The Vacation That Almost Wasn’t (Continued 4)

Evenings at Leah’s I relaxed reading Corrie ten Boom series of books or helping with the jigsaw puzzle. Sunday morning I shaved and we were off to Leah’s church. Her church recently went to contemporary music for worship. I’m used to more traditional services. The church was holding its worship services in an open air mode. The songs were only words printed on a sheet of paper without any notes. There were four musicians: a woman with a microphone who sang, two guitarists, and a guy on a “beat box.” I’m not sure that’s what it’s called, but he sat on a wooden cube, using his hands like a bongo drum to create different sounds to blend with the other musicians. I was glad the music wasn’t loud. The message was more traditional than the music.

Monday we headed to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. At least it was open to hiking. A yellow crop-dusting biplane swooped low over the road, then sprayed the crops beside the road. We arrived and smoke hung in the air beneath the sequoia trees. Sunlight filtered through the fumes giving the forest an ethereal feel. Only a strong smell of smoke changed that image. Varied colors of the rugged sequoia’s barks were beautiful. Green needled branches were high above our heads. Several fallen trees were cut to allow hikers to stay on the path. Some were nearly ten feet thick. Gnarled roots made some wonderful backdrops for photos.. Many of the trees were named: the Father or Mother of the Forest, and some were named after famous leaders in America’s history.

The gray squirrels and chipmunks were scrawny looking. It would take two or three to make a meal when compared to the ones we have in Pennsylvania.

Initially Sutter’s Mill was a disappointment. We stepped out into a hot and dry parking area, but it was only part of the site. Across the road, there were other buildings on display with items of the era, a Chinese bunkhouse, and a small area was set like an underground mine. Although Sutter discovered gold, he died in poverty. In the museum, there were figurines of the Native Americans, miners, and items of the historical times.

Tuesday morning at Leah’s the skies were blue with less smoke to be seen. The temperature was 58 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a good day to relax again. P.S. We finally finished that jigsaw puzzle. The majority of the picture was done in various shades of brown and it had 1,500 pieces. (To be continued)