Fresno Forestiere Underground Gardens

I just realized that the theme for this trip should be “Eat, shop, and sleep.” Oh, and I guess I should add
“Searching for a place to spend the night!” 

On Wednesday, Nov 6, we headed for Fresno. After eating and shopping, we did do some sightseeing.
We visited the Forestiere Underground Gardens. We have been here many times and never found them
open. But, I was determined to finally visit them and we were lucky to find them open and offering tours.
The underground chambers built of hardpan sedimentary rock and supported with found objects was
started in 1906 by Baldassare Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant. He was a ditch digger and tunneler by
trade but wanted to be a citrus farmer. He bought 80 acres of land in Fresno and only when he started
digging found out it was all rock and had no soil for planting trees. But, since he was used to digging and
tunneling he realized he could build underground chambers and find enough soil to plant trees
underground. He had many clever ways of getting in light via light tubes in the ceilings; watering via
cisterns where he collected rainwater, The trees grew out of openings in the roof of his structures and
the fruit could be picked by stooping over at ground level! He created spaces where he could live in this
cooler area below the summer heat of Fresno. The work was a labor of love - much like Watts Towers or
the House on the Rocks in Wisconsin or many other such edifices built by visionary men. He eventually
managed to grow enough citrus (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc.) to live off the proceeds of their sales
and truly became a citrus farmer. Google it for some beautiful pictures.

The bath tub

After visiting this interesting Historic Landmark, we ate and went to bed!

Visiting UC Davis

Tuesday, Nov. 5 we were on the road again. We decided to visit UC Davis. The campus is just a few

miles west of Sacramento and has several sights open to the public. Of course, nothing is ever easy

and parking was a real problem - there wasn’t much to be had! We could pay $10 for an all day

pass, or find a meter to put quarters in. We ended up buying a 2 hour pass for $3.00 which was a

good decision for what we ended up doing.

UC Davis was started as an agricultural college and that was definitely the flavor of our visit. The first

thing we saw was the teaching vineyard. We really wanted to visit the Arboretum which is planted all

along the river at the south end of the campus. In driving around the campus we saw the large

animal section with lots of horses in and out of the stables. We also passed the small animal section,

but I only saw one dog! The Scrubs Cafe obviously catered to the student and teaching

veterinarians. 

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art opened at noon so we decided to visit that

first. The building was circular, one story, all white - very modern looking. The art work was mainly

done by former Davis students and faculty. It was all very interesting and modern. I liked the glazed

ceramics of Kathy Butterly. She made interesting shapes (a crushed soda can, a purse, a shoe, etc)

and painted them with colorful and whimsical designs. There was a large ceramic model of the home

of one of the faculty members - also with lots of fanciful and imaginative elements.

Don  at the Arboretum

Then we found parking by the Arboretum and walked there for awhile. The trees were beautiful and

there were a few roses and other blooms. We walked as far as the river, which looked more like a

lake at this point. The ducks were enjoying feeding and swimming in the water.

Suzanne - where else? the restrooms!

After such a pleasant and relaxing stop we had to get back on the road and look for camping. Again,

all of our favorite spots seem to have disappeared and we were forced to park in a Flying J truck

stop near Lodi.  Maybe it is time to go home!

Gold Country

On Saturday, November 2, we shook the Reno dust from our feet and headed west over the mountains.
It was a beautiful drive with lots of mountain passes (up to 8000 feet), pine trees and some color from
the aspens and other deciduous trees which are losing their leaves now. 

We stopped in Truckee for a break from the windy roads. It was a railroad town and is now a popular
spot for fishermen to load up and fish the Truckee River. We walked around and looked at some of the
tourist shops.

Suzanne in Truckee CA

From there we drove on to Grass Valley to visit Empire Mine State Historic Park. Gold was discovered
here in 1850 during the California Gold Rush days. The traditional placer-mining methods did not work
because the gold was embedded in quartz rock. So hard rock methods were used in which miners went
down in holes and blasted the rock out of tunnels. It was then crushed in the stamp mill and further
processed to remove the gold. The mine was active until the 1950s, which is sort of amazing. It has been
preserved by the state of California. We walked around and looked at the stamp mills, the buildings that
housed the mine manager, the assay office, the refinery, the warehouse; the welding, machine, and
blacksmith shops; the headframe and the hoist house; and lots of other equipment and decaying buildings
. 

