It's July 4th and my friends and I are down in San Diego celebrating the holiday with our first ocean swim of the season off Coronado Island. And we're escaping the heat, too.

The weekend is supposed to be another warm one in the I.E., so hitting the mountains or the beach is a good idea. Or why not go into an air-conditioned museum for an interesting lecture.

(SHNS photo by Bill Sandke / Coronado Island Visitors Bureau)

With all the hot weather in the I.E., the beach sure does look tempting. Here is the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.

On Sunday, the curator of paleontology at the San Bernardino County Museum will give a lecture on "Horses -- America's Most Export-Ever!" And museum entry is free that day. Eric Scott, who will give his talk at 2 p.m., says that even though horses are considered by many to be of foreign origin, they are actually native, having originated in America more than fifty million years ago as a small marshland creature.

"People often think the first Spanish explorers brought horses to America," Scott said. "But it wasn't really an introduction, since horses originated here on this continent. It was more like old friends becoming reacquainted."

And next Wednesday, you can go to REI in Rancho Cucamonga to hear about "100 classic hikes in Southern California" from Allen Riedel, a frequent contributor to our outdoor page here at the P.E. You can read his latest story about hiking Mount San Jacinto.

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