Preston Castle/Sutter Creek

I woke up early on a Saturday morning (which I really do try to avoid) and quickly got the itch to go somewhere. The weather was suppose to be PERFECT for a July summer day in Sacramento (82 degrees), so to me that meant roadtrip. Last weekend I spent all day on the couch trying to get rid of a migraine, so I didn't want to waste another one by being inside on the couch.

I went looking online for different daytrip ideas. Living in Sacramento we do have plenty of options. I didn't want to go somewhere on the coast, as I'll save those cooler daytrips for the 100+ degrees of summer. I then thought how about Jackson/Sutter Creek as it would be cool enough to walk the streets and take some photos of the quaint little towns. While on the internet I searched for things to do around Sutter Creek and found a interesting location; Preston Castle.

The description of an old abandoned boys reform school in a 46,000sq.ft. castle that has been featured on many television shows of the paranormal peaked my interest. I did a quick search for images and saw it was full of character and creepiness to make me want to go. I called mom around 9:30am and she quickly called Fonda to get ready and head down to my house to get on the road to Ione by 11.

The website (http://www.prestoncastle.com/history.html) said it was open for tours from 10-1pm, so that gave us what I figured about an hour to wander the castle. They are only open for day tours the first and third Saturdays, with an additional option of overnight tours coinciding with the full moon (no thank you). We arrived at the castle in less than 40 minutes from my house. There was a long line of Harley bikes parked in front. We were surprised at how close to the main road it was, Fonda and I were both picturing a long dirt driveway. We walked into somewhat confusion as to where to go and what to do. We found the table where to pay your $10 fee, but it was surrounded by people with a very unhappy older woman manning the cash drawer. We finally got to pay our $10, where we were told to sign our names and given tokens in return. Turns out they run tours on a first come first serve basis. There is no self guided tours allowed. We took our coins and walked off to wait.

As we come out on the huge porch we were greeted by an old man who asked us if this was a county or state. Fonda and I both looked confused and told him we didn't know as we just got here. He then proceeded to ramble on about how if someone (I was assuming me since he was looking my direction) didn't stop the pounding he was going to hit them. Not sure who this crazy person was, we just agreed and walked away hoping to avoid further contact. I went inside to see how much longer it would be for us to start as it was now around 12:30 and didn't have any idea how long the tour was. I found someone who explained the process, each tour group has a number (we were 12, they were on 10) and we start by watching a 10 minute video. She said it would be about 15 minutes before we would start.

We wandered the grounds a bit and then went inside to wait for our number. Crazy old man followed and proclaimed himself as Smokey the bear and should be addressed as Smoky and starting rambling on about someone coming down outside. I wasn't sure if he was seeing ghosts or what, but it turns out one of the tour guides is his daughter and he has Alzheimer.

Luckily our number came up and they crammed the remaining people into the small video room where the guide was clearly annoyed with the length of the video and turned it off before it was done to get us through quicker.

We went through the door and before the tour really began another tour guide showed up to take half of the group and we quickly jumped to the new guide, as it seemed ours was in a rush. It ended up being a good decision, as we got a patient guide and the most well behaved family with kids. Our guide, Stephen Gatz, took his time explaining everything about the school, it's occupants, what life was like for them back then, and the deaths that occurred onsite. The school opened in 1894 closed in 1960. It has since been named a landmark and has been featured in many paranormal shows, included Ghost Adventures and a recent Vampire B-movie was filmed there last month.

To tell you the truth I didn't really listen to much of the information the guide was giving as I was too busy wandering off to take photos. The place is full of creepiness, but mostly I found the decay and deconstruction of the place fascinating. And all the nice muted colors they had it painted made for some amazing pictures. The tour lasted over an hour and half and I ended up taking about 200 photos. I will definitely go back and maybe even listen to the tour guide this time. Basically my version of the tour was, this was a school for bad boys who lived and worked in not so good conditions. Someone murdered the cook and hide her in the back of the kitchen, a few boys who tried to escape were shot there. They all showered, went to the restroom, worked, schooled and slept in close quarters and the pool wasn't for swimming but for "cleansing" them when they first arrived.

