#1701 California, USA

Berkshire pigs, also known as Kurobuta, are a rare breed of pig originating from the English county of Berkshire that are bred and raised in several parts of the world, including England, Japan, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The Japanese designation of the breed, Kurobuta, has become like Kobe beef, a preferred branding of a premium grade of pork, that has increased the breed's popularity in the 21st century and caused this heritage breed's meat products to command a premium price.

Berkshire pigs are an average to large breed, with an average weight at maturity of 600 lb (270 kg). They are a short-legged breed. They have prick ears and a relatively short snout with an upturned nose.

Wikipedia.org

Thank you !

Sent on: February 1, 2019

Received on: February 14, 2019

#1690 California, USA

Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (or Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) band of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe of the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States, in the latter half of the 19th century. He succeeded his father Tuekakas (Chief Joseph the Elder) in the early 1870s.

Wikipedia.org

Thank you, Stephen !

Sent on: January 15, 2019

Received on: January 24, 2019

#1546 USA

Thank you !

Sent on: February 26, 2018

Received on: March 5, 2018

#1361 Santa Ana, California, USA

Thank you !

Sent on: August 10, 2017

Received on: August 18, 2017

#872 Santa Ana, California, USA

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is named after the Christian saint, Monica. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is bordered on three sides by the city of Los Angeles – Pacific Palisades to the north, Brentwood on the northeast, West Los Angeles and Mar Vista on the east, and Venice on the southeast. Santa Monica is home to many Hollywood celebrities and executives and is a mixture of affluent single-family neighborhoods, renters, surfers, professionals, and students. The Census Bureau 2010 population for Santa Monica is 89,736.

Partly because of its agreeable climate, Santa Monica had become a famed resort town by the early 20th century. The city has experienced a boom since the late 1980s through the revitalization of its downtown core and significant job growth and increased tourism.

wikipedia.org 

Date of Issue: February 14, 2015 - Vintage Rose

Thank you, Myrh Lee !

Sent on: April 16, 2015

Received on: May 4, 2015

#863 Santa Ana, California, USA

Thank you, Myrh Lee !

Sent on: April 16, 2015

Received on: April 23, 2015

#707 San Diego, California, USA

 San Diego is a major city in California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California and is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. San Diego is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the U.S. Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center. The population was estimated to be 1,322,553 as of 2012.

Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the entire area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission of San Diego, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of newly independent Mexico, and in 1850, became part of the United States following the Mexican-American War and the admission of California to the union.

The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the economic center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diego's main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, and manufacturing. The presence of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology.

Wikipedia.org 

Date of Issue: April 22, 2014 - Global Forever: Sea Temperatures.

Thank you, Dawna !

Sent on: July 28, 2014

Received on: August 7, 2014

#539 Santa Ana, California, USA

U.S. Route 66 (US 66) is a former US Highway in the U.S. state of California. It was truncated during the 1964 renumbering and its signage removed in 1974.

U.S. Route 66 was assigned by the American Association of State Highway Officials in late 1926 and signed in 1928 by the Automobile Club of Southern California; however historic US 66 shields and even present day US 66 shields remain.

US 66 continued to be signed east of Pasadena until 1974, when it was removed, and the remaining separate section became State Route 66.

In 1977, Hotel California (song) alluded to Route 66 in its opening lines, "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air, Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light, My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night". According to Eagles guitarist Don Felder, "Everybody had driven into Los Angeles on what used to be Route 66. And as you drive in through the desert at night, you can see the glow of Los Angeles from a hundred miles away. The closer and closer you get, you start seeing all of these images, and these things pounded into our heads: the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, movie stars, palm trees, beaches and girls in bikinis."

Nationally, Route 66 has been a decommissioned highway since 1985, with the last section through Williams, Arizona bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1984. The first efforts to return the route to maps as "Historic Route 66" date to 1987 and Angel Delgadillo's Arizona Historic Route 66 Association. This initiative was soon followed in all eight US Route 66 states, including California.

The California Historic Route 66 Association, established in December 1990 to advocate the preservation, restoration and promotion of historic Route 66 in California, is the youngest of the eight state-level Route 66 Associations.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: August 19, 2011 - Send-a-Hello

Date of Issue: February 14, 2014 - Winter Flowers

Date of Issue: February 12, 2014 - Abraham Lincoln

Thank you, Kimberly !

Sent on: March 10, 2014

Received on: March 17, 2014

#528 Santa Barbara, California, USA

Sleeping Beauty Castle is the fairy tale structure castle at the center of Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late-19th century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, with some French inspirations (especially Notre Dame de Paris and the Hospices de Beaune).

Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles. Though it reaches a height of only 77 feet (23 m), it was designed to appear taller through a process known as forced perspective; design elements are larger at the foundation and smaller at the turrets. The castle initially featured an empty upper level that was never intended to house an attraction, but Walt Disney was not satisfied with what he viewed as wasted space, and challenged his Imagineers to find some use for the space.

Beginning April 29, 1957, visitors were able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty. The original dioramas were designed in the style of Eyvind Earle, production designer for Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, and were then redone in 1977 to resemble the window displays on Main Street, U.S.A.. The walkthrough was closed for unspecified reasons in October 2001; popular belief claims the September 11th attacks and the potential danger that ensued played a major factor in the closing.

On July 17, 2008, Disney announced that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough would reopen in the style of the original Earle dioramas, enhanced with new technology not available in 1957. The walkthrough reopened on November 27, 2008 at 5:00 PM, drawing long lines going as far back as the Hub. Unlike previous incarnations, visitors who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle can still experience the walkthrough "virtually" in a special room on the Castle's ground floor. This room is lavishly themed, and presents the closed-captioned CGI walkthrough recreation on a high-definition TV. This same virtual recreation is included on the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: January 16, 2013 | Year of the Snake

Date of Issue: November 19, 2013 | Harry Potter

Thank you, Michelle !

