showing valley floor
looking towards Chico
Students competing in a "fill up the bucket with a sponge race."
Three teams. A person runs to the pool, soaks sponge,
run back to bucket, empty sponge...
repeat with next team member...
much shouting needed... I Guess...
My Staircase... No Diving, so I just crept in Gradually...
When the Lifeguard is Present, no bicycle riding allowed... This Kid is taking advantage of the LACK of Law Enforcement to have a great time... Also, no smoking in the park... I lit up since there was no-one to enforce the rules.
Picnic Area 37. Redwood Trees.
These trees were brought from the coast where they are a native species and planted in Bidwell Park.
Note how the forest floor is swept clean...
Photo taken from within the Redwood Grove.
Note that the native trees are Not Redwood.
Train Depot Chico, CA
Caution: Don't stop on the tracks.
Mural...
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html
My AutoBiography: Growing Up in Los Gatos, California in the 1960s by Gregory Vanderlaan - Chico, Washington DC, Eureka
After high school I went to Chico, California to attend college. My major was biology and I found out that I had no interest in studying that subject or ANY subject AT ALL... I spent a lot of time smoking marijuana, drinking and playing music with my friends. After two years I flunked out. However, I did get to experience swimming in Upper Bidwell Park where the Black Lava Flows from Mount Lassen are. I swam thru a Lava Tube at "Bear Hole"... That tube has been closed by the Park Rangers after a student drowning... I really enjoyed swimming at One Mile Pool, Day or Night. Not many Parks are open all night long but Bidwell is so long and thin that a fence is impractical. Plus, a fence is, like, totally opposite to the culture of the Chico-Freako! It was super fun to go swimming nude with my girlfriend... Last Year I read her Obituary on the internet... So Sad...
I remember Tubing on Butte Creek. During the Spring it was a wild ride due to melting snow coming down from Mt Lassen. During my second time living in Chico my wife and I swam at Oki Dam.
I remember riding my bicycle everywhere because Chico is a totally flat town and parking is difficult to find near campus. In general, automobiles were expensive and unnecessary too. However, some students DID own them and they were handy for visiting San Francisco (Like the time we went to hear Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium).
I got to go on a Magic Bus Ride with a many other students to go hear The Grateful Dead at UN Reno. My friend Jimmy played his guitar and I played the Harmonica while everyone else sang along... Then we stayed at a cabin on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe and the next day I ate some LSD and went to hear the legendary "Wall of Sound" at the University of Nevada football field. The Dead had a lot of trouble making that absurdly large public address system work but... we all had fun anyway... Especially playing slot machines after the show and driving down that street where they have giant sculptures of Showgirls.
~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~
I lived in Chico in 1973 and 1974 and then for a few years in the late 1990s early 2000s. I Joined AA and quit drinking Alcohol. Chico has a big active AA community. Since Chico is Famous as a "Party Town" it makes perfect sense that it's also Famous for being an AA Town too. Going to meetings at Campfire Council Ring behind Caper Acres, Bidwell Park is an experience I will always treasure. I spent one summer "Rent Free" camping outdoors at Picnic Area 37 in the grove of 13 Redwood Trees.
~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~
In the late 1990s I moved from San Jose to Chico. I took my acoustic guitar, some clothes and lived in a cheap motel.
It was called the "Club Chico" motel on the Esplanade at East Ave and the manager was a skateboard rat. I was glad to live alone after having roommate problems in San Jose. I was drinking heavily at that time and one night I fell asleep while smoking a cigarette and caught the mattress on fire. The manager woke me up and hauled the mattress out into the parking lot. He replaced the mattress with a spare and I stayed there for a couple more weeks. I was expecting that he would be upset about the fire but he just shrugged it off... That motel was often visited by the police... So, just a fire was no big deal to him.
I sold my stock in Radio Shack (about $6,000 worth) before I left San Jose but the Investment company was very slow to pay. I ran out of money before I got paid. Without money I couldn't pay the rent and so I went camping in Bidwell Park at Picnic Area 37 - The Grove of Redwood Trees. I called the investment company every day and yelled at the man who answered the phone. I believe it was a standard company policy to delay payments a couple of months in order to increase profits. They hired college students to answer the phone and make up excuses...
