Stanford Winery

Leland Stanford's had a vineyard in Fremont, California. Today remains a small building and a California Historical Landmark with a description. It is landmark #642.

Folsom Zoo

I had my second date with Norrington. We went to the Folsom City Zoo and Sanctuary. This is not a conventional zoo, it is a place where sick, captured, and injured animals come to recover and live out their days in peace and comfort.


The zoo teaches people to really care for animals, and stresses that wild animals do not make pets. (I wonder how a person can think, "Gee, I think this mountain lion would be fun to keep.") Some of the animals here were rescued because they were shot but tossed aside because their fur was not good enough to be profitable. The tigers living here were found, each tethered to a 4 foot chain and trapped inside a 3 foot by 3 foot cage. These are no kitties, these are full-grown tigers needing acres of land to roam happily.


In the exhibit behind us is Emma, a raccoon that was found half alive on a road. She was hit by a car and luckily was found and sent to the sanctuary. Zookeepers nursed her back to health. She is celebrating her 13th birthday this month in a plce where she romps and plays and never has to worry about cars again.


Guess which exhibit was our favorite...


There are six California black bears living in the Folsom Zoo. I don't know if they are full-grown; but they are bigger than most humans for sure. They have a lot of places to hide, play, swim, rest, and climb.


It's okay, this is just a large plush toy. Our day at the zoo was educational and fun, and it was nice to go to a place where the animals are treated with love and care. This is the place I would go if I became sick or injured.

Geek Pride

Sunday, may 25th was National Geek and Nerd Pride Day. I'm a geek every day so it was just another day for me. I read some books, not only fiction, but also reference and history for fun. I also did some blogging and web surfing. The only problem is, I wasn't geeky enough to use the correct setting on my camera. I'll just have to restage the photo, I guess. But I don't have to pretend to be a geek, that happens every day.

Tiara Day

May 24th was National Tiara Day. I found my best tiara and my princess shirt for the occasion. Because of the rain I didn't go out, but if I did I would have worn my crown!

Eureka!

On January 24th, 1848, James Marshall found gold in the American River at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.


When word got out about their discovery, people from all over the United States, and the world, came to California searching for gold.


I visited the Gold Discover Museum in Marshall State Park. There were many artifacts and historical documents in the museum. One of my favorite displays was the stagecoach, and the tips for those travelling by stagecoach. I like the tip, "If you jump, nine times out of ten you will get hurt."


Many miners caught fatal diseases, many got hurt. Most didn't find any gold. But most of them stayed in California to start a new life.


This is the American River where to this day, people still pan for gold. It was a rainy day so those panning went all the way into the water. I would have participated, but I wasn't prepared for all the water. I will get back to Coloma one day.

Crystal Skull

I went to the midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It is an awesome movie! (No spoilers) It is not as violent or gross as The Temple of Doom, but still has a lot of action. Harrison Ford is still brilliant, a great hero and a looker, too. And though I know some won't agree, Shia LaBeouf is quite handsome, too. I just can't get over that he was the kid on Even Stevens! There were a lot of great action scenes and one of my favorites reminded me very much of a similar scene from another one of my favorite movies. I can't say any more than that because it will give something away.


Part of the fun of going to the first screening of a movie, particularly one where fans wait for hours beforehand is seeing all the people getting into the spirit by dressing up. Check out my cool archaeologist "digs." Yes, another awful pun, I know.

First Date

I went on my first date with James. We went to Starbucks for coffee. It didn't feel like a real date, more like an audition for a real date. We talked about books, movies, music, and hobbies. It turns out we have very similar tastes in those things. He prefers the film version and I prefer the book version of stories. He has seen the Harry Potter movies but not read any of the books. I have a lot of work ahead of me there. He has six months to read six books, I think he can manage.


James seems to have a severe honey addiction. He put it in his hot chocolate. Now I can't judge because I have never tried that, but it doesn't sound too appealing. I should get him to try agave nectar.

We hit it off quite nicely. It was good to have that one-on-one time to get to know each other a bit better without the distractions from a party. We made another date for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it. The heatwave is over but now it is very windy. I hope the wind settles down because we will be outdoors.

Happy Birthday, Califia

My friends came over to help me celebrate my birthday. Back row, boys, left to right: Adam, Neville, Monk, James, and Beary. Girls, front row, left to right: Julia, Elizabeth, Minerva, Califia, and Eureka.



If it weren't my birthday, why would I be wearing this hat?


