The gold rush began in 1848 when James Marshall first discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. Rumors of the find quickly spread, and within months, the search was on. The earliest treasure seekers would become known as the “49ers”, dubbed so for the influx of people drawn to the hunt in 1849. These first 49ers were made up, for the most part, of local farmers and agriculturalists, Native Americans and Hispanic natives. This local atmosphere didn’t last long, however, once President Taft announced the find in an address to congress.

Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children flocked to the hills of California is search of the precious metal. Many of the pioneers faced a dangerous journey by sea, in hopes of traveling faster than their counterpart crossing land. The ocean voyage around the tip of South America was arduous, and many did not survive to seek their fortunes. The overland voyage faced its own hardships, with cholera and typhoid fever claiming many travelers.

The city of San Francisco owes its livelihood to the gold rush. Once a tiny, insignificant waypoint, the massive migration brought settlers to the small town. The demand for goods brought traders to port in San Francisco, with countless crews abandoning ship to start their own search for wealth in the mountains of California. Similar situations arose all over California, especially in northern California where gold reserves where greater and much easier to reach.

Much of our view on the “Wild West” came about as a result of the gold rush of 1849. Being so far removed from the seat of government on the east coast, California was a notoriously lawless frontier. Since California was technically still under Mexican control until the end of the Mexican-American War, establishing law and government was particularly challenging. The lack of a local government made it open season for claiming property, and taxes in the West were non-existent.

The gold rush is responsible not only for a cultural surge in on the west coast, but also for a dramatic increase in the development of technology necessary to mine the gold locked away in the mountains. Methods varied greatly, from simple panning to dredging and advanced hydraulic mining. Prospectors were faced with new challenges as the amount of easily accessible gold began to dry up. New methods had to be developed to bring the gold up from deep within the hills.

The gold rush brought a new culture and new opportunities to what was considered the American frontier. Hardship and sacrifice were as likely to be found in the hills of California has gold, but hundreds of thousands still sought the precious metal, in the hopes of finding a better life.

Lawrence Reaves found the best online resource to sell gold or sell gold coins.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Reaves

The best way to start planning your adventure, is to decide which California counties you would like to see, and in which order. From there, take a look at your map, and decide where the starting and finishing counties will be. The famous highway 1 which takes you all the way up the California coast is a great starting place for your trip. The following is a suggested county guideline, starting at Yosemite Park, to San Francisco, up to wine country, and then continuing all the way up to the state line.

Yosemite National Park
Located in Tuolumne county, Yosemite is a great way to start your trip. Spend a few days exploring the mountains and waterfalls, and beautiful flowered meadows of Yosemite, and then start making your way up to San Francisco.

San Francisco
This city made famous by Rice-A-Roni is not to be missed. Using your California counties map, start heading towards the county of San Francisco. There are several counties making up the city of San Francisco, but San Francisco county is where the action is, including the Golden Gate bridge.

Wine Country
From San Francisco, start making your way north to Napa Valley in Napa county. Spend a few days here, enjoying wine country, and visiting some wineries to try some of the best wine around.

Hwy 1
Next, start making your way up north following Hwy 1 along the coast. Prepare for spectacular views and vistas. At every turn in the road, the terrain changes, and you will be delighted at every corner. You might be in farm country one minute, and a heavily forested area in the next. One minute the air is crisp and clear, and the next minute you find yourself covered in a blanket of fog. You never know what you’re going to get when you follow the California counties map to lead you to your next adventure.

Make sure you allow yourself enough time in the great state of California. There is so much to see and do, but if you try and do it in too short of a timeframe, you might miss out on some of the best vacation opportunities of a lifetime. Study your map carefully, and of course check out all the tourist attractions you can find in tour books and online. But Mother Nature herself is the best attraction of all, here in California.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about california counties map [http://californiafishingonline.info/maps-of-california-counties/], please visit California Fishing Online [http://californiafishingonline.info/] for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Pan

Traffic school isn’t a commonly discussed topic – that is not until you realize you need it. And when people realize they need or want to take traffic school, like many other ventures, they do their research first. Here are some answers to common searches on the ins and outs of California traffic school.

How often can you go to traffic school in California?
Ah, this is for the veteran. According to California Vehicle Code, a traffic course can be taken for every citation received in an 18 month period (18 months from the citation date).

