When the provided number is displayed on the screen above the ride’s entrance, visitors can scan their tickets and step in line. This system was implemented in 1999 to reduce the chances of overwhelming wait times.

Places to visit

Disney World is a place filled with many different and unique experiences, but some stand out among the rest. Some rides, for instance, are quit exhilarating and are worth riding such as TRON Lightcycle / Run. TRON is a unique ride located in Tomorrowland, strapping in riders as if riding a motorcycle, and hitting a top speed of 60 mph. Riding TRON at night is even more of a spectacle, as more of the lights illuminate to increase the thrill. Also an equally thrilling ride, the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Featuring Aerosmith accelerates to a top speed of 57 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, catapulting straight into multiple twists, turns, and loops.

In addition to those two rides, Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, located in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is also very exciting. The ride is portrayed in a Tibetan village, where riders board a train and travel up and into Mount Everest. The ride features many loops and turns, but the fun starts when the train stops and plunges into the depths of the mountain at 50 miles per hour.

In addition to rides, Disney World features a very wide variety of restaurants. Epcot has 11 pavilions representing different countries around the world, allowing visitors a large pallet of places to enjoy. One example is Shiki-Sai, located in japan. Shiki-Sai offers some of the most delicious sushi one could ever taste. In addition to Japanese cuisine, Italian dining at Epcot is equally superb. Via Napoli features delicious lasagna, pasta, and their specialty Neapolitan pizza.

In all, Walt Disney World is a very exciting place, with many different opportunities and experiences for visitors to enjoy.

Books about Disney World are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Best Activities for the Summer

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Summer time is here, and sometimes it can be a challenge to find things to do and you can find yourself just sitting around. Summer can be much more fun when you have activities to do, so here are some activity ideas for you to get the most out of your summer vacation.

1. Go to the pool or beach.

Going to the pool is a fun summer activity that is great anytime. On a hot day, one of the best things to do can just be to take a nice swim in the pool, and it is a great summer activity that everyone can enjoy. Going to the beach can also be a great option for the summertime, as there are many activities you can do such as playing in the sand and swimming. Some great beaches nearby include Crystal Cove and Doheny Beach in Dana Point.

2. Go on a camping trip.

Another great activity to do over the summer is go on a camping trip. I personally enjoy camping because it’s a great opportunity to get into the outdoors, and I also enjoy visiting and exploring new places. Some great nearby camping spots are O’Neill Park and Carbon Canyon Park, as well as the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles.

3. Go fishing.

One of the best activities to do over the summer is to go fishing. Fishing can be a great activity if you live near a river or lake. Fishing can be both very fun and relaxing and a great way to get outdoors. Local piers such as the Huntington Beach and Dana Point piers can be great places to fish, as well as lakes such as Irvine Lake.

4. Go on a bike ride.

Another activity that you can do over the summer is going on a bike ride. Biking is a great way to get exercise as well as to go places, and it can be a fun way to get around and explore. Santiago Canyon near Irvine Lake is a great place to go biking, as well as other trails near the beach areas as well.

5. Read a book or magazine.

A great way to beat summer boredom is to read a book. Try to read a new book that you haven’t seen before. Some of my personal book recommendations are the Dune series by Frank Herbert, as well as the informational book Salt by Mark Kurlansky. Reading a magazine can also be very entertaining as well if you are bored during the summer.

6. Go on a hike.

My favorite activity to do during the summertime is going on a hike. Going on a hike is a great activity because it allows you to get a great view of nature and scenery, and it also allows you to get exercise in as well as avoid boredom. Some of best hikes nearby in my opinion are the trails in O’Neill Park and around Irvine Lake.

7. Play a sport.

Playing a sport over the summer is another activity that I would recommend since it allows you to get in shape and have fun with others. There are many sports you can do over the summer, but my personal recommendations would be swimming and tennis.

These are some activities that you can do over your summer break, so be sure to try this out if you are bored and to have fun!

California National Parks Ranking

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So I tend to travel a lot, and some of my favorite adventures have been to our Californian national parks! I’ve been to all 10 of them except for Channel Islands National Park, so I’m going to rank the other 9! It will be in order from worst to best, although none of them are bad.

8. Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park isn’t a particularly interesting national park. It’s very small and far from here, but it’s still nice. It has some good hikes, but the competition is so steep that it just gets pushed down to the bottom of this list. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend checking it out, but it’s hard to justify driving all the way up there just for Pinnacles.

7. Joshua Tree National Park

I love Joshua Tree and it’s a huge jump up from Pinnacles, but it’s just the least amazing out of the parks. It’s a lot closer, only being about 2.5 hours away, and is a lot bigger. Joshua Tree also has some very diverse and interesting hikes. There’s a lot of shorter trails and there’s almost no, if any, hikes longer than 2 hours.

6. Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is a great national park with good hikes, but the scenery is, in my opinion, nicer than Joshua Tree’s. It is a lot farther, but it’s very nice.

5. Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon is essentially the same as Sequoia but it has Hume Lake. Hume Lake is just a really nice place with nice walking trails around it and a lot of ducks. Otherwise, it’s the same thing pretty much, and they’re right next to each other.

4. Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is maybe the most unique of the Californian national parks. There’s a lot of geothermal activity in this park, like mud pools and geysers. It also has some nice forest hikes. The only reason this isn’t higher is because it’s hard to get to. The closest real hotel is in Redding, which is an hour away and can get extremely hot in the summer.

3. Death Valley National Park

Death Valley is a beautiful national park. It has some of if not the best hiking trails out of any of the parks. There’s a lot of trails with climbing too if you enjoy that. This park is also huge, almost the size of Puerto Rico, so I can really only talk about what’s around The Oasis resort properties. Speaking of which, they’re pretty nice and close to a lot of the more popular areas, including Badwater Basin and Artists Pallet

2. Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park is essentially a better Sequoia National Park. It’s much more coastal and has some of the best biking areas I’ve ever experienced. It also has some amazing scenery and some pretty great hiking trails. Redwood isn’t even that isolated compared to the other parks, and is a great stop if you’re doing an RV trip up the west coast.

1. Yosemite National Park

This shouldn’t be surprising if you’ve ever been to Yosemite, there’s a good reason it’s ranked as the best national park on many online rankings. It has by far the best scenery of any of the national parks and also some of the most enjoyable trails. Yosemite is also huge and has much more to offer outside of the main Yosemite Valley, which gives you so many things to do on its own. The campgrounds are also excellent, with a good hotel if that’s not your thing. Overall, it’s definitely worth the visit.

So there you have it, a ranking of (almost) every Californian national park. Have you been to any of these parks? Would you agree? What would you change?

Books about California’s National parks are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Ideas for Summer

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Hello everyone!

We are coming into the months of June, July and August and school is out! With all this new free time in our hands, here are some ideas of what to do for the summer:

  1. Beach trip – Enjoy a day at the beach, soaking up the sun and enjoying the waves. There’s nothing that says summer more than the beach! 
  2. Camping – Sometimes its nice to get away from our homes and go camping to enjoy nature. Even if you can’t go camping we can still connect with the outdoors by camping (you may want to do it in the morning before it gets hot)
  3. Movie Nights – One of the most fun things to do in the summer afternoons is an outside movie night. Most cities, like Mission Viejo, offer fun families movies in the parks to everyone. It’s especially fun to hang out outside with your friends at a movie.
  4. Farmer’s Markets – There are always so many farmers markets happening around Mission Viejo! It’s always so fun to enjoy the atmosphere of the bustling markets and enjoy all the tastes, flavors, and goods of the market. You don’t even need to buy anything to have a blast!
  5. Learn Something New – Even though its summertime and we should be relaxing in our break away from school, its not a bad time to learn something new! Whenever you have some free time on your hands and are feeling bored, its always ok to try and learn more about what you are curious about, like a skill or language!

I hope everyone has an amazing summer and may be able to use these ideas to have a fun summer!

The Best Museums in Orange County

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Museums are good places to spend time at, especially on rainy days. There are many museums in Orange County to go to and you might be wondering which are the best to visit. Here are some museums that I enjoyed going to and would recommend as well.

