Thursday, October 31, 2013

Go for it Fun Guide

California Auto Museum: On May 1, 1987 the Towe Ford Museum opened to the public, displaying the personal collection of Edward Towe, which included one of almost every car Ford ever made, from the pre-Model T to the Pinto. In the mid 1990’s, the IRS slapped a lien on the cars and an auction in 1997 broke up the Towe Ford Collection. The renamed Towe Auto Museum began displaying vehicles of all makes and models, creating a much broader story of the automobile through history. In 2009, the Board of Directors officially changed their name to the California Automobile Museum. Contact information: 2200 Front St. Sacramento, CA 95816. Phone: (916) 442-6802. Website: www.calautomuseum.org.

Old Folsom: In 1856, the arrival of the Sacramento Valley railroad set in motion the development of Sutter Street, as entrepreneurs constructed stores and businesses to profit from the influx of rail passengers. At the turn of the century, autos were soon the preferred mode of travel, and in 1915, Sutter Street became part of the nation’s first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway. Today, Old Folsom has a variety of businesses, most of which line Historic Sutter Street. Old Folsom businesses include restaurants, pubs, wine bars, art galleries, jewelry and antique shops, boutique stores and a hotel.

Petroglyph Ceramic Lounge: Petroglyph is an upscale paint–your-own pottery studio. Explore your personal creativity, enjoy time with friends and take home a unique ceramic art you create. Founders Jennifer and Michael Rubin opened the original studio in 1994 and after almost 20 years Petroglyph is one of the largest and most successful businesses in the industry and continues to be privately owned and operated. Contact information: 2030 Douglas Blvd. Roseville, CA 95661. Phone: (916) 772-4278. Website: www.petroglyph.com.

Red Hawk Casino: As stewards of the land, it was the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians’ vision that this casino be created to honor the past and celebrate the future. Located on a beautiful hilltop less than 20 minutes east of Sacramento on Highway 50, Red Hawk casino is an oasis for gamblers who seek excitement and adventure close to home. Several great restaurants provide a delicious assortment of appetizing entrees to satisfy most palates and family friendly entertainment is also available. Contact information: 1 Red Hawk Parkway Placerville, CA 95667. Phone: (530) 677-7000. Website: redhawkcasino.com.

Steven’s Trail: This is a popular year-round hiking trail in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The trail provides a gentle slope that is suitable for even the most novice hikers.  During your journey you will enjoy a series of spectacular views of the famous Gold Rush era river, pass the infamous China Wall built by Chinese laborers, several mine shafts and other early signs of mining. Follow I-80 East towards the town of Colfax and exit at North Canyon Way.  Travel along North Canyon Way past the Colfax cemetery to the Stevens trailhead. Contact information: 5152 Hillsdale Circle El Dorado Hills, CA 95762. Phone : (916) 941-3101. Website: www.blm.gov.
Strikes Unlimited: Strikes Unlimited is the premier bowling venue in Rocklin, CA. Whether you’re looking for bowling, dancing, live music or a great place to hold a party, Strikes Unlimited and Halftime Bar & Grill (formerly Strikes and Coaches) delivers.  This facility features 50 state-of-the-art lanes in a fun and vibrant atmosphere.  Each lane is outfitted with personal seating and tables, flat-screen TV's and giant projection screens.  Their restaurant, Halftime Bar & Grill, offers a wide variety of food, drink and entertainment. Contact information: 5681 Lonetree Blvd. Rocklin, CA 95765. Phone: (916) 626-3600. Website: www.strikesrocklin.com.

The California State Railroad Museum: First opened to the public in 1976, the California State Railroad Museum complex is one of Sacramento's largest and most popular visitor destinations. Over 500,000 visit the museum annually. With over 225,000 square feet of total exhibit space, the buildings within the California State Railroad Museum complex use stimulating exhibits, enthusiastic and knowledgeable docents and beautifully restored railroad cars and locomotives to illustrate railroad history in California and the West. Contact information: 125 "I" Street Sacramento, CA 95814. Phone: (916) 445-6645. Website: www.csrmf.org.

William Land Park: William Land was a quiet and self-contained man who was viewed as an active businessman in the Sacramento community and who gave the city nearly half a million dollars to enhance the conditions of its citizens. A beautful park was named in his honor and is located in the Land Park neighborhood just south of downtown Sacramento. The park includes several popular attractions, including The Sacramento Zoo, Fairytale Town, Funderland and The William Land Golf Course. Contact information: 4000 S Land Park Dr. Sacramento, CA 95822. Phone: (916) 808-5200. Website: www.cityofsacramento.org.


The Capitolaires: The Capitolaires have been singing in the Sacramento area since 1946 and welcome men who like to sing.  They meet every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Sierra Arden Untied Church of Christ at 890 Morse Avenue, Sacramento 95864. If you are interested in singing with them, please call (888) 877-9806. Their website is www.capitolaires.org.

Don't Pack on the pounds During the Holidays!

By John McCain

Be prepared for the holidays, because the endless assortment of tasty temptations is just around the corner! It’s easy to fall into the unhealthy mindset of deciding to eat everything that’s set before you as well intentioned loved ones present you with a cornucopia of mouth watering meals and delicious desserts. Stay away from thinking that you can’t change those unhealthy decisions during the holidays.

Decide right now, just prior to the holidays, to continue to take your supplements, drink your protein shakes and make the majority of your meal choices healthy and balanced. This does not mean you can not have your cheat meals or cheat days. Just be prepared for all the temptations that you will be presented in the next two months and plan ahead. Plan on the surprise pot luck, plan on the office party celebrations and get ready for the invitation to the festive meal at the family home.

