Evening star., 1937-06-13
Giant Spans
One Feature
OfCalif0rnia
RedWoods Short Dis
tance From San
Francisco.

- AN FRANCISCO, June IA
novel experience in trail-blaz-
ing-or. at least, being among
- the first million to enjoy an un-
usual automobile drive, or a dozen of
them-awaits touring motorists, many
OF whom will this year avoid the high
way Journey across the continent from
the East by shipping their autos by
rail. People making their first visit to
that city or those VINO have not been
there since last October will find a
new thrill in crossing the longest
water span in the world, the g.. mile
San FranciscoOakland Bay Bridge
This experience may be climaxed with
q spin across the Golden Gate Bridge
with its longest single span on earth,
4,200-foot sweep of steel directly over
the famous entrance to San Francisco
Bay, Of $50 square miles.
Within a short distance from the
city--a mere hour from downtown
may be reached the outskirts of the
only area on this globe where grow
the mammoth redWoods of commerce,
seQuoia sempprVirenS. the oldest things
alive. 1t is delightful ride around
Mount Tamalpais to get a view of
Muir Woods, the first stand Of red-
woods to be seen on this journey AS
impressive as this initial contact with
gigantic redWoods may be, it consti-
tutes only a sample of the treat in
store for one farther north.
TRAVERSING the Redwood High
way. a perfect motor road, it is
not long before one is seeing more
chickens than could be counted by a
lightning calculator. and then comes
Petaluma. called the egg basket of
the Nation" because it claims to be
the source Of more eggs than any other
city in the United States
Then comes Santa Rosa, the home
OF the late Luther Burbank. of noted
horticultural achievements. Reminders
of how this genius brought into being
new plants, flowers and fruits, and
reformed old ones which had fallen
into evil habits, abound in his remark
able gardens, still maintained as he
had them.
A very brief visit is enlightening as
to how this man gave the Gala lily the
final grace of ingratiatlng fragrance
how he made blackberries white and
thornless; and, how he transformed a
froWsy weed into the beautiful Shasta
daisy
A detour to the west of Santa Rosa
takes one into the charming Russian
River country, where stately pines
mingle with statelier redwoods, and
where abound numerous resorts, beck
enlng those partial to river sports. To
the east is an aWe-inspiring petrifled
forest of redwoods which lived untold
ages ago, and were turned to stone,
scientists believe, no less than 6,000,-
600 years before the present era as a
result Of volcanic eruptions of Mount
st. Helena nearby. At the base of
this thought-to- extinct volcano lies
the Valley of the Moon, made famous
by Jack London, and where, on a
single short trip over a winding road
on certain nights one may see the
moon rise seven different times with
In few minutes
CLOVERDALE, few miles farther
north on the Redwood Highway
introduces a side trip to the truly
spectacular geyserland Of Sonoma
County. There may be inspected with
safety an inferno-like region, in a
setting of mountainous grandeur,
where 400 geysers, fumaroles, boiling
hot springs and torrid mud glaciers
are active constantly, filling much of
the air with scalding steam and
deafening din as the hot vapors under
tremendous subterranean pressure,
shoot skyWard through natural vents
Little less interesting than the six
largest geysers-knoWn as the
Giants-are especially two hot springs.
One of these is called the Devel's Ink
Well and out Of it flows pure, non-
fading writing ink. Signatures writ
ten With this fluid on the guest reg
lister of the Hotel Geysers in 1852 re-
main as black and leglble now as ever
The other spring. which deserves to be
classified as extraordinary, bubbles
forth a never-ending supply of hot
lemonade, natures own mixture and
very palatable.
Northward, Willets is soon reached.
There begins 100-mile stretch
through the densest of all redwood
forests. In North Dyerville Flat, near
Dyerville, Humbolt County, grows the
worlds very tallest tree, reaching an
altitude of 364 feet-higher than the
average 28-story building.
AS unusual as tour of the Red
wood Empire is, there are other trips
out of San Francisco which many peo-
pie consider even more intriguing
For instance. the trip eastward
through the old gold country of Cen
tral California with it's many ghost
towns, where drama and romance
reminiscent Of the 49'ers linger in the
midst of the most extensive gold min
Ing activity in 68 years. And by mov-
ing bit southwark through the
Mother Lode region, the tourist can
soon be in one Of the greatest national
parks of them all-Yosemite. This is
another vast empire of another kind.
Features of 1t are some of the great
est waterfalls on earth.
nTHER easy trips out of San Fran
cisco include the one to Monterey
Peninsula, noted for its fashionable
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