Archive for November, 2009
Mark Twain and Peggy Mosley
Mark Twain visited us the other night! Or… Samuel Clemens, or Pat Kaunert… he has a lot of names! He told a lot of really interesting stories, and my mom Peggy dressed up in her best gown for the occasion, a really actually old one from about 1900 that belonged to Mrs. Armour, of the famous meatpacking company.
Mr. Twain told stories about things he’d seen and places he’d been, some of which were actually true! The dinner was full of recipes from the time that he was here before, the 1800s, and there was trout and apple crisps and beet salad and other delicious things. He told stories while people had dinner, and everybody loved it so much he came back and told even more! He said he had a really fun time and will be back again some day, and that maybe he would bring his friend Bret Harte along too for more different stories.
Did you know that right across the street is a marker for the Mark Twain/Bret Harte trail? They visited up here over a hundred years ago, when the hotel was only about 20 years old! The whole town of Groveland is a California Historic Landmark, and it’s a great place to live.
You know what tree is my favorite? The dogwood! And that’s not just being silly, because this time of year the leaves turn such beautiful colors. Red and orange and pink and yellow and fruit colors and every color in between! Yosemite has lots of dogwoods, and there’s a tree across from the Chapel too that’s full of reds and darker colors like that, a sugar maple, I think. I don’t know the names of trees very well, you’ll have to ask my mom! The waterfalls in Yosemite are really full right now too, so it’s a good time to come visit us before it gets too cold and snowy.
Halloween was a lot of fun. There’s no neighborhoods for the kids to trick or treat in, so they all come to main street from miles and miles around. We had about 400 kids come through, and about a dozen dogs in cute costumes. Some of them stayed right here, too, and there was even a beagle like me! I liked the little fairy princess on the chihuahua the best, I think. The beagle didn’t have a costume, that was too bad. Lots and lots and lots of kids, though, that made up for it!