We used to go there often in the 60's and 70's. Boysenberry sherbet was the best. The transformation exhibit was cool too, and the seals. My grandpa and I used to feed the sparrows when he would get tired.

1962-1964 Knott's had more to offer than Disneyland as far as I was concerned. Loved to drive the cars you could actually steer and step on the gas. Then loved the trout farm. My grandmother did not since she did not really like cooking trout.

Calico Train ride was great. They had a real guy talking instead of a recording which is what Disneyland used.

And...the steam train ride. The robbers would come thru holding the place up. I convinced my older brother that we should fight back. So one day we brought our cap guns (Mattel Shootin' Shell pistols). And we shot back!

My Mom, well, we learned some new words that day. But it was fun.

Lots of good memories.

I've never been to California. My cousin Joe lived in Santa Ana until retiring to New Hampshire. My Uncle Joe (his dad) visited him quite regularly and brought back a lot of stuff from Knotts.

Being from Indiana and never any farther West than Kansas City, Kansas, I was always fascinated by the lure of the West Coast.

Still, I'll probably never venture out there. California Dreamin.........to me......is just that.

Back in 1970, my cousins took my 90 year old Hungarian grandmother to SoCal for several months and the part of that trip that tickled her the most is when they took her to Knott's Berry Farm to buy "chelly" and then to "Dixieland". She talked about that trip for the next six years until she passed away.

I remember Knott's Berry Farm from those earliest years, when it was much quieter. No rides that I remember, but I never forgot the fun of panning for gold in the sluice box. I also remember Disneyland when it was surrounded by orange groves, an island of fun in a sea of orange. I think I liked both places better then.

During the late 50s and early 60s Knott's had no fence and no admission fee, which made casual Sunday family events possible and affordable. By the time I returned from Vietnam in 1970 the fence and admission fee were in place. "The hippies" was the reason I was told.