What are the California traffic ticket fines?
This one is a little tricky because it depends on what type of ticket you receive. There are parking tickets, infraction tickets, and misdemeanor tickets. An infraction ticket, most likely assigned to someone who is speeding, running a red light or stop sign, etc., can be as hefty as $370 or more.

Can I go to traffic school for a speeding ticket?
Your “courtesy notice” as the state of California calls it, should tell you whether or not you are eligible. Generally you should be able to take a traffic safety course and have your ticket dismissed if you have not completed a class for a citation received in the last 18 months. When in doubt, contact the county court where you received your ticket.

How long is traffic school in California?
Location, location, location! The California traffic safety programs are technically 8 hours long. However, depending on your county, a time requirement may not be enforced. This means that it all depends on your reading and comprehension skills. But watch out not to skim too much and flunk the end of course exam!

What about California traffic ticket extensions?
Whether it is for the ticket or to meet the traffic school deadline, the Superior Court Traffic Services allows you to request an extension. The extension can be a 60 day extension from the court appearance date on the ticket or a 30 day extension for the traffic safety course completion.

What are my rights for a California speeding ticket/infraction?
Well, and this is if you’ve decided not to fight your ticket, you should not get any points on your record if this is your first ticket AND the court allows traffic school. The court should be able to tell you whether or not this is an option and what schools are approved.

What is the California Traffic Court procedure?
When you’ve been cited for a traffic infraction, you may have to sign a “Notice to Appear”, by signing the ticket. This does not mean you are guilty. It simply means you promise to go to court or pay the fine. If you received an infraction traffic ticket, you most likely can do everything you need by mail. A trial by mail is also called a trial by written declaration.

You can ask the court if you can plead guilty and pay the fine by mail and pay to take a traffic safety course, or have a trial by mail. If you don’t go to court or pay the fine, your license can be suspended and you could be charged with a misdemeanor and have a warrant issued for your arrest.

How do I know what traffic school I can take?
Most California counties allow you to complete online traffic safety courses from approved providers.

Visit http://www.trafficschooltogo.com/ to see if traffic school is approved online for your county and court contact information and locations.

http://www.trafficschooltogo.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christine_Harrison

A few decades ago, driver’s education was traditionally taught in regular high school classes in California. However, shrinking school budgets has limited the availability of driver education classes in these high schools. The Internet has created a low cost alternative to acquire driver’s education from private driving schools. In California, there are a number of agencies that offer driving education to people.

It is considered a privilege for citizens to obtain a California driver’s license. It ensures that the driver knows the rules of the road and what steps need to be taken to get a driver’s license at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CADMV). Services such as dmv.org have a variety of links that enable people to find out the current answers to CA DMV driver license questions.

TeenDriversEducation.com offers online driver’s education courses to high school students throughout California. The courses are developed by Golden State Private Schools, an institution licensed by the California Board of Education and recognized by the Department of Motor Vehicles. It has helped over 20,000 California residents obtain their driver’s license.

California’s Home Study Drivers Education Class is a service of Pacific High School. This home study correspondence course satisfies the California Vehicle Code driver education requirements for students to obtain a DMV learners permit and drivers license.

APS is a unique Internet study and testing system for driver’s education in California. It provides California driver’s education, online driver’s test, California driver’s test, online drivers education and driver’s test.

Many organizations offer a way for students to study driver’s education on their own, instead taking 30 hours of classes in a local driving school. These online services have proven to be a convenient source of obtaining driver’s license in California.

Drivers Education provides detailed information on driver education, driver education online, driver education classes, driver education schools and more. Drivers Education is affiliated with Truck Driving Schools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eddie_Tobey

His acting career took off with the successful Conan the Barbarian with Schwarzenegger in the lead and chosen specifically for his perfect physique. In 1997, he was proclaimed the greatest bodybuilder of the 20th century, and the Guiness Book of World Records named him “the most perfectly developed man in the history of the world”.

Among his many business ventures, Schwarzenegger owns World Gym Enterprises and All Star Fitness Products, and is co-responsible for the Arnold Classic Pro Bodybuilding and Fitness shows. Additionally, he headed the Council on Physical Fitness and Sports for former President Bush.

