Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historic Park

Today I venture out to see a few local national historical sites.  The first stop was in Richmond, CA at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front Park.  This is located right on the Richmond shipyards and was a beautiful setting right across the bay from the Golden Gate Bridge.  “Rosies” were affectionately known women who helped change the outcome of World War II by working alongside the men in a common goal, which helped change industry.  The four Richmond shipyards produced 747 ships, more than any other shipyard complex in the country.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, American was transformed and known as “home front”.  Industry skyrocketed including minorities and women, which was embodied by “Rosie the Riveter”.

The Richmond shipyards was the center of wartime shipbuilding and had an effect all over the United States areas by what was produced in Richmond.  Richmond was chosen because of four main reasons: (1) Terminus for Major Railroad lines, (2) a deep harbor, (3) ample of land available to expand, and (4) ready and willing workforce.

During the war, six million women entered the US workforce.  While many needed no urging to aid the war effort, the government actively recruited them, first targeting single white women.  The appeal later extended to married women, then minority women.  Many people, including women, had to overcome Depression-era attitudes about women taking jobs from men – and about married women working at all.  Though women across the social spectrum worked during the war, minorities and working-class women made up half of those who entered the work force!

Of course, they met with skepticism; paid less, met with condescension, and harassment.  But, as they proved themselves to be as skilled as the men, things softened.

As the men returned from the war, many women were urged to give up their jobs to returning veterans.  Though they lost what they gained, they proved to themselves that they could do “men’s work”.  And thus, Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder worked to make America great!

Even the basement area was to the era including the bathrooms from steel stairs and galvanized pipes all over!

Now, a word about the Visitor’s Center.  It was immaculate and professionally done.  The exhibits were amazing!   Very concise and colorful.  I would highly recommend visiting this National Historic Park, and while you at it, bug the National Parks System to help Richmond get a Rosie the Riveter National Sticker!  They highly deserve one!

Pinnacles National Park

Today we set off from Bakersfield and headed to Morgan Hill - a town we lived in many years ago.  Before we arrived, we ventured over to Pinnacles National Park.  It's the 2nd newest national park in the USA.  The most recent is now The St. Louis Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, which gained national park status just last month!  Pinnacles, when we were living here was listed as Pinnacles National Monument.  The local scout troop would go camping over in Pinnacles since it's only 60 minutes away by vehicle just past Gilroy over by San Benito.

Unfortunately, Scott was most anxious to get to Morgan Hill so we only stayed at the park a short period of time and didn't get the change to take many photos, but I can say they have outstanding camping.  They have a large assortment of sites and even 2 pull-thru spots for the larger rigs like ours.

The best way to access the park is through the East Entrance off Hwy 25 and 146 at 5000 Hwy 146, Paicines, CA 95042.  Phone is (831) 389-4486.  The Visitors Center is just 1.9 miles off the road and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful and open currently form 9:30 am - 5:00 pm.  At Pinnacles there is large variety of trails, caves, climbing and bird watching - especially condors.  Pinnacles also has a great junior ranger program for the kids, too!  The Pinnacles National Park Foundation takes care of financing the junior ranger program

Pinnacles National Park is filled with jagged rock spires and boulder-topped canyons that tell stories of a geological past marked by violent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.  Today, Pinnacle's rock formations, chaparral-covered hills, and oak woodlands are home to a diverse range of plant and animal species, including the endangered California condor.  The park is quite small in comparison to other parks - about 3 miles long but it is filled with many trails heads: Bear Gulch, Old Pinnacles Trailhead, Bench Trail, Balconies Cave Trail and the Chaparral Trail.  While I didn't take these photos, here are a few from the National Park Service of their park. 

Photo: Chuck's Adventures

Lower Beaver Gulch
Photo: US National Parks

Photo: US National Parks

California Condor
Photo: US National Parks

Since this park is so small, I think it would make for a fun weekend get-away and you would easily be able to see nearly all the park in a couple of days.  Here's the map of the park with the associated hikes:

I alway forgot to mention that there were California poppies dotting the side of the road.

California Poppies
Photo: Trip Savvy

And the most rewarding park of the harrowing drive over to Pinnacle via I-5 was seeing a brand new calf inside a fence just off the side of the road with it's mother still licking the sack of the wet baby.  It couldn't have been more than a 20 minute calf.  So precious!  I wished I could have stopped to photograph it but with a 40' long RV and a very narrow 2-lane road, it wasn't safe to do so.

Cesar E. Chavez National Monument & Mojave National Preserve

We left El Centro this morning about 9:30.  We had hoped to fly the drone of my pulling out of the park but Scott took some video that I’ll post tomorrow once I get the camera.