Don at the Empire Cottage

The other half of the park was the beautiful homesite of the founder’s son, William Bowers Bourn, Jr.
The Empire Cottage was built in 1897. It is actually a two-story stone mansion set in a grassy park with
huge trees and several reflecting pools. There is also a formal garden filled with rose bushes and slightly
unkempt. We spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring this park.

Then we started looking for a camping spot. Don called several which said they were full. So, we drove
almost as far as Sacramento before deciding to stay in a travel plaza.

Kleinbub 2019 camping trip

We started our 2019 camping trip on Saturday, Oct. 26. I didn’t realize that we hadn’t used the camper
since Dec 2018, so it was a bit of an adjustment to drive, especially after driving my Bolt!

Our first night was spent celebrating Don’s birthday with our kids in Crestline. We left after mass and
breakfast on Sunday and drove to Yucca Valley. We found a friendly Wal-Mart, ate and slept.

On Monday we headed for Laughlin NV. We were able to get a camping spot in Riverside RV Park and
spent the night eating and sleeping! Tuesday was somewhat of a repeat as we drove to Las Vegas, got
a spot in the Main Street Casino RV Park and ate and slept! It has been a rather dull vacation so far - but
I think we both needed to get away and chill out!

Wednesday we were appalled to find that our favorite outlet mall in Vegas is now charging $7 to park.
Luckily the mall to the south does not charge for parking and has most of the same stores. So, I got my
shopping fix!

Thursday was a bust as we finally decided we must do something about the shimmying of our camper
when we were driving. We went to Wal-Mart to have the tires balanced and found that both front tires
(which Don had purchased after our last trip) were defective and starting to delaminate! So, we invested
in two more tires and traveled much more comfortably.

Thursday night we found a nice campground in Bishop and Friday we got to replenish our water and
empty our septic tank! We got to Carson City and decided to push on to Reno. Our favorite camping
spot does not take overnighters anymore, so we had to scramble around to find a Wal-Mart where
we could park.

I am sorry to be out of LA and miss all the excitement. I hope everyone is OK so far and we will find
everything back to normal when we get home, I hope I will have some more interesting news the
next time I write in this blog.

Visiting Harpers Ferry

Saturday, June 29, was our last day of DAR activities. We did some final research in the Library, voted for a new slate of National officers, decided that the National organization would now take over the Insignia business for NSDAR, and attended the evening ceremony during which we honored our military and veterans with several prestigious awards!

Bob, Holly, Samantha & Suzanne at Chadwicks

Sunday, we were back to being tourists. We drove to Harpers Ferry VA to visit the National Historic Park. It is the 75^th anniversary of establishing that park (it started out as a National Monument) so they had special activities for the week end. There were portrayers of Civil War people and events and also events from 1944 and WWII when the park was founded. My favorite was the WWII Dogs for Defense tent where they showed dogs trained to search for fugitives. Lots of people had their dogs and were interacting with the trained dogs.

Suzanne at the Point

The park is in a beautiful location (it is so sad to hear about the devastation during the Civil War, but it has certainly recovered). The Shenandoah River enters the Potomac River here which made it an extremely important location for transportation and industry. And that made it an important location for both the North and the South. We took a drive through some of the battlefields and tried to imagine what it must have been like to be a soldier fighting here.

The town itself has been restored after being flooded out several times and almost neglected after the War. The streets are hilly, but we did manage to hike up to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church to look at it and the view.

There was a large Irish contingent in the town and this was their church. There were also sites telling the story of John Brown who led a slave insurrection in October 1859. We also learned about the “Green Book” a travel book for African-Americans traveling in the 1940’s and telling them where they could find lodging and food.

DAR Continental Congress

We have been in Washington DC since Monday and we are enjoying a fairly low key time. We took the train from NYC to DC. The Shaffers picked us up in their rental car and we proceeded to their daughter’s house in Alexandria to stay with them there.

The next 4 days were spent attending DAR activities at their 108^th Continental Congress. We spent time in their extensive research library working on our genealogy. We visited the shops set up in the hallways of Continental Hall and bought items made by the students at our DAR schools. The Museum Shop and other DAR groups also had items for sale.

A packed hall for opening night at Continental Congress

Each evening there is a special program showcasing DAR programs and activities. The first evening we heard “George Washington” telling us about the period before the Revolutionary Was from his point of view.  The second evening we heard from the winners of the various DAR essay competitions. What well spoken children they were. It gives you hope for our next generation.  The All American DAR Chorus also performed. Samantha and I sang in it and it was a joy to join our voices with over one hundred women to sing Patriotic songs.