Sent on: March 4, 2014

Received on: March 11, 2014

#510 Santa Barbara, California, USA

More info about California - see received card #113.

Thank you, Michelle !

Sent on: February 10, 2014

Received on: February 25, 2014

#404 Santa Clarita, California, USA

Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona, California, United States, in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. It is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the park, with several hundred mature examples of the tree. Two of its trees are among the 30 largest Giant Sequoias in the world.

The Mariposa Grove was first visited by non-natives in 1857 when Galen Clark and Milton Mann found it. They named the grove after Mariposa County, California, where the grove is located.

Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on June 30, 1864 ceding Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the state of California. Criticism of stewardship over the land led to the state's returning the grove to federal control with the establishment of Yosemite National Park.

Wikipedia.org

Property No #308

It's in the list of UNESCO WHS as a part of Yosemite National Park.

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1984

Thank you, Abran !

Sent on: November 2, 2013

Received on: November 11, 2013

#403 Santa Clarita, California, USA

Map of California.

See Received card #113 for more information.

Thank you, Abran !

Sent on: November 2, 2013

Received on: November 11, 2013

#351 Santa Ana, California, USA

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles, often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California and the second-most populous in the United States, after New York City.

The city is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area and Greater Los Angeles Area region, which contain 12,828,837 and nearly 15 million people respectively as of 2010, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in the United States. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself has been recognized as the most diverse of the nation's largest cities. The city's inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos.

Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.

Nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a global city, with strengths in business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine and research and has been ranked sixth in the Global Cities Index and 9th Global Economic Power Index. The city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. Los Angeles includes Hollywood and leads the world in the creation of television productions, video games, and recorded music; it is also one of the leaders in motion picture production. Additionally, Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: February 14, 2013 - Love: Love Ribbons

Date of Issue: June 5, 2013 - Music Icons: Johnny Cash

Thank you, Mary !

Sent on: September 19, 2013

Received on: September 24, 2013

#128 San Francisco, California, USA

I made a little mistake and now I have two cards with same Mission on it. At least their not identical. Sorry, Katrina, my bad.

Thank you anyway !

Sent on: August 11, 2012

Received on: August 15, 2012

#127 San Francisco, California, USA

Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo, also known as the Carmel Mission, is a Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel, California.

It was the headquarters of the original upper Las Californias Province missions headed by Father Junípero Serra from 1770 until his death in 1784.

The mission also was the seat of the padre presidente, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. It was destroyed in the mid-19th century, only to be restored beginning in 1884. It remains a parish church today. It is the only one of the California Missions to have its original bell tower dome.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places: October 15, 1966

California Historical Landmark: October 9, 1960

Wikipedia.org

On the Stamp: A “sister” stamp to the 2010 Scouting stamp which featured a boy scout, the 2012 Celebrate Scouting (Forever®) stamp also reminds us that girls were not always included in the scouting movement. Among the first advocates for a sister scouting movement were the girls who demanded inclusion in the Crystal Palace Boy Scout Rally, the first rally of its kind, held in London, England, in 1909. A year later, boy scout pioneer Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes Baden-Powell helped organize a scouting group for girls, The Girl Guides Association. Together they adapted his guidebook Scouting for Boys, and in 1912 they published the first official girl scouting manual.
Issue Date: June 9, 2012

Thank you, Katrina !

Sent on: August 10, 2012

Received on: August 15, 2012

#126 San Francisco, California, USA

The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and renovation of the lagoon, walkways, and a seismic retrofit were completed in early 2009.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places: December 5, 2005

Wikipedia.org

***

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County. It is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers. The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world".

Total length: 8,981 ft (2,737.4 m), about 1.7 mi (2.7 km)

Width: 90 ft (27.4 m)

Height: 746 ft (227.4 m)

Construction begin: January 5, 1933

Construction end: April 19, 1937

California Historical Landmark: October 15, 2004

Wikipedia.org

Thank you, Katrina !

Sent on: August 11, 2012

Received on: August 14, 2012

#125 San Francisco, California, USA

Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service on the Pacific coast of southwestern Marin County, California, 12 miles (19 km) north of San Francisco and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It protects 554 acres (224 ha), of which 240 acres (97 ha) are old growth Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places: January 8, 2008

Wikipedia.org

Thank you, Katrina !

Sent on: August 11, 2012

Received on: August 14, 2012

#124 San Francisco, California, USA

Hearst Castle is a National Historic Landmark mansion located on the Central Coast of California, United States. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who died in 1951. In 1957, the Hearst Corporation donated the property to the state of California. Since that time it has been maintained as a state historic park where the estate, and its considerable collection of art and antiques, is open for public tours. Despite its location far from any urban center, the site attracts about one million visitors per year.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places: June 22, 1972
U.S. National Historic Landmark: May 11, 1976

Wikipedia.org

Thank you, Katrina !

Sent on: August 11, 2012

Received on: August 14, 2012

#123 Solvang, California, USA

Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez) is a Spanish mission in the present-day city of Solvang, California. Founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, the mission site was chosen as a midway point between Mission Santa Barbara and Mission La Purísima Concepción, and was designed to relieve overcrowding at those two missions and to serve the Indians living east of the Coast Range.

The Mission was home to the first learning institution in Alta California and today serves as a museum as well as a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

U.S. National Historic Landmark: January 20, 1999
California Historical Landmark

Wikipedia.org

Thank you, Katrina !

Sent on: August 9, 2012

Received on: August 14, 2012