Travels in the 2nd half

  Quechua Echo - Cuzco, Peru 1950 The Smithsonian Institute is based in Washington DC. It is a wonderful collection of museums that allow people to explore art, design and history. There is one museum that is different from the others. The National Museum of the American Indian is actually split between two different cities, two-hundred miles apart. George Gustav Heye by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- )via wikicommons   In 1916, George Gustav Heye , an engineer and investment banker, who had been collecting Indian artifacts for over ten years, used his collection to found the Museum of the American Indian. It opened in 1922 as part of the Audubon Terrace complex in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of New York City. In 1987, Sen. Patrick Moynihan (NY) proposed moving the museum into recently decommissioned Hamilton Custom House at New York’s Bowling Green. At about the same time, Sen. Daniel Inouye (HI) sponsored a bill to create the National Museum of the American Indian as pa...

  Old Town Auburn   In 1848, gold was discovered in the mountains along the Sacramento and American Rivers in California. As miners began to flood the area, they explored the areas around the rivers, looking for places to pan for gold, and they set up camps. Many of those camps grew into the towns that line the river today. Auburn, CA, is one of those with a history that back to The Gold Rush. Old Town Auburn-1934 by Historic American Buildings Survey via Wikicommons In the spring of 1848, a camp was established by French miners headed for Coloma, CA. One of the miners, Claude Chana, was panning for gold in a stream, when he discovered gold. Chana, Francois Gendron, and Philibert Corteau decide to stay in what would become known as Auburn Ravine, to continue prospecting and mining. In 1849, the town of Auburn was founded, named by miner who had traveled from Auburn, NY. In 1851, Auburn was named as the seat of Placer County and in 1865, the Central Pacific Railroad came to to...

  Sacramento, California, is a wonderful city to visit. There are a lot of things to do, exploring the history of the state and local outdoor life. One great way to spend a day, especially if you are traveling with children, is to visit William Land Park, on the city’s south side. William Land Park is about four miles south of Old Sacramento, along the Sacramento River. It is named for one of the early European residents of Sacramento. He is best known for building the Western Hotel in town in 1875. The park has many attractions, including picnic areas, running paths and a public golf course on its 207 acres. One place to start your visit is at the Lotus Pond. It was built originally as a duck pond. In 2005, park gardener Daisy Mah planted on lotus flower in the pond. Over the years that one plant has multiplied to cover almost the entire area of the pond. Nearby is Fairytale Town . This is an attraction for children with activities based on many traditional fairy tales and nurser...