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.
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.
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.
1 comment:
The creek did need a picture:-)
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