Resolve now to eat properly most of the time and then allow yourself those occasional days of indulgence. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you only have two extreme choices: “Either I have to give up everything that’s being offered to me and rigidly stick to a healthy plan or I have to eat everything I’m offered and then resign myself to putting on an extra 5, 10 or 15 pounds during the holidays and then start all over at the first of the year.”

Chances are very good that you will be invited to numerous special meals with your family, friends and loved ones. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, work parties or pot lucks, when you’re there, just be wise about your decisions. Choose to have a little more turkey and a little less stuffing. Have another slice of ham and not as much mashed potatoes. Eat more green salad than corn. Just be conscious of the decisions you’re making and that you’re filling your plate up with more of the foods that are healthy for you. Most of the parties will have both healthy foods and filler foods available, so stay away from filling your plate with the filler foods.


Choose wisely my friends and start eating healthy now! You will feel better and you’ll enjoy the holidays more when you have this awareness. Develop the mental attitude of going into the holidays with a plan to stay balanced while choosing mostly healthy meals each day. Remember, you can still have your cheat days or cheat meals, just don’t allow them to roll into cheat months! If you do, then you may literally be rolling into the new year with a lot of extra baggage attached to your waistline!

Stupid Kid Tricks

By Bob Cox

As I watch my wife Diana’s mounting frustration with her 20 year old Grandson shoot through the roof, I have to sit back and smile. The situation takes me back to the days when I was a young man struggling to make good choices and allowing temptation to get the better of me and my exasperated parents.

During my career as a college student, my parents were chronically frustrated with my obsession to pick the coolest looking cars that broke down constantly. I’m sure you’ll never guess who I went to for help to solve my chronic transportation challenges; that’s right…good old Mom and Dad! This never ending saga had them on an accelerated aging regimen, sort of like each President of the United States.

My first car was a beautiful 1967 Chevy Camaro. There was just one thing wrong with the car, aside from the fact that it sat in the driveway almost as much as it got me from point A to point B. The engine was far too small (an inline 6 cylinder). How could I maintain the cool image of a muscle car enthusiast when my parent’s big boat of a car could dust me off the line?

That is when things went from bad to worse as I chose one high powered muscle car after another. They all looked faster than greased lightning as they sat on the secluded streets of Granite Bay. If they only ran, then I’d really have something!

The pattern of dysfunction between my parents and me played like an old record with an annoying skip. Whenever my car would break down, which was more often than not, I would ask Mom and Dad if I could borrow the white submarine (My nickname for their 1973 Chevy Bel Air) to get to school and work. That’s when that tired old song, “Griping and Lecturing” would play on and on. I did everything I could to tune them out, all the while resenting them and doubting myself a little more with each encounter.

What I now realize from those experiences is how my parents actually enabled me each time they bailed me out. They would gripe endlessly about the bad choices I made and how it inconvenienced them (which I did very well) and then my confidence would decline with each disaster. My low self confidence would inevitably entice me to make even more bad choices, leading us back to where the viscous cycle would begin again.


Looking back, the best thing my parents could have done for the collective sanity of our entire family was to give me a fair and reasonable time line to get reliable transportation and then stick with that time line, no matter the consequences. I would have been forced to figure it out on my own and my parents could have enjoyed some well deserved moments of peace and sanity. Instead of getting sucked into more “Stupid Kid Tricks” from yours truly, they could have been watching TV and laughing at “Stupid Pet Tricks” on Late Night with David Letterman!

Safety First for our Newest Drivers!

By Walter Ford

With kids now back in school, parents have good reason to be concerned with safety. Safety is especially important for our new drivers, so now is a good time to have an overall safety check of your vehicle before you hand over the keys. First of all, a teenage driver is a new driver, so they are inexperienced. They tend to be more inattentive when compared to more seasoned drivers. You want to make sure that your car is in good overall health. Kids have enough challenges operating a car on a public highway, so you don’t want to throw them any curve balls. A good place to start is to make sure that the brakes and tires are in really good condition.

When inspecting your brakes, be sure to have plenty of life on your brake pads and the rotors are in good shape. You really want to check the rotors to make sure they don’t have any ridges, even though the pad does not run across the whole face of the rotor. You want to look at the edge of the rotor, because that’s a clear indication of how much has been taken off. With most cars nowadays, the old rotors are tossed out and new ones are put on. They are relatively inexpensive now compared to what they used to be. As for the brake pad itself, you probably want 3/32 of an inch or more. The issue with the brake pads is the more material it has, the more heat can dissipate, so the less likely it will stay under pad in stopping conditions.

When you inspect your tires, make sure you have a decent amount of tread on them, especially now that the rainy season is here. In the old days, people used a penny as a guide and measure to the top of Lincoln’s head, which is 2/32 of an inch. In the state of California, you’re allowed to have a minimum of 2/32 of an inch on your front steer axle. The rear axle must be a minimum of 1/32 of an inch of tread. A word of caution is that these are minimums.


Most new cars now tend to be a little sportier, with tires that are more of a summer tire. So, I would take my car to someone who really knows what they’re doing and ask if the tires will be good for the winter time. If you are driving a vehicle with a sports package, you’ll likely have a tire that is a performance summer tire. If you only have 2/32 of an inch, it’s pretty useless in the rain. So, be sure to examine not only the trend depth but also the tread design.