You might not think that onions and redwood trees have much to do with each other, and ordinarily you would be correct. But in Vacaville, California, a beautiful grove of redwoods exists very much as a result of a lot of onions. As a kid, I never gave much thought to Vacaville except for those occasions in the 1960s and […]
This week I did a couple of hikes at different sites to the north and west of Vacaville, California. One was the Brown’s Valley Open Space; the other was Lagoon Valley Park, just off I-80. Even though I normally prefer to hike in the cooler morning temperatures, I wound up cutting my exploration of the Brown’s Valley site very short […]
When I returned to the Angels Camp Museum back in June of this year, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the three antique saddles they had on display in the Carriage House building. Yes, these saddles are rather in rough shape, and some of my photos didn’t come out too well (good excuse for another visit!) But just check […]
I keep on checking the Caldor fire map to see which areas along Highway 50 in El Dorado County may have burned overnight; the fire zone includes both sides of the 50 Corridor, closed for the past week, stretching between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. As of this morning, the locations in my photos remain outside the dotted line showing […]
I have one final entry for my rusty metal series! These images were shot in June and July 2021 at a variety of locations in Amador, El Dorado, and Calaveras counties. The Argonaut Mine, located within the small town of Jackson (Amador County) was in operation from 1850 until 1942. In 1922 the state’s “deadliest recorded mining disaster” occurred there, […]
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 […]
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 […]
On my previous visit to Rattlesnake Bar (April 20) I found a sea of purple lupine covering the exposed shoreline. Three weeks later, most of the lupine has died out. On this day, we arrived about 8:30 in the morning; the temperature was already warming up and there was very little breeze. The gusty north winds would arrive around 11 […]