Calico Ghost Town

Just a few miles north of Barstow, CA is where you will find the Ghost Town of Calico. It was established in 1881. From 1881 until 1907 there were as many as 500 mines producing silver and borax. In 1887 the population was 1200 and included 22 saloons a red light district and China Town. By 1893 the population had dropped to 300 and by 1907 it was a ghost town. At some later time Walter Knott of Knotts Berry farm purchased the town consisting of four original adobe buildings and and a few wood buildings. He rebuilt the town to what you now see and in 1966 donated it to county of San Bernardino. It now has many craft shops that make and sell leather goods, pottery, wood products etc. that would have been consistent with the time that the town existed. There is an old mine that you can still go into as well. In short it is a very affordable tourist trap. The price of admission is $6 a person.

California Again

We returned to Salome, AZ late last eve after spending 5 days at Morgan Hill visiting our Daughter Chris and her husband David. It was somewhat on the cool side and rainy while we were there. They came out to Morgan Hill and stayed in a rental trailer for 4 nights. That sure did cut down on the driving as it is about 50 miles to their apt. in Redwood City from where we stay in Morgan Hill. We were able to tour Mission San Juan Bautista with them as they hadn't been there for years. We also stopped at Casa Del Fruita about 15 miles east of Gilroy on Rt 152. Casa Del Fruita is a huge fruit & vegetable market that has been expanded over the years to a small amusement part, RV park, Restaurant, and truck stop. Of course mother & daughter got to spend a couple of days shopping together. We left Morgan Hill Fri. morning and drove in steady rain for a couple of hours and then just intermittent showers on down 101 to Paso Robles. We then went east on Rt. 46 to Rt 99 and south to Bakersfield. At Bakersfield we went east on Rt 58 spending the night in Barstow. When we arrived in Barstow the wind was blowing sand and dirt. Sat. morning we drove just north of Barstow to the Calico Ghost Town at Yermo, CA. We spent a couple of hours there and then ate lunch at Peggy Sue's Diner on I-15. Peggy Sue's Diner is an interesting place it is a 50's diner full of 50's memorabilia. It also featured 50's music like you heard from the juke boxes. Our waitress was the typical 50's gum chewing waitress like you saw in the 50's movies. Will have another blog on the Ghost Town. We then proceeded east on I-40 To Thermal, CA. It was then south on US 95 to Parker, AZ then south and east another 6o miles to Desert Palms in Salome. I will have to say that it is a sharp contrast from the now green hills and valleys of western CA to the brown desert of eastern CA and western AZ. But the 10 degree's warmer temp here is sure welcome.
Chris called us yesterday after her first day back to work and said she found out she has another week off later in March and wondered if we wanted to come back then. We told her probably not but I guess time will tell as we have learned not to close any gates until they are behind us.

Morgan Hill, CA

Here we are in Morgan Hill again. Our daughter Chris had 5 days off so we decided to drive the 500 miles from Salome, AZ to see her again while we are in the west. Isn't retirement nice? We traveled the same route that we took when coming here in Nov. It was very interesting to see the change from fall to spring. As we were coming west across the desert in Calif. we could see snow covered peaks in the distance. AS we came down into the Coachella Valley and Palm Springs area they were a sharp contrast to the green in the valley and really quit a pretty sight. Going north on I-5 in the area before we stopped for the night in Lost Hills the alfalfa was green and several of the fields had green wheat?? growing in them. There was an occasional herd of sheep grazing in them. This morning going west on 46 the fields of grapes were all barren of leaves and the workers were busy pruning the vines. The rolling hills to the east of Paso Robles had turned green and were dotted with cattle. Nancy made the comment that it seemed so peaceful in that area and that she really liked it. The fields in the Salinas valley were either being prepared for planting of vegetables or some had some new vegetable already showing down the row. I wonder where our vegetables come from during the winter months when they aren't grown in this area.

We stopped at Mission San Miguel Archangel just north of Paso Robles. It is one of the old Spanish missions built in the 1700's. It is one of the 11 most endangered historical sights in the nation. Due to the 2003 earthquake the church part has been condemned. The only part that was open the the public was the original side built in 1797 that served as living quarters. Those rooms still have the old baking ovens and sparse furnishings from that time. Also a couple of windows have the sheep stomach linings that served as glass in the windows. The other 3 sides are in use by the Franciscan Padres for retreats, meetings and training of young Franciscans. It also serves as the local parish.We learned to day that what is now Rt 101 is what was originally the El Camino Real. This is the trail that connected all of the missions back when then were in their early times. The trail was marked by crosses that were attached to trees.

National Hoop Dancing Contest

Sat. our friends John & Mary invited us to accompany them to the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Arts in Phoenix to watch the National Hoop Dancing contest. Native Americans from all over the US & Canada were competing. the tradition of dancing with a hoop has an extensive history among Native people. The hoop or circle is symbolic to all Native people. It represents the Circle of Life and the continuous cycle of summer and winter, day & night, male & female. Some Native tribes us the hoop dance as part of a healing ceremony to restore balance and harmony in the world. This dance is not performed publicly. In the hoop dance the dancer manipulates their body through one to fifty hoops to the beat of drums and chants. They compete in age divisions ranging from tiny tot (5 and under) to seniors (40 plus). Pictures have been added to the web album.
The museum features an exeinsive collection of Kachina Dolls as well as Native arts such as basket weaving, silver smithing and much much more. It would be a place to spend a day sometime as we just saw a little bit of what was there.
The last couple of days has seen the weather warm up to what we had expected nearly 70 in the daytime and 40's at night. It sure seems nice to not be using the furnace all day long.