We drove to Barstow and stamped my passport book of the Mojave Desert.  We didn’t drive through the Mojave since we’ve done that many times before.  But, I will say the very best time to view the Mojave is now...during the spring when the flowers are in bloom.  If you wait until June and through the summer, it's just WAY TOO HOT to want go there for you or your tires.  I had my passport stamped at the Barstow Visitors Center - it's a new building they recently opened.  The best place see all of the Mojave is in the town of Kelso, CA, a ghost town and defunct railroad depot.  Mojave does have a few trails to enjoy: Lava Tube Trail at Cinder Cone National Natural Landmark and Castle Mountains National Monument that you can access through Walking Box Ranch Road of CA-164.  Also, at Barber Peak, there are a few trails there to enjoy: Hole-in-the-Wall Nature Trail, Barber Peak Loop Trail and Rock Springs Loop Trail, to name a few, where there is also a campground and all are located just off I-40 and Essex Road.  Here are a few photos that others have taken of the Mojave Desert in spring:

Photo: Steve Berardi

Photo: National Park Service

Photo: Rennett Stowe

We continued on to Keene, CA where we were very fortunate to just get into the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument Visitors Center one minute before they closed!!  They close their doors at 4 pm which I think is much to early.  The parking lot was exceedingly small and I just barely could get the rig in it.  There is a larger lot farther down the road but this road was so narrow you almost have a heart attack hoping that you can get yourself out of the area unscathed!

Once inside the visitors center I stamped my book in the bookstore and while the ranger was helping two other ladies I took that time to see the exhibit and things on display.  It was a small but informative exhibit on the lifelong dream of Chavez and others to pursue their dreams of a farm worker's union.

Cesar Chavez was born in 1927 to Mexican immigrant parents outside of Yuma, Arizona.  His family lost their farm in the 1930 during the depression and so they joined thousands of other migrant farmers streaming into California from the Southwest and Midwest.  He quit school after 8th grade but never lost his desire to learn and was a life-long avid reader.

In in 1946 Cesar Chavez joined to Navy and then in 1948 her married his wife, Helen Fabela, a gal he met while working in the fields and vineyards.  Eventually, they made their way to San Jose.  After ten years as a community organizer throughout California with Dolores Huerta, Gilbert Padillo and other farm activists, Cesar Chavez decided to pursue his dream of a farm worker's union.

In 1962, he left his secure job and moved Helen and their eight children to Delano.  There, he founded the National Farm Workers Association with Huerta, Padilla, Manuel Chavez, Jim Drake and Julio Hernandez.  NFW was then renamed to the United Farm Workers in 1966.  In 1965, Larry Itliong led Filipino American grape workers in a strike against growers.  They were soon joined by the NFWA along with other unions, college students, church groups, civil rights leaders as they had a summer-long boycott and a 300 mile march from Delano to Sacramento - the longest protest march in US history.  It also led to the nation's first union contracts between farm workers and growers, securing better pay, health benefits, protections against pesticides and safer working conditions.  All this eventually led to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975.  Chavez worked until the day he died, April 23, 1993.  He was a man who stood for equality, justice and dignity for all Americans (Info courtesy of National Park Service).

I walked the grounds and took in the beauty of the location!  The trees were  full of blossoms and the water features and garden were lovely.  Through the gates was the final resting spot of Cesar and his wife Helena in a lush garden with waterfall with tranquil gurgles; a serene and tranquil final resting spot. 

After we left Keene, we drove to Bakersfield, our final place for the day.  We stayed in the Golden West Casino parking lot for the night.  It's a small mom and pop casino and we had a little bite to eat and then rested up.  The girls were in doggie heaven since there was a nice big patch of REAL grass at the rear of the coach and they were so happy to just roll around in grass after three months of no grass except in the doggie park.

We did take the opportunity to do something that has bugged us since we bought our Montana and raised the rear jacks two notches.  We just bought jack pads and Scott installed them before we left.  When we fueled up at a Pilot, the dip to get back on the road was enough that both read pads came off and since Scott had already gone ahead with the dogs, I had to get out of the truck and walked way back to where they came off and carry them back to the truck bed.  They aren't light.  When we stop for a longer period of time, we'll probably raise the middle jacks just one notch and we should be riding much better.

Now, the sun is setting and we're off for a long-deserved sleep after a long drive today.  Sunsets never get old.  We heard the churn of the "grasshopper" all night which lulled us to sleep.  My dad used to call oil drills "grasshoppers" when we would travel the country.  It was a fond remembrance.

Flying the Coop

It's time for us to hitch up the truck and say farewell to El Centro, California...

We're following the lead of the cute pigeon family living in the palm tree outside my office window and "flying the coop".  We've been watching this little family with great interest as the father has busily been finding fill for the nest and the mom has been sitting on her egg(s) for weeks.  We've seen on very large egg, so I'm assuming there's only one in the nest.  The nest is adorable (it's much larger now - it's been growing daily) and with a "birdseye" view - literally - of this mom, it's been such fun.  She's high up in the palm tree and my office window is up in the top part of our coach so we watch each other every day.

We're busily cleaning and packing up the trailer as we get ready to leave El Centro first thing tomorrow morning.  The truck is hitched up to the Gypsy Rose and we've got our site nearly cleaned up outside.  The only thing left is the girls dog pen and my flowers and plants! 