Don and Bob visited Fredericksburg VA to see George Washington’s boyhood home.

They also toured the Spy Museum. We have helped Samantha in projects around her new home and enjoyed some nice meals here and in restaurants.

Our last two days in New York

The view from our hotel room!

Our last two days in New York City and we are winding down. Our bucket list is getting depleted along with our energy!

On Saturday, June 22, we visited the Turtle Bay Festival. The city closed Lexington Avenue from 42^nd Street to 54^th and vendors set up food stalls, craft booths, and information carts. There was all kinds of food – corn on the cob, turkey legs, ethnic dishes, bakery items, etc. Too bad we had just eaten our usual buffet breakfast at the hotel. There were lots of jewelry vendors, clothing, leather goods, hats, gadgets for all kinds of use – on and on. It reminded me a lot of going to the swap meet in Quartzsite AZ. It was a beautiful day for shopping – the rain had stopped and the sun was out.

Times Square from the top of the TKTS Booth

In the afternoon we went to TKTS in Times Square and got tickets for a musical “The Prom.” It was a cute show, very good dancing, great singers and actors, but not so memorable music.

On Sunday we went to mass at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle near Columbus Circle. It is the mother church of the Paulists, so it felt like home. After mass we spent some time looking around the shops at Columbus Circle and visited the Museum of Arts and Design. This was another museum with 6 floors of exhibits. Two of the floors were dedicated to punk graphics – art work celebrating bands, writers, and artists from 1976 to 1986. Unfortunately, our lives had gone in different directions at that time, so none of the items resonated with us.  I thought I might like the floor with futuristic jewelry, but that was a little outlandish and unwearable. Even the gift shop was way out of my price range. I did enjoy looking at the works by Roger Brown.

Suzanne in front of a Roger Brown installation

He does still lives using the many objects he collected over the years. He does a painting and incorporates the objects into the painting via a shelf that he places them on. I thought his juxtaposition of the objects and the colors in the paintings was lovely and his style was clean and simplistic. He died in California, but this is the first I had heard of him.

We decided to call it a day and came back to the hotel to get ready to leave tomorrow.

Visiting places in New York City

An exquisite embroidery at the Rubin

Friday, June 21 – the summer solstice! Our friends left for their next adventure and we set off to do some things from our bucket list of New York activities.

Since it was still drizzling we jumped right on the bus to head to Grand Central Station. We found the shuttle to Times Square where we transferred to the #1 Subway. We got off at 18^th Street to visit the Rubin Museum of Art. This is a 6 floor building dedicated to explore Himalayan art and the power of objects and intentions. The exhibits were really about the history of Buddhism and Hinduism in Tibet and China.

Suzanne at the Monument

Then it was back on the subway to visit Stonewall National Monument. I thought maybe I could get a stamp for my National Park passport – but there is no visitor center there yet. There is a small park on Sheridan Square at Christopher Street. It has been fifty years since the Stonewall Inn was the center of riots for gay rights. The Inn is still open, and there were lots of people around celebrating Gay Pride Month and the day of the Summer Solstice.

In this same area we found the New York City AIDS Memorial. It was a beautiful park with a huge white screen covering a black circle water feature with a floor inscribed with a Walt Whitman poem. I found it very moving and restful.

After listening to some rather dull music in Sheridan Square, we headed out to find our way to Madison Square Park to see what was new there. I love this park. It is so beautiful with lots of flowers, greenery and squirrels! There is always a new art exhibit for the summer. This year there wasn’t much art, but they seemed to have a lot more flowers in flower boxes.

Don enjoys the colorful balloons in Madison Square Park

We finished up the day with dinner at the Pure Thai Cook House on 9^th Avenue at 51^st Street.

Around the peninsula of Manhattan

Thursday was the last day we had to spend together. The Shaffers leave tomorrow for Washington DC and we will stay on in NYC for three more days.

We took the Circle Line boat tour around the island of Manhattan. Unfortunately, today it was only a peninsula tour as the tide was in and we could not go under the bridges that crossed the Harlem River. We only got to go north as far as 95^th Street on the East River and about the same distance on the Hudson River. But, it was fun seeing the buildings of the City from a new prospective. I learned that the structure I was trying to describe yesterday in Hudson Yards is called The Vessel. It’s design was inspired by the Stepwells in India. These are wells dug down to the ground water level. Then the sides of the well are lined with steps so people could actually walk down into the well to collect their water. So the Vessel is actually an above ground stepwell with people walking up from the bottom of the well as far as they want to.

After the boat trip we decided to have an iconic New York meal and go to a deli for dinner. There are many delis to choose from, although considerably fewer delis have survived over the years. We went to Ben’s Deli on 45^th and 3rd Avenue. It was quite satisfactory for our last New York meal together. We also got to experience our last time traveling through the congested streets of New York on the crowded buses. Luckily it only rained when we were inside, so we did not have to wait for buses in the rain!

Keeping dry in NYC

Our next two days in NYC were spent trying to schedule activities to stay out of the rain. Luckily the heaviest rain seems to have occurred while we were inside and we only had a few sprinkles to deal with otherwise.

We visited the Museum of the City of New York which is the best place to go if you want to learn about the early history of the city and all the changes it has gone through. This is a very information dense museum and well worth a visit.

Hildie and the film maker, Christian

We saw a documentary film about the Pennsylvania Dutch. It was made by the cousin of my friend, Hildie. So, we met up with her, had a German dinner, and went to the German embassy near the United Nations building to see the film. Hopefully, it will come to a theater near you some day!

We went to look at all the construction in the Hudson Yards. This is a totally brand new area taking over the former train tracks and delivery area on the Hudson River. There are skyscrapers, shopping malls, and gardens being built. They have a huge sculpture made of steel pallets interwoven to form a tall oval shape. People can climb up and have a great view of the city. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Holly, Suzanne, and Bob 

We saw another play, “Ink.” It is the story of Rupert Murdoch when he started the tabloid newspaper, the “Sun” in competition with the “Mirror” on Fleet Street in London. The staging was spectacular and the acting top notch. We all enjoyed it. We also enjoyed shopping in the M & M store on Times Square afterwards.

Public art works in New York City

Suzanne trapped in an untitled sculpture

Sunday we were threatened with rain, which never materialized. We started the day visiting Rockefeller Center to look at the art exhibit –the Frieze Sculptures. It consisted of a variety of sculptures in front of the Comcast Building (originally known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza).  They were all pretty modern and untitled. We were more interested in going inside the building to see about the Diego Rivera mural, which has long since been destroyed and replaced by murals by Jose Maria Sert in shades of brown!

Then it was on to mass at the iconic St. Patrick Cathedral and over to Times Square to buy tickets for a play. We saw “The Ferryman,” an award winning play which took place in 1981. It was about an Irish family living through the time of “the troubles” in Ireland.

On Monday the Shaffers went off on a seven hour bus trip to visit four of the boroughs. Don and I took a bus up Broadway, getting off at stops to look at the Birds on Broadway exhibit. It seems that every year the city picks an artist to do a series of sculptures and sets them up on the Broadway Malls – the green space down the center of Broadway. We had seen the first one on Saturday by Lincoln Center. Today we saw the ones on 79^th, 86^th, 96^th, 105^th, and 117^th.

Don and the bittern sculpture

By that time we were tired of getting on and off the bus, so we decided to give it up! We came home via a lovely bus ride on the #5 bus. It goes on Riverside Drive which runs along the park by the Hudson River.

In the evening we took our husbands out for a belated Father’s Day dinner at the Toscana 49 restaurant which is just around the corner from the hotel.

First Day in New York City

Friday, June 14 and we are heading off again to New York City and Washington DC. This time we are traveling with our friends, Holly and Bob. After an hour and a half delay we had an uneventful flight from LAX to Newark Airport in New Jersey. We took the bus to New York City and found our way from Grand Central Station to our hotel, The Renaissance Inn by Marriott on 48^th Street between Lexington and 3^rd Avenue. We have a very nice room on the 11^th Floor.

Holly & Suzanne at Lincoln Center

For our first day here, on Saturday, we managed to travel from Lincoln Center near Central Park to Staten Island and walk about 3 ½ miles to do that! We picked up brochures at Lincoln Center, admired the fountain in the central plaza, and got our first glimpse of the outdoor art work sponsored by the City. We saw the Red-Necked Grebe – a huge statue of that bird made from recycled wood and sporting two baby grebes riding on his back. This is the first in a series of 12 statues of endangered species birds placed along Broadway from here to 190^th Street.

Suzanne and the Red-Necked Grebe

Then we led Holly and Bob on a whirlwind subway ride to the end of the line in Battery Park and got on the Staten Island Ferry. We rode it to Staten Island, turned around and came back. It is a lovely way to see the harbor and the Statue of Liberty and appreciate the changing skyline of New York City as you come back.

