AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, PART 3 January 27, 2004 February 11, 1952. We had stopped in Redding, CA, for lunch and from there we continued to head due south toward San Francisco. There was so much unique scenery to see along the route. We saw lots of olive trees and almond (?) trees and we saw roses in bloom and narcissus and daffodils in bloom and lots of green, green grass and leaves on lots of trees. It was the middle of February and we couldn't believe our eyes. In addition we saw pretty white large birds that looked like they may have been cranes. As we approached San Francisco across the San Francisco Bay, I made comment that I couldn't believe that we would actually be crossing the Golden Gate Bridge! As we approached the bridge at night we were hypnotized by the beautiful view of "Frisco" across the Golden Gate Bridge with all of the city's lights shining across the Bay. As we crossed the bridge it was a magical moment for me! What a magical city! Note: When I eventually actually lived in San Francisco over ten years later, I still cringe at the reference to "My City by the Bay" as "Frisco!" I knew that I lived in San Francisco, the most enchanting city in the world! Don't you DARE call it "Frisco!" We briefly drove through San Francisco that night and traveled just a few miles south where we stayed in a motel in Mountain View which was near Sunnyvale where Daddy used to live for a few short successful months when he worked for Kaiser Aluminum at the time. But the next day we returned to San Francisco via the most magnificent highway we had ever seen! It was SIX lanes across! Daddy treated us to a sight seeing trip around the city and we marveled at the cable cars and the BEAUTIFUL Victorian homes. There were others that were Spanish style with exteriors of stucco and painted with beautiful pastel colors such as light blue and pink and yellow and green. Even in the suburbs the boxy houses were of stucco painted the same colors. The sights to see were more than the eye and mind could really comprehend at the time. However, at some quiet period that afternoon, my brother Johnny and I found ourselves enjoying feeding the ducks and swans in the pool of water at the Palace of Fine Arts built for the 1915 Panama Pacific Expo. For both of us it was such a nice quiet moment in the midst of such an exciting spring-like day in the city of San Francisco. The temperature was a sunny 47 degrees and I walked around in just a suit jacket, blouse and skirt.We left San Francisco shortly after noon and drove the few miles south to Sunnyvale where we stopped for lunch. In my Trip Journal I was compelled to report that I had a REAL Italian Spaghetti dinner there! Further south we stopped at San Martin in the Santa Clara Valley and stopped at a roadside stand were we purchased some French-fried ALMONDS! BOY, are they ever good!! Traveling further south in California we stopped for the night in Paso Robles and stayed at a nice Travelodge motel. We had dinner nearby and spent a quiet evening in our motel writing post cards and letters. The next morning we got up at the unearthly hour of 5:45 and found that it was really frosty and cold outside. After breakfast we were off again! We started heading east by then and found that we were getting into desert country and were totally surprised to see lots of oil derricks and oil fields outside of Lost Hills, CA, near Wasco in the San Joaquin Valley. I have a snapshot of part of an oil field with a large sign that said, "Lost Hill One," with the logo of the Chevron "flying horse" above it. Not only that but we were again surprised to see lots of cotton fields. It was the first time any of us had seen a cotton field. Along the highway we saw bales of cotton in addition to where they bale them and remove the seeds. Gee!!