On the "California" Road Again Quiz

Answer: Cabrillo National Monument

You drive onto the little island which houses the visitor center and many other items. You can walk up to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. You can see the monument of Juan Rodriguez and you can walk along the path with cliffs with water crashing alongside of them.

As you drive in and out, you will see a large amount of grave stones on either side of the road. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery holds over 86,000 military personnel and their families. Not quite as big as Arlington National Cemetery, but a serene spot to say the least.

Answer: Channel Islands National Park

You can hire a boat to take you out to the islands. You're welcome to spend the night, camping out there also. Just a small fee and a little permit and you're headed to peace and quiet from the bustling California life.

Two of the islands, San Nicolas and San Clemente, are run by the Navy and not by the National Park. Santa Catalina is another island and is off the coast; it has the most residents with over 4000.

One island that I didn't mention is Santa Barbara Island, which is also run by the National Park.

Answer: Chargers and Rams

The NFL teams have been moved around quite in a bit in the past 20 years. The Rams went from LA to St. Louis and back to LA. They won the Super Bowl in 2021 against the Cincinnati Bengals at their own home stadium!

The Chargers were moved from San Diego to LA and now play in the same stadium as the Rams.

The 49ers are up north playing just outside of San Francisc, California lost the Raiders to Las Vegas.

Answer: Death Valley National Park

Surprisingly you can find the highest point in California just a few hours away, the peak of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Mountains. The lowest point is called Badwater Basin and is located in Death Valley and is actually 282 feet below sea level. There's a massive white area that is hard salt that you can walk on over the area. If you look on the rocks you can see the 'sea level' sign that shows the level way above.

Death Valley is one of my favorite national parks. You can stay in this area and see so much. There are a couple of times you do not want to visit. One is the summer time. The hottest record heat was 134 degrees in 1913, but it's not uncommon to find temps over 100. The second time you do not want to visit is during a rain storm. The rain has nowhere to go and it floods quickly!

Answer: Devils Postpile National Monument

Only a few places in the world can you find columns of rock that are normal hexagonal blocks of rock. This is normally caused from lava flows from years ago that molded into the rock formations.

Other places that you can find this form is in Northern Ireland at the Giant's Causeway. It goes out into the water and is a beautiful setting as you sit on the hexagon blocks. You can also see them in Iceland by the black sand beach on the south side. There is also a small area of it in Rainer National Park in Washington state. The only way to get to this area is to hike on the Wonderland Trail.

Answer: Golden Gate Bridge

All of these bridges are suspension bridges, but only one was the Golden Gate. They officially started the project in 1933. It was so unique how they built this. Both the north and south sides started building the bridge and then they placed safety nets below the area where the men worked to avoid more deaths. I'm sure that everyone waited patiently on November 18, 1936 to see the two sides of the bridge merge together. A perfect fit and a perfect architect that designed it.

There is a pedestrian bridge across the bridge where you can walk all the way across and look up to see the massive beams. There are signs for those contemplating jumping. Suicide is never an option.

Answer: John Muir

John Muir was a gentleman who loved the mountains and was nicknamed "Father of National Parks". He was born in Dunbar, Scotland and came to America and changed hiking trails forever. He was the first president of the famous Sierra Club that was formed in 1892. The purpose of the club was to promote hiking, protecting the earth and educate others. He did just that too!

He met and married Louisa in his 40s and she knew that he loved his mountains. If he became unbearable she knew right where to send him to relax! The famous line of his is, "The mountains are calling and I must go." Luckily for us they called him quite often.

You can find the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, California where John lived and wrote his findings. John also has a 211 mile trail named after him that goes from Yosemite National Park to Mount Whitney. The only problem is, the trail doesn't end at the top of the mountain, you need to go down to the town of Lone Pine, which is another 13 miles. Making the trail 224 miles long.

Answer: Manzanar

There were a total of ten of these camps in the United States. People were nervous when they saw a Japanese individual during WWII in the US. President FD Roosevelt was also nervous, especially after Pearl Harbor. Who to trust anymore? All of the people with at least 1/16th Japanese American heritage were taken and divided up into one of these ten camps.

Some that owned businesses were forced to close their doors. Many lives changed after that. Manzanar National Historical Site was home to close to 10,000 people. Treated like prisoners in your own homeland.

When I went to visit this site I was saddened over the small barracks that they lived in and was heartbroken for the people that were forced to stay there. I visited a couple of these sites over the years. I can understand the reasoning, but still a hard one to follow.

Answer: Rosie the Riveter NHS

They were known as the Rosies! The 'We Can Do It" gals! When men were called to war in WWII the factories were empty and the women knew they could help. The stay at home wife was now clocking in at a factory to help the country. It was said that approximately one in four women were working in 1945 when the war ended. This opened the doors for jobs for women. There was one downside though, the husband would have been given almost double the wage that his wife was getting. Even Eleanor Roosevelt got involved and asked women to join the armed services.

By the way, the "We Can Do it" gal was Naomi Parker Fraley. What an inspiration to women everywhere!

Answer: Disneyland

On July 17, 1955 a man with a dream opened the doors to Disneyland in California. He had people dressed up in characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and more. Only a few rides were open to visitors that day: The Mad Tea Party where you spun around in a tea cup, The Jungle Cruise where you see fake animals in a jungle themed boat, and Autopia where a child could get behind the wheel of a slow moving car.

The theme park was a success and more rides opened and then it grew to extend to California Adventures. If you stand in front of the Sleeping Beauty's Castle, you will see a chunk of metal that holds a castle underneath. It was opened on July 17, 1995 and they had cake everywhere around the park. Stop at a table and pick up a free piece of cake. At the time this quiz was written, the castle was closed and won't be opened until July 17, 2035. I bought a tshirt the day it was opened in 1995 and plan on wearing it again in 2035. Thank you Mr. Disney for making our dreams come true!