Sacramento, Whiskeytown and Redding

SACRAMENTO

It wasn’t on our list of ‘must go to’ places but when we learned that Sacramento is actually the capital of California, we thought we would stop in for a day or two and check it out. Again, it’s the unplanned and unexpected things that happen that are making this trip so much fun. Here are a few of our best from Sacramento.

Planes, trains and automobiles - found a cheap but cheerful RV park just off the i99 right under the flight path of the local airport and right across from the railway line but the park manager put us way down the back away from the noise. J We were so tired that we slept like babes.

Shopping – we needed to stock up and got directions to Walmart and guess what, right across the way was Macy’s – a very upmarket store over here – and that very day they were having a BIG sale with extra discount if you had a Macy’s card. We didn’t but the sales assistant got us ‘visitor discounts’ so we saved a bundle, oh, and spent a little.

Blessing - whilst we had all the basics, a few extra glasses and bowls would be handy so we dropped into a Christian thrift shop. They were getting ready for a gospel ‘open mic’ night - a new concept for us but one that seems popular over here. Anyway when we said we were Aussies looking for some extras to set up the RV, they couldn’t be more helpful and filled a box with all kinds of goodies to enhance our temporary home.  We chatted for a while and shared our experiences before the music got started.

New Friends – John and Linda live in the RV park right across from our site. When they heard we were going to walk to the light rail station and go into Old Sacramento they offered to drop us off.  We appreciated their offer but decided to head to the station. It was about 95^o that day but we were up for it. However John and Linda had another idea, so they followed us up in their car and then proceeded to drive us all the way into the city. We felt honoured that people we had only just met would be so kind and helpful. These generous God-loving people have experienced the harsh reality of the GFC and have lost their home, their jobs and their lifestyle. They are survivors and are optimistic about their future. We pray that God blesses all they put their hand to and trust that they remain true and faithful servants.

Ole Sac – What a surprise! On the banks of the river sits an authentic settlement of old buildings with raised wooden boardwalks, genuine architecture and even horsedrawn carriages in the street. The goods for sale are new but many of the shopkeepers were dressed in period clothing. The Post Office had a really interesting Wells Fargo display and there were lots of antique shops and heritage displays. I understand that it’s the most comprehensive display in California so we were pleased to have seen it.

Music in front of the town hall

Music – Free and Funky – It was late afternoon and we were thinking about headinghome but Johno’s radar picked up the sounds of live music and so we followed them to a park in Downtown Sacramento. There we found a free Twilight Concert sponsored by local radio and tv stations and of course, Bud Light Beer. SO we sat on the steps of the water fountain for a couple of hours, listening to the music and watching the uninhibited and very talented locals dancing the night away. It was still light at 9.00pm but we called it a day and went home.So much fun and excitement in one day - we are so pleased we stopped in Sacramento.

The Sacramento Town Hall ( I think)

WHISKEYTOWN

Not really a town, but definitely a destination. After leaving Sacramento our next planned stop was Redding as we wanted to check out the Bethel Church there. Johno had read about Whiskeytown and its close proximity to Redding so we decided to go through Redding and stay there.

Before I wax lyrical about Whiskeytown I must tell you about the drive over from Sacramento. Yes, it was a dual lane divided highway and yes, there were lots of heavy vehicles and other traffic but the ever-changing scenery ensured we stayed attentive and alert. From industrial areas to open plains, dry grasslands to snow-capped mountain ranges, rice paddies to small crops, and small towns also dotted the way.

the view as we drove along

another view as we drove along

Now back to Whiskeytown, it’s actually a huge lake nestled in the hills of the Klamath Mountains; covered with old-growth conifers and newer plantings of oak and pines; the waters are icy as it is snow-fed and the caps are still melting and again it was 96 degrees while we were there.

view from carpark which was also RV Park - $5 a night!!

Taken from outside the RV - it was about 90degrees that day

ducks!!

couldn't resist this snap of grandfather with his little one:)

Whiskeytown Lake

Johno liked this tree

It was surreal - our RV park was essentially a black-tar carpark but our vista was a million dollar view of the lake with the snow capped mountains in the background. There is a beach down by the lake where families gathered to barbeque and swim from daylight til dark – which is about 10 o’clock now.

