pretty as it was when we visited here in 2008. We had hoped to stay in their city park again, but since they were still recovering from 65 feet of snow and it wasn’t open yet, we kept going up
and over the Sierra’s.
At Placerville we detoured through the old downtown hoping to see a cappuccino stop for Fred, but only found a lot of
neat old buildings. For our weekend stay, we targeted a Passport America stop in Citrus Heights on the NE side of Sacramento. It turned out to be a Mobile Home Park for those over 55. We really think they are all over 75. They host overnighters like us in sites that happen to be vacant. Out of over 100, there were eight available. We chose a spot wide enough for three of us and twice as long. Next door was a lemon tree which temped us both. Soon we found it was ours! Now we have a nice supply of very good lemons. We believe this is the quietest camp we have had. Many of the lots were full of flowers making the whole park very pretty.
Saturday, April 23, we explored Sacramento starting with a wonderful
farmer’s market several miles from where we were parked, but close to one of the downtown freeways. Our next job was to find their downtown visitor center and again Daisy came in handy because this visitor center was in ”Old Sacramento” and it was difficult to locate. We found the visitor center and the area to be charming. Historic Old Sacramento dates back to 1848 when the discovery of gold attracted prospectors and entrepreneurs in search of adventure and riches on the riverfront. Old Sacramento was the last stop on the
Pony Express route, the terminus of the transcontinental railroad and housed the original California Supreme Court Chambers. Today, the area’s history is a rich backdrop for exploring all that Old Sacramento has to offer, from dining and shopping to entertainment and culture. Encompassing 28 accessible acres and home to 53 historic buildings, Old Sacramento was the perfect place to explore hidden alleyway gems and underground secrets.
Victorian couples out for the Easter Stroll to show off their new bonnets. We found that the streets for Sacramento were in a square grid and they were laid out by Sherman before the War Between the States. They are all still there for miles out of Old Sacramento.To retrace Cecil’s (Olivia’s Dad) steps, we found the
Blue Diamond Almond factory and sampled all flavors of the tasty nut. They have eliminated the factory tour, but the samples and store is still there. YUM! Ever tasted jalapeno smokehouse, salt & vinegar, blazing buffalo wing flavored almonds? These are just a few of the new flavors. We were full when we left the store. Sunday, April 24, Happy Easter everyone! We hope you found lots of Easter Eggs and had a glorious church service. We attended the
Central United Methodist Church in East Sacramento. They had beautiful
stain glass windows in the front curve of the building and side of the sanctuary. One of their pastors told about their blending the new with the old and thinking outside the box. They will be attending a conference in Seattle this week to learn about young progressive members in an old church. This church is also 150 years old like ours.
The altar was covered with
crosses similar to the one in Lithuania. The past weeks they have built their altar by placing boxes and tables first, then covering them with cloth. Next came some larger crosses made by the congregation with the furnished planks and (brown string). Last week they made palm leaf crosses and placed them on the larger ones. Today flowers were added. If you want to see about the cross mountain in Lithuania go to: http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2007/03/22/hill-of-crosses-in-lithuania/
This was very effective and had involved the whole congregation.
During the service the other pastor spoke to the children and then the congregation by asking them three questions. It was a great audience participation and witness:
1. What have you done well this week to recognize God?
2. What have you done to harm others?
3. How have you worshiped God?
This could be done any Sunday. It was a very nice Easter service. We hope your day was happy.
We also drove by
Sutter’s Fort and were surprised it was brick.
Monday, April 25 we departed Sacramento to the north through Lincoln and Marysville to Oroville and our chosen State Recreation Area on Lake Oroville. When we finally arrived we did a reverse take. They wanted $40 a night! Way above our budget. We turned around and entered their visitor center to ask about other locations. We did enjoy the
beautiful with oak trees all around and for only $9. It wasn’t in the exact location we wanted, but it was in our price range.
Tuesday, April 26 we took off for a short sightseeing tour around the Sacramento River valley nearby. Our first stop was in Corning, the “Olive Capitol,” to have a tour of 
Lucero Olive Oil best known for their “Best of Class” award for their Mission Olive Oil and they only make "Extra Virgin Olive Oil." We learned it is family owned and operated by three generations. 
Dewey is the young man who started making olive oil in his parent’s garage and it has grown in just a few years to a large operation. They bottle for William Sonoma among others and are now worldwide. At home it can be found in Whole Foods.
Many of their century-old trees continue to flourish in the Lucero family groves. We learned they pick all colors of olives and press them for a blend of flavors. 40%green/60%mature or black gives higher yields of oil and a better flavored olive oil. For centuries olives have been “knocked” to the ground on mats or tarps by sticks. There are several steps to process the oil.
We also found out their bottles come from Italy and a 250 ml bottle of oil it takes 8 pounds of olives. They can produce 500-1000 bottles in a day and can ship 30 packages daily. We tasted lots of oils, olives, dips, balsamic vinegar, and a chocolate oil sundae. Delish! Fred says the best by far was the balsamic vinegar. They accept on-line orders. www.lucerooliveoil.com
Corning was also a big truck stop area for IH-5 and they had three truck wash places. We checked out two places to return to the next day.
Heading east we drove to Los Molinos and Dairyville hoping to find strawberries and other fruits but didn’t find any of the orchards or fruit stands open. We ended up in Red Bluff and explored the Tehama Fairground before finding a forest camp on the Sacramento River. We decided to come back here the next day.
Back at Black Buttes Lake we found four more trailers had pulled into this pretty camp. We introduced ourselves and found them a group from Quincy, CA, in the high Sierra’s. They told us about road closures and sights to see. One couple had been to Alaska and they gave us some good pointers for our trip.
