More California Memories

We spent several days in the Auburn, CA, area visiting Rich's brother Bob and other family and friends.

Auburn is a very historic town located out of Sacramento, in the Sierra foothills. Gold was discovered there by a man named Claude Chana on May 16, 1848. The area was first known as "North Fork" or "Wood's Dry Diggings". The settlement was given the name of "Auburn" in fall of 1849 and soon became an important mining town, trading post and stage terminal.

Monument of Claude Chana (1811-1882) and historic mining equipment.

Hook and Ladder Station No. 2. This old firehouse is about as wide as a two-car garage!

What a crazy name for a restaurant, "Awful Annie's". We had lunch here with long-time friend, Gary, and his wife Paulette. Awful Annie made a great lunch and eating outside was a real treat!

Our nieces, Janell and Mindy with their mom, Carolyn.

Mindy and Janell arranged a great dinner out with their dad (Rich's brother, Bob), Carolyn, Carolyn's brothers and wives, and sister. What a great time we had reconnecting with extended family-friends that we hadn't seen in a very long time.

We also had a lovely lunch with my Aunt Eloise and cousin Sally. Aunt Eloise is my father's only surviving sibling and at 96+ is an amazing woman (actually she's ALWAYS been an amazing woman!). It was a treat to see them in their lovely home and to be able to sit and share sweet memories.

I loved the flowers in their garden and the sweet pot of "Hen and Chickens" that came from our Grandma. When our grandparents left Iowa for California in the 1950s, Grandma took hen and chicken plants from her garden to their new home. Then as they moved a few times, the plants would go to the new home. When they both passed away and their home was sold, Aunt Eloise and Dad took some of the plants to their homes. My sisters and I have had them planted in our gardens.  I even brought some from my California garden to Kansas but they did not survive the first winter. When I told Sally this, she said that this pot needs to be replanted and she would plant a pot for me and care for it until we return to California. That's Sally! Always so thoughtful!

We topped off our visit in Lincoln with a lunch date with long-time friends from Newbury Park, Dan and Jean. Guess the name of the restaurant???? Awful Annie's in Lincoln! Jean is a very gifted and talent artist, working in various media but mostly fabric and sculpting. She sculpts historic replacement sculptures for Dan's company. Some of her work can be seen at the ART Center of Lincoln.  It's marvelous! If you are ever in Lincoln, CA, near Sacramento, this is a lovely place to visit.

What a busy 10 days we had! But it was all very wonderful and we are grateful for God's traveling mercies!