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| The California we all dream of (click to enlarge) |
California’s Central Coast
By motomynd
Life is unfair. Some people live in California, others only get to visit. So far, my wife and I have only visited. Finally, we are planning to move to the Best Coast. Just so you know, I have called it the Best Coast since I first saw it nearly 30 years ago—and I would have moved then if my first wife had agreed. I’m a career writer and photographer with a couple of stints in LA over the years, so the move would have fit.
My second wife, Anissa, and I both work from home and a very few months a year we enjoy a pleasant rural life just west of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The rest of the time it is either ridiculously hot, or—because we get no snow with it—pointlessly cold. This past summer we had a string of 30 days in which it was 95 or hotter, with humidity to match. Six days in a row it was above 100. The hottest day hit 106. There is a word for that: hell. This winter we have again had many mornings with low temperatures in the 20s and highs barely in the 40s. We like snow, yet we have none, just unbelievable amounts of rain. We gripe about the weather—a lot.
In the 2012 elections the Republicans put a stranglehold on the state. The new Republican governor is hell-bent on cutting “needless” spending. He is taking from those he considers the less needy—the folks on Medicaid due to the state’s 10 percent unemployment rate—so he can help those he sees as desperately needy, the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the multitude of businesses that can afford to move here only if the state gives them humongous tax breaks and free real estate. We are confused about why billionaires need financial help, and why the state wants to attract businesses that are so sketchy they can’t afford to move on their own. We gripe about all this—a lot.
When school releases its grip on the children, North Carolina loses it stranglehold on us. We’re gone. The planning started with much online research, now begins the field investigation.
On Friday afternoon, February 22, we fly out of rain and temperatures in the 30s to begin the quest to find our far better place—somewhere in California’s Central Coast region. The weather and economic stats on the area seem idyllic, yet this is the only part of California I have somehow managed to miss on my many drives through the state. I am not one who usually saves the best for last—I am wary.
We fly out of Raleigh at 4:30 p.m. East Coast time and get into our hotel room at midnight LA time. Which is of course 3 a.m. East Coast time. It makes for a long day, but no worries, we will sleep in. Right. We instead awake at our usual 6 a.m. East Coast time, give up trying to go back to sleep, and are up and going at 4 a.m. West Coast time. We refuse to have a TV in our house, so when we travel the first thing we do in the morning is flip on the TV—it is like visitors from afar walking dazedly through a museum. It is the weekend of the Oscars and the TV tells us everyone in LA has apparently gone nuts.
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| Yep, it is LA |
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| When King Kong gets loose |
There was a time I was invited to such events, including one truly epic Oscar party I remember only from the photos. Now I can’t wait to get out of town. Even if driving from LA to Pismo Beach on three hours sleep, taking in every possible detour along the way, seems a long day.
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| About that zoning ordinance |
We are using a digital camera, but I still consider the film era a great career and digital just a job, so all my cameras are set to click like real ones.
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| Getty Villa at 60mph through a car window |
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| Malibu landmark |
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| Pepperdine University |
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| HRL Laboratories |
Leaving Pepperdine and turning north on Route 1, a huge flock of guinea fowl are inexplicably roaming the hillside between the highway and campus. They remind me of the flocks of guineas I used to see in Africa. Even though I was born and raised in America, and spent little but precious time in Africa, I feel a twinge of homesickness.
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| BMW flashes past and we give chase |
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| BMW with Point Mugu |
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| Point Mugu |
Next Saturday: Roundabout from Point Mugu to Pismo Beach
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Copyright © 2013 by motomynd
| Please comment |
Enjoyed the article and pictures very much and look forward to the rest !
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dawn! I look forward to the day I write about North Carolina as a great place to see...one last time...in the rear-view mirror...
ReplyDeleteI lived there over 25 years ago. Be interested to hear how it has changed. I would, however, keep my looking, below San Jose. The weather in San Fran sucks and the politics pass there---you will think you are back in the south. Plus, northern Calif. has cold wet winters and it is dry as a bone in the summer. Good hunting, and good luck; I hope your move makes you as happy as mine has been. Ed
ReplyDeleteKonotahe, since you lived in California, do you by any chance have any information to share about the San Luis Obispo/Santa Margarita area? A bit of a spoiler alert here, but that region has emerged as the early leader in our quest for a place not too hot in summer or too cold in winter.
