It’s fairly common knowledge that Fort Ross in Sonoma County was founded by Russians in the 1800s, when they came to the Pacific Northwest to hunt for furs and to trade with the indigenous people. Fort Ross was actually the southernmost limit of their contact. At Gualala Point Park, just south of the town of Gualala, we came across a […]
I recently finished reading a book called All the Gallant Men, a fascinating memoir by Donald Stratton, who was serving aboard the USS Arizona at the time of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He survived the ship’s sinking but suffered serious burns; and while he and his fellow survivors were initially treated in Hawaii, they were later transferred first […]
As I began watching this final episode of Huell’s California Mission series I expected something completely different. When I first saw the title “Art of the Missions,” I had imagined a tour of some surviving pieces of religious art — paintings of the Virgin, stained glass windows, tile mosaics. But even though I had it completely wrong, this turned out […]
Sometimes when I’m at home I find myself rushing about for no reason at all: quick, run into the kitchen! Hurry up, put the dishes away! Let’s go, empty the drier! Move it …. wait, what did I come in here for? It’s great that I feel energized, but most of the time that rushing around probably looks like I’m […]
I visited the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma a few times in 2019, bringing back memories of at least one school field trip almost 50 years ago (yikes!). So I was delighted to find some slides my mom shot during a visit to the park back in early 1976. I don’t recall seeing the museum interior as […]
My last group of slides exploring La Purísima Concepción, shot by my mom in the spring of 1982, focuses on the garden areas. After going through all these slides, I would definitely like to visit this beautiful state historic park near Lompoc, California. I’m sure there has been a lot of changes and improvements to the mission over the past […]
I can’t count the number of times over the years I passed through the city of Auburn on Interstate 80 and noticed the old courthouse and the statue of the miner. Each time I promised myself, “One of these days I’m going to stop and check this out.” Well, that day finally arrived — and even though I only paused […]
Some of the sights Huell finds as he explores the gardens of Mission La Purísima Concepción may seem a bit familiar if you’ve been following my recent Friday series, in which I’ve shared slides my mom shot there back in the early 1980s. And later this week my images will include some from the garden area. I’m really glad that […]
This week, images of the Northern California coast and some trains from Southern California and Oregon. I’m not sure of the location of all but two of the coastal shots, although they look very much like some of the places I’ve visited in recent years in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. The Harbor seals are also a familiar sight as they […]