Journey! California | California Travel Stories

Getting Ready for Travel...

October 7, 2011 - I'm getting ready for travel, and will be writing about it here in Journey! California. I could not be more excited as it has been a long time since I've been able to go anywhere. I'll be leaving the Klamath River Valley in far-northern California at the end of this month and will visit Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and all points in between. I don't know how many places will show up on the pages of this website but I'll try to write as much as I can. Since I'll be alone most of the time, this should be easy. I'll need something to do to pass the time!

I'm in the middle of a cleansing fast and will be switching to a vegan diet right before my journey begins. So while I'm traveling you can expect reports on restaurants that serve vegan food, and health food stores ... things like that!

Also I'm doing research for my novel, Perfection. The novel takes place in Santa Cruz and San Francisco in the 1850s. So I'll be writing about my visit to the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. I'm totally looking forward to this. I've waited years to be able to research for this novel. I came up with the plot way back in 2004! ...Then I had to put it on the back burner because I couldn't get to the Bay Area to do the research! But that has changed.

One week away from home! This will be wonderful for me. I need a break!

Neptune's Net

Neptune’s Net
Malibu, CA

It was our first morning in the state of California. My dad and I were staying at a motel in Canoga Park. It was a bit pricey, but the room was clean and comfortable and the location was good for us. I woke up early (with only three hours of sleep) walking around breathing in the San Fernando Valley mist. We didn’t really have any set plans other than taking things as they came. I did know that I wanted to eat at a place called Neptune’s Net which is located along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. I had seen it on a T.V. show back in 2001 and my curiosity had grown over the years. I pulled up the official website on my laptop and told my dad we had to go. So we made it our ambition for that day to head out to Malibu.

San Francisco California

The first shot was taken of my dad looking toward one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. The next one is of Alcatraz however barely visible due to the heavy fog. I also added a shot of the painted ladies next to Alamo Square. I will posting more pictures of Alamo Square and other ventures around San Francisco in my next stories. Enjoy!

A Golden Opportunity

A Golden opportunity

One of the main attractions for me if not the one thing I wanted to see in California was the Golden Gate Bridge. I had seen it on television, in magazine photos, on people’s walls hanging in frames and in numerous picturesque books for many years. Now I would finally get to see this man made wonder of the world with my own eyes. There was one problem when we got there however. Well other than the fact we had to pay five dollars at the toll booth was the infamous fog that covered the Bay area that day. The day after we left we contemplated going back to see the bridge in broad daylight. Weather permitting, we still decided to head toward Yosemite.

Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings, by Alonzo Delano

LIFE ON THE PLAINS AND AMONG THE DIGGINGS

Being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California:
with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants,
the Indian tribes, the present and the future of the great west.

By Alonzo Delano

New York
Miller, Orton & Co.
1857

Hat Creek Picnic Area - 2010

Although Hat Creek Valley burned in 2009, the shady Hat Creek Picnic Area and Hat Creek Campground both survived. We stopped at the Hat Creek Picnic Area, met a sight-seeing family from Gasquet, California and their dog, and took pictures.

Hat Creek Picnic Area - Lassen County, California

Poison Lake - What's in a name? - Lassen County - 2010

What a pretty lake! We had to stop...
What's not to like? Blue sky, blue water...

Later we learned this is Poison Lake! I love this photo,
from sagebrush to pine trees.

Why would anyone name such a beautiful lake "Poison Lake"? I had to find out...

Hat Creek Rim Overlook, on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway - 2010

From paradise to devastation... the beautiful Lassen National Forest surrounding the Hat Creek Rim fell from grace in August 2009, a painful reminder of the power of a lightning bolt. The instantaneous flash of electric light that destroyed a forest thundered to earth on August 1 causing one of 43 fires in the area that Saturday evening. Three large fires and 34 smaller ones joined to become what was known as the Hat Creek Complex Fire.

Hat Creek Valley - blackened by fire in August 2009.

Fire's damage near the Hat Creek Rim Overlook.

A trip to Reno, Nevada - May 2010

We went to Reno, Nevada to see if it is recovering from the recession.

It isn't, so far as we could tell.

Back in 2008 we considered moving there, but that was just before the recession hit and suddenly we saw news accounts of Reno tent cities, casinos laying off workers, and hundreds of painfully unemployed former workers. We figured it was no place to move to.

Since we're looking for a new home, my partner suggested we check out Reno again. I hadn't been there in many years. He was there about ten years ago.

So... here's my report.

The Labyrinth on Mt. Shasta - 2009

Mt. Shasta Labyrinth I was surprised to find a labyrinth high on Mt. Shasta when I went there in 2009. Labyrinths are ancient meditation walkways, usually created in a circle. I don't know who created this on Mt. Shasta, or why, but I felt the peaceful, clarified breeze and noble mountain peak were perfect complements for the meditative journey of labyrinth walking.

To find the Labyrinth, take the Everett Memorial Highway from Mt. Shasta's high school up the mountainside to the end of the road. There's a parking area, a place to hike, and the labyrinth. This is one journey you'll remember forever.

California Travel Preparation

Before you set out on your California travel road trip you'll be better prepared if you consider these vital pre-travel issues.

What is your favorite large California city? (of those listed)

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Klamathon, Iron Gate Dam, and the Fish Hook Restaurant - 2010

A drive along Klamathon Road beside the Klamath River to the Iron Gate Dam and Recreation Area. This is in the far-northern section of California, only a few miles from Oregon, near Interstate 5 and the town of Hornbrook.

The UK (Upper Klamath) in Siskiyou County.
Here you see Klamathon Road.

Lupine blooming alongside Klamathon Road.

Dunsmuir - Train Town!

On November 11, 1999, my children and I packed all we owned into a U-Haul truck. It was expedient that we leave the Bay Area because of all the problems my kids were having where we lived in Pittsburg. I can't go into details, but just will say that interpersonal relationships between kids are not always ideal... and in the city where there are so many kids and so many opportunities for trouble, it seemed worse. I decided it was time to move my darlings to the countryside, to give them a little room to run around without serious neighborhood repercussions.