Dancing in the Park in Chico on Summer Friday Nights - Working at WREX Plastics Factory - Part of My Autobiography - Gregory Vanderlaan

The concerts in the Park were my highlight of Summers in Chico. In general there are more guitar players per square mile there and the best play in the town square. People from AA and WREX plastics went every week and we had a good time dancing. Chico is famous for being a party town and every great party needs a "Keggar" Band. My favorite was the Jeff Pershing Band. He plays Positive Worldbeat Music.

The Train Station in Chico, California
I Dined at Food Not Bombs in Train Depot Park
on the Left Hand Side of this Picture

I was working at a plastics factory and that was a great job for me to do while I was getting sober. My boss was a member of AA also. The work was simple. They trained you how to make a plastic part in about 10 minutes and then you had 8 hours to relax and do your work. My favorite part was the wheelchair wheels for a "Smarty" brand named wheelchair. This was satisfying work because people all over the world used our products... Those wheelchairs were loved by those who rode in them. 

I was eating at the Jesus Center while I was a homeless person but the lady that ran the place told me that since I had started a JOB and could buy my own food, it was no longer Right for me to accept charity. Makes sense... 

Years Later I visited Chico after I Had Moved to Eureka and they had replaced the Central Park Lawn and Trees with Concrete and a Fountain... The Music was still wonderful and The Children Loved Splashing in the Fountain... I guess they had to remove the trees because they were in Danger of Falling Down. 

Bear Hole in Upper Bidwell Park
Black Lava Basalt Rock from Mount Lassen.

I wrote a song about my experiences called "Simple Treasures". My time Dancing in the Mud at RFK Stadium at a Grateful Dead Concert... We had a torrential rainstorm with thunder and lightning... Here is a Link to my Music Video singing the Song and Playing my Guitar... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLWIRyF0YnQ

Thank God for simple treasures
Thank God for rock and roll
An arena full of singing people...
a blessed time to ease my soul
Chorus:
Dancing in the MUD
in a stadium
when I hear the drums
I know that I belong
the hammer on the gong
and the momentum
will reveal the truth
hidden for so long

Thank God for simple treasures
Thank God for my guitar
it has a magic healing power
PARA VIVIR, YO CANTAR
(in order to live, I sing)
Chorus:
Dancing in the MUD
in a stadium
when I hear the drums
I know that I belong
the hammer on the gong
and the momentum
will reveal the truth
hidden for so long

Thank God for simple treasures
Thank God for my machine
I make another 30 wheels then,
take a rag and wipe it clean
Chorus:
In the factory
working all night long
making plastic wheels
until the break of dawn
.......................
"God bless this wheel
and all who ride upon it"

JUST ANOTHER MIRACLE

This lyric is about my time working at the WREX plastic factory in Chico. We made wheels for wheelchairs. One day after work I was extremely stressed out about the miserable conditions I was working in and a wise lady suggested that I have Jesus bless each wheel and all that ride. I was handling hot plastic and working extremely quickly to fit tiny nuts into the wheel before the plastic cooled and the wheel shrank in size to be too small to fit the nuts. This basically meant that I was frantically rushing to fit 9 nuts into a wheel that was burning my fingers. She suggested the blessing as a stress reliever for me. Fortunately, my boss came to the realization that I was the wrong person for this particular product and never made me make that type of wheel again. I did become THE wheel maker of another type. I did continue to bless the wheels. I am an atheist but... WHY NOT BLESS THE WHEEL... Eventually I made thousands of wheels. A useful way to spend my time... *

Fountain that I Loved to Soak my Feet in
Right Across from Central Plaza Where the Bands Play.
I walked a Lot in Chico and Had Many Blisters
The WATER in this Fountain has a LOT of Chlorine...
Good for Healing, NOT for Drinking.

Dancing in Central Park in Chico to live music. and Murals

Sounded like the Grateful Dead

Chico is Famous for Beautiful Women

On the Street during Friday Night in the Park Concert

Mural Downtown

Another Mural

Read more of my Autobiography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

My Favorite Place to Swim is Upper Bidwell Park near Chico, California. The Lava from Mount Lassen flowed down there and crystallized into large black rocks.

