Earth Day April 14, 2012

On April 14, 2012. Statewide, nearly 2,000 volunteers came out to complete necessary maintenance projects at 17 participating State Parks.  We went to Auburn State Park and helped clean up a dump site.  

John Muir Mansion in Martinez, Ca.

We went here on April 19, 2012. You are allowed to tour the mansion and they have a visitor  center that has a gift shop and  has a little movie that tells you who John Muir was.  

Bike ride to the Indo Cafe in Old Sacramento. April 3, 2012

On the bike trail near Raley's  Field.

The Tower Bridge

Old Sacramento

Getting Shrimp Nasi Goreng  at the Indo Cafe.

The Sacramento River from the Tower Bridge

Our Calistoga Trip March 26 & 27 2012

Old Faithful of California.
The gyser went off every 5 minutes because
of the rain.  In the summer it only goes off
every 30 to 45 minutes.

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park

The trail to the pioneer cemetery.

The cemetery had head stones outside of this yard also.

This head stone had the oldest dates.

The air was so fresh and the sun was shining. This was a wonderful day for a hike.

I believe this is the Napa River. If you cross this river you get to another park called Bale Grist Mill Park. They have a mill there where people used to grind their wheat and socialize. We didn't cross the river. We will save that for another visit.

The Calistoga Inn is where we stayed. It was clean and quaint. The Inn is European style with only 2 bathrooms to share for the 18 rooms and no television. The building is over 100 years old.

There are lots of shops to browse in and many different restaurants to eat at.

We ate dinner in the Bar and tried some of there beer. The bartender/ waitress was very nice and the meal was good. The bar seemed to be a place that the locals also enjoyed.

The garden at the Rombauer winery, had lots of little trails and picnic benches so on a sunny day you could enjoy your wine, but you have to supply your snack because they don't sell food here.

Bidwell Park, Chico California. March 2, 2012

Bidwell Park, Chico California.  March 2, 2012

We went to Bidwell Park in Chico for the first time. We only did a 5 mile hike and then we went out to eat at the Olive Garden Restaurant in Chico.  

The pond looked like a place where locals took their dogs to play.

10th Annual Park Advocacy Day. March 20,2012. Our first time participating.

This was our first time lobbying for the State Parks.   

Over 160 park supporters gathered in Sacramento on March 20 for CSPF’s 10th Annual Park Advocacy Day. Participants spent the day lobbying policymakers on important state park issues. The collective efforts of these advocates will b e felt in Sacramento for months to come. Some of the highlights of this year’s event include:

• Attending the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee hearing to show strong support for AB 1589 (Huffman). The attendance and testimony from park advocates contributed to the unanimous passage of the bill!
• Visiting the offices of 120 policymakers to urge legislators to uphold their responsibility to keep state parks open and accessible to all Californians and to oppose additional cuts to state parks (including the proposed trigger cuts), supporting local efforts to keep state parks open and ensuring that state parks are protected from non-mission uses by supporting SB 580 (Wolk).
• Sharing important new data on the statewide and regional economic impacts of California’s 279 state parks with policymakers.
• Delivering over 40,000 petitions and letters on behalf of Californians, particularly from legislators’ constituents that were unable to attend Park Advocacy Day.