California- April 2014

I know it has been a long time since I have posted on my blog and I am sorry.  This is an update on what is going on this Spring for our vacation.  We left Massena on Friday the 11th and headed toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  We had now schedule other than to get there to our hotel sometime that evening.  We arrived around 6:30 pm, about an hour later than it should have taken us, but rush hour around Harrisburg made it take us about an hour to go 16 miles. We got checked in to our room and then went and had supper.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 in the morning, so we left for the airport between 4:30 and 4:45.  Got all checked in and through security and waited at the gate for our flight.  We flew from Harrisburg to Detroit, MI, Detroit to Minneapolis, MN, and Minneapolis to Sacramento, CA.  We arrived in Sacramento around 1 pm.  Justin and Stacy were there to greet us and we arrived at their house and just relaxed for the evening.  Got up Sunday morning and went to church for Sunday School and Worship services.  Met many of Justin and Stacy's friends.  We are glad that they have so many wonderful friends.  We came home from church and had Easter dinner on Palm Sunday.  Relaxed for the afternoon, Rachel napped, Stacy napped, not sure what Justin did, and I sat on their balcony and read for the afternoon.  After supper, we took a walk to a park a couple of blocks away from their house. 

Monday we got up early and set off for Northern California.  We drove up route 20 to route 101, past the town of Willits on our way to the Avenue of the Giants.  It is near Myers Flats.  We first stopped in the Leggett area at the Chandelier Tree.  Drove through the tree and spent some time there and in the gift shop.  Continued north and left the main highway near Phillipsville and drove the 13 mile stretch which is part of the Avenue of the Giants and stopped several times to walk in the forest and take pictures of the giant sequoia trees.  On our return home we stopped at a place along the road called the Peg House and got our supper there.  We got home about midnight.

Tuesday we didn't have to get up too early.  Rachel, Stacy and I walked down the street to Krispy Kreme and got donuts a little further to Starbucks for coffee for our breakfast.  We took them back to the apartment.  During this time Justin went on his morning run for practice for him upcoming test.  After we ate, we headed east this time to the town of Grasse Valley.  It was settled by Cornish people brought in to mine gold back in the 1800's. We had lunch at a little restaurant.  We had English Pasties for lunch.  We then strolled around town checking out all of the little shops.  We saw many interesting things that day.  Especially the sets of eyebrows that you will see in some of the pictures.  We did buy a few things that day. We headed back to Yuba City toward evening and went and had some ice cream at a local shop named Brock's. 

Wednesday Justin had to go back to work, but we had another excursion to a wildlife refuge on the other side of the Sutter Buttes.  We spent about three hours walking around the area taking a lot of pictures and seeing a lot more.  We saw lizards, frogs, coots, pelicans, herons, mallards, a squirrel, buzzards, a deer, assorted birds, and a couple of quails. It is sad that the area there has had such a little bit of rain this year and the water is mostly dried up.  It was an enjoyable time. We also drove around the Sutter Buttes which are the world's smallest mountain range.  Got home just about the same time as Justin. We made wontons for supper and then for a first for us, we ate with chopsticks!   Stacy went to her Bible study that evening and we spent the time with Justin. 

Thursday during the day, was shopping time.  We had to get Rachel her Kohl's fix and we also went to Marshall's and to a Goodwill store. Bought an extra suitcase to bring all of our extras home in.  After  Justin got home, we got our stuff together and we headed to Sacramento.  We ate supper at a Japanese restaurant that specializes in ramen noodles. We also ate with chopsticks here which was very interesting.  Attached is the link for the picasa web album.  I will get the pictures labeled as soon as I can but there are many to label. Hope you enjoy them!

https://picasaweb.google.com/111472392053516289027/2014AprilCaliforniaTrip#