By this Author: greatgrandmaR

In October 1964, Bob was transferred from Norfolk to Post Graduate School in Monterey California. We arrived in California in December 1964 with two cars and two children after taking two trips across the country. We rented a house in Marina California.

Our front door decorated for Christmas

It was on a one block street that dead-ended into the Fort Ord fence.

Looking down the canyon - rows of houses in our development

Beach near our house (for fishing or surfing - too cold and rough to swim)

We rented because the people that had bought houses had a lot of trouble selling them. There was nothing in Marina when we lived there and while Fort Ord was still open. Our house backed up to a sheep farm.

Sheep farm behind our house

House we rented - cars in the garage

Youngest sitting in a chair in the living room-oldest on fireplace hearth

back yard - if you don't water every day - nothing but sand. So a big sand box for the kids

I used to do my grocery shopping at the small Fort Ord commissary.

We did a lot of touring in California - the first place we went was Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey

Dennis the Menace Park drinking fountain

BB about to go down the big slide

Barb climbing the jungle gym

DEB BB and girl in cab of engine

My husband Bob commuted from Marina through Fort Ord to the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey.

Highway through Fort Ord

Shooting Range on Fort Ord

Later my daughter started pre-school there. Bob was driving the 1932 Plymouth (PB) to work.

1932 PB Plymouth 4 door sedan

One of the problems with the PB was the tendency to break axles. We had spares, but if an axle broke, the outside end was easy to remove, but you needed to have something to get the other end out before you replaced the axle. This was called an axle puller. It was kind of an axle lasso. Bob had a broken axle on the way to work one day. He had the spare axle and the axle puller in the car behind the back seat. So he fixed it and went on to school. He was studying Ordnance Engineering. He got to blow stuff up on the beach.

I had the use of

the station wagon

During the week, I would drive Debbie in to pre-school in Monterey. Bob hated the station wagon. He proposed that we trade it on a VW bus. I was horrified. It was hardly a year old. It had A/C (which we really didn’t need on the north coast of California.) So I convinced him that we should not trade. And he convinced me that we should. It took about a year for me to work him back around to his original position

On weekends in 1965, we would tour around California.

We went to the races at Laguna Seca where we saw the Chaparral driven by: Jim Hall

LaGuna Seca (which wasn’t dry in the spring of 1965)

Leaving Laguna Seca -sunburned

We visited the Lone Cypress

Lone Cypress

and went to the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach

Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach

which was only for very special cars. (More special than ours)

We drove down to Big Sur one Sunday,

Along highway 101

Surf

Path down

Looking at tide pools

Beach on Highway 101

I saw that there was a road up into the mountains so in order not to backtrack we wound our way up to this mission.

Climbing the mountain

Directions: Go south on Hiway 101. Take the exit marked Jolon Road (G14). There is also a historical sign announcing this exit. Once on Jolon Road, travel 18 miles. Take a right on Mission Creek Road. You will travel through the Fort Hunter Liggett military base entrance gate. Please continue 5 miles. The Mission is on your left with a well-marked sign

Of all Spanish California missions, San Juan de Padua is the most faithfully restored. This is what a mission really looked like. Artifacts of the missionaries and their neophyte's are on display. Frescoes of their daily life, and the painstaking restoration of the mission's workings make it a valuable and educational museum.

Mission of San Juan de Padua

On the way to San Francisco, we went to Big Basin State Park (the kids were more interested in the deer than the trees. at that time, there were warning signs, but you could still buy paper bags with deer food to feed them.

Deer in Big Bssin

Daughter age 2.5 waiting to feed the deer

The park website says: "In fact, the park once had deer feeding stations where park visitors could hand feed the deer. The practice was discontinued in the 1970s when the park decided it was unsafe for both the deer and the visitors.

We briefly visited San Francisco (where I reconnected with my HS friend Walleen Nesche).