1. The Orange County Museum of Art

One of my favorite museums to visit is the Orange County Museum of Art in Costa Mesa. They have many interesting pieces of art there, as well as displays and different themes by different artists that change monthly. I have found it helpful to try and get there earlier in the morning as it gets very busy in the afternoon.

2. The Marconi Automotive Museum

Another great museum to go to is the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin. It has many historical and exotic cars that have been restored, as well as the original cars from many different movies, and it is overall a very interesting place to go.

3. Heritage Hill Museum

Another interesting and historical museum is the Heritage Hill Museum in Lake Forest. It has many restored historical buildings including several adobes from the 1800s. The park has guided tours of the buildings and also teaches about county history, and I found it to be an educational and fun experience.

4. Richard Nixon Museum

Another museum that I enjoyed visiting was the Richard Nixon Museum in Yorba Linda in Northern Orange County. It has the site of Richard Nixon’s birthplace, and also gives historical information about Nixon. It is a great place to go for the day and is a great way to learn more about history.

5. Lyon Air Museum

One of the best museums to go to in Orange County is the Lyon Air Museum. It is an enjoyable place for people of all ages and has many rare and historic planes that are in good condition. It is also close by, in Irvine, and is a good size to explore, and it is a very good way to spend an afternoon.

6. Mission San Juan Capistrano

Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of the best museums and historical sites to visit nearby. The mission is open so you can walk through and see the various areas, and it is very large, with many tunnels and paths to explore. It also has exhibits that give a large amount of historical information about the mission, and there are also activities and special guided tours that allow you to visit private areas of the mission.

These are some of the most fun and educational museums to visit in Orange County that will be sure to give you a very interesting experience. So be sure to go and visit these museums-they’re sure to give you a good time!

Summer is here, now what?

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Everyone is still adjusting from the pandemic controlled world to a slightly less restricted lifestyle. Now that summer is here, every teens has more freedom, but many are questioning how they used to live their old pre-covid lives. In this post I will give some suggestions of fun activities to do with your friends, family, or even yourself.

I would first like to start off this list with going on hikes. Hikes are an activity that is enjoyable both by yourself and with company. Find a fun trail that fits how difficult you would like to experience. If you are by yourself, pop in an earbud and play your uplifting songs while staying active. For those in the Mission Viejo area, some trails are the Oso Creek Trail, Alicia Trail, and the Nellie Gail Trails. Going on hikes can take up your time while keeping you active. The only thing to be cautious of is the weather, make sure to check the weather for the day you plan to make sure you do not accidentally hike on an extremely hot day, which I am guilty of, not fun. 

If you are planning a hangout with friends and have no idea what to do, like many of us, I would recommend having a picnic at a park. Choose any centrally located park or beautiful one near the beach. Each person can bring their own food to fit what they like while still enjoying the company of others with them. Make sure to bring a blanket and maybe a speaker to play some fun music. Besides eating, I love to bring other activities to do at a picnic. Some fun ideas are to bring cards or a board game. Or bringing canvases and paint to have a painting/art contest with your friends. 

Here is an example of a fun picnic setup you have have with friends!

Another idea I would recommend is to take a day trip. Whether you choose Los Angeles, San Diego, or any other location that is outside of your daily circle of travel, a day trip can be super fun. The night before, plan your stops. This way you have a roadmap of approximately which areas you will be in. Especially for L.A, it is a huge area so planning which part of it you will be in is a great idea. On day trips to areas in the city, I find it very fun to find trendy food places I see online and actually get to try it. Some ideas are getting mochi donuts, korean hot dogs, or bubble waffles that have been circulating across the internet but are mainly located in areas like Los Angeles. Also if going on a day trip, find cool activities you can only do in that area. For example, if going to LA find a swap meet like the Melrose Trading Place. Or go to famous spots like the Santa Monica pier, which is far enough away from home that it seems more exciting. 

Summer is the time where people can finally enjoy themselves after months of stress. Find an activity you personally enjoy. Your goal is to make yourselves miss summer as much as possible!

-Lilly G.