Summer 15

Once a haven for romance, adventure, and escape in a dusty farm town. Now? Like the farm town, passed by. Sierra theater in Delano, CA. Per Cinema Treasures (link below), it opened in 1946 and stopped functioning as a theater in 2008. It looks like the facade could be interesting with just a little retouching. cinematreasures.org/theaters/3841

Boeing B-52D Stratfortress, huge and very evil looking. This particular bomber was in service from 1957 to 1982 and included bombing over Vietnam. Later versions were used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and over Afghanistan in 2001. See: www.castleairmuseum.org/boeingb52d

The image of power, Boeing B-52D Stratfortress, used in Vietnam, first Persian Gulf War, and Afghanistan. (See adjacent picture).

B-36 Peacemaker, in service from 1946 until replaced by the B-52, with the last one ending service in 1959. With 6 prop engines and 4 jet engines, a huge plane central to US nuclear capability during its time. I was glad that the museum was relatively empty that day, seeing these massive planes (including the B-52) was a sobering reminder of the closeness we have come to obliterating humankind through use of the Peacemaker. See: www.castleairmuseum.org/convairrb36h

The shell of a Mark 17 hydrogen bomb that would have been carried by the B-36.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress, used almost exclusively in the Pacific in WWII, it was B-29's that carried the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The planes were also used in the Korean war. This plane is actually an amalgamation of three planes, though the nose art (why is the killing devil female?) is a reproduction that was on one of the the three. See: www.castleairmuseum.org/boeingb29a

At Oracle offices in Belmont, a racing yacht (or replica) of the Oracle Team's. I was surprised to see this since Oracle's pushing for the America's Cup to be held in San Francisco in 2013 came with quite a bit of controversy about environmental impact, costs to the city, representation of the benefits to the city, and the appropriateness of the city's involvement in an elite sport.

What remained of Candlestick Park, torn down because SF wouldn't build a stadium for the 49'ers. If you look close you'll see that the remaining portion of the stadium (in red) is quite large, dwarfing some earth moving equipment that is in front of it. This is taken from near the point used in the picture linked below where I'm to the left of that red structure. Remnants of the "Home of the 49ERS..." banner seen in that picture are evident in this picture. See: SF Candlestick Park politics (0986)

Meandering through the northern, Sacramento Valley, portion of the Central Valley, Knights Landing was the first place I came to where I finally felt I was getting away from urban sprawl. Founded in 1843 it was once a steamboat landing on the Sacramento river and a communication point between the Sacramento Valley and other parts of the state. What appears to have been the downtown is small and now abandoned, though the abandoned bank building is surprisingly large (for a small town) and the gold trim is kept up quite nicely. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Landing,_California

CA-133 Knights Landing drawbridge over the Sacramento river, built in 1933. The faded green sign below the level of the bridge is directions on how to request that the bridge be raised. Considering the time at which the bridge was built, I would assume the New Deal to have played some role in its construction, but I could find no evidence of that.

CA-20 bridge over the Sacramento River at Meridian, CA. Per Bridgehunter (link below) this is a swing bridge. Embedded in the railing on each end were crossing arms, but the only way that it could open would be to rotate on the piling on the right and I don't see where there would be clearance for it to do that. However, the fact that it swings open would explain why such a short bridge is a suspension bridge. Bridgehunter link: bridgehunter.com/ca/sutter/180008

So I was hurrying along on a rural road north of Colusa and saw this odd pillar on the side with a base around it and plaques, but nothing on the highway indicating that there was a historic monument here. This was the beginning of what turned out to be a theme on this trip -- forgotten memorials. This is to Wiliam B Ide, President of the California Republic; monument erected in 1949 (see adjacent pictures).

Plaque describing Ide's public service: "Early California Pioneer, Member of Original Bear Flag Party....First and Only President of "California Republic". Given the talk in recent years of the secession of a portion of northern California to the state of Jefferson, I would have thought that more attention would have been paid to this monument. See also the plaque in the next picture.

Interesting on this plaque is its noting that Ide is buried somewhere nearby in an unlocated grave. Also, this was the first that I saw NDGW/NSGW as originators of plaques. NDGW/NSGW are Native Daughters/Sons of the Golden West, fraternal organizations founded in the late 1800's for preservation of California history; members must be native Californians.

On CA-299 near Nubieber, in Lassen County.

On CA-299 just west of Nubieber. I mainly stopped to take this because of the sunset shadows, but then I noticed an unmarked monument over on the right (see adjacent photos).

A memorial to an unknown soldier, on the side of CA-299, not marked by highway signs and seemingly largely forgotten, though someone did place a flag there. See adjacent photo.

"In memory of an unknown soldier who was buried here about 1870 on this the old military road which ran from Ft Bidwell in Modoc Co to Ft Crook Shasta Co" Marker placed in 1939 by NDGW/NSGW (Native Daughters/Sons of the Golden West)