Continuing blue skies but cooler weather!

Fresno to Santa Barbara (for genealogy research and fun)

Santa Barbara must surely be one of the nicest towns in California.  For one thing, they enforce a standard that requires all buildings to conform to a Spanish style in keeping with the original look of the town.  They also don't allow buildings to be over 4 floors high and they don't allow billboards or giant signs which advertise the names of the various stores.  Many of the streets are lined with trees and shrubs which give everything such a nice feel.  They also have a lovely area along the ocean which was certainly well used by residents and visitors alike.

You won't see signs like this in Santa Barbara!

I was in SB to do some genealogy research - specifically to get some land records for property my grandparents bought back in the 1950's.  That necessitated a visit to the courthouse, a beautiful building worth seeing in it's own right.  The AAA guide books list it as a "gem" and we've always found that when they say it's a gem it's worth seeing.  We'd actually taken a tour of it on a past trip and were reminded again of how special it is. 

This is the backside of the courthouse.  It looks out on a large garden
and lawn area where people were picnicking, relaxing, etc.

Our genealogical friends who have done some on-site research know that the older original courthouses are so much more interesting than the newer ones, if only because our ancestors probably walked inside the same building in their day.  Once I got the hang of their system I was able to easily find the land records I was looking for and the clerk printed them out for me on the spot.

The other genealogical research I did was to visit my grandfather's grave in the Santa Barbara cemetery.  We've visited many cemeteries through the years but this had to be one of the most beautiful.  It could almost convince me to be buried rather than cremated. 

The cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean - a very beautiful setting!

My grandfather's grave is unique in that it displays his signature which I found to be very moving.  I'm sure it was his 2nd wife's idea since her first husband and her own grave also have their signatures.

For fun we visited the SB botanic gardens, the SB Historical Museum, the El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park, Arroyo Burro Beach and we drove up Mission Canyon where my step grandmother was born and grew up.  In those days it was out of town but it's now just another part of SB.  We also looked up the homes where my grandparents lived and where I visited as I grew up.  I loved visiting them because they had horses and apricot trees.  I would pick a bag full of apricots which I would tie around my waist so I could eat them as I rode around on the horses.  Life was oh so good.



Arroyo Burro Beach
Our dog Barney loved running on the beach!

 

Panorama of the inside of El Presidio de Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens
They allow dogs and Barney was happy to get to go along with us.

I sense that many of you are saying "but what about Yosemite, what about Monterey and San Luis Obispo and Carmel.  What about Big Sur, King's Canyon NP, Sequoia NP and any number of other special spots in California."  Happily I can tell you that we've been to California quite a number of times in the past and have seen all those spots and more.  Although we would love to have visited them again but we are were working to be at my Mom's in Tucson, AZ by a certain date so revisiting them will have to wait.

Sun and blue skies that stretch on and on...

Pacifica, CA  to  Fresno, CA (for genealogy research)

We are zig-zagging our way down the state of California. 

We took highway 152 from Gilroy (garlic capital of the US) to highway 99 which took us on down to Fresno.  The initial drive out of Gilroy is marked on the map as a scenic route, and were treated to lovely rolling hills with scattered trees followed by the San Luis Reservoir.  It was beautiful.  It's always nice to be off the interstate highways whenever possible.  You see so much more and the driving is much less stressful.

After we crossed I5 we were in the San Joaquin Valley, the source of much of our food in the US.  We passed acres and acres of grapes, fruit and nut trees and assorted vegetables.  I actually thought that every acre in the valley would be under cultivation but, at least where we were driving, it was not.  That was a pleasant surprise.  As our population continues to grow they're going to need more land to cultivate.  The only problem will be water.  They've had a 3 year drought here and many of the large trees show evidence of the lack of water.

Fruit or Nut trees
(Why don't they put a label up that tells motorists what they are growing?)

Grapes

Fresno is the home of Fresno Pacific University, a Mennonite University with an extensive archive of Mennonite materials.  To a genealogist with Mennonite ancestors that's like catnip to a cat.  Of course we arrived on the Friday before Easter (Good Friday) so we had to wait until Monday to get into the archive. 

Did a little sightseeing which included the Forestiere Underground Gardens.  It's an amazing place.  One man worked 40 years to dig it out of the hardpan on the 80 acres he bought when he came to California.  He had wanted to grow citrus trees like back home in Sicily but was swindled on the land he bought.  He also didn't like the intense heat of the area so he started digging a place to live where it would be cooler.  He was the original recycler - using the hardpan as bricklike building material and the foot of good soil which covered it to fill the various "pots" where he planted his fruit trees and vines.  Only a small portion of the area he dug out is open but even that is pretty extensive.



Courtyard



Bedroom



Another courtyard with citrus fruit trees and grapes.



Hallway



Part of the kitchen

bathroom

Our campground in Fresno was lovely and shady, well kept up, with lots of space between rigs.  It's part of a mobile home park and it really couldn't be nicer.  We were especially grateful for the shade because it was hot there.

This street goes by the name Chateau Fresno Ave. but
it's way west of town and there's no Chateau in site!!!
We wondered who planted all these trees and for what? 
Perhaps someone's big dream just never came true.