A stage line starts from San Jose in the morning at 7:30 and arrives 

 in return at 6:30 p. m. The trip is one never to be forgotten, for from 

 the different altitudes which rise higher and higher one may look out over 

 this entire valley and see San Francisco and the bay in the distance. 



Another delightful drive is a twenty-seven-mile drive. Take the electric 

 interurban car from San Jose to Los Gatos, arrange there with the livery- 

 may for a team and start out over the summit road, returning via Saratoga. 

 On the summit road at an elevation of three thousand feet is located Castle 

 Rock, nature's freak, for in this rock are numerous chambers. The rock 

 rises about one hundred feet above the surface and is of sandy formation. 

 The wind and rain for countless ages have gradually cut out the softer por- 

 tions of the rock and left caverns sufficiently large to accommodate about 

 fifty people, perhaps seventy-five. From this point one may look out in all 

 directions and within the circle of the horizon see nine separate counties. 

 To the west Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean are visible; to the north 

 Marin County and San Francisco Bay, and to the east the Mt. Diablo range 

 of mountains. Plainly in sight are the following counties: Monterey, Santa 

 Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, Stanislaus, 

 and San Benito. Here the foliage is green throughout the year, and through 

 the forests trickle never-failing mountain streams. From this point a small 

 spring will start on its way to Monterey Bay, immediately at your foot on 

 the one side, and on the other side another spring of water will start upon 

 its course to San Francisco Bay. This is the grandest sight imaginable, 

 and while I appreciate the Yosemite Valley and its grandeur, I believe that 

 the inspiring sight from the summit of the Santa Cruz range is equal and 

 easier of access. 



There are numerous electric urban and interurban trips to all parts of 

 the valley and connecting most all of the cities, but two of the most 

 attractive are to Alum Rock Park, a city reservation of about one thousand 

 acres, where sixteen mineral springs flow, free to the public. This park is 

 located about six miles east of San Jose in a canon, and is the city play- 

 ground. The other trip on the interurban electric line to Congress Springs 

 leads one through the famous Santa Clara Valley prune orchards, where 

 millions of trees in early March send forth their blossoms with an array 

 of beauty appreciated only by the sight. Blossom time is usually held 

 about the 15th of March at Saratoga, in the foothills, eight miles west of 

 San Jose, and this is on the interurban railroad en route to Congress 

 Springs. At Congress Springs one may walk for a mile through deeply 

 wooded canons over Lover's Lane, and by the side of a mountain stream 

 trickling down from the soda springs. The water is free to any who wish 

 to visit that park, and is one of the notable attractions of Santa Clara 

 County. 



The seed farms of Santa Clara Valley, where seven thousand acres 

 are devoted to the raising of all classes of seeds for commercial purposes, 

 is one of the wonders of California. One may look for miles across a level 

 stretch of country over an onion field until one's vision fails to penetrate 

 the distance. 



The city parks of San Jose, notably the St. James Park, are among 

 the most beautiful in the State. In St. James Park there is a greater 

 variety of trees growing in the open in this square than in any other park 

 in the world. The citizens took pride in planting almost every variety of 

 tree, and the Eastern people here find their native trees growing luxuriantly 

 and in the midst of this park is located the McKinley monument, placed 

 upon the very spot where President McKinley delivered his address to the 

 people of San Jose within a short time of his death. 



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