Folsom and the Fourth

So I thought I'd at least try to be original and not use the same flag as Wendi and Rachel, but this is all I could find. I think it's from the road trip when my Dad and I drove out to Cali.

I had a wonderful first Fourth of July in California.

I decided that it was not acceptable to sit at home on this day off and so I ventured out to Folsom, CA (eastern suburb of Sac) to see some sights. I thought about calling someone to go with me, but figured people would either be "busy" or have better plans, so I went solo.

First, I went to the Folsom State Prison. This is the penitentiary made famous by Johnny Cash's performances live here in the 50s and 60s, particularly with the song "Folsom Prison Blues." While you couldn't go in the prison itself (it is still active-- with thousands of inmates), just being on the grounds did kind of give me the heebie-jeebies. But the little prison museum was kind of neat to visit, and the old man who volunteered there told us interesting stories about some various escapes that had happened and how it had changed since his time as an employee there.

Here is some history for you in an excerpt about the prison from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation site:


The California Legislature authorized the construction of Folsom State Prison in 1858. Twenty years later, in 1878, construction began on one of the nations first maximum-security prisons. On July 26, 1880, Folsom received its first 44 inmates. The inmates were transferred by boat from San Quentin State Prison to Sacramento and then by train from Sacramento to the prison.

Folsom State Prison's location was selected due to an unlimited amount of native granite stone for building the prison. Also, the American River offered ample water and formed a natural boundary. Inmate laborers built the first dam and canal on the American River, which led to the first hydroelectric power generation for the Sacramento area.
Originally designed to hold inmates serving long sentences, habitual criminals, and incorrigibles, Folsom State Prison quickly gained the reputation of being the end of the line. Prior to the completion of the granite wall in the 1920's, the prison witnessed numerous escape attempts; the first one occurring shortly after the first inmates arrived in 1880. Throughout Folsom's violent and bloody history, numerous riots and escape attempts have resulted in both inmate and staff deaths.

Here are some photos:

Aerial view of Folsom State Prison (I obviously didn't take this photo!)

"Old Folsom" Prison Visiting regulations
Cell (with fake guy:))

7-foot ferris wheel out of over a quarter-million toothpicks that one inmate made over the course of 10 months of incarceration. He made three total and then sold them to the museum! :)

I thought these bumper stickers were funny....

I then puttered around historic Old Town Folsom (Sutter Street) for a bit, popping into a couple of little artsy shops where I tried not to knock over their delicate glass and porcelain items. I found my way to the Recreation area of Folsom Lake and did some biking on the trails there. I was a bit directionally confused, but think I found Folsom Lake proper (there is also a Natomas Lake and other nearby waterways)-- there were a lot of people sunbathing and swimming on the lakeshore, as well as boating in the waters. I'm glad I went. But it was HOT-- i.e. 107-degree hot (and tomorrow is supposed to be 105!) and I definitely had to thoroughly hydrate myself when I got home.

Since I couldn't take a picture of myself biking, here is my bike on the trail with the lake in the background :)

I then met up with some of my FP intern classmates-- Anika, Adeel, and Phi (and Anika's friend Oliver) in Old Sac for some dinner. They are a really fun group! Anika was the "organizer" for the evening and we definitely learned some interesting things... such as the fact that her parents live across the street from Mike Bibby... we might be inviting ourselves over to her place. Adeel came solo, despite the fact that he has a wife and 6-month-old baby at home, so I kept giving him a hard time about "pretending" to have a family, but he took it well :)

After dinner, we wandered around Old Sac for a bit and through the open-air downtown plaza and Capitol Mall. My camera batteries were on their last legs, so I didn't get that many photos, but here are a few:

Trees ("There are so many trees!" kept exclaiming Adeel, the New Yorker) lining Capitol Ave. And yes, the sky looks like this ALL THE TIME.
Us by a pretty rose-surrounded fountain (from left: Anika, Adeel, Phi, and me)

With Oliver, Anika, and Phi

We were under the impression that there were going to be fireworks in Old Sac so, after meeting up briefly with Jeremy and his family, we thought we'd hang out down there for a bit more; however, we learned otherwise. Since Anika had to be up early for FM wards, she headed home and Adeel, Phi, and I hit a popular midtown coffee-bar, the Naked Lounge, for a bit before heading to our respective houses. Fireworks are fireworks most places, I guess, and I really hate the post-fireworks traffic that you get most places so I wasn't really disappointed to not see them here. We did see some mini fireworks set off at a nearby park.

The boys with their coffee

It was a very fun day, filled with lots of activity, sun, and good times. These guys made me laugh a ton! :) I think we're going to try to have some more "regular" get-togethers, but people's schedules (except for mine, really) are tough right now. We'll see.

Oh... since the blog is a new thing for me as of last November, I rounded up a couple of pictures for "history's sake." Here is a group shot of some of us at Ronnie and Ebby's house last fourth of July.

Christo, David, (Karuna), Les, me, and Brandon

Wendi's first experience with a sparkler. I love the expression on her face! (Don't kill me for posting this!) :). This is at Silver Lake, July 4, 2006.

What a fun Wednesday. I wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow! I think Wed. is a perfect day to have off! At least the weekend isn't too far away! Onto the fifth...