Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1922-08-09
TRIP TO CALIFORNIA
Beetown, Wis,
August 4, 1922.
Mr.. A. L. Sherman,
Lancaster, Wis.

Mr. A. L. Sherman,
Lancaster, Wis.
Dear Sir:
AS l know that you and many of
the Herald" readers are interested
in the West, / will try and tell you
some of the interesting facts con-
corning my visit there this summer:
On May 80, I started by way OF
Cassville for visit with my aunt and
uncle, Mr.. and Mrs. A. II. McMonagle,
now living in Napa, Cal. From Cass-
Vile, | went to Clinton, Iowa, where
I took a pullman car over the Union
Pacific lines. This system leads
through the state of Iowa, Nebraska,
Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and Califor-
MIA.
Although many miles of the journey
there was nothing to be seen but
desert lands covered with cactus and
sage, there were still many scenic at
fractions, along the way. Very inter
esting in it's colors and fantastic
rocks is Alton Canyon, about forty
miles east of Barstow, Cal. West OF
Caliente, Nevada, the line traverses
for fifty miles a series of beautiful
canyons, the most noted being RAIN
bow Canyon, which was so named on
account of the brilliant colors of the
rocks composing it. The next inter
esting item was Weber Canyon, a
rugged gorge cut by the Weber river
through the Wasatch mountains.
Between the Weber Canyon and
Echo is a very interesting freak IN
rock formation called THE Devlfs
Slide" This somewhat resembles the
slides seen in our play grounds OF
today and the Indian tradition was
that by means of this slide the Devil
came down to earth
On Friday, June 2, l reached the
city of Los Angeles. Their l changed
to the Southern Pacific lines and pro-
ceeded up the coast route to San
Francisco. Here / was met by my
aunt, Mrs. McMonagle, and as l was
too tired to enjoy the sights in the
city, we crossed the bay to Vallejo
and went from there to Napa, a dis
lance of fourteen miles by electric
car.
After a rest of few days, 1 was
eager to explore the Napa Valley. AL
though they are now having their
dry season and it is not at it's best,
il was a very pretty sight. From the
highways can be seen cherry, olive,
peach, and prune orchards with here
and there a field of grain or green
alfalfa.
North of Napa is Calistoga with its
many geysers spouting up boiling
water at various intervals OF forty
minutes, one hour, etc.
NV first ride over mountain roads
was to Monticello, a distance of about
thirty miles. The roads are nearly
all cement or asphalt and in most
places wide enough for two cars to
pass. Where they aren't so wide
there are control stations to keep the
travellers from harm
While in Napa I was one OF the
many visitors at Ivy Rebecca Lodge,
where / had the pleasure of seeing
my aunt presented with beautiful
Jewel as Past Noble Grand of that
lodge.
After I had been in Napa several
weeks, my aunt and l took a trip
down to San Francisco. There we
visited with some of her friends and
then took in some of the sights. AT
the Cliff House. I first saw the Paci-
ic ocean. There were many bathers
ENJOYING IuG USdCiI anu 0C4AA 4AO1 IL
the famous Sutro baths. In the
museum there we saw mummies OF
Egyptians who had walked the
streets in the time Of Moses and
many old relics from all parts of the
world.
We walked all through the univer
sity campus at Berkeley and saw the
Greek theater there that has a seat
ing capacity of nine thousand, five
hundred persons.
After several days visit in San
Francisco we went back to Napa.
On July Is Mr.. and Mrs. McMonagle
and l started via Studebaker for trip
in. the southern part of the state. We
passed through Sacramento the first
day and I am sorry to say I was
rather disappointed in the capital
grounds as they were not nearly as
beautiful as you would expect to find
them. Our next stop was in Stock
ton, where we visited with friends
for the next two days. At Modesto
we had dinner with the Charles john
son family in their lovely home. The
Johnson's wished to be remembered
to all their old friends aroung Nc
CARNEY and vicinity. At Fresno we