Last day of work

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Patti’s comment on yesterday’s blog made me think about California. The weather in this part of the state, at this time of year, is nearly perfect. It’s cool in the mornings and very cool after the sun sets, but during the day it’s so warm, and I love not having any wind. And we are in an area that doesn’t have many people~~you read the sign, there’s 364 here, and I think that’s counting a full camp! And then you go into a small town, and ten minutes later you’re in a Miles City size town. When I thought of California I thought of gobs of people~~people that could cause a hundred car pileup! I didn’t know there were small, remote, slow-moving areas like this.

Saturday for tour we went to a historic gold mining town. I was really excited to go, because a few years ago my sister and I went through a historic town in New York where everyone dressed the period, and talked like we were all in that time. (Does that make sense??) As they told about baking over the fireplace, they spoke to us like we were all living like that. Not only did we learn so much, but it was a fascinating way to learn it. I thought that’s what we were going to see…I’ve been wrong before. And disappointed before. And I was both on Saturday. It was a preserved mining community, and the tour guide gave us the history of it, but other than that it was just one more tourist place.

Today is our last day, and that’s always a solemn day. We have the goodbyes, and people thanking us for what we feel is our privilege to do. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t have the strong pull to stay here, like I did with the first one for sure, and also the second. I know now that there’s an exciting project (although that’s not the Germaine describes our next one, and she’s been there for two weeks) and friendly people waiting for us in Moreno Valley.

The men’s gazebo is so beautiful. It looks and feels like you’re just floating over the valley. I've encluded pictures. It is so serene here….

…but the acorns have about stopped falling, so I guess it’s time to leave! (We went golfing the other day, and you had to scoot the acorns away from your ball before you hit it! And we kept hearing the thud of a ball behind us, only to realize it was acorns falling, not someone hitting into us!)

We’re all leaving tomorrow, and we plan to arrive in Moreno Valley (Victory Ranch) Thursday. We’ll spend some time in Fresno, and tour the giant Redwoods. We start our next project Monday.

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Photos

Gazebo from the bottom
of the hill it sits on. From the top it looks like you're floating out over the valley.

I thought this was an interesting tree.
Notice how it starts out as one trunk, changes to two, back to joined, and then separate at the top. I'm curious as to what caused all that activity!

Not what you'd expect in CA?!
It's in Columbia...a historic mining town.

This is a rebuilt mining shack.
But the interesting thing is that at one time dirt covered these rocks~~they figure the miners moved 40' of dirt off the top of this ground, sifting for gold.

The signs look authentic,
but when you get inside the shops you see the same souvenir stuff you see in every gift shop in every town. We had lunch in the saloon, but didn't see any dancing girls!

We went into the fancy dry goods
store, and I bought a piece of fabric for a quilting project!!

An antique fire truck actually
bought and used in Columbia. (This one's for you, Carl!)

The hose cart was pulled used
in conjunction with the pumper...the previous picture.