I am sure you have read my pages All About Cathy, My Testimony and Walk with JESUS, My Statement of Faith, Why I am a Baptist and met my family so now I want to tell you a little about where I live. I lived in Simi Valley, Ventura County, California, for almost 30 years.  It is in the southwestern part of the state, located northwest of Los Angeles, about half-way between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. What I really liked about the area is you can visit the beach, the desert, and the mountains all in the same day!  The weather is fairly mild, but it does get hot during the summer (upward of 100 degrees).  The nice thing is it cools down in the evenings.  During the winter it rarely gets snow, but it does get down into the 30s and 40s in the evenings, with daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s. In September 2006, I moved to Placerville in El Dorado County.  It is a beautiful area of the state, located in the Sierra foothills.  It is one of the oldest parts of the state and was famous for the Gold Rushes in the 1800s.  You can learn a little more about Placerville, on My NEW home, Placerville, CA California is known for it's long mountainous coastline, central valley (several hundred miles long), Sierra Nevada mountains on the east, southern desert basins, and rugged mountains in the north.  Lassen Peak, the only active volcano in the United States (outside of Alaska and Hawaii) is located in northern California.  California is home to the largest tree (the Giant Sequoia), the tallest tree (the Coastal redwood which is even taller than the Statue of Liberty), and Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park is the continent's highest waterfall. The chain of 21 missions along California's El Camino Real ("The King's Highway") are among the top tourist attractions and represent the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California.  You can find the missions from San Diego to San Francisco.  They were originally just about a day's trip from each other.   The first was built in San Diego in 1769, and the last in San Francisco in 1823.  Although, I am not Catholic, I do find the early history of California in these missions most interesting and have visited several of them. On September 2, 1850 California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state. Our borders are with Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and Mexico to the south.  Our western border is the Pacific Ocean.
	Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

California Trivia

State Flower Golden Poppy State Tree Coast Redwood State Animal Grizzly Bear State Bird Quail State Fish Golden Trout State Mineral Gold State Nickname Golden State State Colors Blue and Gold State Song I Love You, California State Motto Eureka (I have found it) State Capitol Sacramento Size 3rd largest state 163,707 square miles Coastline 840 miles Population 33,871,648 (as of 4/1/00) Ten Largest Cities Los Angeles San Diego San Jose San Francisco Long Beach Los Angeles Zoo Fresno Sacramento Oakland Santa Ana Anaheim Highest Point Mt. Whitney - 14,494 feet Lowest Point Death Valley - 282 feet below sea level National Parks Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Mojave Redwood Sequoia Yosemite National Monuments Cabrillo Devil's Postpile Lava Beds Muir Woods Pinnacles Tourist Attractions 21 California Missions Disneyland Hollywood Knotts Berry Farm Lake Tahoe Old Town Sacramento Monterey Bay Aquarium Richard Nixon Presidential Birthplace & Library Ronald Reagan Presidential Library San Diego Zoo San Francisco Sea World Six Flags Magic Mountain Universal Studios

"I Love You, California" Written by F.B. Silverwood Composed by A.F. Frankenstein I love you, California, you're the greatest state of all. I love you in the winter, summer, spring, and in the fall. I love your fertile valleys; your dear mountains I adore, I love your grand old ocean and I love your rugged shore. Chorus When the snow crowned Golden Sierras Keep their watch o'er the valleys bloom. It is there I would be in our land by the sea, Ev'ry breeze bearing rich perfume, It is here nature gives of her rarest, It is Home Sweet Home to me. And I know when I die I shall breathe my last sigh For my sunny California. I love your redwood forests - love your fields of yellow grain, I love your summer breezes, and I love your winter rain, I love you, land of flowers; land of honey, fruit and wine, I love you, California; you have won this heart of mine. Chorus I love your old gray Missions - love your vineyards streteching far, I love you, California, with your Golden Gate ajar, I love your purple sunsets, love your skies of azure blue, I love you, California; I just can't help loving you. Chorus I love you, Catalina - you are very dear to me, I love you, Tamalpais, and I love Yosemite, I love you, Land of Sunshine, half your beauties are untold, I loved you in my childhood, and I'll love you when I'm old. Chorus A PRAYER FOR CALIFORNIA ~ Author Unknown ~ Golden gate, Golden state, Who posts the watch on Farallon's isle? Who lifts up Shasta's snowy crown and keeps the high passes of Sierra Nevada? 'Tis Thee, 0 Lord, who hath ringed a royal valley with such ramparts: That within, blessing may lie among the palms and poppies, the orchards and vineyards and man-made waterways. Praise the good monks in their missions; Drake in his ship; pioneers and settlers; all who sought life in Thy Name from Tahoe's emerald blue to the surf dancing upon the breathless coast. Hallow, 0 Father, our questing too; that we may behold the beauty of Thy truth; far off among the stars and close in the charters we devise that peace and friendship may endure upon the lovely face of earth; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

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