Sacramento Has a Zoo!

Once in a while, we get the urge to travel outside of our little valley. It’s a good thing for us, then, that Sacramento is only a couple of hours away, and San Francisco a couple of hours beyond.

In July of 2010, we left early one weekend morning and went to Sacramento for breakfast. Dear Wife (DW) had read about a popular breakfast spot near Broadway and Land Park Drive, called the Tower Café. We headed there, found a spot to park in the rear, and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. The decor is a cross between a classic supper club and the Rain Forest Café, and, being in California, their menu offers somewhat healthier gourmet takes on standard breakfast fare. My French Toast was made of thick, diagonal slices from a baguette, and I have a hunch the bacon was oven-fried. DW’s ham & eggs featured ham that was less salty than your typical diner’s, included a side of fresh fruit, and came with freshly made salsa.

One of the reasons we chose the Tower Café, in addition to the good reviews, was that it is quite close to William Land Park and the Sacramento Zoo. I’m sure most of my readers have been to zoos before, so I will skip the description of walking around and simply show you some photos of the animals.

Flamingos near the entrance

One of a few kinds of antelope there

A red river hog with one of her 3 pigs.
The other 2 are beyond her.

They have several zebras. This one posed for us.

This ostrich posed, as well.

The giraffes were keeping cool.

A rare one-legged owl!

I don't think she can actually see us…

We did not know this beforehand, but the tiger in residence had recently had a cub, which we were fortunate enough to see running around and playing. Our camera is horrible for low-light or shadow, but here are two photos of the cub.

The blur on lower right is the cub.

The cub in a rare still moment

We were also just in time to witness hand-feeding time for the giraffes.

It was getting warm, and we’d seen most of the animals twice, so we made our way out. On the way, we passed the hyena enclosure, where one was enjoying the warm sun.

There are also birds and monkeys, but I don’t like them as much. If you want to see them, you’ll have to make the trip! Also, behind the giraffe barn is the hospital and nursery. In front of it is a wall of tiles with engraved sketches by Ann Ranlett, a wonderful artist living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Commission a pet portrait from her sometime; you won’t regret it.

Eagle Lake: A Worthwhile Day Hike

My wife and I like to try hiking trails we’ve never used before. Fortunately for us, there are dozens of trails in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area. A couple of summers ago, we decided to try the somewhat popular, moderate-to-strenuous Eagle Lake Trail at Lake Tahoe.

To get there, one must drive to Emerald Bay. Just south of the parking area for the family-oriented Vikingsholm, on the mountain side of Hwy 89, is the entrance to the smaller parking lot for the trailhead. There are actually 2 or 3 trails accessed from the same trailhead; the lot fills up quickly, so it pays to get there early. We arrived around 8:30, and it was about 3/4 full. We filled out our day-use paper and dropped it in the box, and we were on our way.

The Eagle Lake trail takes a left turn a few yards up the hill. It’s a pretty easy walk up to Eagle Falls, with a picturesque viewpoint from a footbridge over Eagle Creek (where I apparently neglected to take any pictures). After crossing the bridge, the trail turns uphill and becomes a bit steeper for about a mile-and-a-half.

South Lake Tahoe

Rubicon Peak

At different points along the climb, the views of Lake Tahoe open up, and the Jewel of the Sierras reveals her true splendor. My photos do not do justice to the magnificent remains of the ice age. (If you look at the valley between Maggie’s Peak, where we were standing, and Rubicon Peak from the East Shore, you can see the tell-tale U-shape caused by glacial carving. The eastern part of the Tahoe Rim Trail is on our list, and I’ll try to remember to take photos of this when we do that, if we can see it.)

Emerald Bay, Vikingsholm, Tea House, & Tahoe

We emerged from the creek-side climb onto a large meadow just below Eagle Lake, then continued up about another 60 vertical feet, over about a half-mile, to the lake itself. We had a snack on the shore, and I took a couple of photos of a nearby unnamed peak and some of the local residents.

We then went on around the shore until the trail was lost in some boulders on the southeast side. We climbed in them a bit, then decided it was time to head back. By the time we got back to where we’d rested, there were quite a few other people there, evidencing the trail’s popularity.

When we left the parking lot at around noon, there were cars parked on the shoulder along Hwy 89–a common sight in the summer. It was just beginning to get really warm, which is another big advantage to starting early. Of course, “early” to me is not all that early. Those of you up before first light should be able to get primo parking spaces!

New Zealand Diary, Epilogue

On the way back, we had a long layover in Fiji. About 6 hours. We soon exhausted the few stores and restaurants in the tiny airport, and had our fill of the Indonesian Oreos® and Malaysian Pringles®. DW began striking up conversations with the airport workers. The first one she talked to was a janitor, who told us about his family and his little house near the beach. (Of course, Fiji is a volcanic island; most of the houses are near the beach.)