I showered at the One Mile swimming pool and ate at the Jesus Center. I also ate at "Food not Bombs" in Train Depot Park and on Sunday I ate at the Salvation Army... with organ music. It was "Chico on Zero Dollars a Day"... I picked up cigarette butts from ashtrays...
I started going to AA meetings every day and stopped drinking. One big influence was New Years Eve 2000. I was in my motel room, alone, drinking and watching the VH1-Behind the Music show. Every band's biography had drug and alcohol abuse problems and then they either stopped using or died. I did a little introspection and saw that I too had a drug and alcohol abuse problem... As a matter of fact, AA has some excellent parties for New Years Eve, Halloween and Christmas.
I remember that there were terrible forest fires in the mountains behind Chico. The air was filled with smoke and the Summer heat was over 100 degrees... I spent every afternoon inside the library playing with the computers. They had the internet for free if there were no students that wanted to use the terminal. Since it was Summer, there were very few students... I also went swimming in Chico Creek a lot. I had to take some defensive action (like swimming) due to the smoke and heat.
In the Fall it started to rain and I moved into a cheap motel. Then I rented a room from some gay women for a few weeks... then I moved in with Victoria... I bought her $300.00 worth of propane and so she had heat in the winter. It gets really cold in Chico in the winter... maybe 30 degrees... cold enough that without propane, you could die... We lived on Highway 99 north of town a few miles in a "granny shack" in the middle of a corral with horses. And Almond Orchards... I got a Job at WREX Plastics as a machine operator...
I remember playing "Witchy Woman" in Chico on Main street with a college girl... Busking for spare change... When she sang I expected to see her head spin around like the exorcist... She was an enthusiastic singer and we collected a LOT more money when she was performing than when I sang solo.
I also played "Witchy Woman" with Mike Gardener (Lou's Son) after the AA meeting at Campfire Council Ring in Bidwell Park. Then we played "Keep your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" to bring the listener back into the LIGHT... Send them into madness then bring them back with an Old Negro Spiritual..
I had a meaningful AA meeting with Lou Gardener. He was the Chairperson and we were discussing making amends. The 12 steps says you should make amends to PEOPLE where needed but it DOES NOT say anything about making amends TO CORPORATIONS. How would you even do that? Should you do that at all? Do we have Freedom to Screw Over Corporations at Will? Who did I really harm? The Stockholders? It was an interesting conversation... His advice was that IF it was bothering me and making me feel guilty THEN I should make amends to someone... Maybe an employee in Management... but if it did not bother my conscience, just let it fade into the past. The point of making amends is to help you stay sober and events that don't bother my conscience are not really significant. He also recommended I stop bragging about my life of crime...
Other songs that were fun to play in public were... "People Are Strange" by the Doors, "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles and "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show...
Photographs of The Honey Run Covered Bridge over Butte Creek near Chico and Paradise, California BEFORE it Burned - a great place to go Tubing when the Water is High... a WILD RIDE! - Plus: A Northern California Vacation Guide - The Great Places!
The Bridge was destroyed by Wildfire on 11/9/2018
So Sad... It was a Historical Landmark.
The Entire Town of Paradise, California Was Burned Also.
There is Now A Plan to Rebuild the Covered Bridge...
Millions of Dollars Donated to Build a BRIDGE TO NOWHERE!
https://krcrtv.com/news/local/new-honey-run-covered-bridge-gets-financial-boost
What Paradise Was Like Before it Burned. My Memories of a California Town. [personal autobiography of everything I ever did in Paradise...Just to keep the Town's Memory Alive... If you are reading this in the Future. Paradise, California Burned to the Ground in 2018 and all buildings were destroyed.]
I was lucky enough to have visited the town of Paradise.