Wednesday, April 27 we packed up and headed back to Corning for a good trailer wash, then on to Red Bluff and the Red Bluff Recreation area. After setting up in their forest camp we walked over to the visitor center. After finding out why the dam gates were open Fred asked a hundred questions.
The dam, built in 1960's isn’t very high and doesn’t impound much water. However it did create a small lake which the townspeople learned to use and love. Soon after completion, it was realized there wasn’t a fish ladder and spawning fish were prevented from their up-river run. They added one, but now find the sturgeon wouldn't use the ladder. Steelhead, salmon and others would, but not sturgeon.
So why build such a small dam that causes such damage to the fish? The major valley irrigation canal must be fed with water and this is perfect point to do so. The canal can be fed by raising the river only about 12 feet. The dam does this. So what is the government solution to the fish spawning problem? Starting the first of 2012, the dam gates will be permanently re-opened. So how will they feed the irrigation canal? Well that will be done with a $210 billion pumping station! There are no plans for the use of the dry city lake. There may be a few more wrinkles to this story we obtained from an unhappy local source.
Another couple came in. We visited and found out she had lived in Midland and his family was from Muleshoe. Now they were locals so we asked where we might find local strawberries. They told us several locations where vendors were set up. After we returned to the trailer and were settling in, here they came, with
with strawberries! And they wouldn't let us pay them. Wow, what a random act of kindness!
Too bad Olivia didn’t take a picture when the box was full. It didn’t take us long to finish off a basket. So sweet!
We were having a problem with all of the red tape that goes with Muddie’s death (Olivia’s mom) and a form came for us to apply for her sister’s death certificate in Denton Co. We are having to prove Muddie’s parents, 2 sisters and husband have all passed so Olivia can receive a small life insurance policy. Since we do not have a printer it is a challenge to find a place to take if off a jump drive and print it for us. We went to two places and neither could do it. Back to square one!
For those of you that didn’t know Olivia lost her mother Feb 16 and Fred lost his mother March 29. We are now both orphans.
Thursday, April 28, After stopping at our visitor center to ask a few questions, and acquiring the strawberry couples address for a “thank you,” we found out the director could print our form! Yeah!
We headed out to see Lassen Volcanic National Park about fifty miles to our east. As we neared the top we 
saw lots of snow. Then at the park entrance we could barely see the 
gate and the 
visitor center. Look hard for the roof lines. The ranger inside was most informative about all the volcanoes in the park. There are four kinds of volcanoes. The cinder cone, shield cone (like a dome), the composite cone, and plug dome. All four of these volcanoes are found in Lassen Volcano National Park and all are active. Lassen Peak is one of the many active, dormant, or extinct volcanoes found around the Pacific Ocean in the Ring of Fire. It formed 27,000 years ago as a volcanic vent on the northern flank of Brokeoff Volcano. It is one of the world’s largest plug dome volcanoes, rising 2,000 feet to an elevation of 10,457 feet. It’s last three eruptions occurred between 1914 and 1916 and serves as a century-long example of how Mt St. Helens might recover from it’s 1980 eruptions.
The park lies at the southern end of the Cascade Range, which is a chain of active volcanoes that stretches north to Mount Garibaldi in British Columbia. We will see others including Mt Shasta just a few miles to the north. We saw Crater Lake, Mt Adams, Mt Rainer and Mt St Helens in Oregon four years ago. This park also has many hot springs, geysers, and mud pots like Yellowstone.
One of the volcanoes was appropriately named Brokeoff. It was once a massive andesitic composite volcano named Mt Tehama. Two ice ages and 100,000 years later, glacial scouring and weathering have eroded its central cone. As it collapsed the ring made several peaks. The relief map showed 
how this huge volcano was originally formed. At the time it was much taller than the current tallest Mt Lassen shown above and to the right of the lights.
Back at the trailer, when Olivia talked to her friend Patti she was asked if we had the TV channel set for “The Wedding?” She was told it was during the night. So we raised the antennae and sure enough we had service. Olivia turned on the TV and we went to sleep. About 2:45 Olivia woke up just in time to see William and Catherine come into Westminister Abbey and watched the whole beautiful service. This reminded her of Charles and Diana’s wedding when she woke up the girls to watch in the middle of the night and when as a child she watched Queen Elizabeth and Phillip marry. She also watched Queen Elizabeth’s coronation at Ferris Ward Elementary School. At that time most housed didn't have TV's so the school furnished one for the whole school to watch. We're sure the screen was only 12."
Friday, April 29 we headed north on I-5 against our better judgment of traveling the freeways. We were pleasantly surprised at the lack of traffic along this stretch and the scenery was very nice too. Along the drive we could look east and see
Mt Lassen. Then soon we crossed 
Lake Shasta. It is a huge lake on both sided of the highway. It is narrow and has lots of fingers and what we saw of it was beautiful.
Our first big anticipated site was Mt Shasta. We were disappointed that a 
little cloud grew larger and larger as we approached. Look hard on the right side for the outline of the mountain. When we arrived at the town of Mt Shasta it was totally covered.
As we neared Oregon we went over several large hills and grades and entering Oregon it started 
snowing on us and was sticking to the trees even though the air temperature was only in the mid thirties.
This ends letter 5 about Sacramento and California. We entered Oregon and camped at Valley of the Rogue between Ashland and Grant’s Pass.
Next letter will be Oregon.
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Email us at Olivia@bobheck.com or fredharrington@yahoo.com