San Francisco street

Ghirardelli sign

Petting zoo

Fisherman's Whart

That summer, we went down to LA. Our children were almost 4 and almost 2. We stayed at a Motel 6. In those days, a Motel 6 actually cost $6 a night, and children were free or they were something like 25 cents each extra.

There was an outdoor pool, and the TV was coin operated. They also had coin operated vibrating beds.(Magic Fingers beds)

Pool at the Motel 6

Of course we visited Disneyland (2 days).

Mickey and a little girl beside Deb

Mule ride

The kids loved the mule rides.

Getting portraits

I had pastel profiles done of both kids. We went on the Flying Teacup ride. I was riding with my older daughter and took photos of my husband and younger daughter behind us. He said that I should do that in the future.

Flying Teacups

We spent some time on Knotts Berry Farm,

Stagecoach at Knotts Berry Farm

Merry-go-round

we went to the Marineland of the Pacific

Marineland

and did both the Warner Brother's Tour and the Universal Tour.

Warner BrothersTour

Stuntman demonstration on movie lot tour

We also went to Griffith Park zoo and on Sunday evening, we went to Chinatown. . The girls bought whistling birds from a street vendor. (These are whistles in the shape of a bird on a stick which you swing through the air and they whistle).

Chinatown

We also apparently went to the Hollywood Wax Museum. I don't remember going to this museum, and i generally don't go to Wax Museums. But I have this photograph

Hollywood Wax Museum

I also went to Frontier Village with the kids Frontier Village was little family amusement park that existed in San Jose from 1961 to 1980.

Mule rides

Car ride Frontier Village

Merrigoround

And closer to home we went to the county fair for Monterey County

Ferris wheel at the county fair

Rides from the ferris wheel

Rides at the fair

Washing the beef at the fair

My photo of the races at the fair - I got an HM from the San Francisco Chronicle photo contest

We joined the local antique auto club and went on tours with them.

Driving in the caravan

Kids in the back seat of the PB

We drove the PB to a meet in Reno

Plymouth ready for the swap meet

and to one in Lancaster CA,

Road to Lancaster

Bob changing a tire at the Lancaster motel

Car at the hotel

Pool in Lancaster

We went to a swap meet in Felton

Bob with the PB

Bob directing traffic at the Felton Swap Meet

Felton train

where we had a train ride

Picnic in Felton

and a picnic

Coasting contest

and participated in a coasting race where free wheeling should have been an advantage.

After a couple of months I convinced Bob that we should trade the station wagon on the VW bus. By that time the VW was cheaper because it had been a demonstrator.

Bob thought the VW brakes were grabbing so he took off the wheel to see, and the brake cylinder was leaking. So he told me to take it to the dealer and get it fixed. I went to the dealer in Salinas. They said that the brake cylinders of those cars never leaked. Then they asked me how I knew it was leaking and told me that Bob taking the wheel off had invalidated the warranty. But I had my two girls with me, and I just sat myself down in their showroom and said I was staying there until they fixed. it. So they fixed it.

When they called Bob that evening, butter wouldn’t melt in the German mechanic guy’s mouth. So obsequius. And so different from what he was with me, a mere woman. But when Bob asked if they had checked the other brakes, he said “No, the brake cylinders on those cars never leak.”

I went to swap meets and bought clothes and dress patterns.

Antique car costumes

I even tried to make a dress from one of the old patterns. Unsuccessfully. I was more successful with the first needlepoint that I desiged myself.

My first needlpoint

I also did research on the proper clothing for each year of the old Plymouths. I went to the library and copied pictures out of old Ladies Home Journals and other womens magazines of the era. I did a series of articles for the Plymouth magazine on the clothing trends in the 30s and early 40s. This is the 1931-1932 section of those articles.

31-32 clothing options

Description of the 1931-1932 clothing

In the March of 1966 we visited Sequ0ia National Park. Our two girls were age 4+ and 2.5

River at lower elevations

Because we were living on the northern California coast (fog but no snow - where we used the furnace every night and never needed air conditioning) it was always a total shock when we ventured inland where there were normal seasons. Sometimes in the summer it was shockingly hot. In this case it was way colder than we'd expected.