After the tour we were starving as we had no idea the tour would last that long. We drove into Jackson and had lunch at Perkos. I had a great BLT with avocado and mom had a burger and fries. Fonda thought we were going on a picnic or something so packed her own lunch and ate it in the car on the way to lunch. We ended up going to Sutter Creek and wandering the shops for another hour, as most of them had already started to shut down around 4pm.

Sutter Creek is a little town full of antique and unique shops. We went into one consignment shop and meet their little mascot, Mitzi, the Westie dog. I snapped a few photos of her as she started to pose for me (I ended up sending them to the owners), she was so cute and sweet. We went to our favorite gallery/store Fine Eye. This is a store full of unique and beautiful artistic items. Unfortunately most of them are out of my price range, but its still a great store to get inspiration from.

We ended up coming back to my place and hanging out in the garden. It was a great daytrip to get out and discover new places. I highly recommend a tour of the Preston Castle. Maybe in Fall when the weather is cool again, as they obviously don't have a/c and they said they will be opening up the third floor for tours in six months. In the meantime I'll have to watch some of the Ghost Adventures and see if the ghosts are wandering the halls.

Entry

Blue Doors (photo taken by Fonda)

Library Windows

Kitchen

"Pool"

Warden's Office

Trumpet Vines they used to cover the backside of the building

Sutter Creek side of building (I guess I was still in deconstruct mode)

Artwork in Fine Eye Gallery

Sutter Creek

Mitzi, the mascot for My Sister's Closet consignment shop

You GROW Girl!

Garden Boxes May 22, 2011

Well I know I said I would try to post more often this year, but so far there hasn't been much to post. My knee is still causing me a lot of problems and pain. I haven't been very active until recently. Might be that the weather is finally warming up, but really everything seemed so deary before.

Where to start, well after almost getting selected to be on Turf Wars (see my post from last July on Kimberly's Turf Wars for more details on what the show is) only to be told my street is too busy for them to film, I decided to start my own backyard makeover. I'm tired of every summer coming out and wishing the backyard was just DONE and all I had to do is maintain it.

Well its nowhere done, but its a little closer. My neighbor has been asking me for sometime to remove an oak tree that mostly hangs in her yard. While it provided a lot of shade for me, it provided a lot of clean up on her side. Plus it did shade the entire side I wanted my garden boxes to go. My mom and I had built a garden box probably more than 2 years ago and I had yet to use it except to store weeds and debris in while cleaning up the yard.

So I decided to increase my credit card debt a bit more and have the tree removed. My neighbor (yes the one who has been asking me to remove the tree) had a recommendation for a good cheap tree guy. Luckily he was. He quoted me $450 to remove the tree, after getting permission from the state as it turns out Valley Oak are protected trees, another $75 for trimming back the mock orange, $25 for removing my butterfly bush I poorly planted back there. I figured since Turf Wars won't be doing it for free, this was the best deal.

They showed up bright and early and right on time (shocking for any of you who have hired contractors), by the time I left an hour later they had half the tree gone. My mom was here to

supervise, and pay them for me, sent me an email an hour later saying they were done with everything and took out another renegade tree I had for free and cleaned up after themselves.

Sideyard May 14,2011 after tree removal

Sideyard ready for a garden May 14, 2011

You don't really realize what all space the tree took up until it was gone. I felt so exposed to my neighbor and immediately wished I didn't remove the tree. The following weekend my mom, dad, stepmom Cindy, sister and niece all came down to help me do some projects around the house including building another garden box. My dad and Cindy have built plenty of garden boxes at their own place, so they were kind enough to provide the free wood and put one together.

