Saturday Plans

It's Hop A Park Day and Sugar Cookie Day.   I am hoping to hop over to a park today.  After some Saturday chores and before picking Benjamin up at 6.

Benjamin is at Stake Youth Conference having a missionary weekend experience.

The State of California is in a big budget mess.  The budget for State Parks has been cut back so much that we are going to have to close 1/3 of the parks in our system.  70 parks will be closed by the end of next year. 70 Parks!!  The good news is Mac Kerricher State Park one of my personal favorites where we have often
family camped in Fort Bragg is not on the closure list.  Near by Russian Gulch State Park is. : (  We are going to try to visit some of them before they are closed. Today I would like to visit South Yuba River State Park. The area includes the longest single-span covered bridge in the world, the steep rugged canyon of the South Yuba River, and the Independence Trail--the first identified wheelchair-accessible
wilderness trail in the country.

We also want to visit Jack London State Historic Park ( Have you read any of his books?  Call of the Wild.  White Fang.  Sea Wolf.  I cannot remember what else.)  and not far from there Bothe Napa Valley State Park and connected to it by a trail I would like to take, Bale Grist Mill State Park, the site of a water-powered grist mill that was built in 1846.  The mill and its 36-foot water wheel are a state historic landmark and have been partially restored. Additionally, the park includes the site of the first church in the Napa Valley as well as the Pioneer Cemetery.  We want to do those all in one day, when we have more time than today.

The trouble is we have so many Saturday plans!

Next week is granddaughter Naomi's birthday party - Dr. Suess theme.  What shall we do to dress for the occasion?

The week after that Tom and Ruth have  convention in Fresno and I am going with them to take care of the kids. There are some fun places for the kids and I to visit there.  I hope it is not too hot!  Fresno gets hotter than Sacramento, I think. And doesn't get the Delta Breeze.  Love the Delta breeze! even though wind makes biking harder for me.  IF we decide it is too hot, we might just stay in the motel, watch movies, play games (and jump on the beds?).  But I hope we can go out and visit places.  There is a place like Fairy Tale Town here in Sacramento that sounds fun.  I forget what else.  Need to do some research.  (Maybe Ruth will.  smile)

Then the next weekend is granddaughter Esther's baptism.  Sariah's family might do a mad dash down for the event and back?!  Happy face!!  Maybe a book exchange?  Acadia got some books for her birthday that sound good and she and Sariah might like The Help and by then we will be done with Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family.   Both great reads.

That fills up July.

The first Saturday in August MIGHT be open for our Jack London/Bothe-Napa Valley/Bale Grist Mill excursion.

The next weekend I am thinking about going to the Nevada County Fair in Grass Valley.  Huell Howser featured it in one of his programs I watched while doing some chores recently and it looked great.  The
fairgrounds are beautiful - in the Sierra Nevadas with lots of tall beautiful trees.  Treat Street at the fair is a whole bunch charities selling yummy food.

Then school starts.  I am planning on taking a Cost Accounting class so I can qualify for promotional opportunities and will need study time.  boo.  Benjamin and Andrew will be taking college classes, too,
but as they don't have jobs (yet) they have more study time.  I hope Joseph also takes a class.  He will need to study on Saturday, as well.

Have a great Saturday!