Waterfalls near Whiskeytown

There are also some waterfalls closeby and we checked them out as well – again full force, gushing water rushing down the mountainside. Awesome!!

We passed this truck in the middle of a conifer forest -
not quite right, me thinks.. 

The national parks are managed differently over here and domestic animals are allowed but have to be controlled. There are also differing levels of commercialism – from public use, but user pay, showers and toilets to cafes and drink and snack machines, and any number of commercial ventures  (water and land activities) that you can pay to participate in, for example – boating, kayaking, fishing, bush-walking, rock-climbing, 4WD driving… and the list goes on. Some joke that the Golden Arches are on their way into the National Parks as well – hope not!

While at Whiskeytown, we went to a ‘night sky’ presentation by Ranger Robert who told us about how  the light from the cities is reducing the ability to see the night sky, the milky way, the moon and the stars. Not something we have to worry about in Australia, given the lack of development and low population, compared to the USA, but you could see how it could happen. Anyway, he was a really nice bloke; very keen to keep us in conversation – I think he liked our accents – apparently we have a ‘lilt’ in our voices.

BETHEL CHURCH, REDDING

This church has intrigued Johno for some time as it promotes ‘signs, wonders and miracles’ and it’s been on our list of places to visit since we started planning this trip.

So, no surprise really that we walked in the front door of this very large building full of people we didn’t know and met someone that we do know really, really well.

Stephen and Stephanie are attending a five week School of Worship at Bethel and this was their second Sunday there – they were leaving as we arrived,  the window of opportunity was so small and we could so easily have missed each other – but our footsteps are blessed and the Lord knows what we need and where we will go.”A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

We’ve known these two young people since they were babies and have watched them grow up in the church, then marry and become parents themselves. We hold their parents as lifelong friends and so it was very exciting to catch up and share fellowship and meal with them.

It was Father’s Day on Sunday and so the talk by Pastor Danny Silk was for the men – an excellent encouraging, empowering presentation that made all the men feel ten feet tall, invincible and in control of their Godly lives. In fact, the whole service was enlightening and empowering – a moving experience and well worth the visit.

Heading away from Redding, we are excited about what other surprises await us.

Old Sac Streetscape

another Old Sac Streetscape

On the Road in the RV finally…….to Yosemite

We awoke on Sunday morning two weeks after arriving in the States to check that our very own RV was still parked outside Aunt Mavis’ house. Yep, all OK so we packed in the final supplies including some goodies and necessities that Mavis insisted we must take ‘just in case you may need it’. One of them is a lovely old patchwork quilt ‘for when the temperature gets milder up north’.

After checking the oil and coolant was all good, we connected the GPS purchased at Cosco earlier in the week to find that we have is Spanish version and we both went into a mild panic. We couldn’t understand a thing! However we knew that Cousin Mike had the same brand, so called him on the mobile to get clear instructions to convert it into American English. We then put in the address of the RV Park about 200 miles away only to have it say did not recognize it, so Wendy made up one that would be nearby, hopefully by the shortest route.

We were finally off into the blue yonder. We started out down freeways (6 lanes with traffic as thick as Gold Coast to Brisbane on a work day) and gradually moved on to more narrow, and even more narrow roads.

This was a bit nerve-wrecking for both of us and Johno was feeling pressure, driving on the other side of the road in a vehicle that’s 27ft long and 8ft wide. We also had to get used to the way they describe highways, byways, roads, off ramps, etc as they don’t talk refer to destinations but use numbers, something you might have picked up watching US television programs, i.e. interstate highway is called i140, the coastal highway is called the California 101, ….it’s mindboggling to say the least. Johno says it’s a good thing we can work as a team, he drives and the GPS and Wendy tell him where to go!

snow melts all the way down the mountains

Once out of the city areas we are guided by the female American voice of our GPS (her name is Jill) into more rural landscape where we pass pistachio nut orchards and all sorts of small-crops, and in the distance we can see grasslands and mountains; really high mountains and “Is that snow up there???” It’s hard to comprehend because it about 85 degrees today.