We spent some time looking at the World Trade Center, the new Subway Station that looks like a huge white bird, and  the 9/11 Memorial before we headed back to the hotel. Day 1 in New York City!

Impressions of Italy

We have been back from Italy since the beginning of May and I am finally feeling caught up and ready to move on. However, several people have asked about my impressions of Venice and Italy, so I thought I would pass on a few thoughts.

My main thought is that there were very few surprises on this trip. Our world has become so small, we see so much on TV and the movies, and hear so much from friends, and have become so multicultural in this country, that sometimes I think we have seen it all. That seemed particularly true in Italy.

Since both California and Italy have Mediterranean climates I noticed that the vegetation was very much like ours. There were lots of vineyards. And, the places we were were close to the ocean so we often saw the sea along with the rivers and lakes. So the countryside really reminded me of California. We saw lots of poppies and yellow flowers – so reminiscent of driving our Pacific Coast Highway.

The food was good, but not better than we get in our own Italian restaurants. Different regions in Italy have their own cuisine and our guide told us that they would never make combinations of certain things. I guess we are not so fussy here, because we do eat different pastas and other ingredients in many combinations. I missed butter on my bread!

We noticed that there are no fat Italians! All the walking and healthy food must be to blame. Our guide told us that Italians do not ascribe to the “eat everything on your plate” syndrome. They were so deprived after WWII that now they want to show their recovery by being overly generous with food. You are not expected to eat it all, just appreciate the fact that it is available and given to you. Almost every meal has a pasta course served first along with a secunda or main course.

We had some beautiful sunny days. But a lot of times it was cold and gloomy. When it rained the wind was so cold and the rain came down in buckets. The toll roads were well maintained and traffic was heavy, but calm. We didn’t see too many trucks in the small towns we visited.

One thing I noticed was there were no homeless to be seen and very few people with their hands out! I did read in one place that Italy, being a socialist country, provided everyone with a place to stay and some welfare money. The streets were basically clean and the people polite and helpful.

We saw lots of dogs and not too many cats. The people walking their dogs often had them off leash, but they followed right along. Even when they went potty, the owners seemed to notice and came back to pick it up.

I loved the canals and riding the vaporetto. It might be hard to live walking and riding in boats, but it was fun to be a tourist and travel by canals and bridges. The lack of cars, scooters, and skate boards was quite refreshing! I loved all of the old buildings and great variety of architectural styles. Can you imagine what it must have been like when they were all new and painted and fresh? However, I still felt like I had “been there, done that” since Venice is so well pictured in our media. I am not so much of a “museum” person, but Italy is certainly the place to get your fill of museums and art. Some say it is the best place in the world for that.

All in all it was a great trip – but I am glad to be home!

Last day in Venice

It is Wednesday, May 8 and our last day in Venice.It does not feel like we have been here a week, and yet when I read what we have done it feels like a month. We had a couple places in mind for today, but also decided to just play it by ear. We ended up doing some last minute souvenir shopping which was fun. We hadn’t done much of that previously.

Our first stop today was the Frari Church, formally known as Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. This Gothic basilica, one of the largest churches in Venice was built in 1340 - 1430 and is run by the Franciscan friars. It is truly St. Mary Glorious as many of the paintings are Madonnas and other versions of the Blessed Mother’s life. We were impressed with the magnificent sculptured tombs of Titian, Pesaro, and Canova (his heart is buried here). I liked the rows of beautiful wood choir stalls hidden behind a highly decorated Baroque wall and was all ready to put on a concert!

Canova's tomb

Wall in front of choir stalls

After wondering all over this San Polo area we found the church of San Polo on the edge of the Campo San Polo, one of the largest squares in Venice. This church, dedicated to St. Paul, is the third Venetian church to have a wooden ceiling shaped like a ship’s hull. It was built in the 9th Century. It also had a separate chapel with the 14 Stations of the Cross painted by Tiepolo. They were quite striking, but I did not like his portrait of Jesus. Tintoretto's “Last Supper” was also on view.

We ended the day by returning to St. Mark’s Square to see it in better weather (although it did start to rain just as we were leaving.) We had our pass to tour the Correr Museum which is located in the wing of buildings (known as Napoleon’s wing because he built it) directly opposite St. Marks. The museum showcases rooms with frescoed ceilings and period furniture, rooms with maps and globes from centuries past, models of buildings and ships from historical periods, and much else. I liked seeing the statues of Canova since we just learned about him last week. There is also an archeological section and a library and more paintings upstairs, which we did not visit.

Now it is time to get organized to head for home early tomorrow morning!