DeleteIf you have any other recommendations on other parts of California, we would love to hear them. So you know the parameters: I prefer temperatures between 50 and 70, my wife between 60 and 80. So we are looking for a place that averages 55 to 75, but will of course compromise on 60 to 80...mild humor intended. Dry as a bone much of the year is fine with us, as our main outdoors pursuits are trail running, bicycling and motorcycling. Between the Southeast and Upstate New York I have had more than enough years of doing those in the cold or the rain - and all too often in the cold and the rain. At this stage of life, sunburn and even skin cancer seem less risky than hitting ice on two wheels.
It is great to hear that you continue to be so happy with your destination of choice. My preference would be to live abroad - before I remarried my plan was to migrate between Africa and Iceland - but our shared plan is to stay in country. So our compromise is to stay in country...again, mild humor intended.
Not sure about the temp. But Los Gatos was a pretty town. It sets between, San Jose and San Cruz.
DeleteI've been through San Luis Obispo; have a picture somewhere of me standing in front of the mission. We left Seattle with a pound of gold, in a chev van, don't remember much of the trip; except Highway 1 is not a fun ride when your stoned.
Sorry, but that is Santa Cruz and it's you're. I had a relapse high, just remembering that trip.
DeleteStay calm Konotahe, even though we of course have no experience with any of that ourselves, I'm sure we can find someone to talk you down. As a writer it is great to hear colorful stories of the old days. As a motorcyclist is is great to imagine that all the creators of those colorful stories are no longer traveling the same sections of Highway 1 that I will be riding. No worries on any such colorfulness today, right?
DeleteFor what it is worth, based on the average speeds of vehicles we encountered on Highway 1 between Santa Monica and San Luis Obispo a couple of weeks ago, I suspect the mind-altered drivers have either given up the habit or long-since gone off a cliff. It is an unbelievably beautiful drive and every now and then you can actually sneak a peak from behind the wheel and enjoy it - although we found it much safer to pull off the road when prime scenery beckoned.
Since our volunteering has transitioned from rescuing pit bulls and other fighting breeds, to rescuing abandoned cats, Los Gatos has a particularly nice ring to it.
I did the 60s and 70s on the west coast. A buddy, I was in the Army with, married the sister of the president of the Oakland's Hell's Angels. the Angles owned land in Lake County. There is a 2 lane road going through the county; during the summer they came up to party. There would be so many bikes the building would shake as they passed. Back then the Angles controlled all the coke on the west coast, so you could always bet they were a little wired. Been to King City in the summer; one word---don't. It gets real hot.
DeleteOh, by the way, you'll be able to spot the ones on weed, by how slow the drive, and the fear in their eyes.
Yes, Los Gatos is nice. My wife and I had our weekend honeymoon there, spent it in our friends Jim and Carole Sue Rx's house. After serving as our Best Man and Matron of Honor at the Highlands Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea, they discreetly went to Carole Sue's family in Goleta for the weekend.
DeleteNostalgia Alert: Los Gatos is now at the heart of Silicon Valley's priciest housing. It's a nice place to stop for lunch though. Went upmarket in the 1980s and has never looked back.
DeleteKonotahe, thank you for the warning about King City - I figured there was a reason land just south of there was comparatively cheap. We had a great time riding around the region in February, but it was already plenty warm even for short sleeves, so I feared summer would be as described on the weather websites. And thank you for the Hell's Angels report - I understand they have gone corporate (here in North Carolina they own bars and "massage therapy" parlors) but just knowing they may still be there might give me an excuse to add a Harley to my mini-fleet of "rice-burner" sport bikes. The thought of another bike should thrill my wife...
DeleteMorris, thank you for the sentimental story and yet another reminder of the California we East Coast types missed; Tom, thank you for the does of reality about the California we are now confronting.
Ebjoyed the post, but it left me with a Mamas & Papas earworm.
ReplyDeleteWHAT is an earworm? And why a "Mamas & Papas" one?
DeleteWill be curious to hear Steve's explanation. My guess is "earworm" refers to a song that gets in your head and won't go away for days or weeks, and my second guess is the "earworm" he is thinking of is California Dreamin' which 'The Mamas & the Papas' released and had a major hit with back in 1965. Last I heard it still ranked in the Top 100 of Rolling Stone magazine's list of greatest songs, and yes, it has been playing in the heads of many of us for nearly 50 years now.