Eventually we were on the road to Yosemite and although we were still about 50 miles away we could see changes all around us. Green trees, beautiful wildflowers everywhere. The roads were in good condition but narrow and windy. For probably 50 miles we drove between steep rocky mountains and the deep, full-flowing Merced ( pronounced mer-said) River. Around every bend there was another amazing scenic view, so pretty, so awesome and so different to what we had just driven through. The closer we got to Yosemite, the bigger the mountains, the wider and louder the river, running with dangerous rapids and the narrower the roads – my knuckles were white and Johno’s face was red.

The mighty Merced

Spray from waterfalls

We didn’t think the drive would be this stressful but then it got even more so. There had been a huge landslide, which covered the entire road about twenty feet high and ¼ mile long, and with nowhere to go, they had engineered a one-lane bridge (looked like it was made out of Meccano but felt much stronger)  across the Merced onto a very narrow gravel road on the other side of the river.

About three miles along, there was another one of those bridges to put us back onto the i40 into El Portal which is where we stayed for three nights, while we explored Yosemite. By the way, we had to take the same trip back out of the park so it was good to have some recovery time.

Now Yosemite is awesome even though we have been told, more than once, that it isn’t the best National Park we will visit over here. 


Forget Dreamworld and Seaworld, this is God’s World.

You can climb the huge granite peaks, gaze at ice-capped mountains, ride white-water rapids, camp out in the wilderness, bush-walk, ride a bike through the valleys, talk to park rangers, get educated about the environment, swim in freezing waters fed by the melting snow, get lost, get found, get blown away by the natural forces under waterfalls, or just sit in wonder under the clear blue Californian blue and take in this beautiful land, with its high snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains, its deep ravines, the beautiful grassy meadows (don’t you love that word – meadows - much more romantic than paddocks) and its abundance of snow-fed towering waterfalls.

We took a tour of the valley floor in an open-top trolley to get some sense of the place and our ranger-guide told us that there is a real danger out there of people getting caught DUI – yep that’s right – driving under the influence (of beauty) – so the National Parks have accommodated those drivers by putting ‘stop and look’ laybys everywhere.

Can you see the climber??

Yosemite is circled by huge, and I mean really huge, granite boulders (mountains). They have names like Sentinel Rocks, Cathedral Spires and El Capitan. These enormous rocks appear to be totally inaccessible but people come from all over the world and some come every weekend to climb them. We saw people climbing – well really, we saw some tiny little dots way up the top of a mountain who appeared to be moving upwards slowly. Apparently it’s a very expensive sport, and rescue and recovery costs even more so but the park management is well prepared with equipment (helicopters, etc) and their invoice books. Helicopter call-out is minimum $5,000.

The tour was extremely interesting and we learned about the Indian people who own the land and their traditional ways. We were also told that the timing of our visit was very unique as the summer had come very late and the snows were still melting. They expected the Merced to flood within the next 24 -36 hours, which would mean some closures until the waters (6,000 cubic feet per second for you Lismore readers) rushed further down river and the rapids slowed down.

Did I mention that the temperature was in the 90’s that day? So hot and yet while we were on the valley floor (walked for hours) it was quite comfortable – the decomposing forest floor and all that cold water created a natural cooling system.

It was while on the trolley tour that we met our first Aussie tourists, and now two weeks later they are the only ones we’ve met.

Yosetime Falls - Upper and Lower

There are lots of waterfalls here but for us, the most impressive waterfall is Yosemite Falls – it is the highest in the park. It is close enough to walk to and there is one spot, on a viewing bridge, where you can feel the force of the water as it comes crashing down. It was unbelievable! We felt like we were in a huge summer storm with wild winds and stinging rain. Then we walked off the bridge along the path a little further. You could still here the water crashing behind you but the air was still and the creek nearby, just a trickling brook.

view from our campsite

After another night camped by the Merced, under clear skies and the custodial Sierra Nevada, we drove back out to the i99 headed to Sacramento.

Merced River at el Portal

Now, the river was even more-swollen now and the its flow so strong as it forced its way down through the valleys beside the vertical rock faces covered in glorious wildflowers – yellow, orange, purple, white, pinks and purples. Oh so pretty but you’ll have to take my word for it. I couldn’t get Johno to stop on that road for a photo – too dangerous – but you may enjoy these, taken at various spots in and around Yosemite.