River in Sequoia

Petroglyphs

There was still a lot of snow here in March.

Snow covered cabins

In front of the Post Office

Making a snowman

Road

Snow

To deal with the large snow banks at high elevations, the entrance to the buldings is accessed trhough a big pipe.

Pipe entrance

Covered walkway

That means that it the entrance out to the road would be covered from the snow and wouldn't have to be shoveled out. There was still skiing in the park because there was a considerable snow pack on the ground.

Nuns watching skiing

We stayed in a cabin near Grant Grove and we had to go through snow tunnels that were over our heads to get to the cabin.

Our cabin

I remember that the only heat there was a wood stove. We had a bear come up on the porch and try to get into the cabin one night.

Inside the Fallen Monarch

Fallen Monarch Fallen sequoias are often hollowed out by fire but remain intact for many years. It's hard to take photos though (especially since 40 years ago there weren't any digital cameras) because it is really dark inside.

Looking out the end

General Lee and General Grant -- General Lee is one of the 40 named trees in the General Grant Grove. It's about the 12th largest. The General Grant is bigger - it is the 3rd largest.

Kids at the bottom of a giant sequoia

Top of Sequoias

A couple of weekends later, we also did a camping trip to Yosemite- me, my husband and the two girls. We had our VW bus and a tent that we rented from Special Services. We camped at North Pines campground,

Bob getting ready to put up the tent

I kept the food in the back of the VW and cooked on a Coleman camp stove.

Bob setting up the Coleman camp stove

VW at the camp site

Kids playing on a log in the campground

The tent is up

Trying out the tent

Ready for bed

The next morning we had breakfast

She's outraged because she wanted her cereal in a bowl and not a box

It was spring so the falls were in their full glory. Sometimes in the summer, they are only a trickle. We walked up the Mist Trail to see Vernal Falls.

Climbing the Mist Trail

Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail

Rainbow on the Mist Trail

At the top of the Mist Trail

The trail was wet from the mist.

Coming down the Mist Trail

On the way down, I slipped on the wet moss and fell forward down the trail. My oldest daughter was in front of me and I fell right on top of her, mashing her face into the rocks. She was skinned all down the front of her face - forehead, nose, upper lip and chin. But the worse was - her two front teeth were knocked loose and one was chipped.

Her scraped face

She was very brave and didn't cry much, but I felt really awful. The scabs healed eventually, but her front teeth turned black. Fortunately, they were her baby teeth and within a year or so she lost them and the permanent ones came in OK.

We went back to the campsite for lunch, and the children played in the river.

Playing in the river

Mule ride - Bob leading the mules

In the afternoon, we went up to the top of Sentinel Dome for great views of the park.

Sentinal Dome

There is a 360 degree view from the top.

Falls from Sentinal Dome

Falls from Sentinal Dome

We could can see Half Dome, and El Capitan.

Half Dome from Sentinal Dome

Valley from Sentinal Dome

Snowplant

Spring flowers

I took a couple photos of the iconic Jeffrey Pine. I thought it was a Bristlecone Pine but it turns out that the species is actually Pinus jeffreyi ,a species named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Pine

This particular Pinus jeffreyi is a shorter example of the species. It is normally a large coniferous evergreen tree, reaching 82 to 131 ft tall (smaller when growing at or near tree line). It is similar to the ponderosa pine - the main difference is in the cones..

Carleton Watkins photographed it in 1867.

But the pine died in the severe drought of 1976-77, although people attempted to save it by bringing buckets of water to it.

The girls and i had another visit to Yosemite when my parents came to San Francisco for a conference in April

In April the Anatomy meetings in San Francisco meant that my father had a book to promote at the meeting.

Displaying the Atlas that my father edited

He was the American editor of an Atlas of Anatomy. He and my mother flew out to San Francisco, and the girls and I drove up to meet them. We stayed in the hotel with them, and toured the city.

Daughter, Dad and Mom on city tour

We visited the Cemetery/Gardens of Mission Dolores located at Mision San Francisco de Asis.