In the Summer the Rocks absorb sunshine and become too hot to sit on unless you splash some water on them from the Creek. The Place called Bear Hole (Diversion Dam) is the Best of the Easily Driven to Spots. However It Does take some crawling over the rocks to get in. Last time I was there, at AGE 62 it was more than I could do so I went swimming at Alligator Hole Instead. That one has a gentle beach to wade into the water. I saw a Duck and a string of Ducklings there. That Gave Me an Emotional Feeling of Being One With the Universe... Sunny Day, Trees, Lava Rocks, Ducks and ME... All One... 

Bear Hole, Chico Creek California

Another EPIC Swimming Place is the One Mile Recreation area. During the Depression of the 1930s the WPA built a Giant pool there out of concrete. They Built a Dam Across the Chico Creek and the pool is Very Very Long and Wide... One thing that is wonderful is the Park is open 24 hours a day. Swimming at Night is Special. 

One Mile Swimming Pool Chico Creek California

Butte Creek is wonderful for Tubing. It's a Wild Ride in the Spring with Snow Melt. 

I lived in Chico in 1973 and 1974 and then again for about 5 years in the late 1990s early 2000s... 

Link to Everything I've Written about Chico: https://gvan42.blogspot.com/search?q=Chico

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.

More pictures of the Covered Bridge:

 https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-honey-run-covered-bridge-over-butte.html

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?

KEEP RAINWATER IN CALIFORNIA... Sites Reservoir: Don't Let it Flow into the Ocean - Simply Pump the Sacramento River Onto Crop Land! Grow Food!

Sites Reservoir: Water for Dry Years... 

https://sitesproject.org/

Sites Reservoir is an environmentally beneficial, off-river reservoir that will capture excess water from major storms and save it for drier periods, helping California’s farms, businesses and cities continue to supply reliable water when other sources are low.

Map of Where Sites Reservoir will be... 

Halfway between Clear Lake and Chico. 

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Photos of The River near Chico, CA 

Scotty's Bar and Boat Launch - Swimming... 

It's an EPIC River for Inner Tubing... 

Mike J

Scotty's is a legendary Bar 

and has a stage out back for live music.

Boat Launch and Swimming.

Looking Downstream towards San Francisco

Scotty's Sign

Rest Area on Highway 5...

My Home on the days I didn't want to stay at a Motel.

That's my Ford Windstar Van with the Mattress in the Back. 

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Shredded Rainbow Spiral Business Cards For Sale.

https://www.zazzle.com/shredded_rainbow_spiral_business_card-256163553649539936 <--- Click on the Link!

MORE Shredded Rainbow Spiral Art 

Link to Spiral Art Painted on Bling: 

https://www.zazzle.com/store/gregvan/products?qs=spiral&st=Popularity

Link to Rainbow Art Painted on Bling:

https://www.zazzle.com/store/gregvan/products?qs=rainbow&st=Popularity

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

On a Related Subject... 

a Post of Mine Was Deleted from This Blog

because I Dared to Ask the FORBIDDEN QUESTION:

"Why do we allow fresh water from the 

Sacramento River to flow into the Ocean?"

after all... 

We Pump the Colorado River Dry before it Gets to the Ocean in Mexico... and No One Complains About THAT!

all the water from the Colorado River is used to Drink, Water Crops, Fill Swimming Pools, Shower, Water Animals and Make Ice Cubes for a Scotch on the Rocks Beverage... 

SO... Someone Reported My Question to Google

and That Post was Deleted... 

WE MUST ALLOW NO QUESTIONS!

OBEY THE ECOLOGY NUTS!

NO THINKING!

Sacramento River Satellite Photo Google Maps - Delta - 2021 ~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~ and another response:

I say leave Nature ALONE but cut down on human reproduction to reach for a better, more equitable, balance. Humans have already altered, disrupted and destroyed far too much on the planet!  So much in fact, we’re causing thousands of species of animals, plants and insects to go extinct by the day! Enough is enough!  This Central Valley used to be home to deer, antelope, bear, and thousands of other species of both animals and plants.  Now they are crowed out by humans for growing endless mono-crops for human a cattle feed and housing.  Its selfish, greedy and insane. And not just here, the whole Earth is  being similarly destroy for human USE and its  the only home we have in the Universe!  All  because of not having the foresight to control our own  f’g numbers!