Since there were so many cooks in the kitchen, it took all day to build the other garden box and the following weekend my mom and I went shopping for all the veggies and dirt. I had NO idea how much dirt these boxes would take. It ended up taking over 18cuft of dirt to fill both garden boxes and repot the Lemon tree and pot my new Olive Tree (a.k.a. Ollie). I ended up planting the following veggies: Zucchini, Artichoke, Eggplant, 2 types of Corn, 4 types of Tomatoes, Lemon Cucumber, Sage, Basil, Green Onion, Italian Parsley, and Olive tree.

May 22, 2011

This box has eggplant, artichoke and zucchini

This box has green onion, 4 different tomato plants, sage, basil, lemon cucumber and Italian parsley

I thought let's try to grow some corn,

had to immediately cage it as Charlie thought it was a weed to chew on

Mr. Ollie (Frantioi Olive Tree) finds a new home in the old lemon tree spot

The next few weeks I continued to water, even though for some reason Mother Nature did most of the watering by not realizing it was Spring and having temps in the low 70s and raining. This did not please my Lemon tree who promptly dropped all it's leaves from the shock of being repotted and then having no sun to help it along. I kept hope that it would recover as I've had that lemon tree for over 8yrs. I kept a vigilant watch over my garden and lemon tree. I also planted a forsythia plant that dad and Cindy brought me in the ground and hoped everything would make it through the rough weather.

Lemon tree loses it's leaves

Luckily the weather caught up with the calendar and the second weekend of June I saw new growth in all my plants. I had a few zucchini blossoms (always heard chefs making recipes with them, but I want mine to grow into actual veggies). My tomatilo plant was covered in yellow buds, but my other tomatoes had nothing. My basil from Trader Joes was growing so well, I even had enough to give some to my mom and her friend John who lives down the street and stopped by for a visit. And luckily my lemon tree started to show signs of regrowth!

June 16, 2011

Zucchini, artichoke and eggplant

Those wonderful zucchini blossoms

The tomato/herb garden

Tomatilo plant is exploding with buds

Lemon tree comes back to life

The next week was filled with more sun and A LOT more growth. My tomato/herb planter box is completely filled with green leaves and yellow buds. My lemon cucumber is finding a place to climb. My tomato plants are all about waist high and showing lots of potential for many tomatoes. My zucchini plant is bigger than I ever expected. I have countless number of blossoms and even have 2 almost full grown zucchinis. My eggplant is looking great and growing strong. The biggest surprise to me is my corn. I never thought I would be able to grow it, let alone have it produce 3 ears. I always thought this was a back East type of veggie, but I can't wait to grill them up.

June 25, 2011

Charlie watches over the bountiful garden

Zucchini plant, how much bigger is it going to get?

More zucchini blossoms than I know what to do with

Eggplant, big and ready to start showing some veggies

Sage, Basil and Italian Parsley thrive along with the tomatoes

Light shines on a new tomato bud

Lemon cucumber start their climb

Green Onion ready to pick

Corn, 3 stalks, get the grill ready!

And most of all my Lemon tree is coming back big and better than ever. The new leaves are growing so fast and I hope to finally have lemons next year, since I haven't had one in over 5yrs. Mr. Ollie is doing well, especially since I trimmed back the rose bush near him and he gets sun all day. The roses are also in full bloom and giving off wonderful scents through my bedroom window. I'm always surprised how fast they recover from being cutback to nothing and coming back bigger, full of color and that wonderful rose scent. I can never have enough to fill the house with their scent.

Lemon tree coming back strong and green

Ollie is happy and at home by the fountain

Roses outside my bedroom window

The perfect rose that smells as good as it looks

I'll keep posting updates to the garden. It looks like its going to be a wonderful SUMMER!

New Year!

Well I know its been way too long since I've posted to my blog. Unfortunately it hasn't been due to a lack major events in my life. These last few months have been full of lessons. As most of you know I lost my sweet Maggie girl on Nov 13th. I won't rehash all the sad details, but I'll just say she has definitely left a huge hole in mine and Charlie's life. The house is a lot quieter and less lively without her following me room to room, staring at me and barking at whatever she deemed necessary.