Next, she was talking to all the young women clerking the souvenir shops, and getting them to go over to the music shop to dance on their breaks. By the time we left that airport, even the Fijian Police were wishing us a good journey, and calling us by name.

The whole time we were in New Zealand, in the middle of summer, the temperature had not risen above around 75°F. When we landed at LAX that afternoon (because of the International Date Line we arrived on the afternoon of the same day we left Fiji), the temperature was 80°F.

Home, sweet home! Time to start planning the next vacation. Let’s see: France? China? Colorado? Weekend at Bernie’s? Who knows where we’ll go next?

New Zealand Diary, Day 16

Day 16: Tirau and Town
We awoke with a hankering for an omelet and bacon–not both of us for the same thing–so after checking out and exchanging good wishes with Faith we headed back downtown to the Robert Harris Coffee Roasters shop. We enjoyed another excellent cup of coffee, then headed northwest on Highway 5. We stopped again a couple of km from the junction with the lake shore road, at the Agrodome. DW wanted a souvenir that had something to do with sheep. She settled on a pair of gloves made of a blend of Merino wool and possum fur. The blend is softer than 100% Merino, approaching cashmere; as the possum is a widespread pest in New Zealand, there is a vibrant trapping industry that supplies pelts. I looked at gloves, hats, moccasins, and even wool ties, but finally decided on photos of the ovine residents of the park.

Regretfully, these four are the only photos in today’s blog. But there is more story to be told.

About 40 km out of Rotorua is the hamlet of Tirau. We must have driven through there on the trip south, but it looked particularly charming and tranquil as we passed through going north. It’s situated in the foothills of the mountains around Rotorua, just above the central plain containing Cambridge and Hamilton. As I recall, there wasn’t much of a division between these two latter burgs–it was like one big city as we drove through. Lots of roundabouts, including some that weren’t quite finished yet.

Another 100 km or so and we were driving up the Auckland freeway toward the airport, since our hotel was one that specialized in airport patrons. Of course I knew what the general area looked like and that the hotel would be easy to find once I got on the right road. The wrinkle was that the roads in the area go through two or three name changes in quick succession. I exited the freeway once to look at the (barely adequate) rental agency map, and it turned out that the road we wanted was the next exit. I later learned that the best exit was the 2nd one, the road that connected the freeway to the airport, but it was early and we got to see a bit more of the Mangere neighborhood.

We checked in to the hotel and, true to the word of the clerk that first night, we got the exact same room. We got the car emptied and our things to the room at about 4:40. It was quite warm, and we had the slider open, so we could clearly hear the power tools being used for repairs two rooms down. Fortunately, the noise stopped promptly at 5:00. I was a little surprised I didn’t hear a steam whistle and a raucous “Yabba-dabba-doo!”

After washing off the road fatigue, we decided to visit downtown Auckland. We again went the way we’d been instructed to get to the freeway north, but this time we exited at one of the city-center exits. We drove around town for almost an hour, admiring the old buildings nestled among the newer skyscrapers. We found, miraculously, a parking space that was not being metered just a few blocks from the downtown shopping area. We wandered around the area, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Yes, there were several small restaurants open for dinner, and we realized we were hungry. After passing up a few seafood places, Italian places, and even a kebab eatery, we settled on the California Burrito shop.

When we had finished the huge burritos (we should have split one), we made our way back to the hotel and turned in the rental car. We had spied a convenience store/café about 1.5 km from the hotel, and were in the mood for a little dessert, so we walked there and got a couple of cookies and coffees. We walked back, eating and drinking, along the other side of the street. About halfway there was a largish cemetery, and we went in to have a look.

The first section we came to was quite new, and occupied mainly by Chinese and other Asian immigrants. Having visited the Chinese cemetery in Manila, the Philippines, I was familiar with the custom of bringing food and items with which the departed could occupy their time, like crossword puzzles or handheld video games. Still, it was fascinating to see some of the elaborate displays created by loved ones.

We wandered over into the older central section, and found some graves from the early part of the 20th century. I don't recall any from the 1800s, but there were a couple from the 1910s, pre-WWI. On the way to the hotel that afternoon we had driven on Kirkbride Road; there in Mangere Cemetery was the Kirkbride family plot.

We were just about to leave when we heard a whoosh and a low roar come from a small building about 50 m from us. We realized it must be a crematorium, and there were clients to be processed. We continued our egress to the street, then back to the hotel. The room had cooled off, so we relaxed for a while, finally falling asleep to the faint sounds of jetliners. Our flight the next day did not leave early, but we were leaving all too soon.