Mission Dolores cemetery/gardens

Restored gardens have historic, traditional, and native trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants of the 1791 period. The website says: "Mission Dolores is the final resting place of some 5,000 Ohlone, Miwok, and other First Californians who built Mission Dolores and were its earliest members and founders. Other notables include the first Mexican governor, Luis Antonio Arguello, the first commandant of the Presidio, Lieutenant Moraga, and victims of the Committee of Vigilance, Cora, Casey, and Sullivan. Cemetery markers date from 1830 to about 1898.

Mission of San Francisco de Asis

Popularly known as Mission Dolores, it is one of the oldest intact building in the City of San Francisco and the only intact Mission Chapel in the chain of 21 established under the direction of Father Serra. The rough-hewn redwood roof timbers are still lashed together with rawhide. The alter is one of the most ornate mission alters. There is a small museum. The photo is taken from behind the towers of the Basilica in the cemetery garden.

San Francisco

Steep street

Cliff_House

Cliff House (the original) was built in 1863. The building in this c. 1966 photo is the 1909 building which was the third one.

from Twin Peaks

We rode the cable car of course

Cable car

From a Cable car toward Fisherman's Wharf in 1966

Great Dane in car

Golden Gate Bridge

We spent some time in Chinatown

Chinatown

Statue of Dr Sun Yat Sen

Chinese phone booth

Walleen and her two boys, me and my two girls

We visited Golden Gate Park with my mom and dad. The park is one of AAA's starred attractions in San Francisco. The park was created by John McLaren, a Scotsman, out of waste land. He arrived in San Francisco in the 1870s, and by 1890 he had established grass, trees and numerous plants in an environment most thought too barren for lush foliage.

The Conservatory of Flowers is a glass and redwood replica of London's Kew Gardens conservatory, and was built between 1876 and 1883. When open, it houses huge palm trees under its soaring dome, plus exotic orchids, water lilies and microclimates from around the world. The conservatory was badly damaged in a fierce wind storm that blew in off the Pacific

Conservatory

Francis Scptt Key Memorial and Dolphin fountain

This picture of the fountain outside the aquarium shows the Francis Scott Key Memorial. It is a part of the California Academy of Sciences complex which includes Morrison Planetarium. Admission to the Planetarium is separate from the Aquarium and Natural History Museum

We spent considerable time in the Japanese Tea Garden which is part of Golden Gate Park. The Japanese Tea Garden was originally built as part of the 1894 Midwinter Fair by an Australian. There are paths, ponds and a teahouse and it features native Japanese and Chinese plants.

Bridge in Japanese Tea Garden- me helping daughter down

In the garden, I climbed on this bridge to get a better view of the garden. I'm in the middle of the bridge wearing a grey green suit. I'm helping my youngest down - she's in a red coat. Her sister in the dark coat is in front of her.

Zoomed

The lady in white behind me, and other lady in pink behind me, and the people climbing the steep steps are not part of our family group and neither is the man helping my older daughter down.

We had a picnic among the big trees in Big Basin,

Picnic

Big Basin- me my kids and my mom

Stellar Jay

Me and the two girls in a tree

Animal Tree

Mother of the Forest

Dad and a redwood slice- Oldest coastal redwood with authentic age data - 2,200 years old in 1934

Coastal Redwoods

My parents and I went to a

San Jose swap meet

Swap meet in font of Model A Ford (1930?)

and we visited the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton where my college friend JoAnn was living,

View from Lick Observatory

Big Dome of observatory

JoAnn's family and Bob and my girls

At Easter (April 11th) The girls and I went to Yosemite again with my parents. (This visit might have been before the one I did with Bob and the kids)

Rocks and Oldest Rocks sign

We stayed in a cabin.

Entering our cabin in Yosemite Easter Sunday

In the picture (taken by my mom) we see me and my two kids and my dad who is carrying a box of supplies. We probably had breakfast and lunch supplies for the time we were there.

