ROAD TRIP! Exploring Life in the Northland...

The coast by Heceta Head, Florence, OR

 It was a road trip for fun; it was a research trip for the future. My daughter and her husband lived in Portland for a year a while back, and I’ve had many friends who were nostalgically familiar with Portland, Eugene and southern Oregon. To experience a real Autumn, with deciduous trees in a Trix bowl of colors, a mild winter (maybe even snow!), a cooler summer – it all had appeal, not only as a place to visit, but for a possible migration north. The water situation in northern California is not a good one. Snow in the Sierras seems to get thinner-to-non-existent every year, and our water supply largely stems from snowmelt (we won’t mention here about how LA and points in between are bleeding off what water we have – see the movie Chinatown for that story). California is experiencing its most severe drought in recent history. Lake Shasta is currently at 53% total capacity (more about the current water conditions in California and the Bureau of Reclamation's webpage).

Traffic has reached critical levels; the expense of living in the Bay Area surrounding San Francisco has crept up like a starving tiger thanks to the dotcom super-salary boom, and California is burning.
 It’s a concern for the future. Leaving this gorgeous place for good would require at least a lateral move (same quality of life and beauty, less traffic and expense). The image of wet and green Oregon was more than tempting – so Ms. Nikki (my daughter) and I decided to test the water, so to speak. It was illuminating.

Angel Fest: Blue Angels on Angel Island

Friend Jenny and I took the ferry out from Tiburon on October 8 to Angel Island State Park, then a shuttle to Point Knox across the bay from San Francisco to see the beginning of Fleet Week. The Navy's Blue Angels Jet Team performed along with the Breitling Jet Team from France and a number of other stunt flyers. The air show ran from noon to 4PM; the seven-member Breitling team from 2-3PM (their vapor trails and maneuvers were particularly intricate) and the Blue Angels in the last hour (tight formations are a hallmark of this team). Different websites cited different times, though I understand the Angels ALWAYS perform between 3 and 4PM. The jets sound like thunder, and the sound reaches you well after the airplanes have moved past. The most thrilling moment for me was when the Blues arrived over our heads on Angel Island, flying in from points north.
Here's my brief video of moments from the day.


For an amazing video of the Breitling Team over New York, see this YouTube. It makes you want to be a jet pilot (or at least buy a very expensive watch).

Gold Country/Columbia, Gem of the Mother Lode

Strolling the streets of Columbia (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Everyone has heard the story of Sutter’s Mill, and how workman James Wilson Marshall found a few flakes of shiny stuff in a nearby brook in 1848; word spread to San Francisco and the subsequent gold rush built that city from a sleepy Spanish colony of 1,000 souls to a megalapolis of 100,000 in a year. Miners competing for claims spread out, and gold was found in the town of Columbia in 1850, many miles south of the original discovery site; between the first grains panned out of a boulder-strewn stream and the early 1900s, $87 million in gold was removed from the surrounding hills. Unlike many boomtowns of the Mother Lode, Columbia wasn’t deserted when easier methods of gold extraction petered out: because the lack of flowing water in the area didn't lend itself to destructive placer mining, the town remained a pleasant place to live. Though the population dwindled from several thousand to less than 500 at a low point, locals lobbied to make the town into a State Historic Park, succeeding in 1945. Buildings that were once hazardous were refurbished over time to create a sort of *Williamsburg West of the Gold Rush period (without the high prices to get in the buildings—all of the buildings, parking, and tours are free in Columbia).

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

Though the historic part of town covers only a few blocks, many buildings have costumed interpreters that enlighten visitors as to who lived and worked there (the nonprofit Friends of Columbia sponsors interpretation and education). A stagecoach takes riders around the town for a fee, and many of the storefronts house real businesses; some with touristy souvenirs, others with more substantial products like leatherwork and ironwork. 

Hot babe on the Fire Engine

There are displays of authentic period goods in a few buildings (the pharmacy and firehouse are particularly interesting), a couple of restaurants, and a playhouse that features modern performances. 


Two of the original hotels of the era are nicely refurbished and open for business: the Columbia City Hotel (most rooms have a toilet and sink, with shower down the hall) and the Fallon Hotel; both run from $50 to $105 per night, depending on choice of room. The state park has also fixed up three “modern” cottages in town ($115-155).

The upstairs parlor of the Columbia Hotel

Yes, it is touristy, though not at the level of Disneyland, where every shop sells trinkets emblazoned with Mickey Mouse. It's more of a cross between a well-preserved ghost town and a small-town downtown. I found the interpreters—often volunteers—to be a friendly font of information—they love what they do. In a following blog, I’ll review a few of my favorite places in this charming little historic town.

Inside the Pharmacy (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Columbia State Historic Park, 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia CA 95310

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=552

Map to this location

*You can read about Federal-era Williamsburg, VA in MoonHandbook: Chesapeake Bay

 All Photos by Joanne Orion Miller unless otherwise noted.