DeleteMotomynd, right on the money.
ReplyDeleteSteve, it would be interesting to know how many people put California up there as a sort of Holy Grail of a place to move to, or at least visit, thanks to that song. It was before my time, but my older siblings raved about it. I know about most "old" things thanks to older siblings- really. Yet, somehow I already hear Calfornia Dreamin' ringing in my ears, and it will probably continue to do so as I drive from North Carolina to Virginia later today, and when I drive back, and much of the rest of the week. Thank you Steve, let me send the thought of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" your way as repayment - yes, do go ask Alice, when she is ten feet tall. I will blame that one on my older siblings as well.
ReplyDeleteMotomynd, thanks. You got a chortle out of me.
ReplyDeleteHa, and I love being reminded of the Mamas & the Papas and Jefferson Airplane myself. I AM old enough to be motomynd's older sibling, after all.
DeleteBe VERY glad you only have to imagine the horror of being in your 20s and single during the disco era. Punk rock may or may not have entirely saved my sanity, but it very possibly saved my interest in music and my life. Those of us who came of age on the East Coast during the 70s will never get over the unfairness of not growing up on the West Coast during the 60s. That said, I am glad to only have to imagine my short stocky frame in flower-power bell-bottom jeans.
DeleteAnd Konotahe, too, of course. He's five days older than I (or is it three?--I confuse whether he was born on the third and five days older, or on the fifth and only three), and apparently high most of his time in California besides!
DeleteWell, Motomynd, I did wear bell bottom Levi's, but I never thought about their having anything to do with flower power--they were just what was on the display tables in those days. I was with "the fashion," you see.
DeleteOf course the real hippies got their stuff at thrift shops. My attire (art school in SF) of that era tended toward work shirts and jeans with boots.
DeleteBell bottom pants would have been the affectation of the LA types Motomynd got stuck in the elevator with.
Tom and Morris, all any of us back East knew about the '60s in California was the show-biz version we got the early '70s - mostly some barely watchable TV shows and 'Easy Rider' and "Hell's Angels '69' at the drive-in. Back then we actually believed everyone either lived on the beach and earned their living surfing and partying, or they wore bell-bottom jeans with flower designs all over them and paid the bills playing music and smoking dope. Or they were pro athletes.
DeleteI was a die-hard Lakers and Dodgers fan, and like most everyone else I readily attributed their lack of success against East Coast powers (notably the Baltimore Orioles and the deeply hated Boston Celtics) to their laid-back West Coast instincts. Never mind that Jerry West was arguably one of hardest-driven people in sports history and was born and raised a very few hours away from my hometown, we all bought into the laid-back stereotype. Thank goodness that 'Baywatch' documentary series came along a few years later and enlightened us about the "real" California.
Great article. Makes me homesick for California. San Jose is beautiful but one of the most expensive places to live. It will be hot but no humidity, at least not like the East Coast. Love the heat of summer, but then I've always been a bit odd!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon! Would you like us to ship you some humidity? We will have plenty to spare, starting in a very few weeks.
DeleteDo you by any chance have any input on the summer weather in Soledad, King City, Atascadero, Santa Margarita, et al? We love them in winter; based on the on-line climate info we are wary of them in summer. We are planning a trip back out that way in July or August to research summer conditions, but if you or others already know they are unreasonably hot, please do share. We can surely find plenty of misery right here in North Carolina this summer, no since traveling cross country for it.
My wife and I and our two children lived in San Jose from January 1971 until June 1983. Geoff had just finished 9th grade and Jennifer 7th. I was 40.
DeleteBy 1990 I'd missed California for about 17 minutes.
A pound of good grass back then cost $90.00 now that same grass would cost you $9,000. The war on drugs made a lot of people rich. Then it was a few hippies running it across the border,now it's the cartel. Guess who won the war?
DeleteWith Sharon, I spent Summers in the San Joaquin Valley and hated the heat (weeks of 100+ days). Escaped the heat in Morro Bay and Pismo Beach or the Monterey Peninsula. The lower Salinas Valley- where King City, Atascadero etc. are located are hotter than hell June to October. A rest stop when traveling, but not to live.
DeleteHold these thoughts! Motomynd will be back in a day or two from Virginia....
DeleteMorris, you missed California for about 17 minutes? I have missed it for years, ever since my first visit more than three decades ago. What is the big negative I am missing?