The website explains that: Cabins are wood structures that are furnished with beds, a desk or dresser, electric wall heaters, electric lights and outlets, but no telephones or televisions. All cabins have outdoor decks or patios for relaxing in the beauty of Yosemite. Daily maid service, linens and blankets are provided. Bedding configurations include:

one double bed, or
one double bed and one single bed, or
two double beds
My parents would have had one double bed and I guess I shared the other one with my two kids

The whole persona of the park is the amazing scenery. Most of the time one is trying to get to a vantage point so one can take a picture that will capture in some small way the amazing waterfalls and rock formations.

My dad by a snow bank

First morning view of the falls

Bottom of Yosemite falls - my dad with children

Yosemite Falls

We did a lot of hiking and looking back on it now, I realize that my girls were only 2.5 and 4.5 at the time and I had no qualms about whether they could keep up. They did at least as well as my dad.

62 year old and 2 year old resting

Ribbon falls

Glacier Point across Ahwahnee Meadow

Bridge at Happy Isles - me, my mom and the kids

El Capitan

El Capitan

Royal Arches & North Dome

Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Cathedral Spires

Falls

Walking down a path

Bridge

My mom wanted to get a good picture of the reflection in Mirror Lake. So we got up early because the 'mirror' didn't work if there was any wind and we wanted to have the lake be absolutely still.

Mirror Lake - me and daughter

Boys were throwing rocks in Mirror Lake - spoiling the reflections. Mom yelled at them and made them stop

There was a little boy with his dad throwing rocks into the lake making ripples. My mom soon set them straight, and we did get our picture.

Mirror Lake

Moss

One of the original buildings in the valley

Me sticking my head out the window before I go through the tunnel

My view from inside the tree

front of VW coming through the tree

Photos of me driving the VW through the Wawona Tree This tree was in the Mariposa Grove of Yosemite National Park. Most people think this tree is in Sequoia National Park. So the people there in Sequoia get lots of questions about it. So in their FAQ, they say

The tunnel through Yosemite’s famous Wawona Tree was cut in 1881 as a tourist attraction. It was the second standing sequoia to be tunneled (the first, a dead tree, still stands in the Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite). The Wawona Tree stood for 88 summers before it fell during the severe winter of 1968-69. Factors leading to its failure include heavy snow, wet soil, and, of course, the weakening effect of the tunnel. When it fell, the Wawona Tree was approximately 2,100 years old, 234 feet high (71.3 meters), and 26 feet in diameter at the base (7.9 meters). The famous tunnel was 7 feet wide, 9 feet high and 26 feet long at the base (2.1 meters by 2.7 meters by 7.9 meters).

Clothespin tree

Me and children in tree

Fallen Giant

My mother sniffing incense cedar

VW by a big puddle

Children, jays and nuns

El Capitan & Valley view

Leaving Yosemite Valley- reflection in the VW Bus mirror

My husband Bob was at the US Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey. My parents came out to San Francisco for a meeting in April, and we did some touring together. After we went to Yosemite, we went to Pioneer Village with it's talking bridge,

Talking bridge - only covered bridge in Natl Park system (push buttons for lecture)

Bridge and South Merced River

Pinnacles National Park, located near the San Andreas Fault, so it is an excellent example of plate tectonics.

Pinnacles from a distance

Pinnacles with vultures

The Pinnacles Rocks are believed to be part of the Neenach Volcano that occurred 23 million years ago. The talus caves are another Pinnacles attraction. There are over 30 miles of hiking trails at Pinnacles National Park, ranging from easy, flat walks to more challenging, all-day hikes. When my parents visited in the spring, we took some of the easy hikes both because of my dad and also because of my two and a half and five year old children (who did at least as well as my dad).

