C is for California and any other word pronounced “Cal-ih-for-nya”

Stumbling through JoAnn’s A to Z photography challenge

I was born in California many moons ago and I’m still here. People ask me why. The state is on fire every summer. True. Then there are floods during the winter. True. Everything costs more. True again. So, why am I still here?

I think I will show you some photos I have taken over the years to answer that question.

That’s FDR’s yacht Potomac in the middle of the photo. You can jump on board and cruise around the bay, if you like. They say George Lucas was inspired by these Port of Oakland monster cranes when he came up with his war machines for Star Wars.

I was born in Oakland, grew up in San Francisco and then returned to Oakland when I was 24.

The Palace of Fine Arts is a leftover from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. Reconstruction began in 1964 and was completed ten years later.

The TransAmerica Pyramid looms over Chinatown while a musical trio belts out a song at the corner of Commercial Street and Grant Avenue. Two photographers take it all in for posterity.

California has a zillion beautiful beaches. This one is in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The same beach a few years later at sunset. We embarked on our last road trip to Monterey and Carmel at the end of 2019. Three months later Covid-19 struck. Hopefully, we can start traveling again this year.

This is the place to go if you ever find yourself at the south end of Monterey Bay with a few hours to spare.

You never know who you are going to meet when you visit the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk! Santa Cruz is at the north end of Monterey Bay.

We don’t usually travel during the winter but one time we signed up to be sponsors for our younger daughter’s eighth grade ski trip and we had a terrific time!

That’s El Capitan left of center with Half Dome hiding in the right background beneath that long branch.

We have traveled to many national parks all over the western United States and believe Yosemite is the queen of them all.

We have also been to Lassen Volcanic National Park a few times. Lassen Peak (also known as Mount Lassen) last erupted in 1915. It is a dormant volcano that will erupt again someday.

We have only visited King’s Canyon National Park once. The General Grant tree is the second largest sequoia in the world. The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park adjacent to Kings Canyon is sightly larger.

Follow the missions the Spaniards built along the road they called El Camino Real (The King’s Highway) and you will learn the history of California. Santa Barbara is the tenth of California’s 21 missions and is often called “The Queen of the Missions.” The present church was built in 1820 and remodeled in 1925 and again in 1953. Those leaves in the foreground are from California Pepper trees.

Some of the best wines in the entire world come from Napa Valley a hundred miles north of San Francisco. The Sterling Vineyards winery on the top of a hill in Calistoga was designed to resemble houses on the Greek island of Mykonos. You used to be able to ride in a gondola from the valley floor to the top of the hill to visit the winery. The Glass fire of 2020 severely damaged the winery which is now closed but is expected to be reopened this year with a brand new tram system.

Would you mind if I showed you one more photo of the Golden Gate Bridge? Thanks.

One day my younger daughter and I took my two oldest grand-kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito on the grounds of Fort Baker, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The museum was excellent and so was the view!

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. And Medium doesn’t really like stories that are too long.

Oh, I guess I should mention one more reason why I still live in California: with the exception of my little sister Marie who moved to Alaska many years ago, all of my family live here, too!

I see several writers have completed their D stories already: Anne Bonfert, JoAnn Ryan, Dr. Preeti Singh, Sharing Words, and Rhonda Carrier. I better get going!