I Love You, California
Travel
"I Love You, California" is a short-form podcast where each episode we bring you into the beauty, history, and weirdness of the state of California. Join us each episode for a peek through the redwoods and the fog at a piece of California.
I am your host, William Hoffknecht, who was born and raised in the heart of California. Through my travels for work, pleasure, and photography I have visited many of the most famous locations as well as the weird little nooks and crannies in attempts to feel closer to my home. Through this podcast I hope to share a little bit about each landmark, location, natural wonder, person, or idea that made a sort of cultural impact.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Location:
United States
Description:
"I Love You, California" is a short-form podcast where each episode we bring you into the beauty, history, and weirdness of the state of California. Join us each episode for a peek through the redwoods and the fog at a piece of California. I am your host, William Hoffknecht, who was born and raised in the heart of California. Through my travels for work, pleasure, and photography I have visited many of the most famous locations as well as the weird little nooks and crannies in attempts to feel closer to my home. Through this podcast I hope to share a little bit about each landmark, location, natural wonder, person, or idea that made a sort of cultural impact. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Language:
English
Contact:
209-761-8565
Website:
http://goldenboycalifornia.com/
Episodes
Ep 28 - The Weedpatch Camp
5/25/2019
After the Louisiana purchase and the Mexican-American War our country found themselves with a lot of land causing the great westward expansion. Many families ended up in the mid-west, states like Oklahoma, where they were given land to farm and ranch and make something that was their own. In the 1930s those families faced one problem after another - first it was the great depression - then it was the Dust Bowl. A series of poor rain seasons left the central part of the countryside thirsty...
Duration:00:07:57
Ep 24 - Carmon Neff
4/15/2019
I grew up originally in Merced CA which meant that we knew and visited people often just over the line in Madera County, in the town of Chowchilla. One time when traveling through the area my father took us outside of town to drive past a small ranch property. This site had all sorts of statues and windmills covering the property, all made out of welded and cut scrap metal. You had dinosaurs and insects, creatures of all shapes and sizes pieced together from old tractor parts, rebar, large...
Duration:00:05:28
Ep 23 - The California Field Atlas
4/1/2019
One day a year and a half ago or so I was driving home from work and listening to various podcasts as I tend to do and I heard someone raving about a new book they had just received about California natural history. It was a bit odd in that they just gave generalizations, it was a book, talked about California Naturalism, and was just beyond beautiful. Not only that this was on a podcast about pod culture and technology, not the kind of place I expected to hear about such a book. As soon as...
Duration:00:05:31
Ep 22 - The Carrizo Plain
3/27/2019
If you have grown up in California there is a spectre that has haunted out collective unconscious for many years - and that spectre is the San Andreas Fault line. Many people know it is a thing, know it affects people and public policy here in California, but not as many can tell you exactly where or how it runs. There are signals of the fault line all over California if you know where to look - but there is a great valley in the southern half of the state where the fault line is most...
Duration:00:07:48
Ep 21 - Harold Richardson Redwood Reserve
3/19/2019
There is a group called the “Save the Redwoods” league that has been active for a hundred years and works for the preservation of coastal sequoia groves up and down the state. Earlier this year they gave us a gift by announcing the purchase of a large chunk of land in Sonoma County. This land has been privately owned by a family for a century who have kept in in pristine and almost completely untouched state. With this purchase the league is working to open up a new park and hopes to have it...
Duration:00:06:57
Ep 20 - The Mother Orange Tree
3/11/2019
Butte county has a lot of interesting features and sites - as the county covers an area of the north valley as well as the foothills and mountains north of the Sierras. There is a lot of California history in this part of the state but one item is a living relic from a past time that had huge effects on the California economy. We are talking about tree that started in Mexico, purchased in Sacramento, and planted finally in Butte County - in 1856.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and...
Duration:00:06:02
Ep 19 - Moaning Caverns
3/5/2019
In 1851 when gold miners were working all over the Sierra foothills they heard a sound in the distance - it was described as a “moaning,” which lured people towards the entrance to a cave. While this cave had been known for thousands of years to the indigenous people in the area which they referred to as “Samwel Cave,” the modern explorers referred to it by the sound that they heard. It was rather forgotten about until 1919 when it was re-rediscovered - the people who found it decided to...
Duration:00:06:59
Ep 18 - Point Sur
2/26/2019
There is a lot of beauty along the Central Coast as you head down the Pacific Coast Highway - leave from the Carmel area south you will pass Point Lobos and head to the undefined area known as “Big Sur.” After you pass over the most photogenic Bixby Creek Bridge you start to see a huge rock off the distance by itself. As you get closer you notice buildings on that rock surrounded by beaches and a large open field - and unfortunately you aren’t allowed to drive in - the area is blocked by...
Duration:00:06:44
Ep 17 - Pulgas Water Temple
2/18/2019
In 1934, after years of fighting and arguing, San Francisco completed a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley - which would feed water through a series of rivers, pumps, and pipelines across the state to the bay area peninsula which would feed water to the city and county of San Francisco. To honor this achievement for the people of the bay the San Francisco Water Department commissioned a structure be built at the end of the line where the water enters the Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir - the...
Duration:00:05:57
Ep 16 - John Muir
2/9/2019
In 1838, many years before California would become a state, a boy was born in Scotland - the 3rd of 8 kids - it was a rough childhood for someone like him, a restless spirit that would get harsh beatings from his father for spending more time looking at landscapes than reading the bible. When he was 11 his family immigrated from Scotland to a farm in Wisconsin where he grew up, went to school, and eventually college for Chemistry. After traveling to avoid the Civil War and taking any job...
Duration:00:08:48
Ep 15 - The Carson Mansion
9/22/2018
Eureka CA has a long storied history that is integral to the California story almost as much as Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Yosemite. In 1849 one of the early Gold Rush people to come to California from Canada was a man named William Carson. After making a bit of money in gold Carson, a woodsman by trade, decided to move up north to the Trinity Mountains area to pursue the northern gold rush. In 1950 he felled the first tree in the Humboldt bay area - not long after he went full time into...
Duration:00:10:03
Ep 14 - McKittrick Tar Seeps
9/15/2018
Kern County is famous for a things - but it was built on the back of oil. This is an area where the oil was easy to access that there are areas where it comes up from ground just by walking on it - where it slowly seeps out onto the surface. There are 5 places in the world where these natural asphalt lakes occur - of those 5, 3 of them are in California - and the one we are talking about today is along Highway 33 and the heart of the area that helped fuel the second industrial boom of our...
Duration:00:10:47
Ep 13 - The Ghost Fleet
9/7/2018
At the end of the second World War the United States had plenty of extra naval vessels - from cargo ships to tankers to buoy tenders to Liberty Ships to crane ships that were used all over the oceans of the world. We decided at the time that while we didn’t need all of these ships in operation, we needed to retain them in something like a storage somewhere in case we would need anytime in the future. A number of locations across 10 states were selected to park and mothball these vessels. The...
Duration:00:07:54
Ep 12 - Casa de Fruta
8/31/2018
If you ever find yourself driving down Hwy 152 west out of Merced county you will take what is known as the Pacheco Pass through the Diablo Range. After driving around the grand San Luis Reservoir you will find yourself dropped into a small valley with old oak trees and if you look closely you may see deer or even the occasional bald eagle. Then as you cross into Santa Clara county you will see signs and billboards for fresh fruit, a gas stop, RV parking, a coffee shop, candies, and wine....
Duration:00:07:18
Ep 11 - Emperor Norton I
8/17/2018
During the Gold Rush era of California History we get a number of big names that can still be found all over San Francisco on signs and landmarks such as Sutro, Levi Strauss, Doubleday, Bernal, and Coit - but there is another character from this time period that is not only still loved and revered for his eccentricities, but lives on in a popular tour route around SF where people dress like him and tell stories of times past. A man who was so unhappy with the governmental and legal systems...
Duration:00:09:48
Ep 10 - Merced County Courthouse
8/10/2018
Throughout the mid to late 1800s in the United States there was a rise in popularity of the “Italian Renaissance” architectural style, especially for public buildings like city halls and courthouses. A man by the name of Albert A. Bennett got a lot of work in California building and designing this style of structure after the gold rush. So much work in fact that he was named “State Architect” under Governor Haight in the 1870s. With that he built courthouses and government buildings all over...
Duration:00:09:29
Ep 9 - The First McDonalds
8/3/2018
The Inland Empire area of Southern California is known for the heat and population density. It sprawls for miles and miles of buildings, highways, and blue-collar housing. It has another history though that we often overlook and this a history of American Innovation - but if you travel to the heart of San Bernardino you will find a small museum that helps us remember this tradition through a brand that was originally built on the idea of quality and innovation but that has grown and change...
Duration:00:07:43
Ep 8 - Burney Falls
7/26/2018
In the Northern part of our wonderful state there is a lot to see. Even from a distance it is impossible to not take notice of the grace and majesty of Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta, the Castle Crags, or Black Butte - but hidden between all of that, tucked nicely along California Highway 89 is an old and small state park I first visited a couple of years ago with some friends and family. As soon as we entered on that cool morning we saw deer feeding and heard the roar of a waterfall that one Teddy...
Duration:00:09:16
Ep 7 - Hornitos
7/19/2018
There is one tiny town in Mariposa County, almost a ghost town at this point, that I grew up hearing more stories about than any other. Even today when I visit the town and do research online I get a number of conflicting stories about - all with the same overarching plot points, but the details differ from person to person. One thing that everyone does agree on though is that this is where you go from the best Dia de los Muertos festival in the Central Valley.
See acast.com/privacy for...
Duration:00:05:23
Ep 6 - The Solano and Contra Costa
7/12/2018
All over California there is evidence of the Transcontinental Railroad which once traveled from the central part of the country in Omaha NE to the West in Oakland. There are landmarks, bridges, and train lines still in use today all over the central part of the state but there is one section that I personally find more interesting than the rest and with only a few items left to hint at its existence - an old building and pier in Benicia, some ruined foundation in Port Costa, and a overgrown...
Duration:00:07:39