Templeton, CA (Brad Templeton Pages)

The tiny town of Templeton, California has absolutely nothing to do with me.

But of course, I had to visit it on my trip through the area (about 4 hours south of San Francisco Bay), along with the smaller town just a few miles up 101 called (I kid you not) Bradley.

At first when I saw the two names on the map right next to one another, I figured I had been named by throwing a dart at a map of a faraway state in another country. The fact that my great-grandfather, the Rev. James Bradley Templeton was born before these towns were founded confuses matters.

Still, it was fun to visit and get pictures, especially in front of the future site of the Templeton historical museum and to buy souvenir T-shirts to give to all the family. In fact, even if your name is moderately uncommon, you can probably find a town that has the same name, and write their chamber of commerce to see if they have postcards or T-shirts or something.

There, I just solved your Christmas gift problem this year.

Here is a wider angle picture of the highway sign on 101 that I was posing by.