John Muir National Historic Site

August 22, 2013

Today we drove back across the Dumbarton Bridge and retraced our tracks through Oakland (frightening even without the trailer!) and beyond to visit the John Muir National Historic Site.  On the hill above the visitor’s center is his house,

overlooking the waterways of the San Francisco area. John Muir was the “Father” of some of the National Parks in California such as Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. Muir Woods on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge was named for John Muir.

On the return trip, we stopped at Coast Guard Island so we could get a base sticker for the truck and went to the exchange where Phil picked up a few trinkets. Afterwards we went over to the Island of Alameda for dinner at Ole’s Waffle House, which was established in 1927 and still has some of the same booths and counter seating areas. We had the waffles and they were really good!!

Galt to Redwood City

August 21, 2013

Today we traveled, heading west to Redwood City, which is just south of San Francisco. This meant we had to pull the trailer through the wilds of the Oakland interstate system,

no small feat!!

We are in the area to visit with Phil’s cousin Ken Thompson, who Phil hasn’t seen in 27 years!!  Ken is a Calculus teacher, so while he is preparing for the start of the school year, we are on our own for a couple of days.

We are camped tonight in a Mobile Home park that has been added onto to include a really nice section for RV’s. The park overlooks the San Francisco National Wildlife Refuge which is mostly marsh lands and salt flats, so it is a kind of quiet refuge, even though the interstate system is just a stone’s throw away.

Galt, California

August 18^th – 20^th, 2013

A short drive today from Grass Valley to Galt, which is just south of Sacramento on I-5. We are here to visit with Niece Bonnie and her family, son’s A.J. and Brian and daughter Ceci. Bonnie’s oldest daughter Aimee arrived later with her husband Tony and their baby Xavier. We haven’t been able to get up here to see Bonnie and the kids during our recent visits to CA, so it was really good to see all of them this time.

Grass Valley, California

August 15^th – 17^th, 2013

We left Redding on the 15^th, heading for Grass Valley, which is located in the foothills of the Tahoe National Forest. We are here to have a good visit with Niece Elizabeth, her fiancé Chayton and their little boy Seth. Seth is a real pistol and keeps Mom and Dad on their toes!!

Redding, California

August 14, 2013

We started the day off by visiting the Sundial Bridge here in Redding.

This is a pedestrian bridge that spans the Sacramento River,

with parkland on both sides. At one end is a huge sundial

that is incorporated into the support of the bridge with cables. The ‘floor’ of the bridge is a sort of glass block. On the ground at the end with the sundial is the arc with the times of the day and it’s pretty accurate!

From the bridge we headed to Whiskytown National Historic Site, which is part of the larger National Recreational Area. This is an area that was heavy with mining back in the 1800’s.

Part of the recreation area is Whiskytown Lake. At the end of the lake, near the dam is a concrete funnel called the Glory Hole.

We have never seen anything like it, and just looking at it gives the impression of a flying saucer floating on the water. The funnel drops straight down, 260’ before turning to go under the dam. Its purpose is to drain flood waters from the lake into the Clear River, below the dam.

Very hot here in the valley of central California, pushing 100, so we made it an early day.