California 2021

Norma and I flew to Sacramento, California to visit my parents. This was my first time seeing them since the Covid-19 pandemic. They have been protecting themselves by getting vaccinated, wearing masks in public, and social distancing. Before we saw them, they had both received their booster shot. Norma and I were both vaccinated so we figured it was pretty safe to see them. It was a visit that was long overdue.

I didn't care much for the flight over. Southwest Airlines rescheduled things last minute and there were long delays. But Norma complained and they gave us each $100 credit towards our next flight.

It took awhile to get from the terminal to the car rental place. People take a bus to get there but possibly because of a shortage of workers, the bus took a really long time to pick us up. But we made it there will all our luggage so I guess I can't complain too much.

Friday night is a great time to arrive in Sacramento because that gives us time to go to the farmers' markets on the weekend. In my opinion, this is one of the best things about Sacramento.

Sacramento is known as America's Farm-to-Fork Capital. They even have an annual festival to celebrate this. The next one is September 8-24, 2022 so be sure to pencil it in on your calendar.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Oak Park Farmers' Market at McClatchy Park. Had we arrived a week later, they would have been closed for the season. Here is a sculpture at the park. It sort of looks like a guy falling from his bicycle...

...but if you change your position, everything lines up and you'll see that the rider is upright.

After Oak Park, Noma and I drove to the Elk Grove Farmers' Market. We were disappointed that both farmers' markets were not dog friendly. That would be a recurring theme for much of our visit. Not sure if Daphne would like Sacramento.

We explored the historic section of Elk Grove and then walked on the Laguna Creek Trail, where I saw this male wood duck.


On Sunday, we went to the Arden Fair Farmers' Market shown in this blog's cover photo. This one was really big. Here, Norma bought fruit and a Jewel Orchid plant. It was fairly expensive and she forgot to take it home. So now Mom is taking care of it.

According to Wikipedia:
Sacramento is known for its evolving contemporary culture, and is dubbed the most "hipster city" in California. In 2002, the Harvard University Civil Rights Project conducted for Time magazine ranked Sacramento as "America's Most Diverse City."

Such diversity means there are lot of interesting ethnic foods available. I grew up with fuyu and hachiya persimmons but that day, we saw and got to taste a newer variety called amagaki.

After Arden Fair, we drove to the Carmichael Farmers' Market. Unlike the others, this one was dog-friendly. We picked up some Mexican food to take home to my folks at one of the tents.

Driving back, we saw a table in the front yard of a house in my parents' neighborhood. There was a sign that read "Honey for sale, $10." I pulled over to investigate. There was a woman outside who introduced herself as Mary. She invited us into her backyard to see her horizontal hive. Then a fellow came over by the name of Dave. He's the guy that got her into beekeeping. Dave gave up beekeeping and took up raising chickens. These are my kind of people. Talking with them, I learned that beekeepers in Sacramento have the same problem as I do with varroa mites, small hive beetles, and wax moths. I bought two jars of honey from Mary. Turns out she knows my parents.

My parents have a small backyard where they grow persimmon (kaki) and have a feeder that attracts lots of hummingbirds, like this one.

Even though Norma and I were often out in the day, we spent plenty of time in the evening with my folks. Mom made us a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. She figured that if we feasted early, we could eat leftovers for the duration of our visit. Good thinking Mom!

Norma and I got together with Drs. Dennis and Sharon. Dennis is one of my former high school teachers and chess club advisor. We met up with them at Blue Heron Trails in Stone Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This is a former vineyard being restored and managed into native grasslands, seasonal wetlands, riparian woodlands, and wildlife-friendly farming benefitting local and migratory wildlife.

The morning was cold and foggy so I didn't take many pictures on the Blue Heron Trails. After walking there, we drove to Heringer Estates, a vineyard and winery in Clarksburg. Here's Dennis and Sharon in front of the restored heritage barn.

Heringer Estates had some of their old farm equipment on display, such as this 1937 McCormick-Deering TD-40. "TD" stands for track diesel. It was specially designed to stay above ground in the light peat soils of the Delta Islands. The large belt pulley at the rear of the tractor powered a water pump.