Picnic at the Pinnacles

We probably did the Moses Spring to Rim Trail Loop
2.2 miles round trip, 1 1⁄2 hours
elevation gain: 500 feet
Moderate

Cave

Coming out of cave

Rock formations, talus caves, and the reservoir on a short hike and also a good choice for children. Bear Gulch Cave is open seasonally. Flashlight required in the cave. There are two caves at Pinnacles. I don't know which one we visited. Bear Gulch cave is sometimes closed because of Bat Roosting. These caves can be closed suddenly due to storms and high water..So we might have visited Balconies cave instead Flashlights are required for both caves.

The predominant habitat type of the five environmental areas in the park is Chaparral,

Lizard

which is shrubs which can grow in the hot dry summer. That's what I remember. But during the summer months, deep canyons provide shade for moisture-loving species, such as maidenhair and horsetail ferns. Other species, such as the bird's-foot and coffee ferns, tolerate dry conditions

Me and children among ferns

My parents visited several places in Monterey itself - some of the historic houses

House of the Four Winds and Casa Vasguez

Stevenson House

Old Jail

Hummel store with funny sign

And Cannery Row

Cannery Row - former Chinese grocery store

When we lived in the Monterey area, this was what Cannery Row looked like.

Cannery Row

Sign on warehouse

Doc's with my Dad

]

Steinbeck Circle sign

Apparently now there are outlet stores, restaurants, and associated parking lots, and the place has really been touristed up.

Customs house

There was no aquarium in Monterey at that time - that didn't open for some 20 years.

Old Fisherman's Wharf Sign

Fish Market

Gull at Fisherman's Wharf

Monterey Harbor sign

Bocce ball courts

Camera obscura

South of Monterey is Pacific Grove is known for its butterflies and for the fact that the town had its beginning in 1875 as a summer Methodist camp, where several hundred people assembled to worship amidst rough tents a la Chautauqua.

House of gables

Its motto is "America's Last Home Town:" and it is also called "Butterfly Town USA" I was never able to see the butterflies.

The wives club did a fashion show where we modeled clothes we had made ourselves and my parents attended and my dad took some photos.

Modeling a dress I made

Taking off the jacket

We did 17 mile Drive (Pebble Beach).

Witch Tree

We drove down highway 101k at least as far as Point Lobos park, Pt Lobos State Park. The name is from the sound of the sea lions carries inland from the offshore rocks at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point of the Sea Wolves. The reserve has often been called "the crown jewel of the State Park System." There are rare plant communities, endangered archeological sites, unique geological formations, and rich flora an fauna of both land and sea.

Path

My dad with my youngest

Me and my dad

Dead cypress

On the beach

One Saturday, we put the kids in the nursery and drove down to Hearst Castle and took the tour. Bob drove. My parents and I took pictures. Even though I know that he was there (he's in some of the photos), he doesn't remember it. My conclusion is - if you take pictures you remember where you went better than if you don't take pictures

We passed this lighthouse on an island off the coast. This is one of the most spectacular lighthouse sites in the country, located high atop a giant volcanic rock off CA 1 about 4 miles northwest of Big Sur

Shore and lighthouse

Lighthouse

The lighthouse was built in 1889. It is an active lighthouse - the light is 273 ft above the ocean and it emits a white flash every 15 seconds. The building is a 48 ft square cylindrical sandstone tower attached to a 1-story sandstone fog signal building; The building is unpainted stone; the lantern and gallery are painted black, and the lantern roof is red. Central Coast Lighthouse Keepers manages restoration of the light station and provides guided tours of the site and buildings. International Chimney Corp. restored the lantern room during the winter of 2000-01; The barn and workshop buildings have also been restored, and a replica of the 1907 wood water tower conceals a cellphone relay station. In April 2004 the lighthouse was transferred to California State Parks under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The 125th anniversary of the lighthouse was celebrated in August 2014. .

Zoomed photo of the lighthouse

The lighthouse is accessible by a hike of 1/2 mile and 360 vertical feet of climbing (several long flights of stairs). Site, light station, and tower generally closed but open to guided tours on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays all year and also on Thursdays in July and August. Owner: California State Parks. Site manager: Point Sur State Historic Park

On the way to San Simeon

There were 17 people on the tour. Except for my mom and me, most of the people on the tour were men.