My fondest memory was Dancing at a Pow Wow. I was a member of Mom's AA in Chico and there were Many American Indians in that club. Dorothy invited us to go to Paradise for an Inter-Tribal Event. Duke was the Master of Ceremonies. I did the "Orange" Dance with a Native Woman. I held an orange between my chin and neck and then transferred it to HER chin and neck. I wore a belt with 5 Jingle Bells strapped to my leg... That Belt was used later to Chime Quitting Time at Work... At 5 PM I Rang the Bells and Everyone Cheered and went home... When I retired I gave the bells to Suzie so she could keep the Tradition Going.. Those Bells were filled with Magic because they had been "Danced" at a Pow Wow.
I took a Drumming Class with Adult Education. I was Working at Ja-Kay's Farm in Concow with Mike. She hired us to put unwanted stuff in a giant dumpster. It was a Birthday Present for her Father. When he came home from a trip, all the garbage would have been Miraculously Cleaned Up. When we were done with the day's work she invited us to go to a Learn How to Play the Drums in a Big Group Class. Mike did not go but I accepted the invitation. They held the Class in an abandoned Chinese Restaurant. There were about 12 students and we played Bongos and Congas. The teacher had sheet music for us to read and learn specific beats. After Practicing for a few weeks we performed at the Chico Farmer's Market. We Played "Miserlou." He played Guitar and invited some other musicians to play keyboards and bass. After that performance The Teacher wanted to GO PRO and Go on Tour, Charge admission... that ended the group for most of us because we just wanted to have fun... I do remember that at that performance we played the song incorrectly... We were supposed to play the beat for 20 bars and then STOP PLAYING so he could play the melody on the Guitar... well we failed to all STOP at the same time... He just shrugged and grinned... and Nailed the Solo. Oh Well.
I went to the Feather River Hospital and Had a Colonoscopy and Polyps Removed.
We went to see RADAR perform in a play. (Gary Berghoff)... It was at a The Fancy Playhouse and we met a lot of our friends in the audience... It was a RARE performance by Gary Berghoff who was a Paradise Resident. Makes me Wonder How He's Doing Now... He's Alive...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Burghoff
Mike C. and I went to see a friend perform in the play "Same Time Next Year." I was amazed by my friends ability to memorize lines... The play has only Two Actors and a tremendous quantity of words.
Swimming in Butte Creek. It's a Wild Inner Tube Ride when the water is high in the Spring... OKI Dam is a beautiful wide swimming hole and we went skinny dipping there.
Visiting the Honey Run Covered Bridge.
Finding Gold in a Quartz Crystal on Butte Creek. Craig and I went to the Bridge Just Upstream of the Covered Bridge and Took a Video of the Creek. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqTJXTmt7o
On the Side of the road was a shady spot and I sat down to smoke a cigarette. When I was done I picked up a rock to snuff out the fire and it was a beautiful white crystal quartz with a vein of gold... I kept that rock... It's in My Back Yard in Eureka Now... Right next to the shiny black rock I picked up at Mount Saint Helens in Washington State.
Swimming (illegally) in the Reservoir. It provided drinking water to the Town so people were not allowed to swim...
We went to an AA Meeting in Paradise. Small Meeting, everyone knew each other and I felt like a Stranger in a Strange Land. But I'm glad I went... I love Visiting Different Towns and Going to their Meetings...
I had a friend who lived in Paradise who was a "Clamper" (a member of E Clamper Vitus - a Fraternal Organization devoted to Helping the Widows and Orphans abandoned by Gold Miners That Died.)
Driving up the Skyway and Stopping at the Overlook to see Butte Creek Canyon.
Butte Creek Canyon photographed on the Skyway to Paradise, California
The town was Named for a "Pair Of Dice"
More Pictures of the Butte Creek Canyon:
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/paradise-butte-creek-canyon-california.html
Camp Fire Map 11/19/2018
We are REALLY Lucky that the Firefighters Put it Out
Before CHICO Burned. Thank You.
Click on the link to see... 6 Photographs of The Honey Run Covered Bridge over Butte Creek near Chico and Paradise, California BEFORE it Burned - a great place to go Tubing when the Water is High... a WILD RIDE!
The Bridge was destroyed by Wildfire on 11/9/2018
So Sad... It was a Historical Landmark.
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-honey-run-covered-bridge-over-butte.html
and Here is what Liz Merry Said about the Rebuilding of Paradise...
