Category Archives: Travel

Sheep Ranch, California

August 22, 2012 jd

Image 1 of 9

Pioneer Hotel

By Judy J. Pinegar

Sheep Ranch was named after a sheep ranch (imagine that!). The official post office stamp did at one time read “Sheep Ranch” (Zip: 95250). One of the very few “free-range” areas in California, there are about a hundred freely roaming sheep throughout the town today. Sheep Ranch is located in the center of Calaveras County, about 16 miles east of San Andreas and eight miles north of Murphys.

The Pioneer Hotel is one of the main buildings still standing from that era. In 1967 three couples from Marin County discovered the old Pioneer Hotel and purchased it for $27,000. Over the years it was restored to its original look. The couples took turns using the hotel to entertain their personal friends, associates and family during different times of the year. John and I are friends with one of the families so we were invited to share a weekend there with them on August 17-19, 2012. The above pictures were taken by John O’Dell.

Sheep Ranch has a surprisingly colorful history. The town was surrounded by sheep corrals, and in 1860 gold ore was discovered in the corrals where the sheep were kept at night. Soon Sheep Ranch was a bustling gold mining town. Gold discovered at the Sheep Ranch Mine occurred at the 300 foot level in an extremely, rich, unusual black quartz. Before the turn of the century there were five flourishing gold mines and one had a ten-stamp mill. The town also supported 15 saloons.”

The main mine in town was known as the Hearst mine. George Hearst, who with partners bought the mine in 1897, was the father of William Randolph Hearst. The mine operated under various company names until shut down by the government in 1942. The Sheep Ranch mine was the largest source of gold in the district and the largest mine of the Sierras.

At one time the town of Sheep Ranch held two churches, one Catholic and the other Protestant. The local red school house, which still stands as a private home, employed two teachers until 1907 when the enrollment dwindled to 30 pupils taught by one teacher. The Eagle Hotel and the Pioneer Hotel were the two prominent local establishments, but only the Pioneer Hotel still stands.

Much of the movie feature “Honkytonk Man” was filmed in and around Calaveras County. Exterior scenes include Main Street, Mountain Ranch; Main Street, Sheep Ranch; and the Pioneer Hotel in Sheep Ranch. Extras were locally hired and many of the town’s residents are seen in the movie. During the filming, Clint Eastwood was very friendly and hospitable, taking time to chat and visit with many local residents.

The population of Sheep Ranch is 32 people, with sheep well out-numbering humans! There are currently no active businesses in Sheep Ranch, with the nearest facilities being located in Mountain Ranch to the west, and in Avery to the east. In January 2008, the postal service contractor in town relocated, resulting in the town having its ZIP code archived (i.e., made “not usable”) by the U.S. Postal Service. Locals can still use the town name, but must use the ZIP code for nearby Mountain Ranch (95246).

Judy J. Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in many publications.

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

View Larger Map

Travel

Vacation to Angels Camp, June 10-13, 2012, Part 3

August 20, 2012 jd

Image 1 of 7

Discovery tree, so large that at one time there was a one room school house built on it

On Wednesday John, I and my family made the drive to Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a bit further away, but well worth the drive. This area has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the giant sequoia trees was first widely reported, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California. The area was declared a state park in 1931 and now encompasses 6,498 acres in Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties.

We walked the North Grove trail which contains about 100 mature giant sequoias (also called Sierra redwoods); the South Grove, about 1,000. Sequoias are the largest living things to ever exist on the earth. The fossil record of sequoias dates back 180 million years to the age of dinosaurs, and individual trees can live to 3,000 years old.

The North Grove includes the ‘Discovery Tree’ noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852 and felled in 1853, leaving a giant stump which is the only remainder of the tree. It measured 24 feet (7.3 m) in diameter at its base and was determined by ring count to be 1,244 years old when felled. People used to dance on its top, and at one point it was turned into a school house.

However, the largest tree was believed to be the Mother of the Forest, which was cut down in the mid-nineteenth century and dwarfed any tree alive today. One of the most interesting things we learned on the tour is that although it is the largest tree, its seeds are the smallest, resembling a flake of oatmeal, with 6000 weighing just one ounce! And we learned that although the trees are so huge, their root system only goes 6 to 8 feet under the ground, but a large tree can have roots spread over up to one acre of land.

There are two different redwoods in California, the Sierra Redwoods, the worlds LARGEST living things, in this location and the Coast Redwoods, the worlds TALLEST living things. These trees are related, but differ in many ways. One difference is that the Sierra Redwoods can only be reproduced through seeds, while the Coast Redwoods can also reproduce by sprouting from their roots , burls and stumps.
For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

Education, Entertainment, Travel

Vacation to Angels Camp, June 10-13, 2012, Part 1

August 12, 2012 jd

Image 1 of 6

By Judy J. Pinegar

We were staying in a WorldMark Vacations Complex just west to town. On Monday morning the group (John, myself, my sister and brother-in-law, and my daughter and granddaughter) decided to visit California Caverns.

In 1849 or 1850, Captain Joseph Taylor was target practicing on a rocky outcropping and noticed that his targets were being moved by a breeze which seemed to emanate from the rocks. When he investigated this curious phenomenon, he discovered the entrance to a cave which he named Mammoth Cave.

In 1850, he opened the cave for public tours, making it the first show cave in the state of California. In 1980 the cavern was renamed California Caverns and it is now a State Historic Landmark. There are three tours at the cavern: 1) 70 minute Trail of Lights Walk Tour, 2) 2-3 hr Mammoth Cave Expedition and, 3) the challenging Middle Earth Tour taking 4 hours (crawling through very small spaces). Needless to say, with two senior citizens and a 4 year old we took the walk tour!

Early visitors included Bret Harte, Mark Twain and John Muir who wrote about this visit in “Chapter 15 – In the Sierra Foot-Hills” of his 1894 book “The Mountains of California” when it was called Cave City Cave. For 150 years, visitors have enjoyed the unique delicate beauty of the cavern’s crystalline formations. Some speleothems, such as the beaded helictites found in the Middle Earth area are very rare. Others are so numerous as to be spectacular, such as the “Jungle Room’s” array of stalactites.

That tour goes through passageways into large, highly decorated chambers including newly discovered pristine areas like the Jungle Room. Here you see large displays of milky white stalactites, helictites and flowstones decorate the walls and ceiling.

You may visit the website at California Caverns

Judy J. Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

View Larger Map

Travel

Crime In Costa Rica

January 4, 2012 jd

Church Merced, San Jose, Costa Rica — Church Merced San Jose Notice the high fence surrounding the church Photo Courtesy of Artist Hubert Steed http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/profile

How about going to a country that is absolutely beautiful, but the inhabitants live behind fences, windows with bars and razor wire on top of the fences? Welcome to Costa Rica.

Judy and I went to Costa Rica recently, along with a friend that owns property there. In San Jose, capitol of Costa Rica, we were informed at the car rental agency not to leave our SUV unguarded. If we get a flat tire, keep going, thieves there slash your tires, than come by on the pretense of helping you, but instead proceed to rob you. That’s right get a flat, ruin the rim, but keep going until you get to a service station.

Judy and I were eating at a restaurant in San Jose and I said, look at the front door. She said what? I said, there are two men there with steel pipes in their hands. They are guarding the entrance to prevent being robbed here. Walking back to our hotel, a taxi cab driver went by and stopped to tell us, watch out for thieves, be careful. Nice.

Going to a local bank, there were two guards at the entrance, both with guns behind locked bullet proof glass. They would let one person in at a time, lock the door, search the person, than let repeat the process after a few minutes wait, so there were not too many people in the foyer.

Leaving San Jose, we found much the same thing throughout Costa Rica. Private homes with eight foot fences with razor wire on top, guards at restaurants, stores shuttered at night, windows with steel bars.

Arriving in Nicoya, we broke the rule that the rental agency gave us, leaving our SUV unattended. I parked the car downtown and looked at the street. I saw a lot of school children going home and thought, well, our vehicle should be save.

Wrong, came back thirty minutes later and all our luggage was gone. We called the police and after much jabbering, we were told to drive to the local police station. When we got there, there was an identical vehicle to ours. Robbers had taken a screw driver to the back door lock and stole all the luggage out of this guy’s SUV.

Gone was all of our suitcases, everybody’s medicines my new Sony camera, laptop, I-pad, Bose earphones, Judy’s Kindle and new binoculars, as well as a few gifts we had purchased.

So Judy lost all her luggage which her home insurance policy will not pay because she has a $2,000 deductible. I have AAA and my home policy will pay for most of my loss.

