Photo Friday – Happy 4th of July

A great shot from the American Graffiti Parade.

Photo Friday – American Graffiti

Las weekend was the annual American Graffiti Parade.  You can read my blog post all about our town’s tradition in my previous post on American Graffiti.

Photo Friday – Japanese Tea Gardens Of Micke Grove

Micke Grove is a 132 acre park in Lodi California that consist of a small zoo, Japanese garden, “Fun Town” a small amusement ride area, historical museum for the county of San Joaquin, a 3 acre lake with fountain, water play areas for kids, picnic tables, horseshoe pits, baseball fields, and an 18 hole disc golf course.    It is a great place to plan a picnic and spend the day with friends and family. 

Photo Friday – Pointe Reyes National Sea Shore

Photo Friday – Mission Santa Clara de Asis

Recently we visited Mission de Asis in Santa Clara for Leah’s fourth grade mission project.  I did not realize that it was part of the Santa Clara University nor did I know that Santa Clara University is the oldest campus of higher learning the state of California established in 1851.  It is a beautiful campus and the mission sits at the heart of it.

Photo Friday – The Golden Gate Bridge

 

Well, it’s not the perfect view but it is still is beautiful.

Photo Friday- Christmas in Old Sacramento

It’s a Country Christmas at Old Sacramento Historic Landmark and State Park. 

Ceres Christmas Tree Lane

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 42 years ago a good natured Christmas Light War began between two neighbors. One neighbor put up his Christmas lights and his other neighbor not to be out done put up his. The next day a little more was put up on the first neighbor’s lawn. The second neighbor, again not to be out done, put up a little more decoration in his yard. Forty two years later Ceres Christmas Tree Lane is a community tradition. Each year the opening night ceremonies (always the first Saturday in December) are conducted by the Mayor, other city officials, the guest of honor Mr. And Mrs. Claus straight from the North Pole and of course the thirty plus residents of Christmas Tree Lane who have spent in some cases more than forty hours decorating and stringing lights across rooftops and lawns for the season.

Each year it has been estimated that somewhere between twenty and thirty thousand visitors come to see the lights. Along the roughly three block stretch you will find an amazing array of creativity. Lights that dance to music, homemade displays of wood and lights strung high and low.

As a resident of Christmas Tree Lane I can truthfully attest to the number of hours it takes to put up the display. My husband spends a full week that he takes off from work each year to put up his lights. Throughout the year he makes repairs to his display pieces and builds new ones when necessary. The cost is not small either. At a minimum each year we invest in new lights to replace old ones that are broken and we incur a higher utility bill due to running upwards of ten thousand lights nightly for 20 plus days. And then when it is all over we spend a minimum of three days taking it all down and packing it back in storage.

So many times people ask us if it is worth it when they see the traffic we have to endure just to get into our drive way each night and hear about the time it takes to set up and take down. To that we say yes, it is a magical time of year for us. I enjoy looking out my window in the evening seeing the lights and the cars that drive by and sometimes the horse drawn hay wagon. I enjoy hearing the children laugh and exclaim their delight in seeing the light show. I enjoy greeting the family and friends who stop by to see the lights. To me all of the work was worth the effort when I watch the people walk by sipping their hot chocolate and holding the hands of their loved ones. This is what makes living on our street so extra special.

The Ceres Christmas Tree Lane opening night is December 7, 2013 at 6:00 pm. The lights will be on each night through Christmas. We hope you can enjoy the lights this season with us.

Photo Friday–Road Trip, Snapshots Through The Windshield

On our road trip up to Vancouver we were able to view some of the Pacific Ring of Fire of beautiful volcanoes.  We had great views of Mt. Shasta above.  Mt Hood, Mt. Rainier, and Mt Baker.  These mountains seem to appear out of no where at times and are a beautiful backdrop to the green valleys and pine trees of the Pacific Northwest.

Open Cockpit Day At Castle Air Force Museum

I have never been out to Castle Air Museum in Atwater California even though it only is about 30 minutes from us.  When my Sister-in—law suggested we go out there after church one Sunday because it was Open Cockpit Day.  I quickly said “We’d love too!” 

