The Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley, once the richest gold mining site in California (1850-1956), is also home to some very cool hiking trails. They provide a nice escape from some of the Valley heat, and along the way you may stumble across the remains of a number of smaller mines, some of which, like the Orleans […]
I concluded the California Mission series a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn’t leave the topic of the missions without taking a look at the swallows that arrive at Mission San Juan Capistrano every spring in mid March. These beautiful little birds clearly bring a lot of joy to the people in the area as they gather to celebrate […]
A couple of weeks ago Memory Monday visited the Gold Discovery Park at Coloma; this week I have images, shot in 1985, from two other day trip destinations near Sacramento. Sadly, the first one is no longer accessible. Daffodil Hill, located near the small foothill town of Volcano, permanently closed in 2019 after being in operation for more than 80 […]
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 PurÃsima 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 […]