Liz Merry
“Someday I’ll meet you all in Paradise…” So sang the great Scott “Ska-T” Pressman of Chico’s Spark ‘N’ Cinder Band. I spent last weekend in Paradise for Gold Nugget Days, which celebrates the discovery of a 54-pound gold nugget found just north of town in 1859. A gold nugget of that size could solve a lot of problems, couldn’t it?
It was my first visit to Paradise since the Camp Fire destroyed the town and left 85 people dead over 4 years ago. Dozens of our friends and family members lost their homes and many survivors relocated to Tehama County. Welcome!
Paradise looks very different now, of course. Where there used to be trees there are now sweeping vistas. That happened here in Manton, too, after the Ponderosa Fire. Driving up Forward Rd., you could suddenly see way down Battle Creek Canyon and over to Hwy 36E. Silver linings. We’ll take ‘em.
There is a buzz of construction as people rebuild their homes and lives. Apparently there was not much rhyme or reason as to how people were reimbursed by their insurance companies and the PG&E payments have been all over the place. There are folks who have been in their lovely new homes for a couple of years and others who have just started to receive funds to rebuild or move on. Neighborhoods are a patchwork quilt of new homes popping up among chain link fenced parcels with nothing but a cement slab to identify them as former residences.
Paradisians were jubilant to see old friends and neighbors. The hugs were long and sincere - like they never wanted to let go. Survivors of such enormous tragedy share a special bond. Gold Nugget Days is something that bridges Before to Now and unites them as a community. A great reminder that all communities are made up of people, not buildings and trees.
I spent Friday and Saturday nights in Chico at the home of my longtime BFFs Kathy and Lynette. We worked together at LaSalles in downtown Chico in the mid-80s, when it was a yuppified fern bar and restaurant. Kathy went on to create and coach the Women’s Golf Program and Team at Chico State and Lynette teaches art at Diablo College a few days a week.
They bought a beautiful home together in the Chico Avenues decades ago, fixing up a mother-in-law unit in back for Kathy while Lynette lives in the main house. I haven’t seen either of them since before Covid, so having this time to catch up was fantastic. They are both brilliant and we pretty much solved the world’s problems in a few hours.
Downtown Chico, on the other hand, is looking downright shabby these days. It was always appealing, bustling and thriving, but now appears to be in a sharp decline - like the “doom loop” we keep reading about in San Francisco. Empty storefronts are rampant - even the four “anchor” spots on 2nd and Main Streets. The 7-Eleven on the corner of 1st and Main is closed with a chain link fence around it - shocking. There is an air of seediness and danger - what happened?
A perfect storm of challenges from many directions hit the town, that’s what. 10,000 people showed up overnight after fleeing the Camp Fire. Traffic became insane. Covid closed the University and many businesses couldn’t survive. The homeless situation is at crisis level. Mental health resources are stretched thin. Without a variety of cute shops and the proliferation of online retail, shoppers just aren’t as likely to spend an afternoon browsing. There is an argument that the downtown landlords, most of whom don’t live in Chico, are charging too much for rent. How much is a storefront worth when it is surrounded by empty ones? Who is going to risk the time and money to open a new place in the middle of a downward spiral?
There are many factors at play, but Lynette pointed out one that hadn’t occurred to me. When the bottom fell out of the traditional cannabis market, those friendly hill folk didn’t have buckets of cash to spread around every fall. I can personally vouch for the increase in spending at Wild Oak every October and November. Time to rethink our county ordinance which is still depriving a path to legitimacy for an entire industry and its many spin-offs in manufacturing, testing, packaging, etc…What do you say, supervisors?
Here is a great Hike in Yosemite... to the Top of Yosemite Falls... In 1973 We Ate LSD and Hiked to the Top of the Mountain... and I'm Sure Glad We Did... BIG FUN!
We Started at Sunnyside Campground and
as We Got Higher and Higher in Elevation
We Were Getting Higher and Higher on LSD...
and when I was PEAKING ON ACID
I was on Top of the World!
I wanted to Go Look over the Edge but
the Entire Mountain Seemed to Be Dancing...
