Wish Tree and Mushroom House

Port Costa, California

Travelers cruising the narrow road into the canyon to Port Costa pass a tree decorated with hundreds of paper cards attached by strings. The cards are scrawled with text -- wishes, offered by locals and tourists in the hopes they will be granted by the Port Costa Wish Tree.

Some of the wishes are aspirational and lofty, others are more tactical and down-to-earth ("We wish for Ice Cream.")

The Wish Tree is directly in front of a house with an artistic tree trunk carved into its front. Walk to the right a bit and peer over the fence -- you can see a second, two-story structure on the property designed to look sort of mushroom-like, like something out of Lord of the Rings. A distant view is all you'll get; it's a private home (no trespassing).