Towers

Hearst Castle

Della Robbia room - carved twin beds

North wall - bedroom of Doges's Suite - used by prominent guests

Gothic study where business was conducted

This was the room where "we smoked" - 17 people all men except us and none of us smoked

Gentleman's portrait by Paris Bordone (1510-1570) sitting room - 2 Urbino ware vases * the man on horseback -16th cent italian

Kitchen

The Neptune pool was the outdoor pool. It was one of two pools at San Simeon. All of the Hearst Castle tours are highlighted by stops at each of the two swimming pools. In addition to being beautiful, there are expansive views of the surrounding countryside from here.

Neptune pool

Statistics about the pool - it is 104 feet long, 58 feet wide and 95 feet wide at widest. It is 3.5 feet deep at the west (shallow) end, 10 feet at the deepest and holds 345,000 gallons of water. It has an oil burning heating system. The light-veined Vermont marble was used to decorate the pools and colonnades, and there are four 17-century Italian bas-reliefs on the sides of the colonnades.

Group reflecteed in the indoor pool

One of the two pools we visited on our tour was the indoor pool. This was a marvelous place to get reflection pictures. The tour guide said that the water was naturally cooler than the water in the outdoor pool as sun did not get to it. The Hearst Castle website says

Roman pool

The Roman Pool is decorated from ceiling to floor with 1" square mosaic tiles. These glass tiles, called smalti, are either colored (mainly blue or orange) or are clear with fused gold inside.

Tile

The intense colors and shimmering gold of the tiles combine to create a breathtaking effect. The designs created by the tiles were developed by muralist Camille Solon. The inspiration for some of these designs came from the 5th Century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

Greek statue

There are also statues that appear to be of Roman gods and godesses. Marble was only used in the statues, not on the walls, and there are no religious murals as there would have been in the original Roman baths.. The Hearst Castle website says:
The pool appears to be styled after an ancient Roman bath such as the Baths of Caracalla in Rome c. 211-17 CE. .. The statues are rough copies of ancient Greek and Roman statues. One such copy represents the "Apoxyomenos." Statuary was used on a considerable scale in the Baths of Caracalla.... carved starting in 1930 by Carlo Freter working in Pietrasanta, Italy. They are rough copies of ancient Greek and Roman statues.

We visited the Carmel mission

Carmel Mission

courtyard

Carmel mission

Mission bell

Cemetery next to the mission

Old Gabriel - Aged 151 years

My dad and kids by the fountain

We visited San Juan Bautista with the antique car club - getting to the old town by the old San Juan Grade road

A_stop_on_the_San_Juan_Grade

Antique car visit

We visited the Ferry Morse seed company greenhouses.

Greenhouse

Ferry-Morse grew flowers for seeds. You could see the fields of flowers on the approach to town. But Ferry Morse has sold the San Juan Bautista branch . Today it is a company called Ag-Biotech

San Juan Bautista was once the largest town in central California and the hub of travel between northern and central California.

The park site includes several structures built in the 1800s. These include the Plaza Hotel and stable, blacksmith shop, granary, jail and several houses. Exhibits show California life of the Mission, Mexican and early American periods. We visited the mission and associated buildings with my mom and dad when they visited us. Much of San Juan Bautista is a state park. But the mission is only associated with the State Park- not a part of it.

Mission

Under mission bell at San Juan Bautista

Mission_San_Juan_Bautista

Mission from balcony

This is the 15th in order founding of the 21 California missions. Mission San Juan Bautista was founded 24 June 1797 by Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuén and was dedicated in 1812. The Mission is named for Saint John the Baptist. The Indian name was Popelout, or Popeloutchom.

Mission interior

It is known for being the largest of the mission churches, with three aisles instead of the single aisle in other mission churches. The monastery wing consists of 36 rooms. Three of the nine bells in the chapel area remain. It has been in continuous use since July 1, 1812.

This mission has never been abandoned. It is not the parish church of San Juan Bautista