Season 17

Huell heads out on an honest-to-goodness ladybug hunt in a tightly guarded, secret local valley to witness millions of beetles overwintering. [Production Code 8001]

Huell hits Route 66 to explore two historic roadside architectural landmarks: the Mayan-themed Aztec Hotel in Monrovia and the concrete teepees of the Wigwam Motel in Rialto. [Production Code 8002]

Huell pulls off the highway to inspect quirky curiosities catching his eye, including a vintage 49er RV Park, a local aviation hangar, and a towering redwood elk monument. [Production Code 8003]

Huell travels to Buttonwillow, the self-proclaimed "Cotton Capitol of California," to pick cotton by hand for a historical look at the state's massive textile agriculture before touring a modern high-speed gin. [Production Code 8004]

Huell enjoys a traditional, family-style meal at the historic Noriega's Basque Hotel and Restaurant in Bakersfield, capturing stories of early European sheep-herding immigrants in Kern County. [Production Code 8005]

Huell visits the International Printing Museum in Carson to watch live, interactive theater presentations and see massive, working demonstrations of antique historic letterpress machinery. [Production Code 8006]

Huell meets collector Joe Rinaudo to marvel at a beautifully restored 1926 American Fotoplayer, demonstrating how the complex piano rolls provided live sound effects and music for early silent films. [Production Code 8007]

Huell visits Fresno to tour the magnificent 1928 Warnors Theatre, examining its historic Spanish Revival motifs and listening to its rare, floor-shaking Robert Morton pipe organ. [Production Code 8008]

Huell uncovers the heavy maritime history of the grand S.S. Solano, tracing how the world's largest historic ferryboat once moved entire transcontinental trains across the Carquinez Strait. [Production Code 8009]

Huell visits Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center to get a special preview of the historic, long-lost ceremonial Laurel tie artifact driven at the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. [Production Code 8010]

Huell visits the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum in Campo for an international excursion, boarding a vintage locomotive that rolls across the border for a tour of the public plaza in Tecate, Mexico. [Production Code 8011]

Huell treks out alongside conservation teams to study native California trout varieties, exploring mountain hydrology, historical hatchery programs, and modern stream restoration tactics. [Production Code 8012]