Inside the Rain Room

The Rain Room has arrived and local art lovers are taking notice. Is it worth the wait? Yes, I assure you it is. Once inside, visitors find a long, dark room with a high ceiling. A single bright light shines through heavy rain falling around visitors. The mist. The damp air. The noise. It feels like a mighty storm is pouring down. But the storm is inside. And visitors aren’t getting wet. Instead, visitors wander in awe, admiring the rain and the artists who created it.

The Rain Room was created to highlight the connection between humans, nature and technology. With a tracking system that senses movement and stops the rain wherever visitors move, it does just that. Light and sound produce an experience that feels both natural and foreign. The exhibit is moving on to Atlanta next month. I urge you to visit before then. It’s time to experience the Rain Room for yourself!

Pacific Coast Holiday

4 Days Coach Tour of Los Angeles - Malibu - Santa Barbara - Central Coast - Monterey - San Francisco

Day 1 Arrival in Los Angeles

Thanks for choosing us and welcome to join our USA group tours. After arriving in Los Angeles, the “City of Angels”, please go to our pre-booked hotel and check in by yourself. In the evening, meet our tour director and fellow travelers at the hotel. The tour director will give a brief introduction about the following schedule.

Accommodation: Sonesta Los Angeles Airport LAX    

Day 2 Have a leisure day in Los Angeles

You are free to travel around throughout the day. Griffith Observatory, Getty Center, Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens, and Hollywood Bowl are all popular attractions. Besides, Grand Central Market is a great place to enjoy the food and get cheap pupusas, carnitas tacos and aguas frescas. You can also choose to take an optional full-day tour to the world’s largest film studio and theme park: Universal Studios. There, you may take a look at Wisteria Alley in the hot-selling TV series “Desperate Housewives”, visit the actual behind-the-scenes production and special photography skills of the movie, and take the tour bus on the spot to experience the exciting scenes in the movie and other interesting activities.

Meals: Breakfast.

Day 3 Transfer to visit Malibu, Santa Barbara and Central Coast

On the third day, enjoy a motor coach tour. We’ll head north along the beautiful Pacific coast, pass by the famous Santa Monica and Malibu beaches, and have a stop at the historic end of the Route 66 - Santa Monica Beach. Route 66 established on November 11, 1926, popularly known as the Mother Road, holds a special place in American consciousness. The highway ultimately stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Remember to take a photo in front of the California Lifeguard Tower, which is famous for “Beach Ambulance”. Then, we’ll arrive in Santa Barbara, where a walkway lined with palm trees meets the white sandy beach in distance. After, enjoy the self-paid lunch and admire the Spanish architecture of the city, and then continue going to a quaint central coast town and stay for one night there.

Meals: Breakfast.

Accommodation: Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Santa Maria    

Day 4 Continue the journey to Carmel and Monterey, Get to San Francisco and say goodbye

This is the last day of the tour. We will head north to Carmel to visit the shops and galleries where famous artists gather. Then, continue northward to visit the old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. Stroll along the wharf to Cannery Row, famous for the novel by John Steinbeck. In the afternoon, we will drive through the fertile Casterville and Santa Clara Valleys to the “city of the bay” — San Francisco.

The trip will be over after we arrive in San Francisco. If you need, we can book a hotel in San Francisco or arrange other visits for you. Hope you have had a wonderful time with us and look forward to serving you again in the near future.

Meals: Breakfast.

Tiny homes have been popular as home prices have climbed to new heights and people have looked for creative ways to downsize. We’ve seen many design concepts, including storage units and buses, but Jim Dotzenrod and his daughter Danielle recently came up with a unique one. The pair worked together on the family project to transform a 1973 train caboose into the sleeper car.

The CR Station Train Caboose, as it’s known on Airbnb, which has become somewhat of its own tourist destination in the small town that houses it, is available to rent for $124 a night, and has an excellent rating of 4.86 out of 5 from more than 300 guests on the booking website.

According to Insider, the project began when Jim saw a bunch of train cabooses along the side of the road during a drive out of town. He said he wondered if he could change one of them into a place where people could live or stay. So, he bought the 52,000-pound caboose for $8,000. Getting the caboose to its final home took some creative thinking and some heavy-duty equipment.

Danielle said the work was challenging, especially since she and her dad both have day jobs. But their schedules didn’t stop them from finishing the project. “My dad can do anything he sets his mind to — like, absolutely anything — but my dad is so low maintenance himself,” Danielle told the website. “So when we built this together it was a good combination because he could build whatever and have me pushing him like, ‘Hey, let’s make this as cool as we can.’”

This caboose also has Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, a refrigerator, a shower and more. So, if you’re ever traveling in Iowa and want to experience something special, book a stay at the CR Station Train Caboose!