The next bad thing to happen was dislocating my kneecap on Thanksgiving, while playing swordfighting on the Wii. Yes, I've heard all the jokes and laughter at me, but anyone with knee problems knows how easy and painful it can be. After a quick trip to the ER, I spent the weekend and many nights since with my leg elevated and iced. It's still not back to normal and will more likely require physical therapy as I'm still walking with a new swagger (or pimp limp), but hopefully will be walking normal soon enough.The last bad thing to happen was having my house broken into the week before Christmas. Well tis the season for B&E (breaking and entry for those who don't watch cops shows). I guess they thought since I have decorated my house I would have lots of presents to steal. After trying to break the deadbolt off the door in the garage with no success, they were successful in breaking the bath window and setting off the alarm when opening the sliding glass window and running out the front door with my jewelry box.
As you can imagine my first thought was of course Charlie! It was dark out, raining and I figured when the alarm company told me my front door was open he was long gone. I don't know if it was by accident or the weather that shut the security screen door, but I think that is what kept my boy inside. That and probably fear.
Fortunately, they only took my jewelry box and a blanket, but it costs me more the sense of security then the actual cost of replacing the jewelry and broken door and window. The only good thing that has come out of these past months events is that I know what great support and help I have with my friends and family. I can never repay Lisa for all her help with Maggie. My sister tracked me down to let me know my alarm was going off as I was starting happy hour. My friend Sarah came right over to make sure Charlie was ok, along with my neighbor Elaine and my friend Shelly (and Bella). Sarah got her friend Mike to board up my window. My mom came down to stay with me and Charlie for almost a week while the house got repaired. My dad and Cindy first attempted replace my door, my friend Caitlin's dad and husband got the door to work. My coworkers threw me a jewelry party to help replace some of the lost accessories. And I've received a ton of support and well wishes others.

I will continue to update my blog throughout the year (hopefully better than I did last year). While 2010 did not end the way I was hoping, it made me appreciate the poeple I do have in my life and hoping for a better 2011. My motto will be a happier, healthier and wealthier life.
And here's hoping that for EVERYONE! Now if I can just get rid of this head cold......

LOVE Vegas

Since seeing the Making of Cirque Du Soliel's LOVE on Showtime earlier this year, I've been wanting to see it in person. Last May when I had a weekend in Vegas due to a layover from a work meeting, I couldn't afford the cheapest tickets at $150. So when my friend Shelly spotted a deal of $50 tickets, I couldn't pass it up, along with a chance to see my friend Kerri again.
We spent only 24 hours really on the Las Vegas Strip but ended up packing a lot in. We arrived Friday afternoon and after a long hot drive to the Harrahs hotel and check in we were starving. We stepped into the hot oven air (106 degrees) at 2pm and it took us 45 minutes to cross the street to Serendipity restaurant outside of Ceasar's Palace. Unfortunately the heat didn't diminish the crowds and we had another half hour wait in the blazing heat before we would get into the a/c restaurant. We were both STARVING at this point and bought a slushy to try to cool us down (it didn't work). Luckily we both knew what we wanted as soon as we sat down - ABC Burger (Avocado, Brie cheese, Carmelized Onions). We quickly ate it down before moving onto their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate! This is a perfect desert for the HOT Vegas weather. I didn't want to get brain freeze so I ate most of it with a spoon.
Photo disclaimer - Due to hunger I wasn't thinking enough to take photos of this place or of our lovely food, so I borrowed these off the web

