Zoo standards have changed an awful lot in the past few decades, thankfully. I’m also very thankful that my new scanner has made it possible to share the photos I took at the Sacramento Zoo as a fourth-grader in 1970 — the original prints are so faded and blue-toned I was embarrassed to publish them, but after a bit of […]
We’ve had a number of devastating wildfires in California over the past few months, and most recently two fires burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest caused the week-long closure of Interstate 5. I have to admit I’ve never spent much time exploring this beautiful portion of Northern California — although I’ve traveled through and collected some colorful post cards! Huell […]
When I visited Alcatraz last week, I wasn’t especially interested in seeing the cell house to which most of my fellow tourists made a beeline. Instead, I looked for the remnants of the earlier fort and for the gardens Huell featured in this episode of California’s Golden Parks. This episode aired 11 years ago, in 2007, so it was really […]
By the time you read this, I will be in San Francisco, eagerly embarking on the ferry to Alcatraz! After years of hearing about its history and seeing it across the water from a distance, I finally decided it was time to explore the island for myself. I’m looking forward to checking out the prison as well as the gardens […]
An amazing voice, and an an amazing woman. This song has been a favorite of mine since I heard it on the radio back in the 1970s.
Huell gets another thrill ride in this episode of California’s Gold from 2006 when he goes up in a plane to witness baby trout being planted in mountain lakes. California Fish and Game have been using airplanes to drop the trout for over 50 years, and despite Huell’s nerves, their pilots are experts at maneuvering among the high mountain peaks. […]
I’ve never visited Lake Arrowhead in Southern California, but this is still one of my favorite episodes of California’s Gold. Maybe it’s because of the complicated history of the lake’s construction; or because I’m fascinated by the old tunnels that lead under Lake Arrowhead itself. Or maybe it’s because Huell has so much fun riding in an 80-year-old elevator and […]
The other day I just happened to catch a few minutes of the Science Channel’s show Impossible Engineering: Extreme Railroads and saw the Goat Canyon Trestle — I instantly remembered that I’d seen it before, in this episode of California’s Gold which first aired in 1999. The trestle, located within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, is fairly hard to get to but […]
We are right smack in the middle of fire season here in California, with at least one dangerous wildland fire burning uncomfortably close to Yosemite National Park. So I thought it was fitting to have a look at one of the Forest Service’s historic fire towers. These days, most of the towers have been abandoned or even turned into vacation […]