Places Ramika Wants to Go

Experience Larry Spring's self-taught "common sense" laws of physics.

A trash dump made beautiful by nature's power.

Two mammoth statues inspired by equally tall tales lure tourists to this roadside attraction.

Canyon walls shrouded in ferns.

This little museum has an exhibit devoted to the elusive forest denizens.

An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.

A vaudeville performer mounted this hollowed-out redwood log onto the chassis of a truck, and toured the country spreading a message of conservation.

These banned cigarette vending machines now sell little pieces of pocket-sized art.

James Turrell's total color immersion art installation, hidden on the top floor of a luxury handbag shop.

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

Tucked away behind an unassuming set of shops is a must-see series of stunning murals.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

This dormant volcanic crater has been converted from a roiling pit of magma to a pleasant hiking spot.

A pair of large white marble lions guard this stretch of the Mojave Desert, and it is utterly mysterious how they got there.

World's largest collection devoted to one fruit.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

An off-grid art installation that encourages its visitors to imagine a world without waste.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

These lush groves of fan palms rise up like oases out of southern California's Colorado Desert.

A UFO scrapyard in the California desert.

Catch a glimpse of the elusive Peninsular bighorns right off of the desert freeway.

One of the few remaining carousels built by master amusement park carver Charles I.D. Looff.

The classic Atari game's iconic aliens have invaded downtown San Diego.

The freeway that never was.