Of course, power hungry world and church leaders with politicians leading the way, like more and  more people to fill their coffers!!

back to the story now in progress: California Rice Farmers Pump Water from The Thermalito Afterbay Downstream from the Oroville Dam to Water Their Crops. This Year the Oroville Dam is at Historic Record Low Water Levels. So Low that the Hydro Electric Power Generating Station was TURNED OFF...

What IF? Would Pumping all that water out of the River and Into Fields that are Growing Crops Change the Climate of California's Central Valley? In the Summer, all that water would evaporate and then fall as rain when those clouds meet the Sierra Nevada Mountains... In General, the Wind Flows from West to East... WE NEED RAIN...

The Objection to Pumping the Sacramento River Dry is That Salmon Need the Water to Survive... and They Would Go Extinct... In That One River... Other Rivers, Like The Klamath and The Columbia and Rivers in Canada and Alaska would NOT Be Changed... and The Salmon Would Continue to Survive There...

and... What IF Salmon Became Extinct? The Drought is The Western USA Is Putting Salmon in the Klamath River in Danger Right Now... Even With The Dams being Removed...

It's Entirely Possible That Salmon are Not Important...

Protest Sign Says:
Kapow! Un Dam the Klamath River
in the All Species Parade: Arcata CA

Golden Bear Sculpture on The Klamath River Bridge.
Highway 101 - Northern California

The San Francisco Bay would Become Salt Water flowing In under the Golden Gate Bridge... Currently it has a Mixture of Salt Water and Fresh Water...

That's Surprising because there are Salt Harvesting Businesses Near San Jose... They Just Let the Bay water Evaporate and Collect the Remaining Salt...

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My Gift to the World: A Free Coloring Book: Print as Many Copies as You Like and Share With Friends. Color with Felt Pens or Pencils... ALL FOR FUN! https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2020/04/peace-and-love-free-coloring-book-art.html

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Here is a Post on that same subject that was NOT Deleted on Facebook... "I Wonder Why Fresh Water from The Sacramento River Flows into the Ocean? After All, The Colorado River is Pumped Dry.

We are Having a Drought Here in California... This Water COULD be used to Grow Crops, Water Livestock, Take Showers or Make Ice Cubes for a Scotch on the Rocks... But NO... It Flows Out into The Ocean at San Francisco... "

You may use the LABELS below 

to visit pages on similar subjects.

One Mile swimming pool in Chico California. A WPA project. They built a dam across the Chico Creek and poured the Sycamore Pool.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, 

The Works Progress Administration 

Constructed this Concrete Swimming Pool. 

It's Open Day and Night... 

College Students Playing a Water Relay Game

Insightful Movie: "The Medium Is The Massage" (1967) by Marshall McLuhan... He Uses The Medium of Television to Study Television... Therefore Proving his Idea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFwVCHkL-JU

Interviews and Many Psychedelic OP ART backgrounds... English Fashion Models Dressed in MOD Clothes and 1967 Computers with Punched Cards... He Really Got That Global Village Idea Correct... as we Have seen Movies Filmed by Terrorists as they Stormed the US Capitol Building using their Phone... and We Saw the Murder of George Floyd by a Policeman... Caused Riots Nationwide... 

I Remember My Brother Martin Had Two Books by McLuhan on his Bookshelf at home. "Understanding Media" which was a Thick Book WITH ONLY WORDS... It Was Too Boring and I Only Read 10 Pages... The Other Book was Profusely Illustrated with Cartoons and Pop Art Images and Maybe 12 Words Per Page...  "The Medium is the Massage" THAT ONE I Really Liked and He Got His Message Across... 

This Film is the Most Effective Treatment of His Ideas YET... and since it's on Youtube... It's Proof of the Global Village Idea... Now, Anyone Can Publish Their own Story on Youtube... I Do... 

Never Once Does he Mention that the Title was a Typographic Error... The Original Title was "The Medium is The Message" - and That Makes Sense... Message... NOT Massage... a Word that Means Rubbing the Body by a Professional... Including Prostitutes...

