Rust In Peace, Part 1

When I visited the Angels Camp Museum in Calaveras County, before I even stepped inside one of their exhibit buildings I found a whole yard full of historic machinery, some of it clearly rescued from rusty oblivion. I could recognize a few of the pieces; the old generator from the Utica powerhouse looks very similar to those I’ve seen in […]

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Big wheels, Take 2

I only just realized that I completely messed up the mid-June blog post about my visit to Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park in Jackson, so I thought I should try again and hopefully get it right this time. I do want to thank all the people who clicked “Like” on the original version!

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Along the Mormon trail

Since I live only a short drive away from the site of Mormon Island 1 (normally located under the waters of Folsom Lake since 1955, except during drought years), it may be only natural that driving along Iron Mountain Road, near Pollock Pines in El Dorado County, always gets me wondering exactly why this route is known as the Mormon […]

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Up the hill

We try to drive up to the mountains at least once a year in the summertime; it’s a great way to get out of the house and away from the valley heat, if only for a few hours. I don’t believe we made one of these day trips last year, but a couple of days ago we headed “up the […]

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Retired and rusty

I’m not sure exactly what this machine was used for; it was part of the outdoor collection at the Angels Camp Museum. There was no sign (and no one nearby to ask), and by the time I had finished shooting these pictures, I just had to get away and go find some shade on this very warm day.

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Magical minerals, Part 3

The final installment of my mineral posts has taken awhile to get here, and it took me a fair bit of digging (no pun intended!) to find more information about the featured rocks. Whatever I did find initially seemed to come from either Wikipedia — quoting scientific sources that I struggled to understand — or alternative health websites focused on […]

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Magical minerals, Part 2

Here are a few more of the rocks and minerals I found on display in the Mining and Ranching building of the Angels Camp Museum. Borates are crystallized salts that contain boron. They are used in many different applications, from fertilizing plants to forming heat-resistant glass and fiberglass insulation. They’re most heavily concentrated in dry, waterless environments like California’s Mojave […]

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