The Route Followed by Spanish Settlers of San Francisco

This is a new little spot that represents the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail here in Tucson, AZ.

This is called Anza Trail Cultural History Park near the Death and Blind school.  This is where the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail and Santa Cruz River connect.

This is just a little area where they have a walkway or a bikeway along the Santa Cruz River.  They do have little signs that have different items that are represented during the time.  There are a couple of areas to sit.

La Expedicion de Anza 1775 from Mexico to California.

1st Fish in Alaska

 

On one trip to Alaska, my dad and stepmom Meg went to Seward, AK for some fishing.  They bought me a fishing pole and showed me what I need to do.  When I swing my pole into the water, I started to bring in my fishing line in when a fish bit the hook.  My fishing pole was weak and about to break apart but I got the fish to the land.  It was either a rainbow or pink salmon.  It was my first fish.  I did bring it back home to Arizona and my mother ate it.  I didn't like fish when I was younger, but she said it was good.  First try and first fish.

Geologic Wonder and Ancestral Homeland

 This was the first time going to see the Grand Canyon National Park.  That year we moved to Chandler, AZ from Urbana-Champaign, IL.

Here is a layout of my mom and me and my stepdad and me in front of the Grand Canyon.  I think the red and orange goes great with the colors of the canyon,

Grand Cany National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Long Distance Communication

In 4/1977, my parents and I went on the Pony Express NHT in Nebraska.  One of the stops was at Gothenburg Pony Express Station.  I don't remember anything about the place.  That picture is my mom and me sitting on the saddle bag.  This is how my adventures started with the National Parks.

Pony Express National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service)

 

FREE LAND was the Cry!

In 4/1977, my parents and I went to Homestead National Monument of America in Nebraska.  I was nine months old, so I don't remember anything of this park.

I just did a simple layout to remind that I was there in my life.

Homestead National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

A Frontier Fort for an Expanding Country

 

10/4/2024, my dad and I went to Fort Union in New Mexico.  This was a quick stop.  We got there about half hour before it closed.  We didn't get to walk around that much.  Me in front of the sign, dad on the trail to the fort and me setting on a bench.

Fort Union National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

The Great Prairie Highway

10/4/2024, I was visiting my dad in New Mexico.  Some of the parks we went to were part of the Santa Fe NHT.

Traders witnessed a lived-in-pueblo to later seeing crumbling remains of the Peco Pueblo.  Near Pecos there was Pigeon's Ranch and there was a stage stop for visitors and traders.

Fort Union was also a stage stop for the Santa Fe Trail.  Where soldiers would stop there.

 Santa Fe National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service)

Kannally Ranch House

 

On 3/20/2025, While my dad and stepmom were here, we went up to Oracle to see my dad's sister.  This is the Oracle State Park.  This was a family ranch house for the Kannally family.  Two brothers Neil and Lee bought this 160-acre ranch in 1903.  Later three more family members joined them at the ranch.  The Kannally ranch was built in 1929-1932. 

Looking the house was beautiful to see.  There was a gathering room, dining with kitchen and a bathroom.  As you can see there were no bedrooms.  They also built two cottages on the property where they lived with their families.

There was a beautiful courtyard to gather in.  Here some pictures of me and my family.

Oracle State Park | Arizona

"Great House"

On 4/21/2025, my mom and me went to Casa Grande Ruins NM in Coolidge, Arizona.  Here are some pictures of the ruins underneath the medal cover.  There are ruins of walls around the area too.  They were working on it during the time we were there.

This was named after Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino wrote in his journal Casa Grande (Great House).

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

 

Train Ride to the Grand Canyon

 

In 11/3/2007, my mom and I went to the Grand Canyon located in Arizona.  My mom won this train ride to the Grand Canyon at an auction at the beginning of the year, and we had a year to do this ride.  I got some time off from work before the holidays.

We drove to Williams, Arizona to get the train.  It takes half a day to get to the Grand Canyon.

The train ride was a lot of fun.  There was a history talk about the train and the Grand Canyon.  Also, there was music being played.  At one point there was an armed robbery show that took place.

When we got to the Grand Canyon, we found our tour bus we were taking for the day.  They drove us around the park and stopped many times to see the view.  It was beautiful.  They also provided us lunch at the cafe, and we got to go into the gift shop.

Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

The Fight for Civil Rights

On 6/27/2017, my mother and I went to the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument located in Birmingham, Alabama.  There are seven places that are part of this park.  We went to three of them on this tour.

The first spot we went to was the 16th Street Baptist Church.  We saw the inside of it.  It's very beautiful.  The tour guide told us about the church and what happened there in 1963.  In one of the pictures on my page is of four girls that were killed at this church.  We went to the basement and saw a gallery of pictures of all the riots that were around there.

The second spot we went to was Birmingham Civil Rights Institute building.  We went on a guided tour and saw so many different things.  People were not very nice to black people.  You saw how white and black lived, jobs and random things.

The person that I have a picture of is Rosa Parks.  They called her "The first lady of civil rights" and "The mother of the freedom movement"

This last place we went to was the Kelly Ingram Park, located across the street of the church and museum.  We didn't that much time to walk around but I did see Martin Luther King Jr and a statue of the four girls that got killed at the church.

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Window Into the Past

4/19/2018 - I went here with my mom Kathy.  We went to the visitor center and walked along the trail to the cliffs.  You could see ruins in the cliffs and other holes that they would use for homes or food.  You can't go up there, but it is cool to see.

 Montezuma Castle is the third National Monument dedicated to preserving Native American culture.  This 20-room high rise apartment, nestled into towering limestone cliff, tells a story of ingenuity, survival and ultimately, prosperity in an unforgiving desert landscape.

Montezuma Castle National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

More than a Museum, the Wing is an Experience

 In 4/27/2019, I was in Washington with my family.  On this day my sister and I went to Wing Luke Museum.  We walked around the museum and then we went on a tour of the grocery store next to it and went into the boarding hotel that you could see.

The start of the tour they talked about Wing Luke and who he was.  Then we went to a grocery store that just closed in 2019 that was located right next to the museum.  They preserved a lot the food that were still in the original containers.  There was a lot of different things in this shop.  The owners even let workers sleep in the attic of the store.

Next door we went up some stairs to some floors that had sets of bedrooms.  These bedroom are for a boarding hotel that workers could use while working.  The rooms were small but you could fit four to five people in a room.  It was 25 cents a week to stay.  Some people would stay there a week up to a year there.  It just depended on your job.  There was one bathroom per floor.

There was about 100 floors in this boarding hotel.  On the very top floors there was a gathering room, game room, dining room and a kitchen.

There was a lot of different kinds of artifacts in the rooms.  Baby crib, toys, chair and cameras.

Wing Luke Museum Affiliated Area (U.S. National Park Service)

Roosevelt "Beloved Island" Memorial

 10/2/2023, I was with my family in Maine.  On this day my dad and I went up to Canada to visit Roosevelt Campobello IP.  This was a summer cottage for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt and their families.  They learned a lot of new things like fishing, sailing or just hanging out.

The cottage is beautiful on the outside.  We walked around the area and had lunch at Prince Cafe that is located in a home that is in the park.  That is a picture of me on the deck at the cafe.  It was all nice and green.  The food was good.  I had chicken Caesar wrap.

Roosevelt Campobello International Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Historic Jamestowne

 

On 7/12/2016, my mother and I meet up with a friend and we went to the Historic Jamestowne, Virginia.  This is a part of the Colonial NHP.  Here are my pages I made for that park.

On this page I wrote about the day and the picture that is on here is my friend Sandra and me in front of the cross in the park.

These are statues of two famous people in our history.  Top one is Pocahontas.  She was the daughter of Wahunsenaca (Chief Powhatan).  The second is Captain John Smith.  He was an adventurer, soldier, explorer and author.

Top is the English Coat of Arms at Jamestown Fort

Middle is Tercentennial Monument

Bottom is Hunt Shrine.  Robert Hunt was the first Chaplain of Jamestown

This is Memorial Church it stands around the area where there was another church for the 300th anniversary of the settlement.  This was built in 1907.  The church was modeled after St. Luke's Church in Smithfield.

The light orange buildings were in James Fort.  And the last picture is of the area that the Powhatan Indian Village.

These are copies of the ships that came across the waters to America.

Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)