Dateline: Folsom, CA

 

Tower Bridge, a Sacramento landmark since 1935

"Where are you from?" and variations thereof have always been difficult questions to answer. An army brat, the first three years of my life were spent in West Germany, followed by a year split between my mother's hometown of London and the Fort Hood army base in Killeen, Texas. When my father left the service, we moved to his native California, and it was in the southern part of the state that I spent my elementary, junior high and first year of senior high schools. We didn't move to the Sacramento area until I was already my daughter's current age. And yet when asked about my hometown, I will invariably answer with California's capital city. It was while living in Citrus Heights that I formed my closest friendships, and it was while studying at UC Davis that I made the decision to travel to Asia. And speaking of friends, this ongoing road trip provided me with an opportunity to meet up with a couple of them, by far the highlight of this trek across America.

But first a tip o' the hat to the Yosemite Nights Bed & Breakfast in Mariposa, California. The family running the establishment do a great job at making weary travelers feel at home, and the home-cooked breakfasts were excellent (with the added bonus of being able to watch deer and wild turkeys feeding in the backyard). The wife also packed us off each morning with some delicious home-baked treats. It's a great place to stay in the Yosemite National Park area.

We checked out of the B&B on Monday morning and headed north towards Sacramento. Rather than taking State Route 99, we opted for the longer but hopefully more scenic highways 49 and 120. The sky initially was dense with smoke, presumably from the Washburn Fire:

Evidence of the ongoing historic drought was also apparent:

Chinese Camp is a former Gold Rush mining town, noted for the thousands of Chinese immigrants who settled there seeking their fortunes. Though the Chinese residents would all eventually move on (or were driven out), the name of the community stayed. The sole elementary school was designed in the style of a Chinese pagoda:

Amber relaxes in the garden of the local general store:

The large number of abandoned buildings gives the area a ghost town feel:

The old Catholic church:

Eventually we reached the historic town of Folsom, in the Sacramento suburbs, where we would stay two nights at the Lake Natoma Inn. The American River flows just behind the hotel, and I went for a walk along the riverside on Tuesday morning while the girls were getting ready for the day:

Folsom is known locally for its large lake, but you probably know it for the classic Johnny Cash album recorded at the state prison, and in particular this song:

But in addition to correctional institutions and reservoirs, Folsom has a history dating back to the Gold Rush, and it was into the nearby Old Town that we ventured on another brutally hot Sacramento summer day. I'm used to it (the dry air beats dealing with humidity), but my daughter wouldn't stop complaining, and wondering why anybody would choose to live in such an oven. Here she is putting up with the heat and the sunshine while in Pioneer Village:

An example of a prospector's family's home. It could actually be moved from place to place on skids, an early forerunner of the mobile home:

Amber discovers the competing origins of the crescent moon on outhouse doors:

For lunch we went to Hop Sing Palace, a very Chinese-American restaurant named after a semi-regular character in Bonanza:

In the afternoon we drove out to the Sunrise Mall, a once-thriving shopping mall where I spent a lot of time as a teenager. Seeing all the vacated shop fronts, a part of my childhood died. Or, as a friend aptly described it, more like "Sunset Mall":

Back in Folsom, and waiting for a light rail train to cross the road:

And it was back at the hotel where we met up with Joe and Rich, good friends of mine going back to the 11th grade. Memories were shared and stories were related over dinner at Hacienda Del Rio:

Later in the evening the brothers took us to see the Chung Wah Cemetery, which once served the afterlife needs of Folsom's gold mining Chinese community. The gate, which was supposed to be locked, turned out to be wide open, so we went in to have a look. We couldn't see any gravestones, but there was an incinerator for burning ghost money:

Saying farewell at the hotel following a very enjoyable evening:

Before leaving the area this morning, we stopped off in Old Sacramento. While my wife wandered off to have a look around, I took Amber to see the excellent California State Railroad Museum, which I had last visited sometime in the 1990's:

A nod to those who built many of the first railroads in the western part of the country:

The western portion of the first Transcontinental Railroad originated in Sacramento:

We've got more bounce in California:

I wasn't expecting a mannequin to be there:

My daughter was impressed with the first-class meals in the dining car, and wondered why we couldn't be taking the train across America instead of driving. My answer to her was "Amtrak", that's why not:

A sad reminder of the lack of a high-speed rail system in this country:

Back in the Golden Age of the railways, some of the engines were huge in size:

Following the museum, the two of us took a brief stroll along the waterfront:

Shu-E shared some the photos she took while Amber and I were in the museum:

When we first moved to the Sacramento area in the late 1970s, I was unhappy at having to leave southern California. However, over time and thanks to friendships, I've come to appreciate the charms hidden beneath the flat surfaces, shady trees and blistering summer heat. While it's doubtful I'll ever return to settle down there, I'm not ashamed to choose it as the best candidate for when I'm asked from where I came:

From the same Scottish group that brought the world "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep":