During our summer trips to Mexico, we did a lot of traveling along small roads; many areas of the country back then had no major modern highways. Of course, that’s still true in parts of the country today. But back in 1970 it seemed that even the toll roads were narrow and had no median barriers. The “big” roads between […]
It was an extremely windy spot on the Sonoma coast in Salt Point State Park, just north of Gerstle Cove, and I had the place mostly to myself as I clambered over the rocks trying to get a peek into some tide pools. I chose not to climb down too close to where the tide washed in, so my tide […]
Today, I wanted to find a way to observe the newest US federal holiday — but somehow shouting “Happy Juneteenth!” just doesn’t feel appropriate. Instead, I took the long overdue action of educating myself about the history of this historic day. I have to admit I was a little confused about its origin and meaning. I assumed it commemorated the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation — but a bit of research online showed me how wrong I was! Certainly part of the blame for this gap in my knowledge lies with my high school history curriculum, which completely passed over this “minor” detail in covering the American Civil War and Reconstruction. But of course, I’ve been out of high school a very long time. So, for anyone else who hasn’t been paying attention until this year, here’s what I now understand: The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves held in the confederate states, took effect on January 1, 1863. But it wasn’t until Congress passed the 13th Amendment in April 1864 that emancipation was made national policy. This amendment was signed by Lincoln in February 1865 and ratified in December of that same year. Not surprisingly, even after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect it wasn’t immediately implemented throughout the American South. Union soldiers spread the news of the new law as they moved deeper into Confederate territory. It wasn’t until two years after it took effect, in mid June 1865, […]
Climbing over and around the rocks near Gerstle Cove (in Salt Point State Park), I may not have been able to access the tide pools, but I still found a lot of interesting sights and enough beauty all around to keep me busy with my camera. This state park is named Salt Point for a reason! Below is just an […]
Today, with the temperature reaching up into the 100+ degree range, I’m staying indoors and looking back to only two months ago, when we visited Rattlesnake Bar one morning and I explored a portion of the Pioneer Express Trail I had never seen before.
I’ve never been all that interested in learning about rocks and minerals, but after watching this episode of California’s Golden Parks, I’m seriously thinking about a road trip to Mariposa to get a closer look at this particular collection. I had no idea that California has not only an official state rock but also a state mineral, a state gemstone, […]
I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for mules ever since reading The Oregon Trail, Rinker Buck’s memoir about traveling the historic overland route with his brother in a covered wagon pulled by a team of three mules, Beck, Jake, and Bute. As I hike the dirt trails within Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, I frequently encounter people riding […]
This week, I’m focusing on our visits to Guadalajara during 1968 through 1970. I’ve shown you one or two of these pictures before, when I wrote about the “lemon factory“, and I’m sure we visited this church more than once. I can’t for the life of me remember what part of the city this was in, but I have clear […]
I visited Auburn’s historic courthouse back in mid April but only examined the exterior. One of these days I hope to return and see the inside — including the Placer County Museum on the first floor.