Calaveras County - Wine - Frog Jumping and Frog Balls

Living here in the Central Valley of California we are very close to a lot of cool things. The nearby foothills are a wealth of history and beautiful views. The foothills are home to many wineries. There are several small towns that are fun to explore. Two of those towns are Murphys and Angels Camp. Both are in the famous"Mother Lode" of California.

Murphys Ca, known as the Queen of the Sierra, is home to more than a dozen wineries. Downtown Murphys has many tasting rooms, great places to eat and shop and an old fashion candy store. There is even an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting room here too. Murphys is also the location of a great concert venue at Ironstone Winery. If you are ever in the area be sure to spend a little time on Main St in Murphys.

The town of Angels Camp was made famous by a Mark Twain Story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". There is a Jumping Frog Jubilee every May at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp. This is where the world championship frog jump competition is held. Because of this Angels Camp is also known as Frog Town. Around town and in Murphys you will find many large frogs in front of local businesses attesting to the fact that you are in Frog Town.

On a trip up the hill last weekend we enjoyed some wine tasting and exploring. Of course we stopped in at Twisted Oak winery, my personal favorite. Later in the day we stopped at the Ironstone Winery too. I found something there that was a little disturbing. I often wondered what happened to the frogs that competed in the frog jump every year in Angels Camp. The official story is that they are returned to the wild to live out their lives as any other frog would far from the spot light of competition. But now I'm not so sure. There on the shelf at Ironstone was a jar of something that made me think that just maybe the losing frogs didn't have it so good. Just maybe there is something far more sinister in their future. I think that I might have to investigate this a little further. I'm thinking one of the bottles of wine that I picked up in Murphys might be an invaluable tool in my investigation. Would red or white go better with "Frog Balls"?

21 Keys to a Happy Life

“taken from my life experiences”

1) Compliment three people every day…try to do this at each food setting…

2) Watch a sunrise.

3) Be the first to say "Hello."

4) Live beneath your means.

5) Treat everyone as you want to be treated.

6) Never give up on anybody; miracles happen.

7) Forget the Jones's.

8) Remember someone's name.

9) Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage.

10) Be tough-minded, but tender hearted.

11) Be kinder than you have to be.

12) Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

13) Keep your promises and promise only what you intend to keep…… J

14) Learn to show cheerfulness even when you don't feel it.

15) Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years.

16) Leave everything better than you found it.

17) Remember that winners do what losers don't want to do.

18) When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone's day.

19) Don't rain on other people's parades.

20) Don't waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.

21) Keep some things to yourself and don't promote havoc by backstabbing people you love or anyone else for that matter.

WORDS TO LIVE BY.

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.
Rudyard Kipling

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.
Don Wilder

No one ever excused his way to success.
Dave Del Dotto

An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded.
Alexander Pope

I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.
Florence Nightingale

Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
George W. Carver

I asked a Realtor to hold one of my listings open on Sunday. He arrived early, brought coffee, cookies & something I’d never seen before: a stand-up display board with about 6 house comparables pinned to it. He uses it to present the house with full knowledge & information. One couple stayed 45 minutes & should be making an offer! I’ve decided to put a similar display board in each of my listings to help Agents show Borrowers the house is worth what it’s listed for – statistics & proof which Buyers like.

Enjoying the presentation here in Boston....great perspectives that I agree with and I disagree with; however, technology is here to stay and the sooner you get an understanding that can benefit your clients the better off you wiill be in your business.

Topics today: Google Plus; Jing, Landing pages all content we know we need to learn and get our agents to understand.

Email me off line if you want to create a great group where we can chat about highest and best practices...

thanks...

Jay

Calaveras Big Trees State Park - Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about Calaveras Big Trees State Park and specifically the Discovery Tree. The park is home to some amazing trees, the Giant Sequoias. There are two types of redwood trees that are native to California, the Coast Redwoods along the central and northern coast and the giant Sequoia which grows in scattered locations along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. On Sunday 9/18/11 we walked the trail through the North Grove of Giant Sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. In the 1.5 mile loop I took nearly 100 pictures and would love to share some of them with you.

Of course before you start out on the hike you need to fuel up. The view from our picnic table was also pretty cool.

These two pictures should give you an idea of how large these trees are. The one on the left is the roots of a tree that had fallen down. The right is the base of one of the Giants.

It's hard to imagine just how large these trees are. They can grow to a height of 325 feet with a diameter of up to 35 feet.

The tree on the left is named Hercules and was one of the largest in the grove. It was blown down in a wind storm in December of 1861. The tree on the right is the Father of the Forest and fell long before Euro-Americans discovered the grove. You can actually walk inside of the fallen tree. I am 5'11" and was able to stand up and walk through it.

The photo on the left is actually of two trees. Over the years fuel will build up between two trees that are close together like these two are. The large burn scars are from when that fuel burned in a forest fire. The photo on the right is of an area that was burned in a 1908 fire. The fire created ideal growing condition for the Sequoia seedlings and today is a healthy stand of young Sequoias. Of course as Sequoias go these are just newborn babies.

The photo on the left is of a tree known as The Mother Of The Forest. Speculators removed the bark from the tree in 1854 to be reassembled as an exhibit that toured around the country. Unfortunately this killed the tree. The photo on the right is of the Abraham Lincoln Tree, which was named for Lincoln in 1865 shortly after his death.

I hope that you enjoyed these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. If you are ever in Central California and you have the chance to visit the Calaveras Big Trees State Park you will not be disappointed. The park is located on Highway 4 just three miles east of the town of Arnold Ca. There is an $8 all day admission (per car) to the park which is a bargain. There are several trails through the park. There are also picnic areas and campgrounds. The park is also open year round.