After that, we drove straight to San Jose, got a room for the night and flew back to California. Along the way, we talked to at least three people who knew of similar robberies during their vacation in Costa Rica.

One incident, as told to us, involved a case where armed robbers went into a hotel room and stole everything the tourist had, including the wife’s wedding ring.

Than after we got home, I talked to one of my former clients who had a friend that went to Costa Rica last year and was robbed at gun point while a policeman across the street completely ignored the situation. Then, to top it off, another friend of my told me his cousin went down there with his grandmother and was killed when he resisted the robbers. He was 27 years old

If you are going to Costa Rica, just be careful.

For further information please go to the following sites if you are considering a trip to the land of crime, Costa Rica.

United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security Crime in Costa Rica 2011

British Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advice

For all your real estate needs:
Call or email

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Real Estate Broker

(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE #00669941

History, Travel

Feast of the Serpari (Snake Festival) in Italy (Part Three – the Roman Catholic Twist – Still Celebrated Today)

December 29, 2011 jd

By Judy Pinegar

But along came the Roman Catholic Church, who could not approve of such paganism, so we now have the Festival of Saint Dominic (who is the patron saint of the town of Cocullo). Saint Dominic is of course known for many other things, the greatest of which was founding the Dominican order within the Catholic Church. However this legend has the village fields overrun with snakes, and when Saint Dominic cleared the fields of snakes the villagers of Cocullo came up with a lasting show of gratitude, where the effigy of Saint Domenic is draped in snakes and paraded around in May of each year, also known as the Feast of the Serpari. The snakes are primarily of the local variety, four-lined aesculapian, grass and green whip snakes, and are released into the fields at the end of the day. (Humm, I guess we need Saint Dominic to come back and clear the fields again!)

But on feast day the statue is draped in snakes and carried around the town, while many people also allow themselves to be draped with snakes as well. Of course the snakes are all non-poisonous, or have had their fangs removed, but this is not a festival for the faint of heart or anyone with a snake phobia! The festival is held to seek the Saint’s protection from snake bite.

It is believed that the snakes, once on the statue can predict the future. The people in attendance watch the snake behavior carefully. According to custom, if the snakes wind around the head of the statue it is a good sign. But if they go in the direction of the arms or body something bad is ahead.

This is a video of the current day celebration

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine

Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

History, Travel

Feast of the Serpari (Snake Festival) in Italy (Part Two – Early Roman Times)

December 28, 2011 jd

Women celebrating Bona Dea from: abitabout.com/Bona+Dea

By Judy Pinegar

Meanwhile, the Romans who always had to re-name the Greek gods and goddesses to fit their “new” civilization seem to have adapted Angitia into Bona Dea, an ancient and holy Roman goddess of women and healing. Women also referred to her as Fauna, but men were not allowed to use that name, or attend her secret ceremonies and festivals. Bona Dea, “the Good Goddess” protects women through their changes, and is believed to watch over virgins and matrons especially. She was skilled in healing and herb lore, and snakes and wine were sacred to her. As a healing goddess, the sick were tended in her temple garden with medicinal herbs. Bona Dea was portrayed sitting on a throne, holding a cornucopia. The snake is her attribute, a symbol of healing, and consecrated snakes were kept in her temple at Rome, tended by her priestesses.

Under the laws of the Roman republic, patrician women were not supposed to drink wine, and could be punished, if caught. But by calling it “milk” the ancient and sacred practices could be reconciled with the rules of Roman Society. Bona Dea’s secret festival for women was held at night during the First of May, in the house of the chief elected official ( although he was not allowed to attend), the Vestal Virgins officiated, and a great jar of wine was in the room, although it was called “milk” and the jar was called a “mellarium” or honey jar. After making libations to the Goddess Bona Dea, the women drank and danced to music. It is said that later in the history of the empire this festival “degenerated” into wild and extravagant affairs, such as the Greeks had with Dionysus, the God of Wine.