My friend Elizabeth has been trying to get me to find a boyfriend. I have been telling her that my travels and blogging keep me too busy. Well, she brought her friend James Norrington to my party. He is a nice bear, friendly, funny, and quite nice looking.


My birthday cake was a Boston Cream cake with a frosted cookie on top. It was so good! The frosting was thick and rich but not too sugary.


I sure do have generous friends. They spoiled me with all the gifts!


My friends gave me clothes, books, candy, a beach chair, a new purse, and even a surf board! I'm all set for the summer.


James is a lot of fun. We made a date for coffee, that should be fun! This was an awesome birthday.

Coffee Break

Eureka, Minerva, and I stayed up late and needed some caffeine to wake us up. We went to Starbucks to get some cold drinks and air conditioning. Temperatures were in the high 90's for much of the day.


I ordered a green tea lemonade and made the mistake of having it sweetened. It was so sweet it made me queasy and sick. I had to get on the floor under a fan and rest. It's a good drink, but too much sugar makes me feel yucky.

BFF: Bear Friends Forever

My two best friends came to visit me for the weekend. On the lft is Minerva, I'm in the middle, and Eureka is to my left.


We all have significant California names. Minerva is the goddess on the California State Seal. Eureka is the state's motto. Eureka means "I have found it!" Gold miners shouted this when gold was first discovered in the foothills.


May 16th is National Pizza Party Day and this was the perfect day. We ate cheese pizza and pizza bagels for dinner. It was really tasty. I wanted to also serve pizza rolls but I couldn't find any vegetarian or vegan ones.


Since we were having a slumber party, we got into our jammies and ate some ice cream.


After a lot of talking and laughing we got ready for bed. We had a full weekend planned!

Chocolate Chips

May 15th is National Chocolate Chip Day.


I always have a good supply of chocolate chips on hand. I love to bake but I don't get enough time to make cookies. It's a good thing today was a day devoted to chocolate chips. I took my supply out of the cupboard and moved them to the refrigerator. I would hate to open a bag to find a big glob of melted chips. Anyway, they taste great cold by the pawful.

Escaping the Heat

Temperatures around here have reached or exceed 100° and I thought I had a great plan: I would visit the coast. I checked the weather online and it posted weather in Monterey would be high 70's. That is very comfortable. Too bad they were wrong and it was 95°. Since I was there I thought I would make a day of it anyway.


The Splash Zone in the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been remodeled. Many things are still the same, but there are some newer tanks with different species of fish. Behind me is a tropical tank with the breeds of those in "Finding Nemo."


Apparently this shark thinks I'm lunch.


I "otter" be in pictures. I know, a terrible joke but it had to be told.


Mmm, I know what I'm having for lunch.


I make friends wherever I go. I met this very nice fisherman at Fisherman's Wharf. It was very hot, but occasionally a sea breeze would bring a cool wind to give momentary relief.


At the end of the day I stopped at Dennis the Menace Park to have a bit of fun. It was so hot that only four children were in this usually packed playground, and were lethargically sitting under the trees for shade. I was really tempted to jump in the lake for a swim to cool my fur off.

I was expecting to have relief of about 25 degrees but didn't save any more than ten. Maybe next heatwave I'll just hide out inside Starbucks.

National Children's Book Week

May 12th to May 17th is National Children's Book Week.


Corduroy is a cute book about a very sweet bear.


Visit a library or a bookstore and read a book today!

Oh Fudge

May 12th is National Nutty Fudge Day. I could only think of one local shop that sells fresh fudge. For a bigger variety I would have to drive to the coastal tourist areas. I went to a favorite candy store to pick up a chunk of chocolate walnut fudge.


I couldn't go all the way to the candy store and only buy a piece of fudge. I also picked up some teddy bear lollipops, a nut goodie, an Oh Henry bar and a Harry Potter Chocolate Frog. I'm not so much into the chocolate frogs as I am into the Wizard cards. I still need a Snape.

Bigfoot Sighting

No, I didn't really see Bigfoot. I did go to the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, my real reason for going to Felton today. The museum is small but full of information. There are many souvenirs, display items, newspaper clippings and other items related to Sasquatch, as he is also known.


In what seems to be the norm for redwood attractions in California, this roadside stop had bears carved out of redwood, and of course, a bigfoot statue to welcome visitors.


Plaster casts footprints can be found all over the museum and outside as well.


Do you believe that Bigfoot exists? I do, and there is plenty of convincing evidence at the museum. Maybe one day I will go to Willow Creek which claims to be the Bigfoot Capital.