Only bears we've seen so far - carved out of a whole tree trunk

great pic Johno!

yes - there are people up there!!

lots of these bridges throughout the park

Bridal Veil Falls

Snow on the mountians

Teepee in Indian village

Tunnel through mountain at Yosmite

When you get to San Francisco…

Be sure to use pubic transport. Johno and I have mastered the BART, the trolley, the bus, the tram and even the highway. If we can do it, anyone can.

Firstly, let me say something about the weather. Everywhere we go the locals comment on the ’unusual’ weather they’ve been having. It doesn’t mean a thing to us as everything is new but San Franciscans are particularly put out by a late summer, more rain than normal and cooler daytime conditions. We have mainly noticed the afternoon winds that come in off the bay, strong and cool but pleasant-ish. Another thing we have discovered is that this area is mainly desert, which explains the stark environment and the brown, dry grasslands – as soon as you get out of the city.

Our first ‘tourist day in San Fran was very special to us as we got to meet up with a much-loved young friend from Australia. We met Lauren in the city, then caught a bus and then walked up and down many streets til we got to Haight Ashbury. I felt just like we were home again, maybe Nimbin or Byron Bay!! Haight Street was the place to be in the ‘60’s when the hippy era came into its own. It is still very bohemian with colourful shop fronts, psychedelic artworks, and lots of ‘medical’ marijuana clubs. We had coffee instead and headed up to Golden Gate Park.

It is huge, covers over 1,000 acres and hosts Japanese Gardens, art galleries, a science centre and a g’zillion statues, plants and trees. Johno, Loz and I took a free guided tour of the Botanical Garden which proudly features, of all things, an Australian garden. 

Yes, lots of plants and trees just like we would see at home. In fact, the Californian climate is similar to many parts of Australia and the eucalypts are nearly considered a ‘weed’ over here. We only covered about 1/3 of the park then headed back into the downtown San Francisco where we had dinner and said goodbye to Loz. She was heading back to Australia the next day, but it was so good to see her. J

We took the next few days getting the RV purchased and insurance/red tape sorted. Then we packed our toothbrushes and went back into the city for a couple of days.

It was a busy time and the weather was clear and crisp, fantastic for checking out the city - we took a ride on the trolley (tram) up and down through the streets of San Francisco, visited to Fishermen’s Wharf, listened to some blues, wandered through some very up-market shopping areas (do you know they have curved escalators  over here – they look just like the staircases in old Georgian mansions?), went to Union Square, got the computer and iphone to tether properly (Thanks Mr Apple store), walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, and took a hop on/hop off sightseeing tour on an open top bus. That was great because it gave us the opportunity to check out lots of places we would never have found on our own or even known about. There is a real chilled out atmosphere to the place and we noticed a large gay/lesbian population. That along with the old hippy culture from the 60’s and the multicultural diversity makes San Francisco a fun and interesting place to visit.

this is a dome over a food court

Coit Tower

The architecture in this city is amazing considering the San Andreas fault line, and it’s total destruction in 1906……the engineering we heard about to absorb the earthquakes is absolutely mind blowing. Earth tremors are a daily occurrence although we, and most of the population, are 

mostly oblivious to them.

We ate out, mainly lunches, avoided the burger chains (they are everywhere), and tried to choose healthy meals but it’s hard when you order a cheese sandwich (more like a cheese brick) and then they ask ‘soup or salad?’ “Salad please,” was the reply and then another question, “which dressing would you like?” Johno likes the blue cheese dressing and I’m partial to the Italian dressing with feta – very tasty.

We had been in USA for over two weeks by now and have yet to meet another Aussie, although we did enjoy a lovely breakfast conversation with a couple from NZ – getting closer.

San Fran is a really friendly place, for example – when my $20 wouldn’t go through the ticketing machine a Mormon man who happened to be standing near us offered to swap our $20 for two tenners. Everyone is very polite and seemingly happy – ‘have a nice day’ and ‘you enjoy yourself’ sound like the mantras over here.

After two very full days we took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) home to Aunt Mavis for one last night before heading out. We are thinking we might get back to SF on our way out of the States in December. We like it here!! Some more pics below.

don't know what this is but liked the shot:)

I think it's the City Hall - the shiny bits are real gold

The Symphony Building - I think

These are the Painted Ladies near Alamo Square

Beautifully engineered - the bridge that is!

Surf, under the bridge and yes, there were three guys out!!

On the Golden Gate Bridge

loved this mural - covers three stories