The place was packed not just with people but with so many types of aircraft.  I had know idea how big this place was and how many different exhibits they had.  I wish I knew more about planes to elaborate and share on the types we saw.  They did have displays next to each type to give you some information and history but I have to confess it was extremely hot and the kids wouldn’t stand still long enough to read them.  The best thing about going on Open Cockpit Day is the fact that they open up many of the planes and let you walk through them or take a peek inside of them.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the cockpits and exploring the planes.

Castle Air Force Base got It’s start in the 1941 during WWII when it was opened as a Basic Flying School for the Army Air Corps.  It  was part of President Roosevelt's 30,000 Pilots A Year Campaign.   After the war it continued to serve as a base for army flight training and sent many pilots off to fight in the wars overseas such as Korea, and Vietnam.  In 1996 after the cold war had ended it was closed and the process of preserving it’s history and turning it into a museum began.

Besides the outdoor museum space there is also an indoor museum with exhibits showing flight gear and uniforms. 

Perhaps on another day when it is not so crowded or hot we will return to tour the inside museum. 

Boredom Buster–Hilmar Cheese Factory

 

Not long into our Summer and the kids were already crying they were bored.  We had been cooped up in the house for a few days and we all needed to just go someplace.  So, the question was where do we go on a spur of the moment in the middle of the afternoon for some fun.  The only thing I could think of at the moment was the cheese factory so that’s where we headed. 

Hilmar Cheese Company located in Hilmar California is the world’s largest single-site  cheese manufacturer.   It produces over 1 million pounds cheese each day in Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby varieties.  It is less than 30 minutes from where we live and because Steve’s Sister has worked there for years is one of our favorite places to go and visit. 

The Visitor Center has a nice gift shop and deli where you can sit down for a bite to eat either in their indoor dinning room or outside on the covered patio.  You can purchase many different kinds of cheese from all over the world and tasting many of them including the ones they make on site. 

Many of the local schools bring their classes here through out the year for one of the guided tours where the kids can touch and explore the exhibits while learning about the cheese making process.  My kids both went there with their second grade classes.  The highlight of the the trip is where they all make their own individual servings of ice cream. 

Even without the guided tour my kids enjoyed looking through the exhibits.  One of the things that I find most fascinating in the factory is the water recycling process they use.  More than 60% of the water they use is recycled and put back into the facility to wash the equipment, maintain the landscaping including their many waterfalls, and even to support the boilers and the cooling towers. What’s left after that goes back to the local farmers for use in irrigation.   For the kids this is a great lesson in sustainability and how that works and looks in the everyday.

 

We finished up visit with a dish of ice cream and a walk around the grounds.  It was a nice way to kick out the boredom creeping into the our Summer fun. 

American Graffiti Parade in Modesto California

Modesto California doesn’t have a lot of bragging rights mostly crime stories, Gallo Wine, and George Lucas.  Lucas put Modesto on the map when he made American Graffiti based on his own experiences of growing up in this sleepy little Central Valley California town. 

Actually one of the proposed titles for the American Graffiti movie was “Another Slow Night In Modesto.”  As a teenager growing up in Modesto myself I totally relate to the proposed title.  We still cruised up and down McHenry Ave. because there was nothing else to do.  They finally banned cruising in Modesto sometime in the nineties due to violence.  However as a city we still celebrate Graffiti on an annual basis the first weekend of June when the schools are out.  It is the opening weekend for Summer Vacation.  Graffiti night these days is anything but slow.  The weekend starts off with a Classic Car Parade in downtown Modesto and this past year reportedly 20,000 people showed up.  Of course George Lucas himself was in town to be the Grand Marshall of our little parade. 

We spent the day staking out the best spot to see the parade and take some great pictures.  Although it was hotter than blue blazes we managed to stay cool and have a great night.

                                             

Our friends joined us for the evening and I got a real kick out of watching Gary take pictures with his IPhone.  I finally handed him my DSLR and most of the photos above are from him.  I hope he got himself a new camera for Father’s Day.