Posts Tagged ‘California’

PBS's Sebak: "We could do this forever"

June 19, 2008

PBS producer Rick Sebak has called the past few days reporting that like any good road trip, there’s just too many places to explore when you’re trying to keep to a schedule: “There’s so much to see, we could do this forever.”

They’re on their second cross-country trip fiming for A Look Along the Lincoln Highway, premiering this October. Amazingly, this afternoon Rick and Bob and Glenn are driving east and will be pulling into the Lincoln Highway conference in Evanston, Wyoming. Amazing because they passed by just a few days ago heading west into Utah where they interviewed former LHA president Jess Peterson, headed down Johnson Pass (above, though Gatofeo wrote to say this is actually Dugway Pass), crossed the Great Salt Desert, got a flat tire, interviewed Jay Banta and toured with him, crossed Nevada, filmed in the Sierras and Placerville, reached the terminus, and are blazing back eastward. Amazing too are the photos and videos they’re capturing for their blog. Here are some extra beauties from Rick – CLICK on them for larger views. Makes you want to hit the road, doesn’t it?


• Horses along Pony Express Road, a LH bypass around Dugway, Utah.


• Pony Express Road meets the LH east of Fish Springs, Utah.


• Jay Banta shows the crew around Kearney Ranch, Callao, Utah.


• Crossing Nevada.


• Bob and Glenn set up a late-day shot at Berkeley Pier on the San Francisco Bay.


• Sebak reaches the Western Terminus in San Francisco for time #2.

Remember to CLICK on them for larger views – and you’ll soon be planning your own trip.

Fun awaits on annual CA Lincoln Highway tours

April 9, 2008

California’s Lincoln Highway Association chapter offers four one-day tours every year that completely cover the four legs of the LH across the state. The Saturday “van tours” – named because they are done with a caravan of vehicles, each with its oiwn tourguide – were started in 2004, and even though the tours repeat annually, new discoveries are added each year. Paul Gilger, director of the LHA’s mapping program, initiated the tours and serves as lead organizer. He says they’ve had tremendous help from California chapter members as drivers and guides, including Norm Root, Bob Dieterich, Clark Wood, Gary Kinst, Michael Kaelin, Miriam Hull, and Lloyd Johnson. Photos (except the one by me immediately below) are courtesy Gary Kinst; tour maps from the chapter website were prepared by Jimmy Lin. All are ©.

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Above, Looking to US 50 along the overgrown road from the site of Phillips Station, a stage station, resort, post office (Vade), and hotel that was destroyed by heavy snow in 1952. The c. 1960 sign is for the Pow Wow. Look for it on Tour #2 through El Dorado County. Photo © by Brian Butko

1) APRIL 26
1913-27 Central Valley Route
to San Francisco via San Joaquin Valley and Altamont Pass (roughly paralleling I-580, I-205, and Route 99).

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Above: Summit Garage, Altamont Pass.

2) JUNE 28
Sierra Nevada Southern Route
to Lake Tahoe via Echo Summit and the Pioneer Trail (US 50 corridor).

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Above: Sportsman’s Hall near Pollock Pines.

3) AUGUST 30
Sierra Nevada Northern Route
to Verdi, Nevada, via Donner Pass and Dog Valley (paralleling I-80).

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Above: Rainbow Bridge at Donner Summit as seen through LH “subway.”

4) OCTOBER 25
1927-28 Central Valley Route
to San Francisco via Sacramento Valley and across the Carquinez Strait (paralleling I-80).

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Above: Lunch stop at Carquinez Bridges.

Each tour starts and ends at the Holiday Inn “Sacramento I-80 Northeast,” 5321 Date Avenue, I-80 Madison Avenue exit (site of the LHA’s 2002 conference). The hotel has a secure parking lot, with many restaurants and gas stations nearby. Departure 9 am sharp, estimated return 6 pm. Cost is $40 per person per tour and includes a driver and tour guide, and refreshments. Each tour stops for lunch but the cost is not included. Click here for complete information on the CA LHA site.

