Topanga State Park

Well, it was tough deciding between visiting the teaching zoo and hiking in a state park. We somehow chose to go to the park which is good because terminator
Arnold Schwazenneger decided to close it for lack of funds and if more people continue to go, he may change his mind about it, anyway...






Located in the Los Angeles County, Santa Monica mountains and spread across 45 sq.km of lush green meadows, dotted with trails leading to one spectacular view
after the other, the Topanga State Park is supposed to be the largest park within the city limits of California and also the largest park in the whole world
that is entirely within city limits. The drive from Simi Valley to the park was a charming one. Every bend in the road
welcomed us with a a view of the sun-kissed hills from various angles. A closer look made me notice that the
Californian terrain is vastly similar to Pachmarhi-the Queen of the Satpuras and some rocky portions of Hyderabad.The vegetation though appears to have some variations. The fluctuating climatic conditions and folds along
the scrub-covered hills make this place resemble Pachmarhi, largely in terms of geographical pattern, even more. But, of course, nature never makes two places the same.



Sweet little tits chirping, yellow and purple wildflowers, greyish-green weeds, various grasses and trees growing along the winding roads made our journey so picturesque.



At the entrance of the park, a cheerful old lady in khakhi uniform and tiny blue-stone earrings welcomed us, enthusiastically telling us a bit about the park (and the parking lot),
collected $6 and let us pass. There were a couple of trails for us to choose from. In hopes of seeing owls (which we never did see), we decided to take the Musch trail,
which I guess was a good decision. As soon as I had popped a piece of watermelon wave bubblegum (I love blowing bubbles) into my mouth, we set out on our mini-adventure.

Every single direction was breathtakingly beautiful. It looked just out of a book. At first, we crossed a forest area and were in a meadow-like grassland and got this
really stunning view of the city around us.


The meadow itself was so Anne-of-Green-Gables-ish, with tall yellow flowers springing up from everywhere. The narrow trail took us through the meadow and into a shady region.

The sound of insects made it quite creepy. The last thing I wanted was to see a huge flying creature buzzing about my face. But that was over is less than
half a minute and before us was a small wooden bridge built across a silently-flowing brook. How enchanting! Every sound, plant, stone is so perfectly amalgamated here.
One can actually feel a certain balance in nature here, even though it doesn't completely exist (for sundry weighted obvious reasons).
Through the tall grasses and shrubs and into yet another pretty meadow, a small shed in the distance and
three lanes. Which way to go?




I was always the curious one and wanted to go straight ahead, just to see what view the next bend would behold. The evening got pleasantly warm,
the sun-rays lighting the hills, falling through the trees and across the meadow sprayed with yellow flowers
There was a wooden bench beneath a family of eucalyptus trees. Our legs called for a rest that we couldn't help but yield to. We decided to go back then.
The park is so huge that one can hike for two whole days and still not cover the entire area!!! But then I was curious to see what the next bend had in store
for us so we ventured there and had a lovely view of the city nestled in the hills. Curiosity never did kill the cat.




I went crazy and kept clicking pictures all along (clicketty-click as Preeti calls it). Preeti and I were kind of panting on our way back but is was
truly worth it. As we crossed the brook and reached the end of the meadow where a part was fenced for horse-back riding, we saw a grey-haired
sprightly middle-aged man riding a horse. The vision of my dreams- to see a horse trotting in a green meadow!!!

The man was approaching the edge of the fence when he saw us. We exchanged pleasantaries with the man whose fiancee is from Brazil but
what I really wanted was a picture with (or of) the horse.
White with streaks of grey,Smoke seemed to be a calm yet inquisitive horse that I kind of felt afraid to be kicked by. But somehow, I managed to go near him and soon,
I was happily patting (well the only animal that you can actually 'pat' is a dog and sometimes a donkey, so I should say actually trying to feel what a horse felt like) his firm neck.
I was thrilled to my bones!!!

After the hike, we went around a mall and did a bit of shopping. What I wanted all through the hike was mint chocolate chip ice-cream or
vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles but I later realized that the need of the hour (and stomach) was food.

As per my specifiation, we went to a vegetarian American restaurant called Follow Your Heart and ordered for a soup, enchiladas, pizza and carrot cake.
This place was so interesting! Each waiter here was so distinct-looking. While one had a friendly brown face, fuzzy black hair on his head and chin and jovially made suggestions to our order, the other guy was silent, wheatish-fair and had soft, spikey brown hair. The meal succeeded in satiating all our senses.

Then we went for a car wash where I got to sit inside the car while it was being washed. It was such fun, especially beacuse I saw an episode
of Mr. Bean (my favourite actor, closely followed by Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom) in a car wash!

So that was our super-exciting day out!!!