North America

Gold Country Drive – Doors & Windows Edition

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The California Gold Country boasts lots of beautiful shop-filled main streets in various states of revitalization or disrepair.  But, one thing is for sure…no one wants to throw out a great old door or window with some personality.  Join me and get a feel for what its like to walk by the Gold Country main streets of the 1850s.  Do you have anything like this where you live?

Macro shot of an old door
Please don’t ever paint over this.
One of the oldest structures in Columbia State park.
It’s a door!

Visit Norm 2.0 for other examples of greats Doors on Thursday!

For other posts in and around the gold country please click here.

 

 

Gold Country Drive – Melones Dam, Ca

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It’s impossible to ignore the drought when driving over this massive bridge staring at the water marks from years before.  Thankfully we have received a decent amount of water here in Northern California, 130% of normal I am told so far.  But, still the brutal fact remains we need a lot more.  Spring flowers are starting to bloom and we still haven’t had enough water…

For other posts in and around the gold country please click here.

 

Gold Country Drive – Mokelumne Hill,Ca

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Mokelumne Hill, California is an example of a small remote gold town that is still transitioning and finding its 21st century self.  While it does so I enjoyed the heck out of exploring its main street and the details of all its strange and wonderful architecture.  I have driven through this town hundreds of times.  My parents used to love doing the exact same thing taking us kids for a drive through the gold country.  This is the first time I got out with my camera and focused on the details.  I probably got a few strange looks from people drinking in the local bar but they shrugged their shoulders and went about their business.

For other posts in and around the Gold Country please click here.

 

 

 

 

Gold Country Drives – Barns

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During our little drive through the Gold Country it is easy to come across barn after barn after barn.  I stopped by and took a few photos of them hoping to give you a sense of the area.  I have always been fond of barns since we have had many of them through the years on properties homesteaded by my ancestors.  Here are a few we stumbled upon that make me wonder what might be inside of them.

Submitted as part of Jennifer’s One Word Photo Challenge.

For other posts in and around the Gold Country please click here.

Gold Country Drive – Columbia,Ca

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My husband and I set out for another great day drive through the gold country.  As some of you may know gold was discovered in 1848 by James Marshal at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento,California in a beautiful place called Coloma.  This discovery set off what was later to be coined the California Gold Rush.  Tons of people came west with their sites set on riches.  In order to support these folks many “gold towns” sprouted up.  It’s always fun to me to go through and visit these towns observing how they have changed over the years.  Some are quickly on their way to obscurity while others are being revitalized by wineries, antique shops, coffee houses, and restaurants.  I have mixed emotions about the revitalization changes ultimately deciding it is for the best.

Join me on a tour of Columbia, a preserved gold town turned state park.

It’s a door!

For other posts in and around the Gold Country click here

Patrolling the Chicago River

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Business took me to Chicago to evaluate a software system.  When our group wasn’t nose deep in computers we had a little fun in a way I could never have imagined.  First we caught a Blackhawks Hockey game and then we were hosted on two different Chicago Police Department Marine units who took us for a float down the Chicago River.

We met near Columbia Yacht Club just south of Navy Pier north of Millennium Park where we drove down an icy dock paralleling frozen slips.  We slid down an icy gang plank to the boats as if there was nothing at all unusual about navigating frozen waters in sub-zero temperatures.

Chicago is a beautiful city with amazing architecture.  There is no better way to see it than from either Lake Michigan or from the Chicago River.  Chicago has improved the river walk since the last few times I have been there which is also a nice way to see the water.  We were fortunate enough to sail up river at sunset and down river in the evening so we could see all of the steel bridges and lit buildings.

The officers who took us on a tour were knowledgeable and hilarious and just an all around bunch of fun.  Naturally, my ship Captain saw some sort of nautical intelligence in my eyes and turned over the helm to me.  So, yes I drove a police boat down the Chicago River!   Don’t ask me how that happened.  It just did and it is right up there as one of the coolest things I have done in a very long time.

Despite the frigid temperatures I did manage to step out of the cabin to snap a few photos I hope you will enjoy.


  

  

To read more about my last trip to Chicago in July 2015 please click here!

Sacramento Train Museum in Old Sacramento – Train Nerds Rejoice

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A young friend of mine expressed some interest in learning photography recently.  I was going to take her to my backyard and teach her some basics about her camera.  But, instead, another random opportunity presented itself.  Mike’s Camera Shop in downtown Sacramento hosted a free photography meetup at the Sacramento Train Museum.  I couldn’t think of a less interesting place to take a 12 year old girl so we headed out with promises that it would be a great place to practice her skills.  It turned out we both had a blast taking photos of “creepy manikins”, welds, train wheels, cattle guards, old luggage, and to be honest things I don’t even know the name of.  I considered it a success because my young friend took hundreds of photos and never got tired of looking at the details of cool old trains.  She left boasting terms like depth of field, manual focus, and shutter speed.  A highlight for me was watching her lay on the floor in order to get a cool shot with a “fuzzy background” as she called it.  (Good photographers always get on the ground in my book!)  We rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone and a walk through Old Sacramento!

Train nerds rejoice.  (You know who you are.)  I took far more photos of train details than I care to admit.  I hope you enjoy!

I consider this to be an “odd” subject to photograph so I am happy to submit the post to Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge!

Snow Shoes and Winter Colds – Lake Tahoe

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Christmas is over.  The presents are unwrapped.   The family has been visited.  Merriment has been spread.  I have a cold to show for it like I do most years.  What to do now?  Find some snow and bring the snow shoes!

I love to snow shoe for a lot of reasons.  Its easy on the body and its free. You can just find some snow, put them on, and go for it.  Unlike skiing which requires expensive lift tickets and dealing with crowds, and for me a whole lot of bruises the next day.

A lot of people enjoy skiing and snow boarding for the rush.  For me I have always preferred a slower pace so I can see and hear and smell and observe the small things like icicles, and bird foot prints, and beautiful vistas.  For these reasons snow shoeing is right up my alley.

Part of highway 89 is always closed in winter for obvious reasons.  We like to drive until we find the road closed and then snow shoe the rest.  In this case we went to Vikingsholm at the magnificent Emerald Bay lookout.  We shoed until we got tired which isn’t boding well for my cold the next day.

We were the only ones there!  We hiked down the trail in thick perfect powder making the first foot prints that didn’t belong to a bird or a deer.  It was awesome and quiet.  The only noise came from the Paddlewheeler giving visitors a nice cold boat tour.  Other than that we heard running water, drips from the icicles, birds calling, and the wind.

 

 

I took this photo because I just couldn’t believe we were there with absolutely no one else.  It’s an amazing feeling to have such a popular and spectacular location all to yourself.  You just have to work a little bit for it I suppose.

No those aren’t Yeti feet.  They are mine!

IMG_6905

If you look closely you can see the tiny tea house built atop the island in Emerald Bay where the original owner would frequently visit many years ago.

It was pretty darn cold

Have you ever gone snow shoeing before?  If not, how do you enjoy the snow?

Happy Holidays everyone!  Thanks, as always, for reading.

Cee’s Shoe & Feet challenge!

To see more information on the glorious Lake Tahoe click here to see my list of things not to miss.