DID YOU EVER HEAR OF
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
and the Sundial Bridge?
By Carolyn Walker, Sacramento Branch
Left to right: Mary Furnas, Carolyn Walker, John Furnas, Joan Sprogis,
Debra Ferris, Marlyn Colling, Scott Humphrey and Rodney Bergquist
Several members of the Sacramento Branch gathered into a van and headed out on our annual field trip. This year’s interesting journey 19 April 2008 was to the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the Sundial Bridge which is 160 miles from Sacramento. We highly recommend you go. It’s at 840 Auditorium Drive, in Redding, CA. We suggest you phone ahead before making the trip, 1-800- 887-8532. We arrived around noon only to find the entrance to the park was closed. We had one person using a wheel chair and an oxygen bottle, another using a walker on wheels. We saw a steady flow of people walking over the bridge towards the park we came to visit. We finally learned there was a big car show going on, with no parking available inside the park or outside the park on local streets for several blocks. Our members, Scott Humphrey and Mary Furnas, saved the day with their cell phones, contacting city people who recommended going to the back side of the park to the Arboretum Drive entrance. Much to our surprise, when we got there, we found all kinds of parking spaces. Rodney and Janis Bergquist had also made the trip in their own vehicle, so we contacted them by cell phone and they joined us for a good lunch and a fun day in the park. There was a little gift shop and rest rooms at the park entrance, with a small fee going into McConnell Arboretum and Gardens. There were plants from all over the world displayed, and many were blooming. The path was handicap friendly. And, yes, we did find a California Fuchsia plant near the Sundial Bridge.
The SUNDIAL BRIDGE is
a masterpiece of architecture
which was completed in
2004. You have to see it to appreciate
the size.
The device shows the time
of day by the shadow of the
gnomon thrown on the dial
which was meticulously set
on metal plates at the north
end of the bridge. The gnomon
must have been three or
four stories tall, with cables
along the south side connecting
to the bridge sections.
The floor of the bridge
was made of opaque green
glass which had lights underneath,
to light it at night.
We stood on the bridge for a
long time watching the Sacramento
River flow under it.
Off to the north, there was
snow on the mountains. It
was awesome!
On the way back to John
Furnase’s van, we saw two
large huts made of wood
branches which we could
walk through, plus many
amazing features of the gardens,
which included the
“Sound of Water” Fountain.
Even the trip home did not
go exactly as planned. We
stopped at the popular Olive
Pit so everyone could buy a
couple jars of their favorite
Olives. After a day walking
in the park and now driving
over a hundred miles in our van, we were getting pretty hungry. We finally arrived at our restaurant,
only to find it closed for remolding. We picked a second
restaurant and drove to it and much to our surprise, it was completely
closed, no longer in business. As a group we just looked
at each other and smiled, and then headed down the highway
looking for food. We finally found Bill & Kathy’s restaurant. They
were happy to see us and we were happy to finally have a nice
place to sit down and have dinner together. Everyone said they
had a good time and took the difficulties in stride. The important
thing is, we enjoyed spending the day with each other.