Tagged: Five Things to Love About My State

October 13, 2008 Katie Denham

I have been tagged by the stylish Callie Grayson of the Grayson: A Different Shade of Grey blog. Thanks Callie! The subject is five things I love about my state. After reading her post, I realized it was not about my state of confusion, or even the continual state of chaos in my house....I had to find five things to love about my state of California.

Well....I must say, I think I have a slight advantage here. So here goes:

1) I love the weird stuff we have in California like:

The Devil's Postpile

The Tufas at Mono Lake

Stalagmites and Stalactites in the California Caves in the Gold Country

2) I love the extremes, like:

Mt. Whitney, the highest Peak in the contiguous United States

Death Valley, The lowest place on earth, and the hottest in the United States

The Redwood Trees, the biggest trees on earth

Lake Tahoe, the biggest Alpine Lake in the United States

3) I love the varied architecture and architects, like:

Frank Lloyd Wright's Walker Residence in Carmel

Greene and Greene's Gamble House in Pasadena (where I grew up), a prime example of Bungalow Style Architecture

Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles

Julia Morgan's Hearst Castle

4) I love that we can do all this within a few hours drive:

Horseback ride in the Mammoth Mountains in the Eastern Sierras

Fish at Lake George

Cross Country Ski in Bear Valley

Play wave tag in Newport Beach

Hang out at the beach in Laguna

5) I love that California has a Cuisine named after it and world famous wine country:

Alice Waters, co-founder of the esteemed restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California is usually credited with originating "California Cuisine". The emphasis on using fresh ingredients in season grown by local farms garnered her reputation as the proprietress of one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.

Photo by Brent Miller, WineCountry.com

Then there is the Napa Valley, or what I like to call "the Valley of the Gods". It is stunningly beautiful and produces some of the best wine in the world.

OK....that is my five things.

But, as much as I have tried, I cannot wittle it down to five. I have to add:

What would we do without it?

And this:

California, the home of The Happiest Place on Earth

Kay....I'm done now. And I am tagging: