Road Trip - Day 3

Thursday November 8 2007
We awoke at about 7:30 and went upstairs at about 8:00 to find the house empty as Kay was busy running kids from seminary to school. We got out the laptop and found a neighbor’s WiFi that we could snarf and started doing some internet research on places to visit today. We wanted to find a picturesque mountain lake with a quaint little town with a cute B&B or similar place to lodge. After checking several areas, it looked like the town of Chester on the shores of Lake Almanor would be just right.

Kay prepared us one of our favorite breakfasts (oatmeal!) and we left their home at about 9:30. After a quick stop to visit Dave Webb in his new dental offices, we drove back to Chico and then took the Hwy which lead up to Lake Almanor.

It took about 2 hours to reach the town of Chester. Initially the road was wide and easy, but climbed steadily. Then it dropped down into some canyons where the road twisted and turned for about 20 miles. It was beautiful scenery, but I really had to stay on my toes to avoid precipitous drop offs or large logging truck hurtling by in the opposite direction. We stopped briefly at one turnout where there was a stunningly beautiful creek rushing along side of the road. It was just begging for a photo, and we obliged.

We reached Chester at about noon and began looking for that lovely place to stay. The first thing we discovered is that Chester is not all that close to the lake. The second thing we learned is that as a rough and ready former logging town, “quaint” is not the adjective best used to describe the town. We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce and loaded up on maps and brochures and then continued our search for a good place to stay. Hunger was setting in, though, so we stopped at a little diner for some lunch, and then it was on with our lodging search. We ended up driving all the way around the lake stopping at various properties along the way. They were all very “rustic”, even more so than we had hoped for.

Finally at about 2:30 pm we entered an area of the lake that was billed as the resort area, where there were supposedly a number of lodging choices. We found some cabins that were very nicely situated close to the water with a beach area that commanded a lovely view of the lake. The office was not on the property, so I called the phone number. They only had one unit that was cleaned and ready for occupancy, but the price was reasonable so I told them I would take it. The manager said she would meet us at the office in about 20 minutes. It was close by, so we drove there to wait. And wait. And wait. About 30 minutes later, she finally showed up. She asked if we wanted to see the unit first, but we were getting pretty impatient by this time, and anxious to get out of the car and do some bike riding, so I told here that I didn’t need to see it first. It might have been better if I had.

Our cabin turned out to be quite rustic and not possessed with any particular view of the lake. Oh well. We did enjoy a nice bike ride around in the area. Then we went and sat on some chairs down by the lake and watched as evening came one. It was a very beautiful and serene setting.

Darkness comes early in the mountains, and by 5:00 pm it felt like we were well into the evening. We decided to drive back in to the “big” town of Chester to find some dinner. We drove up and down the main drag several times looking for a restaurant that was open and at least semi-appealing. It was very slim pickings. We finally decided to settle for burgers at a diner with a 50’s muscle car theme.

When we arrived, the place was pretty quiet. Right after we place our order, though, a couple of other groups of people came in. The first was a group of six men who looked like they had been logging. One of them was drunk or stoned, I couldn’t tell which. He was loud and obnoxious and very profane. Then a man, a woman and a small boy came in. The woman was crippled and using braces, and it seemed like she was probably mentally crippled as well. Both of the adults were very unkind to the child. The woman in particular was saying awful, mean, hateful things to the little guy. He couldn’t help crying, but tried so hard to stifle his tears. I had my back to this group and couldn’t hear well what was going on, but Mary Ann could see and hear it all. She quickly lost her appetite. We left as soon as we could.

On the way back to our cabin, along dark country roads, we missed our turn and drove for a while wondering where we were. There was a car following fairly close behind us, and Mary Ann was concerned that maybe it had followed us from the diner. The road led us to the manned security gate for the Lake Almanor Country Club. The mysterious car behind us drove on into the country club, and we got directions from the guard and made it safely back to our little cabin by the lake.

Road Trip - Day 2

Wednesday November 7, 2007
This morning we awoke as the sun came up, at about 7:30, dressed and went upstairs for our complimentary hot breakfast. The dining area had a lovely view of the river and the town of Florence.

The food was quite decent. Then we hopped on our bikes and rode into Florence for a nice 30 minute ride.

The weather was still lovely, and the temps cool but not really cold. The roads were quiet and the scenery pleasant.

After our ride we checked out of the hotel and headed south on Hwy 101.

The drive along the Hwy 101 was really beautiful.

You can’t see the ocean, but you do pass by a string of pretty lakes and there are lots of forests with fall colors still showing.

At one point we took a short side trip to visit the Umpqua Light Hosue. It was a striking setting.

When we got to North Bend, which was a larger town than we expected, we though we would take a little detour to visit the US Coast Guard Air Station there. Unfortunately, the signs made it clear that only those with permission were allowed into the facility. We refilled our gas tank and continued South a little further until we came to Hwy 42 which took us eastward, back to I-5.

The drive along the Interstate was uneventful. We picked up more of that inland fog that we had the day before, but it was not thick. After crossing the Siskiyou Mountains and entering California, the weather improved and the landscape turned dry.

We stopped in Mt Shasta City for more fuel and a quick bite at Taco Bell. Unfortunately, though, it was not a “quick” meal at all, as we had to wait a full 15 minutes for our two items to be prepared.

After we got back on the road, darkness fell quickly and we were left to travel through many twisty mountainous areas, including Shasta Lake, in the dark. But traffic was light and the roads were in good shape, so all was fine. We exited the Interstate and Corning and headed east up to Paradise, CA where David and Kay Webb live. We arrived at the Webb’s at about 8:00 pm, making it a 9+ hour day of driving.

We enjoyed a great visit with our good friends and spent the night in their “Goofy” guest room which their daughter had decorated with hundreds of mementos featuring Disney’s Goofy character.

Road Trip - Day 1

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Today was the first day of our long anticipated road trip. The plan is to drive down the Oregon coast, swing inland and visit the Webbs and the Kendalls, drive out to Livermore to see Mary Ann’s parents and old friends, head up to Lake Tahoe, stopping along the way to visit the Gibsons, back to Provo to attend Aubrey’s voice recital, then down to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, back to Provo to pick up Evan, Driel, Moriah and Aubrey, and then home for Thanksgiving. Whew!

We got off a little later than planned, largely due to a bike problem. I had a bike shop tune up and repair Evan’s older mountain bike. When I took a test ride this morning, I realized the gears were not shifting properly and had to take it back down to the shop. They got right on it and installed a new grip shifter, and all was well. It was just about 1:00 pm when we left, and unlike the last week, the weather was gray and a bit foggy.

We traveled down I-5 as far as Eugene and then headed over to the coast. As we left the Willamette valley, we left behind the fog as well. The drive to the coast was glorious!
The fall colors were beautiful and the mountains verdant and green. As the sun was getting lower, we alternated between cool shade and bright warm sunshine. Sun glasses went on and off with each transition, but it was all good.

We took a short detour to see if we could discover if Mapleton had a “downtown” area. It doesn’t, other than a few business along the highway. But we did find their high school, a nice little place.

We arrived in Florence at about 4:15 and headed south on 101 looking for a nice play to stay for the evening. Just across the bridge we saw a Best Western that claimed to have the best view in town. We decided to check it out. The view, looking across the bay at the town of Newport itself, really is lovely, and we decided to stay.

After enjoying an early and healthy meal at famous Mo’s diner (we each had grilled fish) we walked over to BJ’s Ice Cream and shared a scoop of pumpkin ice cream slathered in hot fudge sauce. Yummy! Then back to our lovely hotel room where we attempted to watch a Net Flix DVD on the laptop, but alas, the disk was too scratched. We read our books instead, took an invigorating swim in the indoor pool and a soak in the hot tub, and then retired to a very comfortable bed at a nice early hour.

Day 2 - Plantations and Historic Chuches

Sunday, Oct 14

This morning we attended LDS services at the local ward in Williamsburg. It was fast and testimony meeting, and we enjoyed the services very much. Afterwards, we gave ourselves a short, self-guided tour of the non-historic portions of Williamsburg, and then decided it would be fun to see the inside of Bruton Parish, the oldest church still being used in America.


We drove down to the historic section and found a place to park (not easy on a beautiful Sunday in the Fall) and walked over to the church. We had not yet purchased our tickets to view historic Williamsburg, so we felt a litte awkward about walking around without badges on, but we figured that you shouldn't have to have a badge on to go to church.

When we arrived at the church, they were just getting ready to start Sunday morning services. We hadn't really planned on attending the service, but the ushers in the foyer just whisked us right into a pew at the back of the chapel. Besides our party of four, there was one other woman sharing the pew, and she was obviously a regular. She worked very hard to make sure we knew what to sing, when to follow along with the recitals, when to kneel, etc.

It was very interesting to be there, and especially fascinating to think that men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had worshipped regularly in that very building. But we really didn't want to stay for the whole service, so after about 30 minutes, we slipped out the back. While this wold be no big deal in an LDS service, I think this is not usually done in the Episcopalian services, as we got some pretty strange looks from the folks in back and from the ushsers in the foyer. Even so, it was a very cool experience.

We went back to the Krochmal's and Bonnie then drove us out in the country to visit one of the most famous Virginia plantations, known as the "Shirley Plantation".


We had a great time walking around the grounds for a while before our scheduled tour of the house. Mary Ann and Bonnie and I visited the gardens, and Mary Ann captured a very cool picture of a monarch butterfly on a blossom.

Day 1 - Richmond, VA

Saturday, October 13, 2007

After a full day of travel from the west coast, Mary Ann and I arrived late last night at the lovely home of our friends, Glenn and Bonnie Krochmal. The Krochmal's live just minutes away from the historical section of Colonial Williamsburg.



We were accompanied by Mary Ann's brother, Steve Guymon, and his wife Michelle.



This morning Glenn drove Steve, Michelle, Mary Ann and I up to Richmond, VA to visit a very historic cemetery (Hollywood, where 3 US presidents are buried) and to visit the museum of the Virginia Historical Society.









When we got home, there was time for a brief nap before we had dinner reservations at a Tavern in the historical section of Williamsburg. Mary Ann and I enjoyed walking from the Krochmal’s home to the Tavern, and arrived before those who drove there in the car.


The tavern experience was great. The building is an accurate restoration of an 18th century tavern, and all the staff are dressed in period clothing.



As one dines, actors and performers wander through and provide a bit of the flavor that would have been typical for the time. The food was excellent too. The dessert may not have been entirely accurate to the period, but a large bowl of peppermint ice cream with hot fudge sauce sure finished the meal off nicely.