Is it any wonder that, as governor for the state of California, Schwarzenegger wants California schools’ students to exercise more, eat better, and be more physically fit. To that end, he has issued a challenge to all California schools’ students in order promote an increased level of physical activity.

He wants all kindergarten through 12th grade California schools’ students to run, jump and squat for 30-to-60 minutes a day, at least three times a week for the next four weeks. The incentive — the school with the highest percentage of participation at the end of the four-week challenge wins a new fitness center/gymnasium. The next eleven school runner-ups will each receive $1,000 with which to purchase fitness equipment.

Schwarzenegger’s promotion of healthy California schools’ students doesn’t end there. Two bills have been introduced to improve school nutrition, effective July 2007. One bill requires all foods sold in California schools’ vending machines to meet high nutritional standards, regulating the number of calories for both fat and sugar. The second bill limits the type of drinks sold at California schools to water, milk, and some fruit and sport drinks that are low in sweeteners.

Not only is Schwarzenegger big on physical fitness and its benefits to California schools’ children, who are among the nation’s growing obese statistics, but a statewide review on physical fitness within the California schools was released last November 2006. The findings were atrocious.

The study found that nearly half of the California school’s ninth graders could not briskly run one mile. Almost 1.4 million California school’s students were tested in fifth, seventh and ninth grades. Less than a third met all minimum benchmarks for body fat, abdominal strength, and flexibility.

Governor Schwarzenegger is doing what it takes to help California schools’ students become and stay physically fit. If children do not do it while in school, it can affect their entire adult life with obese-related illnesses and health problems.

Parents, teachers and California schools interested in participating can register online and track their schools’ progress against other California schools at: www.calgovcouncil.org.

Patricia Hawke is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations and education for relocating families. For more information please California Schools

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patricia_Hawke

Recent researches and surveys undertaken on the college going student population indicate a growing surge in the number of online learners with each passing day. The initial studies are made in California, which being a growing state exhibits a maximum increase in the college participation index. The California University of Technology is one of the few online educational institutes that offer excellent online graduate and undergraduate degree programs to students from all over the world.

With the increasing pace of daily life time had become one of the most crucial and valuable assets. A fairly large number of people are getting interested in online degree programs in order to avoid the time consuming registration hassles for getting admitted to a regular on site course facility offered by the universities and colleges throughout the state. The picture is not only true for California but is also applicable to a number of other states throughout United States of America.

The second most important factor that makes online system of instruction so important in California itself is the gradually growing trend of work study culture. In order to keep pace with the increasing expenses for daily sustenance a number of professionals are seeking online education portals as the only solution for getting academic training for upgrading their careers. Such fulltime working candidates are a considerable part of the total student population in California and they are satiated by these effective online programs.

California University Online Degrees reinforce students with the necessary knowledge resource, helping them not only to foresee but also to fulfill their career aspirations. Actually, these online degree programs that are offered by the California University of Technology are well customized as per the regular course standards, providing the students with the desired academic and research exposure, necessary for their future achievements.

The California University online degree programs offer simulated online class sessions that the students can attend by just sitting in front of their computer terminals in the privacy of their own homes. The classes are well organized and have open ended discussion sessions through interactive chats between the students and the instructors. An online class session at the California University of Technology is overall a thoroughly enriching experience for the students as it has all the attributes of a real time on site class taken at any conventional graduate or undergraduate program offered by an accredited university or college.

The main degree programs offered at the California University of Technology include online Bachelor of Business Administration, the online Master of Business Administration and the online Doctorate of Business Administration. Apart from these, there is also an online dual degree program that caters to the needs of prospective candidates with a joint MBA – DBA degree.

The credit hours are such organized that they perfectly provide the students with a thorough retrospect of the past and present works in their field of interest. The class sessions are backed by group discussions, projects, seminars and workshops with the help of modern online educational software, iPODs, PDAs, etc. The courses are synchronized keeping in minds the regular University level course standards and are regularly monitored by Graduate Advisors through student- faculty interactive chat sessions.

The California University of Technology therefore provides the students and researchers with an excellent interactive platform for getting an in depth training in both academic and professional aspects for future prospects in those fields.

To know more on online degrees visit http://www.onlinedegreeshub.com/online-degrees-available-places/california/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ritz_White