Acton, CA

We are staying in an unincorporated town called Acton in an absolutely gorgeous RV park, which is located close to Los Angeles if you go in a northerly direction out of L.A called The Californian RV Resort.  The Acton area is made up of rugged mountains laced with winding canyons that dramatically capture ever-changing shadows within their ridges as the sun moves across the sky.  The area has exotic names like Antelope Valley or Oak of the Golden Dream (the site of the first documented discovery of gold in California in 1842 when gold was found within wild onions pulled from beneath an oak tree.) 

Here also is a county park called Vasquez Rocks with visible rock formations pushed up and heavily eroded from 25 million years ago-another site on our trip that is a photographer’s dream come true.  The area is named after one of California’s most notorious bandits, Tiburcio Vasquez and covers 932 acres.  It is a National Historical Site because it was home to prehistoric Shoshone and Tatavium peoples.  The area has also been used as a popular movie set over the years.

But let’s go back to Acton.  In the 1800s the area was established by gold miners and named by one of the miners after Acton, Massachusetts.  Gold, copper and titanium ore lured the miners to this location.  Acton has retained the ambience of an old western town in the style of its buildings and some dating from the 1800s still exist.  You can still hitch up a horse at the Acton Post Office or at several other businesses on either side of it if you ride into town.  This is equestrian country and horse pastures are visible climbing up the sides of hills as we travel in and out of the valley.  The movie industry has even made use of Acton’s Old West architecture as a set for numerous movies and music videos.

Also of note is a large preserve (run by Actress Tippi Heddren) located in the valley not far from Acton, which houses numerous lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and elephants in a natural African-styled habitat.  We were told that guests at one of our campgrounds in this area could sometimes hear the lions roaring at night.  The preserve is open for Safari tours.  We actually saw a few of the animals from the road through fences while traveling from one campground to another.

Jim was interested to learn that this area is also home to an active Radio Controlled airplane group.  He was familiar with the type of flying done here on Parker Mountain called “dynamic soaring” where a world speed record was once achieved by the RC flyers at 302 mph!  Jim says the speed is achieved by looping the planes along side the mountains to catch updrafts that ultimately make speeds like this possible as they go through loop after loop.  Just imagine the skill these flyers must demonstrate!

I am walking the hills in this campground to work out my Fitbit (and me too!)  I like being here because I feel safe to walk alone and I carry my camera for the always-present photo opportunities.  There are hummingbirds everywhere because people have put out feeders for them.  Spring has sprung in California with flowers and trees blooming everywhere.