The Almost Forgotten Town of Boca

Near Truckee, California
May 7, 2008

Boca Historic Townsite Interpretive Trail - Tahoe National Forest website with general information on this recreation site.

Boca Townsite Trail - Tahoe National Forest fact-sheet on the interpretive trail.

The faint lines of the trail are visible in this aerial image

A Google street view of the trailhead parking lot in 2012

The start of the Boca Historic Townsite Interpretive Trail

The first interpretive sign - Boca's Railroad Roots

Headed up the trail

Interpretive signs just ahead

View of Interstate 80 and the first
transcontinental railroad from the trail

The second interpretive sign - A Town Mostly of Men

The third interpretive sign - Where the Jobs Were

In Memory of Franklin Marson
Born May 4, 1829. Died March 20, 1869.
Aged 39 y'rs 10 mos & 16d's
A native of Main.

The fourth interpretive sign - Boca Beer Wins in Paris, France!

View to southwest from Boca Cemetery

The fifth interpretive sign - The Children's Cemetery

Part of the Children's Cemetery

Wynford Francis
Son of Mr. & Mrs. R.C. Weeks
Born March 15, 1906. Died April 2, 1908.
Aged 2 Years 17 Days.
Our Loved One

Jos. B. Weldon
Died 20, 1872
Aged 2 mos. & 2 ds.

The sixth interpretive sign - Boca's Demise

Remnants from the Townsite Era

Another Labor Day Weekend Trip Through Oregon

Reno, Nevada to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington
August 29 to 31, 2008

Another holiday weekend and more places to explore in the Pacific Northwest with my travel partner Karen. Our goal for the weekend was Mount St. Helens with opportunities for other sites along the way.

Day 1 - Reno, Nevada to Bend, Oregon

The plan was to break the drive to Mount St. Helens into two days, and the first day of driving with an early, early start from Reno would take us to Bend, Oregon. As a precursor to the volcanic sites of Mount St. Helens, we explored the volcanic sites of Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We spent the afternoon checking out the monument, which is spread out on the lava lands south of Bend. Although we missed lots of other activities to do in the monument, we: