August
17-20, 2014
Initial Location Sparks, NV
Current Location McCloud, CA
Trip Miles 811
Clear 75 degrees F
Good Mornin’, Y’all!
From the 7-Eleven near the Nugget
Hotel in Sparks, Edna (our GPS navigation system) told me that we had 207 miles
to drive before arriving in McCloud, CA, our destination for the next week. Driving
north on the 395, we found that Western Nevada had the usual signs of modern
civilization …housing developments, shopping centers, freeways and the like.
Once we reached the California line,
things changed abruptly. Except for a few scattered cattle ranches, there are
few signs of human habitation up hereabouts. Susanville is the only settlement
of note … we stopped at a family-owned Mexican restaurant for a very decent,
well-seasoned lunch. Slowly, high desert gave way to conifer-covered high
country. Mount Shasta, mysterious and dominating, came into view as we headed
northwest on U.S. Highway 89. We rolled into tiny McCloud about 4 p.m.
For
the next four days we have been participants in Darryl Lipscomb's intensive
Challenge Level 1 (C1) square dance week here in McCloud. It is held
annually at Dance Country Hall, a grand old dance venue built in 1906
and recently refurbished. Darryl is a burly Texan with a long, gray
ponytail and multiple tattoos. Word has it that he was a helicopter pilot in
Vietnam. He is one of the top square dance teachers in the world and one of the
most brilliant mathematicians we've ever met! In spite of his somewhat
intimidating appearance, he is a wonderfully gracious and approachable human
being. At this writing, we have just finished four days and evenings of high-level square
dancing! We are THRASHED, mentally and physically!
Square Dance Collage!!
Puzzles Between Tips!
Our “home” up here in McCloud has
been a cozy-artsy rental house at 520 California Street. It’s an Eastern-style
yellow house built in the early 1900’s. It has been updated and eclectically
furnished by its owners, a decorator-contractor couple who live over on the
Mendocino County coast. It’s COMFORTABLE – a great place to chill and plan activities with
housemates and fellow dancers Bonnie and Dave Stotler who are more family than
friends! Dave celebrated his 77th birthday on August 17th!
We San Diego Dancers have been to McCloud Before!
Peggy Bednar's Newborn Baby Blanket Made Between Dance Tips!
Pie Night after the Dancing!
The Man on his 77th Birthday!
Amid Shasta Daisies!
Now, y’all must realize that this
locale is DEFINITELY a SEPARATE Universe! The huge region is dominated by The
Mountain! At 14,187 feet in elevation, Mount Shasta is both majestic and highly
mystical. It stand alone, rising 10,000 above the surrounding pine woods
country and is the subject of very extensive lore and legend! Have you heard about
the Lemurians? According to much local legend, the Lemurians were a race of
highly advanced beings that lived several million years ago! The Lemurians,
along with their beautiful land of Lemuria, were wiped out through a series of
disastrous wars and volcanic explosions! That IS … all except a group of
survivors, who dwell in the City of Telos, located four miles beneath Mount
Shasta! This goes along with the vision that our planet is indeed hollow and
that an inner sun occupies Earth’s center, giving celestial light to the City
of Telos. You can come up here and immerse yourselves in this lore through
CD’s, books, workshops, retreats and the like. The place is a New Age Mecca!
Mount Shasta in the Morning...
A Magical Place!
The Old Sawmill!
Deer in our Neighborhood!
Wildflowers Everywhere!
Fowler Creek Lower Falls -- A Cool Sanctuary!
The Northwest geocaching community
has honored the Lemurians through a prodigious chain of caches named the LPPT
series (Lemurian Playground Power Trail)! We
started at Ground Zero and scored seven well-placed and maintained caches
spaced every 800 feet or thereabouts. Now… this exact trend goes on for miles,
along logging roads and trails! There are nearly SEVEN HUNDRED caches thus
placed in the LPPT series! This is a true Wonder of the World! The zeal
of some of our geocaching brethren astonishes us …or … is it madness?
Nothing much happens in McCloud
after five p.m. (except for our square dance events and the weekly bingo game
over at the American Legion Hall). So, for our shopping and evening dining
experiences we’ve had to travel to the City of Mount Shasta about 12 miles over
yonder to the west. Population thereabouts is 3,394 per the last census. We
recommend Lily’s for superb rosemary-seasoned grilled trout served with natural
graciousness!
Mount Shasta is home for remnants of
the hippie culture that once dominated the now-gentrified Haight-Ashbury
district in San Francisco. Hang out at the Seven Suns Coffee Shop. The hippies
will show up. The coffee is good there. So are the oatmeal raisin cookies!
Shasta RV ----------- Now, this is a HOME of WHEELS!
Something to Remember!!
At this writing, we are winding things
up here in the Shasta area. We are getting ready for our transition to the next
California universe … the San Francisco Bay Area!
Y’all take care and stick with us!
Affectionately,
Captain Baldy
No comments:
Post a Comment