Traveling around in #SanJose and #NearbyToSanJose at 825 mph on our spinning planet.
I could stare at this downtown San Jose mural every day. I am enamored with this. I adore it. Created by San Jose artist Lacey Bryant.
I love the art of it, the movies my mind creates inspired by it, the fantasy, the San Jose references within the work, the flow of emotions and thoughts I come to when staring at it.
The first California State Park, it opened in 1902 to protect old growth forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the beginning it was known as California Redwood Park and changed its name to Big Basin Redwoods State Park a few decades later.
Many of the old growth redwood trees here are over 1,000 years old. Wow!
Much of the credit for the creation of the first California State Park goes to a San Jose photographer named Andrew P. Hill. All of these years I had heard of Andrew Hill high school in San Jose and never thought to ask who he was. Now I know. Andrew Hill was amazed at the sight of the old redwood trees, tallest trees on earth and able to live over 2,000 years. Through his photography and connections, he supported the preservation of these special forests. He led excursions of influential people to the trees that led to the funding and legislation that secured our first state park. Today, there is approximately 3% of the old growth redwood forests remaining in California and most of that is now on protected state public lands.
The park is beautiful. The trees are beautiful. The guided walk we went on added so much to the entire experience. I found myself trying to identify trees afterwards and seeing new things around me as I contemplated the life cycles of the rain forest. Also cool, I now know what a huckleberry is and what it tastes like.
Here are a few buildings that I was admiring on a walk.
On highway 152 on Pacheco Pass, a beautiful large reservoir greets you. Depending on the day and season, a great place to see the sunrise, star gaze, look for wild flowers, smell and enjoy nature, or just appreciate as you drive by. The water is pumped up to the reservoir from the central valley creeks below during the rainy season, and then gravity fed right back down to the central valley to water crops during the dry season.
Being introduced to this place this year pleased me beyond all expectations. If I found this place anywhere in any town on any road trip, I would have been so completely proud and happy with myself. So, to be taken here, right in San Jose, on 4th street, where I had never been… well, it blew me away.
First, I should say that I find Diners and Coffee Shops to be one of humanity’s special places. And, I love to enjoy them, to eat, drink coffee, and basque in the humanity and time within them.
This one, right in San Jose at 4th Street Bowl, is quite special. Let me share some of the beautiful highlights about this coffee shop. Plenty of energy with customers and staff. Lots of windows. A looooong counter and a bunch of booths. A big menu. A glass door and windows that connect and look into the bowling alley. The alley is not updated. There is a cocktail lounge, a pool hall, a few video games, and of course, the coffee shop, all connected to the alley. Despite the simplicity of my words, the reality is a poetry of place and presence. It is a block of time and a splash of nostalgia whipped with distraction and covered in coffee. It is a treasure.