Serendipity 3 at Caesar's Palace

Their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate

After finally feeding ourselves we headed back to the room to rest up as we waited too long to eat and it was too hot to be outside. I called my friend Kerri and after about 50 different suggestions we finally decided on going to the Mirage Stack for dinner. They offered a lot of small plate options which was good for Shelly and I since we just finished stuffing ourselves with bad fried, sugary food and our stomachs were paying the price.
Kerri was king enough to pick us up at the hotel and we went to dinner at 7pm. The restaurant was beautiful, but very dark. I commented how all I could see of Shelly was her necklace and teeth. After my eyes adjusted we decided to share the Hot Rocks thinly sliced steak, lettuce wraps and mac and cheese. Now the menu claims you can share these small plates, not the case if you eat more than an ounce of food. And at these prices I was expecting a lot more food. The thinly sliced sirloin was so thin you could see through them and there were only 6 pieces. I guess that is why it only takes 8 seconds to fully cook the steak. Three little lettuce wraps were also smoking the meat and the hit of the evening was the Mac and Cheese, so good we ordered another round of it (mostly because we were still hungry too).

Restaurant Stack in the Mirage Hotel

Earlier in the day I had send a message to my friend Phillip, who was also in town with his husband, Troy for a family reunion to stop by if he had time. Since it was dark in the restaurant I didn't notice him sneak up and pretend to be a waiter and ask if everything was ok with our meal. I guess Troy had had enough of the Vegas heat and was back in the a/c suite, so Phillip decided to buy a single ticket to the show LOVE and join us for the remainder of the evening. It was a great surprise.
We all headed over to the theater and decided on a meeting place after the show to repay Phillip for picking up our check and treat him to drinks. The show was amazing. I had forgotten a lot of the older Beatles songs and had a great time watching and signing along. I first thought our seats would be bad ones since they were in the top section and only $50 (Kerri tried to see if they would upgrade us to better ones, but they said no, not with the price we paid). The seats actually turned out to be great. Because in Cirque Du Soliel shows there is so much going on you miss a lot of it. But not from where we were sitting. We got to look down on the whole thing and see people floating by us. We also got to see a part of the show that those sitting down below don't get to see, as in the middle of the show they are covered by a white sheet.
The show is definitely one to see if you are a fan of the Beatles or Cirque. There isn't as much Cirque acrobats and contortionist, but there still is the wonder and magic that make you say "how does one's body do that?".
After the show we all took our turns taking photos in front of the sign, as you can't take any during the show itself. Shelly and I took Phillip to drinks as we owed him for picking up the dinner tab, but unfortunately Kerri had to go home as she had to work in the morning. It was great hearing all of Phillips travel stories and his adventurous life he has led. I think Shelly is hoping to have a new travel buddy in him. We departed at the street crossing at 2am where the weather was still a warm 98 degrees. Got to love Vegas in the summer!

Kerri, Me, Phillip and Shelly (the Fab Four)

Love my Phillip!

The next morning after a long delay of getting out of bed, Shelly and I decided to look for some yummy breakfast in the Caesar's Forum shops. Unfortunately, it seemed too early for most restaurants to be open and yet too late to hit the cafeteria breakfast buffet. After wandering the casino and shops for an hour looking for anything that might have breakfast on the menu, we decided to just go to Cheesecake Factory. Luckily as we were complaining to the waitress as she sat us that we just were hoping to catch breakfast somewhere, she showed us the back page of their book menu to show all day breakfast being served! We were so HAPPY at this point we didn't care it didn't include pancakes... After finally getting some food in us we wandered the forum shops for some window shopping. We made our final stop at the Haute Chocolat store Vosge. I think we ended up staying in there for about an hour taste testing all they offered. I ended up buying about $50 worth of chocolate and it was all worth it. My favorite was the chocolate covered marshmallows with caramel. The box only came with 4 pieces and I savored each one of them. It's dangerous to know they will ship it to you....
As we were heading out of the shops we spotted a sign saying Pete Rose was there doing a meet and greet. Shelly being a baseball fan thought it would be cool to get something signed by him,. But not at the prices they required you to purchase something - an 8x10 photo for $80. He wasn't looking so happy about being there and meeting his "fans". I just thought he really needed to make the mortgage payment this month or still trying to pay off those legal fees.
You just never know who you might run into while in Vegas!

Statue in the Forum shops

Interior of Forum Shops

Pete Rose happy to meet his fans