California Favorites

I have lived in California for a little over seventeen years. I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area on the evening of October 15th 1989 and two days later I rode out the Loma Prieta earthquake. What is interesting is that two days after I moved to New York City in 1985 I rode out a freak hurricane; I think it was hurricane Gloria, if I remember correctly. What are the odds? In the time that I have lived here in California I have had a chance to travel to a number of places. Here is a list of some of my favorite places:

Sutters Mill in Coloma
When I visited Sutters Mill I was surprised to see that it was in a beautiful location on the American River. I was also stunned to learn that my great great great grandmother's cousin, Henry W. Bigler, not only helped build the mill, but also was the one who chronicled the discovery of gold. His journal entry was the shot heard round the world. Henry and two other mormon men were headed back to Utah when they were hired to build the mill. These men had been part of the Mormon Battalion, which completed the longest military march in history. Bigler also chronicled the march and described some pretty horrific conditions. In the end the Mormon Battalion never saw any action. These men (and some women and children) walked across the country for nothing.

As I was walking on the trails I discovered an old rusty square cut nail. I could not believe that such an artifact would be lying on the ground in a state park where hundreds of people must walk. I tried to photograph a flower I had never seen before (the purple one below) and I kept getting the blurring effect on picture after picture. The other picture is a small eddy on the American River just behind a big rock wall. I love the saturation of color in the foreground.




Sundial Bridge in Redding
Jerry read about the Sundial Bridge in Via magazine. We vowed that someday we would venture out to see it. The Sundial Bridge is a suspension bridge designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The bridge spans the river but does not impact the river ecosystem. No part of the bridge touches the shore or the water and the footbed of the bridge is glass so as not to cast a cooling shadow on the spawning beds. We were in Redding for two days and we visited the bridge at least three times. We thought it was really beautiful. We went in the morning and again that night and we went back the next day just before sunset. it is worth the five hour drive from the Bay Area and for those with kids there is also Turtle Bay Exploration Park.






Real Goods in Hopland
While it may seem strange to suggest a store as a destination I urge you to keep reading. Real Goods is a cool store with all kinds of earth friendly products. I particularly like the windshields that have been recycled into drinking glasses. There is also a great playground for small children. I have included a photo of the crawl tunnel. I get great landscaping ideas from visiting there. They have a biofuel station and sometimes there are special demonstrations like building with straw bales.



The road to Eureka
On the way to Eureka there are some spectacular places. There is the Avenue of the Giants, which contains some of the largest redwoods. Off the beaten path is a dirt road where you can find things like these old instrument huts made to look like farmhouses used to monitor the coast during World War II in case of attack by the Japanese. As you are cruising up the road you might see herds of elk. There is so much to do between Ukiah and Eureka.