CA LHA state mtg & regional tour in Dublin

March 28, 2008

The California Lincoln Highway Association chapter will hold its state meeting on Saturday, April 12, noon, at Athens Restaurant, 6999 Dublin Blvd, Dublin. A caravan tour is scheduled afterward to visits sites in Dublin Canyon and East Castro Valley. LHA meetings (including lunch) generally run 1-5 hours or less, and the tour another hour. This one will explore recently discovered sections of the Lincoln in east Castro Valley and Dublin Canyon with a possible stop in Dublin itself. Contact Norm Root at normanroot [at] yahoo.com for more info.

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Photo from daplus.us, map from Google.

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"Historic LH" sign marks Summit Garage in CA

February 28, 2008

Folks in California just can’t stop marking, promoting, and preserving the Lincoln Highway. Gary Kinst, editor of LHA’s California chapter quarterly newsletter The Traveller, sent a couple photos from the recent dedication of a “Historic Lincoln Highway” sign at the Summit Garage in Altamont. From left are Deborah DuBois, Mike Kaelin. Al Vieux, and Linda Krhut.

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Al, a cattle rancher in the area since 1951, owns the garage. In a few days, Deborah and Linda will be opening “Creative Cave” antique and stained glass shop there. (Linda had been involved with Tri-Valley Youth Services that occupied the building last year – see LH News entry for 2/15/08). Mike is the Alameda County rep./consul for LHA California, and an ad hoc advisor to the Summit Garage. And to make our story complete, Gary formerly owned 5 automotive garages in the East Bay area, and now writes and researches garages and the Lincoln Highway in addition to his day job.

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LHA's spring 2008 state meetings set

February 23, 2008

Here are some upcoming Lincoln Highway Association chapter meetings.

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Iowa will hold a membership meeting on Saturday, April 12, 2008, in Denison, Crawford, County.

California’s spring meeting also will be held April 12, in East Castro Valley/Hayward.

The Ohio Lincoln Highway League will hold 14th annual state meeting on Saturday, April 26, at the Elks Club in Galion. It will be hosted by the LHA Mid-Ohio Chapter. Tours of local attractions will follow.

LHA’s Indiana chapter will host a lunch meeting, to be joined by Illinois, May 10 in Schererville that will include a ceremony honoring Art Schweitzer, leading expert on the Ideal Section.

Follow the links for more information.

Changes at Summit Garage atop Altamont Pass

February 15, 2008

When I visited the Summit Garage in July 2006, Dan Silviera showed me around the shop. Among his many efforts to help youth, he managed Tri-Valley Youth Services, and the garage was serving as the Tri-Valley Teen Center for teaching youths to restore classic cars. There was an assortment of cool old cars on lifts and along the road. The only dark cloud was that a utility company wanted to demolish the old place for a right-of-way.

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I recently checked on the garage with Gary Kinst, editor of LHA newsletter The Traveler for California. I was looking for news about the utility but was sadly surprised to hear that the teen center lost its lease July 1, 2007, and Dan Silveira (above) passed away July 30. Click here to read Dan’s obituary from the Boy Scouts, where he was a scoutmaster for 17 years; that and his many other accomplishments are an inspiration.

Click the images below from my visit to see larger versions on Flickr – then click the Flickr pics to see them REALLY BIG. The T-Bird, one of the youth projects, was across the road.

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10 x 10 white square
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A local rancher has purchased approximately 240 acres that include the Summit Garage and a dwelling. Gary reports that LHA member Mike Kaelin is working with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and their State Representative to have the garage preserved as a historical site and the pass as a historic corridor. The new tenant, a former member of T.V.Y.S., has plans to open a antique/gift shop in the old garage. A “Historic Lincoln Highway” sign was recently dedicated there too.

Sacramento PBS to run LH segment – Wed 7pm

February 12, 2008

Sacramento’s KVIE-TV/channel 6 (PBS) occasionally runs a show called “Street Signs” that explores the history behind local street names. This week’s episode will include a segment on the Lincoln Highway. In the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto area it will be broadcast on channel 6 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, February 13. It may show in other areas too – check local listings.
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California LHA director Bob Dieterich says, “Norm Root and myself were interviewed and I spent two days with the producer and a cameraman filming sights along the highway in the Sacramento, Auburn, Davis, and Galt areas. If one watches closely they may see a glimpse of the map from the top of your blog.”

