Summer Picnics are Family Memories to Treasure

Memories are made from wonderful summer family picnics. It’s
something kids remember as they grow up, as they become parents, as
they mature.
 
Memories are made from wonderful summer family picnics. It’s something kids remember as they grow up, as they become parents, as they mature. 

Our granddaughter loved a picnic last year when we went to Coyote Lake County Park.

 As I remember growing up in Oklahoma, summer picnics were always fun.    On a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon in June 1940, my family piled into our maroon 1935 Ford. This sedan had a slightly extended back; the trunk lid only slightly canted from the perpendicular. Yet, in the trunk was our picnic dinner. Barely room in this car for Mother, Daddy, Grandmother and me, we flung back the front opening doors and jumped in. Daddy drove and Mother sat beside him; Grandmother and I sat in the back seat.  

  Remembering these times, I recall the beautiful Methodist Picnic Grounds on a summer afternoon. 

The dirt road took us to the fenced gate extending across the driveway of the picnic spot. Daddy got out and pushed the gate open. Continuing on, we came to the picnic tables. Mother and Grandmother took the picnic basket to a table with benches attached. And, we enjoyed our sojourn with the many other picnicking families that were always there.

 After 67 years, this stands out as a special reminiscence for me.

 Morgan Hill, also, offers many wonderful picnic areas such as the park below Anderson Dam. Or, Coe State Park at the end of East Dunne Avenue.

 Not long ago, our family; we, maternal grandparents, with mother and father of our granddaughter, Ashley, and her paternal grandfather, journeyed up that mostly winding 13 miles of East Dunne to Coe Ranch headquarters in our SUV. This is a fantastically scenic drive with vistas of our valley to behold.

 From published information in the Henry W. Coe State Park Trail and camping map, “At just over 87,000 acres (almost 140 square miles), Henry W. Coe State Park is the largest of Northern California’s state parks. Elevations range from a low point of 357 feet, at the Bell Station entrance to the south, to a high point of 3,560 feet near Mt. Stakes to the north.”

 Mountain biking, hiking and horse trails are available, but; we came to picnic. Inside the Ranch headquarters is a restroom with running water. However, there is a loop for picnicking at tables and clearings for camping with “outhouse” facilities. Actually, an old metal barn provides picnic tables under roof. There are charges for camping, hiking and parking.

 To my mind, however, the most exciting picnic trip is to Dowdy Ranch in southern Henry Coe State Park. But, only on Saturday, Sunday or holidays from 8am to sunset. The only time the Ranch is open, which I consider the best picnic area. Not only is it a beautiful park headquarters with a running water “comfort station,” but journey down around a bend to a covered picnic area with another running water “comfort station.” This is a marvelous place to have a picnic on clean tables and benches under a shaded canopy with barbecuing facilities, while looking out on a magnificent vista.

 Dowdy Ranch, elevation 1,600 feet, with views much the same as when Juan Bautista de Anza toured the area in 1775, was 20 years in the planning and two years in the construction. The name comes from Orren “Dick” Dowdy, who settled on the land in the 1870s. He never married and died in 1893.

 We took our soon-to-be 7-year-old granddaughter Ashley to the Dowdy Ranch Visitor’s Center opening May 19.

 When we arrived at Dowdy Ranch, we found Ranger Sheryl Neufeld. Since Ashley was dressed in khaki similar to the park ranger, Neufeld asked Ashley if she wanted to be a ranger. Surprisingly, Ashley said, “Yes.”

 Ranger Neufeld then said, “Ashley, you can cut the ribbon that opens the park.”

Subsequently, at the park station opening, after the proper speeches, Ashley and Alley Brem, a descendant of a local pioneering family, cut the red ribbon to open the park.

 Take your family on a picnic this summer. That is what family remembrances are all about.

Burton Anderson, a U.S. Marine veteran of the Korean War, has lived in California for about 50 years. He has a background in the aerospace industry. He may be reached at ba****@*ol.com. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.