We walked on the road 154 levee, overlooking Elk Slough. By that time, the fog had lifted. We found this fence lizard basking in the sun.

We found several live oak acorns.

Elk Slough was once a busy waterway for delta farmers. Now, it is a natural habitat for many plants and animals such as the turtle shown in this blog's cover photo.

Here's a view of the vineyard from the levee. Between the levee and the vineyard were some owl boxes, put up to help promote sustainable farming.


Later that afternoon, I took my mom for a walk on the bike trail along the American River and on the levee. This section of the river is known as the Lower American River. Sacramento has a history of flooding which prompted the city to raise many of its streets and build levees. According to American River Flood Control District - History:
Great floods in 1907 and 1909 spurred the design of a comprehensive Sacramento Flood Control System including levees on the lower American River protecting Sacramento.

We saw two egrets. Initially I thought they were adult and juvenile, but upon close examination, I realized they were not of the same genus. Both are commonly found in both Maryland and the Sacramento area.

The larger one was a great egret.

The smaller one was a snowy egret. Notice the yellow on its feet.

The water in the American River was very low. Even if you launched from the boat ramp, you'd quickly find yourself landlocked in a small pond.

Growing up here, drought was much more common than not. But things have gotten much worse. Some of this is due to climate change but it is also because of too many people using too much water over a very long time. It just isn't sustainable.

Norma and I got together with Ken for a 7.75 mile hike in Skyline Wilderness Park, Napa, California. We followed the route depicted at AllTrails - Lake Marie via Skyline Trail.

Our first stop on the hike was the California Native Habitat Martha Walker Garden. In 2002, this garden was named the first USA World Peace Garden. Peace gardens serve as a retreat for peaceful reflection on the beauty of nature and the ideals of living in harmony.

This photo shows some snowberries we found in the garden.

The Martha Walker Garden was built on the former Napa State Hospital dump. The garden was named after a Napa gardening icon. She shared her plant wisdom through a talk show and her gardening column in the Napa Register, "Let's Go Into the Garden." She also taught a weekly class at Napa College, "Adventures in Gardening."

In the garden, we saw a gomphaceae fungus.

Hiking up the Skyline Trail, we had lovely views of the town of Napa like the one shown in this blog's cover photo.

Napa is the second-largest city in California's Wine Country, after Santa Rosa.

The trail took us past a quarry.

I found a small bird nest.

To our south, we could see the wetlands near where the Napa River flows into San Pablo Bay.

In many areas, the trees are sparse so we had plenty of scenic views. It is this dry Mediterranean climate that yields fine wine grapes. Only 2% of the earth's surface is covered by a Mediterranean climate.

Here's the three of us near some ruins where we found a house foundation and a very elaborate chimney.

Norma and Ken on the Chaparral Trail.
As one might expect in California, it was a glorious sunny day and a great day to be outside.

A little later, we walked around Lake Marie and then crossed Lake Marie Dam.

We don't know what these ruins were. Any guesses? We saw it, other ruins, and some caves on Lake Marie Road.

Between two of the sections in the previous photo was this passageway.

We weren't the only ones that thought this place was interesting. Someone made a video about it and posted it at YouTube - Skyline, Napa ruins part 1.

Continuing on Lake Marie Road, we found this cave. It went in pretty far. A spring was flowing out of it.

This is Ken and me at another cave with water flowing out and ferns growing above. Ken and I have known each other since about the third grade. We also studied under the same Karate instructor. He is without a doubt, the friend I have known the longest.

The drive back started out scenic and curvy. Fortunately, I was sitting up front with Ken. Norma is less prone to motion sickness than me. Once we got on the highway, we hit rush hour traffic heading into Sacramento. It was easily as bad as Washington, D.C. traffic. Ken did all the driving and didn't complain. We made sure to feed him well once we got back to my parents' house. That leftover Thanksgiving turkey came in handy.

Norma and I looked into renting bicycles so we could ride on the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail. I have a lot of fond memories of biking on this trail when I was a teenager. But the part we would be on today wasn't built until I was an adult.

Finding a bike rental place wasn't so easy. There was one place in Fair Oaks that was very expensive and not as close to the trail as I would have liked. Then I found Practical Cycle in Folsom. This place couldn't have been in a better location. It was in historic Folsom, just a stone's throw from the trail. The staff was very friendly, their prices were reasonable, and their hybrid bikes were just what we wanted.

Norma and I biked about 14 miles, between the Lake Natoma Crossing Bridge (at Folsom Boulevard) and the Nimbus Fish Hatchery Bridge (at Hazel Avenue). Here is our view of the Lake Natoma Crossing Bridge as seen from Negro Bar. Lots of big boulders surrounded by clear water from the American River make this a great area to explore if you don't mind getting wet.

Pine cones out here are quite large. I was more concerned about wearing my helmet to protect from falling pine cones than from falling off my bike.

There are lots of rounded rocks along the trail.
This is just a tiny bit of the tailings left behind by the gold syndicates, much of it over a century ago. Pull over if you can and climb on it. Folsom began as a gold-rush town, and if you have the time, there's a lot of history to explore.
- from KQED - Geological Side Trips from Interstate 80: Through Folsom to Loomis

At our southern terminus was Nimbus Dam, which backs up the American River to create Lake Natoma. In the lake, we saw some kayakers and paddleboarders. I enjoy bicycling but I was a feeling a little jealous of the paddlers.

You can see the dam in this blog's cover photo.

Below is the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. When I was in high school, I would bike here from home. That's where the trail ended back then. Later, they extended it to Folsom Lake.

At the fish hatchery, we saw a lot of steelhead trout, waiting to return to the place they were born so they could lay eggs.

A fish ladder extends 1,900 feet from just downstream of the Nimbus Dam to the hatchery building. It is new as of this year. We saw a few fish jumping out of the water, wanting to get to the ladder, which hadn't yet opened. For more information, see KCRA - New fish ladder welcomes fall run chinook salmon at Nimbus Hatchery.

The water in Lake Natoma, which is the lake created by Nimbus Dam, is too cold for warmwater production of fish, and never has the lake been a natural producer of fish. The rapid water exchange from Nimbus Dam sharply decreases the production of plankton, which inhibits trout growth. The Department of Fish and Game annually plants Lake Natoma with 20,000 to 30,000 catchable-sized trout.
- from Wikipedia - Nimbus Dam

Here's another view of the dam but from the north side of the river.

Heading back, we got off the trail a bit. We rode on Parkshore Drive in Folsom, where we saw several wild turkeys crossing the road. It is not at all unusual to see wild turkeys in residential areas out here.

Overlooking the bike trail, we saw this red-shouldered hawk.

It was a great day for bicycling. We'll definitely be back and do some longer rides when the days aren't so short. Here's a map of the routes and trails in Folsom.

Before heading home, I picked up dinner for my family at Hop Sing Palace, a restaurant with a lot of history in Folsom.

Norma and I made sure to spend some time every day with my folks. We also helped with a few things around the house:

Set up a new mouse, desktop camera, USB-A cable extender, and printer.

Installed and updated software to include Teamviewer and Skype.

Set them up with Netflix streaming.

Pruned the persimmon tree.

Inspected the roof gutters and bird houses (still no sign of anyone taking up residence).

Sprayed herbicide on the weeds.

Made paw paw bread and paw paw pudding using pulp that we brought from Maryland.

Made wineberry crisp using berries we picked in Maryland.

Programmed their automated sprinkler system.

Dad doesn't get around like he used to but he still likes to get outside. So we took him for a short walk near their house. He is 93.

During our walk, Norma met a very friendly cat.

I was hoping to see some yellow-billed magpies. These only inhabit the Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mountains of California. I remember seeing a lot of them as a kid. Unfortunately, we didn't see any during our visit.

We did, however, see a scrub jay with an acorn.

A little later that day, we received a visit from my Aunt Kiyo, who is still going strong at 98.


