We know California is a big state with a big economy, big trees and lots of people. But these generalities do not begin to suggest the magnitude, magnificence and only-in-a-dream realities of this truly wonderful place. So this week, we’re hitting the highlights, and every entry should be punctuated with a wow.
Let’s just start with the scale. You probably knew that California is the USA’s most populous state, but did you realize that means that one out of every eight people in the U.S. lives here and that we beat the population of the huge country of Canada? Alaska and Texas have more land than we, but California boasts the record for cash farm receipts, growing almost one half of all the fruits, nuts and vegetables in the U.S. Dates are a giant crop and no one can beat California for dates as 99.5 percent of them are grown here. We know about California wine, yes, but did you know we produce more milk and dairy products than even Wisconsin.
California does it big and small, high and low. Unbelievably the highest point in the continental U.S. – Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet is only 76 miles to the lowest point – Death Valley, at 282 feet below sea level. You can visit the largest tree in the world in Sequoia National Park and then hop over to see the tallest tree in the world – 369 feet – at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Redwoods are prehistoric trees and it is said that every tree in the world is descended from the Redwood.
Let’s turn to people, where numbers are equally staggering. California has more Native Americans than any other state (I bet you didn’t guess that). It also has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia in Glendale; more people of Mexican ancestry than any other city outside of Mexico, and one of the largest Chinese communities outside Asia in San Francisco. I also located another little fun fact: Marin County seemingly has the world’s highest concentration of hot tubs and BMWs (don’t ask me to authenticate this, please).
Here are some unaffiliated wows about California. The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in San Bernardino. It’s the only state to have hosted both the winter and summer Olympics. There are more than 500,000 detectable seismic tremors in California every year. And Berkeley was the first city in America to mail AIDS pamphlets to every household in the city.
I found out some great things about the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. It is so big that its steel wires can circle the equator 3.5 times, and it has a team of painters who paint it year round – when they finish one side it’s time to begin repainting the other. Are you flabbergasted yet?
My last fabulous fun fact is this, and again, I just read it and can’t prove it. You’ll have to do that yourself. It is told that the very best view in the entire United States is at Mount Diablo State Park. Supposedly, from its summit at 3,849 feet, you can see more of the Earth’s surface that from any other peak except for Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Wow, California, you rock!