My AutoBiography: Growing Up in Los Gatos, California in the 1960s by Gregory Vanderlaan - and Living in Chico, Washington DC, Eureka and Orangevale.

Link to Read More: 

https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html 

I Was Born March 19th, 1954. We lived on Hedding Street Near the San Jose Airport until We moved to Los Gatos in 1960.  I lived there until graduation from Los Gatos High School in 1972... an Ideal Childhood... 

Then I Went to West Valley Jr. College, learned electronics drafting and got a job at System Industries in Santa Clara... I feel blessed that not only did I grow up in a great location but I also grew up at a great time. I missed the Vietnam War by ONE Year and Silicon Valley Was Hiring Like Crazy When I Needed a Job. FYI: Los Gatos is about 50 miles South of San Francisco on the edge of the mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

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Sample Paragraph... or Two... 

I have actually fired a gun. Really! At Camp Campbell [YMCA Summer Camp] in the Santa Cruz Mountains we learned how to shoot targets with a .22 rifle. I enjoyed it. Quite similar to playing Darts or Archery. Another time I fired a large pistol at cans. ONCE. My dad's lawyer owned the pistol. It had a "Helluva Kick" and was really loud and scary. I've never actually owned a gun or had one in the house... Thankfully... as on occasion I have had arguments and none became fatal...

Camp Campbell also had a zip line. I got into a swing seat, jumped off the cliff and whoooooosh went down to the ground. At that time we were responsible for our own actions and staying safe. I suppose I could have fallen out of the zip line seat but I made sure I held on tight. BIG FUN.

****** (~);-} ******

When I went to West Valley Junior College I Took a Class in Architectural Scale Model Building. I took Blueprints of a Cabin my Father was having built on North Shore, Lake Tahoe and Built an Accurate Scale Model of it. Dad showed it to his friends and clients... Just to explain what he was having Built... In Retrospect, THAT would have been an EPIC Career... Building Models... Mostly the Professional Career Path was building Models of Oil Refineries... as a way to CHECK if the design was accurate... much cheaper to find errors on a Model than actually build the real thing and find out, OOPS! ---- During the Free time I Had Between Classes I went to the Library and Drew Pictures, Cartoons, Designs ART... while wearing Headphones... My Favorite was 'Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin... Astonishing on Headphones because of a lot of Left-Right Ping Ponging and Phase-Shifter Effects on the Drums... Try it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQmmM_qwG4k

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

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.

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

In the springtime Chico State has a week long celebration called "Pioneer Days". My friends and I decided that the last place we wanted to be was in town when it was invaded by drunken strangers. We went camping at Yosemite, took LSD and climbed the trail to the top of Yosemite Falls. The higher we got in elevation the Higher We Got... By the time we arrived on top of the mountain it appeared to be moving wildly... as if the granite was dancing. I lay down on my belly and crawled to the edge... That's a great view but really dangerous because it's a tall cliff with no guard rail. We walked down to the valley floor and rode the double-decker bus around... sitting on the top, with no roof... bliss... we also walked to the base of Vernal Falls on the mist trail. I looked at my arm and it looked like a bear, with claws... I went fishing in the river and slapped a fish out onto the shore... just like a bear would. That evening we were playing guitars and my harmonica around the campfire when a ranger ran out of the darkness and tackled me... We were passing around a joint and I was holding it. He gave me a ticket for "Disturbing the Peace" and told us that we had to leave the park the next day or he'd change the charge to possession... In my humble opinion, The Ranger was the one "disturbing the peace" by tackling me...

The next Year we took a camping trip to Hetch-Hetchy reservoir. Another beautiful granite mountain near Yosemite. We took LSD and went free-climbing up a chimney and then hiked around above the tree line. I went down to the edge of the river to admire the bubbling water and accidentally slipped in. Could have died as there was a large waterfall downstream. The water out powered me and took me to the bottom of the pool. I gave up, accepted death and bubbled up to a place on the far shore where I climbed out. A cosmic near death experience... Hey Kids, Don't Do This!

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.

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

Links to Read More: 

https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html 

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