Our final activity before boarding our flight the next morning was a walk along the American River. We started at River Bend Park. Back when I was a kid, it was called Goethe Park. But it was renamed in 2008.
The park was named after Charles M. Goethe about 40 years ago. He was a successful Sacramento developer and banker who gave away millions of dollars before he died in 1966. But he was also a strong supporter of eugenics. That's the early 20th Century white supremacist movement to breed better humans.
- from Central Public Radio - Goethe Park Renamed As River Bend Park

Walking through the park, we could see where Eppie's Great Race would start and end. I participated as a bicyclist on a three man team back when I was young. Triathlete Magazine proclaimed the Great Race as the World’s Oldest Triathlon. Like the gold rush, Pony Express, Sam Elliott (the actor), and Tesla (the band), Eppie's Great Race started in Sacramento.

We walked on the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail briefly but spent most of our time exploring the dirt paths in the William B. Pond Recreation Area. This is where I was first stung by a bee, around 10 years old. I didn't get stung again until I became a beekeeper, this year.

Near Arden Rapids, I spotted a belted kingfisher. I felt quite fortunate to get this shot because they aren't known for posing for photos in Maryland. But maybe the ones in Sacramento are.

In the calmer areas, lots of native mosquito fern grew in the water.

We saw some common goldeneye ducks.

The trail along the water faded away so we ended up bushwhacking a bit to get back to the main trail. A few days later, I noticed some blisters on my hand from what was likely an encounter with poison oak.

A covey of California quail ran ahead of us. It is the California state bird. This one is a male.

Here is a female quail. Their legs are extremely short but they are amazingly fast.

Here is a view looking northeast from the Harold Richey Memorial Bridge. I don't know anything about Harold Richey but I'm guessing he wasn't a white supremacist, otherwise, they would have changed the name of the bridge. During Eppie's Great Race, the paddlers would pull in here, sprint across the beach, run up a hill, and cross the finish line. My late Uncle Don was always one of the top finishers. Ken was also a regular participant.

Back in River Bend Park, we saw an acorn woodpecker doing what it does best...hoarding acorns. He appears on this blog's cover photo. Can you see the holes in the tree where he's stuffed acorns?

California quail may be the state bird but if there was a Sacramento bird, it should be the wild turkey. We saw at least 14 of them in River Bend Park. It isn't unusual to see them walking in other areas, including the suburbs or at my old university (which was largely funded by donations from Charles M. Goethe). So fitting to see them on Thanksgiving.

They are really beautiful birds, especially if the sun hits their feathers at the right angle.

Can you see their beards?
A Wild Turkey’s "beard" is the tuft that looks a bit like a miniature horsetail dangling from its breast. Year-old males have beards up to about five inches long, while toms three or more years old can have beards that are 10 inches or longer. Rarely, a tom will have one primary beard and one or two smaller beards just above it. About 5-10 percent of female turkeys may also sport short, thin beards.
The bristles in the cluster of stiff filaments are hair-like, but they are not hair. They are feather-like structures called mesofiloplumes. Their structural proteins are similar to those of feathers, but they lack a follicle and other characteristics of most feathers. Unlike feathers, turkey beards grow continuously. However, they suffer from wear and tear, so beards longer than 12 inches are not common.
- from Bird Watching Daily - Julie Craves explains Wild Turkey 'beards'


Later that night, we had a visit from my cousin Steve. He had been feeling a little under the weather earlier in the week so he didn't join us for any outings. But he did want to stop by and say hello.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do everything we wanted. I didn't get to see Arnie or Jodi. We also didn't get to do any tidepooling. I'd like to return during a supermoon and visit James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve or Moss Beach during the low tide to look for critters. I guess I'll just have to put that on my "to do" list for next time.

We left early in the morning. I made sure to not sleep much the night before so I could sleep on the plane.

At the airport, I saw a Lego vending machine. Never seen one of those before. It made me wonder what all else one could sell in a vending machine.

The flight home was as good as the flight heading to Sacramento was bad. Norma made sure to check in online within seconds of online check-in opening. That meant we could board early enough to sit together. We had a couple of layovers but no transfers. So when folks got off the plane, we were able to get an even better seat. There are two rows that have two seats instead of three so we snagged that. Those are the Cadillac seats.

The last time I saw my folks was September 24, 2019. Hopefully, it won't be two years before I see them again.