Trafalgar Castle School - Yearbook (Whitby, Ontario Canada)

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24 VOX C 0 1. 1. E G 1 1 mained behind to pat ourselves on the Imck, over the success of our party, and incidentally to wash the dishes. After Easter everyone was so busy and there was so much doing that the Sophomores had no more time for any- thing else. However, despite this now that the term is nearly over we are all glad to have had such a jolly year to- gether as the Sophomores of O.L.C. California or Canada-- Which ? It is February. We are to visit Cali- fornia, that magic land, where winter is only a few weeks of rainy weather, and now even that will be over. After a day on the train we reach Chicago, and that evening board the Los Angeles Limited, bound for sunny California. Leaving Salt Lake City, we go almost directly south, and then with scarcely any warning, on the fringe of the end- less desert, we find San Bernardino, and a few minutes later Riverside. Here we leave the train, for it is not fitting that we rush wildly through California on a shrieking locomotive. We must go softly, and take t.me, or we will break the spell of the land, and not hear its voice calling or catch the message. Th3 residents recognize us instantly, we belong to a common variety, the tourists. For the first few days we are always looking upwards, trying to see the tops of the palm trees, and exclaim- ing at their size. California is a land of many traditions, we feel their influ- ence at once. The Glenwood Mission Inn, with its collection of curios, found in the Old Mission, the cross on the top of Mt. Rubidoux erected in memiory of the Franciscan Fathers, are a reminder of the days when California belonged to Mexico, and you would hear the soft Spanish tongue spoken by her people. As we start our trip by motor the beauty and difference of the country leave us speechless, we can only feel. The sky is deep blue and cloudless. Looking over your shoulder you see the San Bernardino mount ains in the dist- ance, snow capped. On the one hand is the Sianta Anna river and the desert. on the other the dark green of ihe cit- rus groves, the lighter green of the al- falfa, and the ranch houses nestling among them, while the tall palm and Cyprus trees stand like sentinels to guard the land. Leaving Riverside we pass miles of orange groves, and acres of grapes. A twist in the highway and our senses are intoxicated by a grove of almond trees in blossom. It is a riot of beauty. Be- fore we know it we are in Ontario, that beautiful little city named by a Cana- dian. Two long lines of eucalyptus trees mark the centre of the street and lead through uplands to the foot of Mt. Badly, with its crown of glistening- snow. From Ontario we follow the highway which leads to Los Angeles. The roses are in bloom and are planted at even intervals along the roadside, red, white, pink and yellow, while in the groves flaunting their beauty we glimpse the bright orange of the California poppy, the state flower. Leaving the mountains behind, we pass towns and cities, when suddenly in the distance we are conscious of something new, a misty grey blue, our first glimpse of the Pacific, seen through a high fog. A few minutes more bring us to Long Beach, where the calla lilies grow best, and the pergolas are inter- laced with wisteria. Passing through Los Angeles, which is much like all large cities, excepting that sky scrapers are conspicuous by their absence. We are again on the highway leading to San Diego. There is very little growth in parts of this sec- tion, and it is then for the first time we realize that in all California there is

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1. SOPHOMORE CLASS, 1921-22 2. FIRST CABINET OF THE CIVICS CLUB, 1921-22. 3. THE FRESHMEN, 1921-22.

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vox COLLEGII 25 nothing growing- where it is not irri- gated, excepting- in the mountain can- ons, nothing grows that is not planted and cultivated. Even the immense trees were imported by the holy Fathers lU the early days. Another turn in the road and we are parallel to the ocean, and drive for miles along the beach, before we start climbing the low mountains. This mountain road twists and curves so that we can see the highway in six places at one time. From the top the view is wonderful, miles of desert on one side, and the boundless ocean on the other. We leave La Jalla with its rocky caves and foaming spray, to find the past at the old Mission of San Juan Ca- pistrano, with its memories of Califor- nia ' s hero. Tray, Junipero Sena. The old mission is beautiful even in decay, it seems like holy ground. At intervals all the way to San Diego are posts surmounted by bells. These bells mark the road the Mission Fathers travelled when making their pilgrim- ages. San Diego is a lovely city, and the park, where the southern California ex- position was held, beyond description. We must take the fairy to Cornada, that famous summer resort. We visit Lent City, which in the tourist season is crowded with people, and from here we look across that strip of golden sand reaching out into the water, the connecting link between this sunny land and that country of unrest and mystery, Mexico. We are tired of sight-seeing, and our hearts are turning- homeward. Even the sunshine grows njonotonous. We would give an armful of California ros- es for one Canadian dandelion. It is May and Canada calls. We travel north to San Francisco, that city with a past, facing west on San Francisco Bay, with its Golden Gates ajar. We stop at Portland with its beautiful parks, and Seattle, another city on seven hills. We take the boat to Victoria and the sight of that island and the Canadian flag, is most satisfy- ing, we feel so secure. Victoria is at its best, with the bloom a mass of yellow blossom in the parks and along the roads. The trip to Vancouver is sometliing to be remembered, as we near the har- bor and see that city which connects Canada with the far East, againsi its background of towering- mountains. We catch something of the vastness of Can- ada and the great future before her. We feel this more clearly perhaps, be- cause we have just come from a land with so many traditions of the past, a land of dreams and sunshine, where it is so easy to live, and drift. Canada is young, with so much of the best to offer her children if they will but give their best in return. She throws out a challenge to us all, and sets a hard task, but in doing it we grow stronger, able to accomplish greater things. The trip from Vancouver through the mountains — is there anything in the world to equal it? In Switzerland only can we find another Lake Louise. Banff, surrounded by mountains with their summits, in the clouds and the Bow river and falls at their feet. Calgary of the plains and our prairie farms, reaching far north and south, containing untold wealth ; and then Winnipeg, and still we are only half way across this land. P ort William with is immense grain elevators, the trip on the Great Lakes, and back to Old Ontario, the garden of Canada. A few minutes ride from Toronto and we are in the town of Whitby, eager for a sight of the College again. As we approach it up an avenue of arched maples, we are struck afresh with the massive beauty of the College itself. The grounds which surround it, are dotted with flowers and shrubs, a mass of fragrant beauty. It is good to be home. We love California, and hope to visit there again, many times perhaps, but when we leave the halls of