RTH Gravesite

My dad died twenty years ago this month, 10 days shy of his 53rd birthday.

He is buried at the Masonic Lawn Cemetery, plot 253, in Sacramento.

Lake Almanor 2002

After the 2002 trip to Lake Almanor, I posted a number of pictures from the trip on individual web pages on my site. I took some time to recognize those pictures into an album on Google's new picasaweb site. The new Lake Almanor 2002 photo album can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/heringermr/Almanor2002

Photo albums are also on-line for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 trips to Lake Almanor.

Google Checkout

Google Checkout

CA Historical Landmark #594

Site of China Slough
California State Historical Landmark #594
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
See this location on Google Maps
The site of the slough, which formerly extended from 3rd to 5th Streets and north of I Street in Sacramento, is now occupied by the Southern Pacific depot. There are 57 other California State Historical Landmarks in Sacramento County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 35.020 W 121° 30.020.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.



In the early 1800's, the slough was an arm of the river. As late as 1849, schooners coming from San Francisco would moor in what is now known as China Slough.

The history of the current depot site began when the railroad was deeded a wetland known as China Slough for its shops, and built its first shop buildings—wood frame ones—in the vicinity of Sixth and H streets in Sacramento around the fall of 1863. The railroad prepared for the present complex of buildings by driving pilings in four feet of water until the tops were at the water line, then filled around the pilings with granite riprap from Rocklin, California, then sand and silt from the nearby Sacramento and American rivers. The railroad then laid four feet of solid granite on top of the piles and riprap, and began construction of brick and timber buildings. The last of these reached completion and was occupied in 1869. By 1869, a total of 20 acres had been reclaimed from the slough and filled to four feet above the water line, a job that kept more than 100 teams of animals at work.

The following picture from 1878 was taken from 5th Street and I Street. The view includes China Slough, the bridge across the slough and the original train depot.



Residential homes and railroad shops were constructed along the shores of Sutter Slough (also known as Sutter Lake, China Lake or China Slough), which bordered the Alkali Flat neighborhood. At its peak, Central Pacific employed more than 10,000 Chinese workers; many settled along I Street and the shoreline of Sutter Slough (later known as China Slough).

Historical accounts claim that a widespread stench seemed to hover over large sections of Sacramento, the most oppressive stench seemed to come from the stagnant Sutter slough. The lake became a receptacle for filth and garbage of every description and even the dumping ground for railroad scrap including worn-out locomotives and cars. [See An Economic History of Alkali Flat]

In 1876, the city passed Ordinance No. 93, marking the first action by the City of Sacramento to regulate solid waste disposal. This ordinance prohibited the dumping of garbage in Sutter Slough and China Slough.

In the early 1900's, the railroad started work on the current depot. In order to minimize disruption to current traffic, and to allow for a completely new track arrangement to be constructed, a site for the new depot was chosen just to the southeast of the old Arcade Station. Soon, SP had begun work on filling in what was left of the old China Slough, where the new depot was to be sited. Tons of sand and rubble were dumped along the slough’s southern shore (near Fifth and "I" streets), and company engineers were brought in to begin the task of settling on new trackage alignments and general facilities arrangement.

By 1910, the railroad had filled China Slough.

The following map from the late 1800's shows the slough.


Here is a current map showing the location of the site.


View Larger Map

Spider-Man 3 Trailer

Spider-Man 3 Trailer

Bad Girls Wine Tasting

Sharon, Janie and Jeana spent the day in Napa. They went wine tasting at Peju Winery and Hall Wines in the morning. They had lunch at The Market in St. Helena. After lunch, they made stops at the Lamborn Family Vineyard and St. Supery Vineyards.

U.S. citizenship test

Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test?

What women can't do in public

What women can't do in public!

A clever idea for a commercial...

read more | digg story

KML of 19 mile run

I built a Google Earth KML of the my 19 mile run on Father's Day weekend. You can load it into Google Earth and fly along the route of the run besides the American River; this is very cool!

KC-135 Refueling C-5

Google Earth Blog : KC-135 Caught Refueling C-5 Galaxy in Mid-Air in Google Earth!

Good-bye Magic Mountain?

Good-bye Magic Mountain? Six Flags puts six parks up for sale or closure

Pics from 6-14-2006 Concert

Here are a couple of pictures from Drew's June 14, 2006 concert on the UCI Campus in the Nixon Theater.

 
 

Graduation Party

We spent the afternoon and evening at Sharon's brother Tom's house. They had a party for Eric's graduation from eighth grade at St. Ignatius and Kevin's graduation from high school at Jesuit.

Moblog At the Tom Frame's

At the Pool Party

Lake Almanor 2005

I never got around to organizing a photo album of pictures from last year's week at Lake Almanor. I used Google's new Picasaweb to post a set of Almanor 2005 pictures.

I was definitely had a theme last year. My goal was to take a picture of each of the dad's with their kids. The series is missing only Becky who did not go last year and Bob with Adam, Carol and Jenny.

Jason Williams

From Bill Simmon's column, third weirdest moment of the night [that the Heat won the NBA championship], seeing Jason Williams celebrate on the championship podium. It was like seeing Rob Schneider on stage at the Oscars. I can't wait to buy his ring on eBay in eight years.

California Historical Landmark #342

Site of Santa Cruz Mission
California State Historical Landmark #342
See this location on Google Maps
See this location on Yahoo Maps in Flickr
This landmark is located in Plaza Park at the northeast corner of Emmet and Mission Streets, Santa Cruz County, California. There are 7 other California State Historical Landmarks in Santa Cruz County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 36° 58.677 W 122° 01.789.

A list of California missions is here. The missions that I have visited are highlighted in red.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

Mision la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz, the 12th Franciscan Mission, was consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén in August 1791. In 1793 the adobe church was built where the Holy Cross Catholic Church is now located. The mission was damaged by several earthquakes and finally collapsed in 1857. Plaza Park is located at the center of the mission complex which contained 32 buildings at the time of its secularization in 1834, the last building remains on School Street.

Santa Cruz County

California Historical Landmarks in Santa Cruz County
{GPS Coordinates of Site Location}
*NO. 342 Site of Mission Santa Cruz - [map] - {36.978,-122.02989}
NO. 449 GLENWOOD
NO. 469 SITE OF CENTER OF VILLA DE BRANCIFORTE
NO. 583 FELTON COVERED BRIDGE
NO. 827 BIG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK
NO. 860 SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE
*NO. 983 Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - [map] - {36.96365,-122.016667}
NO. 998 RANCHO SAN ANDRES CASTRO ADOBE

List of California Counties

Elk Grove

Although there is some debate about the data, Elk Grove, California, had the nation’s fastest growth rate among large cities (100,000 or more population) between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005, according to new U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. It was joined on the list of the 10 fastest-growing cities by three others in California: Moreno Valley (ranking sixth), Rancho Cucamonga (seventh) and Irvine (10th). These three cities are each located in southern California.