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine
Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

History, Travel

Feast of the Serpari (Snake Festival) in Italy (Part One – Pre-Historic Times)

December 27, 2011 jd

Angitia, Snake Goddess of the Marsi from www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/angitia

By Judy Pinegar

While the region of Puglia is the “heel”, and the Gargano Pennisula is the “spur”, the mountainous regions of Abruzzo and Molise (united until 1963) are the “ankle” of the “boot” that is Italy. The area was settled by Apennine tribes in the Middle Bronze age (2000 to 1700 BC), was later taken over by the Romans, by the Normans in the 12^th century, then by a succession of rulers out of Naples. In spite of all this, the Abruzzo region, dominated by the Apennines Mountains, to this day is a brooding, introspective land, with precipitous drops from mountain sides, endless tracks of forests, small towns clinging to mountainsides, a semi abandoned, poor area, one of the last wildernesses of Italy.

Yet the first Thursday of every May, ophidiophiliacs (snake-lovers, often accompanied by their own snakes) come from all over the world come to the town of Cocullo (with a population of 316 persons) for a festival, the Feast of the Serpari (Snake Festival) that has been re-created possibly three different times over the eons of time to become one of the most multicultural, ancient and historic festivals in all of Italy.

Town of Cocullo (Google pictures)

In pagan times, the tribe of the Marsi ruled this area east of Rome. A tough warlike, mountainous tribe, they were ruled from about 800 to 580 BC (before Christ) by the Eutruscans, and then until 325 BC under the Samnites. The chief divinity in their society was the ancient snake goddess, Angitia. She was an early goddess of witchcraft and healing, associated with verbal and herbal charms, especially against snake bite. Her name referred to killing snakes through enchantment, possibly with just a word from her deific lips. The Greek myths say Angitia was one of the three daughters of Aeetes along with Medea and Circe, two of the most famed sorceresses of Greek mythology. Angitia lived in the area around the Lake Fucinus (later drained) and specialized in curing snake bites.

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine

Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

Travel

A Patchwork Celebrating the150th Anniversary of Italy

December 26, 2011 jd

By Judy Pinegar
Corriere della Valle Magazine

In north eastern Italy, on the flat landscape of the Venito region, with the spectacular Dolomite mountains in the distance, sits the city on Vicenza. It is home to one of the premier art showcases around the world, called Abilmente, with a spring showing on March 3-6, 2011, and a fall showing on October 20 to October 23, 2011 at the Fiera di Vicenza (Fair of Vicenza) located at Via dell Oreficeria 16, Vicenza, Venito, Italy.

A feature of Abilmente are the “Workshops”(or Ateliers), spaces where the practical aspects and exhibitions combine. The settings will highlight the work of leading artists in each sector, providing plenty of ideas to others. There are chances to participate in several courses held by the leading associations and artists in each sector. The planned workshops are: “A Voyage into the World of Color”, “Patchwork” “Natural Dye” “DIY Fashion: Bijoux and Accessories” and “Creating with Paper”:

This year in honor of the 150^th Anniversary of the Union of Italy, there was a special Creative Workshop, on October 20-23, 2011 presented a workshop called Patchwork Atelier. Here the Associazione Nazionale Quilt Italia, the star of this workshop, presented the Italian cultures, images and landscapes of the regions that have united to make Italy a truly great nation. The show displayed, through original pieces of patchwork quilt, the distinctive features that characterize each individual region.

Article courtesy Corriere della Valle Magazine

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091

DRE# 00669941

Travel

Costa Rica – Corcovado National Park

November 28, 2011 jd

By Judy Pinegar

The day dawned (it was a 4:30 AM start) without rain and clear skies promised, and it lasted dry all day which I feel was a near miracle, given the amount of rain we have been encountering so far in Costa Rica. We had opted for the longer trip, by boat to La Serena Station (reached only by boat or small plane), although San Pedrillo station was closer to us, because the word was the animal “finds” were much better at La Serena.

So it was an hour and a half, out of the bay and through the open Pacific on a small boat holding 15 people max, to a beach unidentifiable to my eye than any other, but the guides knew. With the tide out, and no dock, we landed in the water and quickly got to a huge area of old lava flow, at least 150 feet of it, before the sand and then the jungle started. At about 9 AM, stowing some stuff on shore we were quickly into the jungle and our first sighting was a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, beautiful in black and yellow. A while further and we saw a pair of Scarlet Macaws.

Within an hour we had also seen three of the four species of Monkeys in Costa Rica, and had heard the fourth, the Howler Monkey. First was the tiny Squirrel Monkey, then the largest, the Spider Monkey, a whole family, and then a family of the White Faced Capuchin. Then we saw some cute, tiny Leaf Tent Bats, who bite at a leaves by the main rib until both sides fold in, then they attach upside down within the leaf.

By then we were back on the beach and following the tracks of a Baird’s Tapir, which had traveled quite a way up the beach, so we rapidly walked up the beach in the now hot sun, when we found a group of tourists with cameras, there he was… HUGE really, with a funny elephant like nose with a prehensile finger like structure on the end. And boy could he eat, our guide said he ate 80 pounds of leaves a day. He continued to graze, ignoring at least 20 people who got within 3 feet of him for pictures for over 30 minutes.

costa-rica-coast

Image 1 of 9

Costa Rica Shoreline

Looking up we found a White Nosed Coati, resting, after a feast of what was a nest of turtle eggs laid last night, we could still see the tracks of the poor mama turtle, and the eggshells left over, now being nibbled by Hermit Crabs. By now we had also seen the fourth species of monkeys, the Mantled Howler Monkey, and more toucans and macaws too, as well as the other monkey species. So we moved to the river, where a large American Alligator was resting with his mouth completely open (because he was lying in the sun and was hot).

A noise behind us and it was a small Collared Anteater, who however quickly moved away, our guide said it was unusual to see them. Moving back into the forest, a Three-toed Sloth was resting high in a tree, after more monkeys, we came to about four Collared Peccaries, including a baby about 8 inches long… sort of grey instead of black and so cute. The monkeys were eating and dropping many of the nuts so the peccaries were having a feast.

We came to the ranger station for a rest, seeing another pair of Scarlet Macaws, one of whom had been nursed back to health there and keeps trying to come back to get food (which everyone was forbidden to give them of course). Then a walk back through the jungle with more sightings of the same animals, to arrive at the beach about noon, for the boat trip home. It was an extraordinary 3 hour jungle hike, full of seeing fantastic mammals, birds, and a reptile in a well protected rain forest.

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

View Larger Map

For all your real estate needs
Call or email

John J. O’Dell® GRI
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE #00669941

Travel

Costa Rica – Drake Bay, Southern Pacific Coast

November 27, 2011 jd

By Judy Pinegar

Oops we lost some days…all three of us are now sick in various states… Ted being the worst now as ours started earlier. All three of us were scheduled for the boat ride to Cano Island to go snorkeling and hiking, but due to the rain no hiking was possible now, so Ted decided he didn’t want to go, then at the last minute John decided to take a day of rest, so I went snorkeling with a nice English couple, David and Rosemary.

David had been in the navy for England, and she followed him to many of his stations, even after they had a family. Then since retiring they have traveled all over. I ended up asking where in the world they had NOT been (and it was very few places), mostly in the Orient in unusual places. Anyway we there were lots of fish and the water pretty clear, I saw tons of little fish, some coral fish, a school of what looked like small sharks to me, some large flat incandescent ones, yellow and black striped too. Sorry for the non professional description but my guide book isn’t very hot on fish.

Cano Island is a national reserve, one part of the 25% of the country that is protected!! There were some wonderful shells, but we weren’t allowed to take them, or the rocks. We stopped for a picnic lunch and a rest on a beach by a ranger station, the only place on the island that boats are allowed to land, and you had to leave before 3:30 PM too. It was a very clean, sandy beach (have I mentioned the one here at Drake Bay is littered with leaves and pretty murky, due to the rivers nearby and the way the tides work) framed by some neat black rocks (sorry no pictures I left it in the cabin with John). It was not raining while we snorkeled, the first sun I had seen (so of course I got sunburned, forgetting about my back while snorkeling)

I spent some time watching the Hermit Crabs, they are so funny, from tiny little spots you almost can’t see to plain shells to some really fancy and colorful shells. The crabs have to continually change their shells as they get bigger, but it sort of seemed that the personality of the crab matched the shell! When they hear or feel (?) that you are nearby they stop and become just shells on the sand, unmoving, but if you wait, or look behind after you walk they soon all come back to life. It is really fun to see.

That afternoon and the next day it rained ALL DAY, and we were glad we had postponed our trip to Corcovado National Park and the jungle walk, instead catching up on our sleep. Next up…our exciting time in the jungle!

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

For all your real estate needs
Call or email

John J. O’Dell® GRI
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE #00669941