The above photo (courtesy of KVIE-TV) shows Bob on a short segment of the Lincoln hidden in bushes beside Taylor Road/US 40 in Penryn between Sacramento and Auburn.

Snow closes I-80 in CA, but pretty along old LH

January 28, 2008

An AP story this morning reports that snow has forced the closure of I-80 between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada, where it is parallel to (and often intertwined with) the Lincoln Highway in eastern California. Eastbound I-80 was closed at Colfax (50 miles NE of Sacramento) and westbound traffic was being held at the Nevada state line. Meanwhile, floods, mudslides, and winds are battering southern California.

For a calmer take on winter weather, Paul Gilger, Chair of the Lincoln Highway Association National Mapping Committee, sent along these images from brothers Greg and Grant Gassman, members of the California chapter of the LHA. A few weeks ago, they took these photos of the original 1913 alignment through Kingvale up near Donner Pass. The first one is looking east on the 1913 alignment just before it rejoins the 1926 alignment on Donner Pass Road (which does get plowed):

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The second photo is just taken a little to the west of the first photo. It’s also looking east on the 1913 alignment:

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California LHA gives sign honoring Nut Tree

January 23, 2008

During the California Chapter LHA meeting on January 12 at the new Nut Tree complex on I-80 in Vacaville, Fentons Creamery restaurant was presented with a Historic Lincoln Highway sign by chapter president Norm Root. It will be displayed along with artifacts and photos from one of the best-known attractions in California, The Nut Tree.

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Above: Jim Braden, general manager of Fentons Creamery, receives a complimentary Historic LH sign from LHA CA chapter president Norm Root. Photo by Gary Kinst

Fentons traces back to 1894, and has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area at 4226 Piedmont Avenue since 1961. This second location opened here in 2007; it resembles a 1940s ice cream parlor with marble counters and tables, retro booths, and Art Deco lighting.

The Nut Tree was founded in 1921 as a fruit stand under the shade of a walnut tree and grew into a complex of restaurants, gift shops, entertainments, a railroad, and even an airplane runway.

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Since The Nut Tree closed in 1996, locals have missed it, so redevelopment plans include nods to the attraction. At the free Nut Tree Family Park, the original Nut Tree train winds through the landscape and past the Harvest Express roller coaster, the I-80 Traffic Jammers bumper cars, California Carousel, and other custom kid rides. Click on the map below to download a large PDF version.

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The childhood home of The Nut Tree founder, Harbison House, built 1906-07, has been moved 1,000 feet south to the 3.7 acre family park behind the retail complex. It is being preserved by the Vacaville Museum and will include memorabilia showing the history of the Nut Tree and California. The development also includes lodging, resdiences, offices, and even the Nut Tree Bocce Grove, a two-acre park patterned after the grand public gardens of Europe containing 8 international regulation bocce courts. Visit the Vacaville CVB for more about the Nut Tree development.

Another LHA sign dedication is planned for sometime in the next month at the Summit Garage in Altamont.

Art, photo show to debut at LHA's 08 conference

January 22, 2008

The 2008 Lincoln Highway Association conference in Evanston, Wyoming, June 17-21, 2008, will feature a new attraction: the Lincoln Highway Art & Photo Show.

LHA 08 art logo

Coordinator Kell Brigan, who is also Secretary/Treasurer of LHA’s California Chapter, says “This exhibition is a chance for artists to share their work with conference-goers who also understand the highway’s appeal, and to meet other Lincoln Highway artists and photographers as well.” Below is a plein air watercolor by Brigan herself showing the Lincoln Highway at Adams & Porter roads in Dixon, California, and the town’s water tower.

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Brigan recalls,

While I was working on the painting (about 10:00 AM on a Sunday in the parking lot of a shop that specializes in maintaining & repairing livestock trucks), a fellow came out of a nearby house (next to a great old building from the ’20s), and said, “OK, I give up. Why, of all things, are you painting the Dixon water tower?!” I explained about painting spots along the highway in California. Turns out his mom, who came by later with the family dog, had helped run one of the “Lincoln Highway Garages” on the same spot in the ’30s.

Visit http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/conference/2008/art_show.shtml for more information and an application, which is due by April 10, 2008. Note that this inaugural show is only an exhibition: no judging or prizes.