These are my parents funeral plants from 2015 and 2016.
This year mom's plants BLOOMED!  They have never done that before!

It's a far different look now than it's been around here with all the boxes all over the coach - inside and out - as I've been scanning day in and day out for 3 months and now gradually fading to nothing.  I finished all the scanning last night about 8 pm!  There were stacks and piles of boxes EVERYWHERE!  I've label and filed every photo, paper, homework assignment, documents, certificates, etc.  You name it - it got scanned and filed!  Now, I have a bunch of boxes packed up to give to my children and siblings as we travel the country this summer.  They can enjoy the same trip I took down memory lane.

The girls all got groomed on Friday, so they are at their peak and look so pretty.  Of course, Miss Coco had her bows out in about 15 minutes.  She's our tom-girl dog:

Roxy kept them in for 1 day.  She's our no-nonsense, don't bug me dog:

And good old Chanel still has hers in her hair after 4 days!  I'm pressed!  But, then again, Chanel is the girly-girl of the three poochies.

We've had so many fun experiences here and made so many great friends!  Our neighbors next door, Richard and Purita left this morning, so no photo.  Our other neighbors on the other side, Erv and Jo from Nebraska will be staying here permanently as poor Erv was diagnosed with Mesothelioma while he was here and their treatments are in San Diego.

Mickie (Jo's sister) and Ben, her dog, across the road is leaving tomorrow, too.

Mickie and Ben

Ginger across the way is leaving next week.  She's from Idaho; up by Coeur d'Alene where it is very cold and snowy.  She along with a bunch of our neighbors have been piggybacking off our Internet, but we don't mind sharing.  She has a fun contraption on the back of her camper that he cat can exit through the back window into a 2-3 story cat hotel.  Pretty nifty.

Judy and her husband have been very fun.  We always seem to do our laundry on the same days and have a fight for who gets to the machines first...I have always lost.  Hmmm.  I'll have to work on that.

Mary & Roger will be staying for another month before they head back home to New Mexico.  Roger grew up in Utah - only about 35 miles from where we lived.  He is a master woodworker and his work is just amazing!!  Unfortunately, he isn't doing well as he is constantly using an oxygen tank.  But, they are such wonderful people.

Everyone is leaving and within a few days this place will be a ghost town.  It seems nearly all of Desert Trails is flying the coop.  We had one last big farewell dinner on Saturday that the park catered for us.  We feasted on Beef, Chicken, Potatoes and Green Salad with an Ice-Cream Sandwich thrown in.  Beer was on tap and there was unlimited wine on the house, but we don't drink so we just enjoyed our water.  The room was packed all the way to the back wall and over to the exit doors!  I will be glad to get back on a healthy eating regimen.  With all the scanning and sitting on one place day in and day out I've gained 15 pounds and I need to get that off ASAP.  Once dinner was over Richard (our next door neighbor) and John from the band played "On the Road Again" while every danced.  It will be sad to go but exciting to move on in the same breath.

A few nights ago we took the girls on their last walk around the park where we enjoyed another wash tub fire pit like this one.  Once we get done RVing I really want to make one...or just do it and lug it around.  They are so cool and mesmerizing and those vent holes sure let off a lot of heat.  Perfect on a cool night any time of year.  I think this one below is my favorite one...neat and tidy.  It's only 4 pieces:  (1) Wash tub, (2) Cement concrete tree rings and (1) Water Heater pan.  Simple.

The saddest part of leaving for me will be missing my wonderful yoga friends at Desert Yoga.  I started Yoga in January with Sara Rosas (Gentle Yoga) as my first teacher.  I've had Jason Barniske (2 Special Classes), Dipa Patel (Hatha Yoga), Brittany Morgan & Gabbee Lofton and Jisel Martinez (Yin Yoga) as my teachers - each with their own special personalities and have made my yoga experience so much fun!  Today, Sara was, as should be, my last yoga teacher in El Centro since she was my first, bringing my yoga experience here full circle.  I've met some great people also - Emily and Rae, Mario and Nellie.  It's been such fun and I'd encourage you to do yoga.  It's amazing!  It's helped my hip open up so much.  I wish I had done it years ago!

L-R: Rae, Sue, Emily and Sara

Nellie and Mario

And, finally, we saw our last movie at the Imperial Valley Mall Theaters a few days, ago - Disney's, A Wrinkle in Time.  It was nice to get out of the RV and away from scanning.  I really enjoyed this one.  Great child actors but I thought the ending could have been stronger.  All-on-all, well done.

Tonight, we went to Famous Dave's for our farewell meal.  We went about 5:00 pm and it was empty...by the time we left, it was getting full of people.  We had the Feast for Two with leftovers for tomorrow night.  Great food.  Yet another reason why I've gained 15 pounds!  Uggh!

So, farewell, El Centro...as we ride off in another California sunset...you've been good to us.  Thanks for the memories.