So... I Crawled on My Belly to Avoid Falling!
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/yosemitefallstrail.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Falls
This is the Map of the Trail...
That was my First Year at Chico State College and Four of Us wanted to be OUT OF TOWN during Pioneer Week... The Idea of Thousands of Drunken Frat Boys was NOT FUN... and So Many Strangers Coming to Raise Hell, Make a Mess and then Leave...
So We went to Yosemite and Camped at the Overflow Campground. One Morning Bright and Early we Dropped Acid and Hiked to the Top of the Mountain... One Effect of LSD is it Gives You a LOT of Energy to Do Hiking or Dancing... It's a Powerful Stimulant so We Had NO TROUBLE Walking the 2700 Foot Change in Elevation...
Then we Rode the Double Decker Bus Around the Park to the Mist Trail. We Sat on the Top Layer of the Bus... It Had No Ceiling... Truly one of the Most Fabulous Adventures POSSIBLE... Outdoors on a Magic Carpet Looking Up at Half Dome...
Then We Hiked to Vernal Falls...
It appeared to Be a Living Multi Eyed Creature... and when I Looked Away, The Mountains Appeared to be Flowing UP... I'm Still Amused by this Visual Effect... For Example if I Read The Scrolling Letters on the Bottom of CNN TV News Show... and Then I Look Away... Whatever I see Appears to Be Moving Left to Right... Try IT!
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/vernalnevadatrail.htm
The Next Night We were Sitting Around a Campfire Singing Songs and Smoking Marijuana and a Park Ranger Ran out of the Darkness and Arrested ME... He said I'm Gonna Charge You with "Disturbing the Peace" but You Have to Leave the Park Tomorrow... or I'll Change the Charge to "Possession of Marijuana" SO... We Left... and I Paid a $35 Dollar Fine... I'm Sure Glad the Ranger Didn't Attack Me When I was High on LSD... That Would Have Been a BUMMER!
In Fact HE WAS DISTURBING THE PEACE... I was Playing the Harmonica and Smoking Marijuana... PRETTY DAMN PEACEFUL ACTIVITIES! But he was a Freaking PIG! Oink Oink!
~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~
Since We Had Such a Great Time In Yosemite...
The Next Year for Pioneer Week We Went Camping at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir... a MUCH More Private Campground since almost No One Goes There... and It's Just a Fabulous... with Giant Granite Rocks Everywhere... We Took a Marijuana, LSD and Peyote Trip and This time We Just Made Our Own Trail... Since we were above Treeline, Just Wandering Around in the Mountains was Easy... and Privacy WAS Important Because We Didn't Want to Meet any Rangers!
On that Day We All Climbed up a "Chimney" in the Granite Rock... a Place where the Rock has Split apart and The Mountain Climber Puts one Foot on One Side and The Other Foot on the Other Side and Just Behaves Like Spiderman!
Later That Day I Accidentally Slipped into The River... I was Walking Along the Edge watching the Water Bubble UP in a Large Pool... Quite Pretty! That Swim Could Have been Fatal as I was Upstream from a Giant Waterfall... However, as Luck would Have It, I Was Washed to a Place where I Could Climb Out...
A Total Gift From God... I Was Totally Out of Control and The Current of the River Made All Survival Choices For Me... When I Was At The Bottom of The Pool, I Relaxed and Accepted Death... and Then I Was Spared!
Everything Since Then is a Blessing!
https://www.yosemitehikes.com/hetch-hetchy/wapama-falls/wapama-falls.htm
I also took a trip at an Anti-War protest march at the White House - I was interviewed on TV as one of those Man on the Street Shots - ranting and raving about the war... and then we Marched over to the Lincoln Memorial and were Faced with a CHOICE - stay in the Street and get arrested when the parade permit expired - and Make a BIG DEAL out of the Whole Thing or... stand on the Sidewalk and go about our business... I Chose to NOT Get Arrested with Daniel Ellsberg and a Hundred other people... who sat down in the street... That Trip was like an Abbie Hoffman Reenactment! Chicago 8 Riots 1968... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ellsberg
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