DeleteKonotahe, surely you know there is no profit in winning a war - the object is to perpetuate while allegedly "containing" it. In its "war on drugs" the DEA has followed the military's example in Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East, etc. If you win a war you can't keep getting increased funding to keep fighting it. The DEA, like the military, follows the consultant's creed: "If you aren't going to be part of the solution, at least make really good money prolonging the problem."
Tom, two decades ago, while on a mountain bike racing trip, I had the misfortune of driving the length of the San Joaquin Valley in August, in a Ford Bronco, without air conditioning. There is absolutely no risk of my ever spending a summer there. I am sorry to hear you suffered such a fate; did you find a way to get even with whoever did this to you?
Motomynd, you must be back from Virginia! At any rate, you're back in this extensive and fun conversation, or symposium—there are so many of us participating now. I even tried to drum up more conversants by advertising on my Facebook wall, "TWENTY-NINE COMMENTS AND COUNTING!" That was back when there WERE only 29 comments....
DeleteYour question about some "big negative" that was presumably responsible for my having missed California only a few minutes in 6-1/2 years reminds me of an email reply I got back from an old California friend to whom I sent a link to your article:
I'm a bit old fashioned in that I've never gotten beyond e-mail—no blog, facebook, twitter, etc. I'll be happy to respond to an e-mail note, but my area of expertise doesn't extend much past Santa Cruz these days; I've even lost touch with San Jose. I grew up in Chicago, with hot, humid summers and dreadfully cold winters. I spent three years in El Paso, Texas, with dry heat in the summer and dry cold in the winter. For the next almost fifty years I have lived first in San Jose (about ten years) and now here in the mountains behind Santa Cruz, dry and warm in the summer, wet and cool in the winter, with almost no discernible spring or fall. It is a good, though expensive, life here, and I can't imagine living anywhere else.
As they say, home is where the heart is. And as someone else has said, "Wherever you go, there you are," which might be paraphrased, "Seek to find contentment within before thinking to find it 'somewhere else' [once the basic comfort factors are met]."
Anyway, I wonder whether I missed California so little (as I still do) simply because I am content where I am?
I do, however, feel that I must confess that my first two summers in North Carolina, commuting to work in a VW Beetle that had no air conditioning, I did discover what could be worse than playing a double-header in 100+ degree weather in the San Joaquin Valley of California!
The line about seeking "to find contentment within" before searching elsewhere reminded me of an incident on an Alaska trip. Three of us visited an Inuit village and our reactions ranged from amazement to dismay to disgust. Talking later about a 20something single man who raved about his life there and proclaimed he could never imagine being as happy anywhere else, the sort of "new age" member of our group proclaimed something like "how wonderful he couldn't be happier anywhere else." To which a more crusty member of the group replied "yeah, I'm sure he is just as thrilled living on blubber half the year, sharing an igloo with a bunch of fat people missing half their teeth, as he would be living in a Malibu beach house with a bunch of models."
DeleteAbout that vintage VW: Did it have a flower pot on the dash? And do you by any chance still have it and are you eager to sell it?
That should of course be "no sense..." Apparently I am channeling Konotahe...
ReplyDeleteI have said for many years that California is a great place. I intend to move back as soon as -say- 25 million people leave. But I suppose you Right Coasters are used to crowds?
ReplyDeleteI left just about the time of the Free Speech Movement, so I spent the Revolution in Colorado. No California Dreamin' for this boy...
I don't remember The Free Speech Movement. I remember: Free Love, Free Angela Davis,The Weathermen, The SLA, the Black Panthers and a number of other free this or that kind of things. But speech was never "Free". They beat the hell out of us all cross this country for speaking our mind.
DeleteThe hippie's and the anti-war movement were not the same. We thought we could change the world. Never thought I'd live to see a black president---so may be we did something right.
The Free Speech Movement was the start of it all, Berkeley 1964. A dispute over First Amendment rights led to the first sit-ins, riot police on campus, and all that. By the time it spread south and morphed into the anti-war movement, it had also spread to Colorado. I got tear-gassed in my office.
DeleteChuck, for a Wrong Coaster, the region between Santa Monica and Atascadero is extremely sparsely populated. Santa Barbara is a bit busy, but is a joy to drive compared to any modest-sized Eastern city.
DeleteYou were tear-gassed in your office? Please do share that story.
Konatahe, yes, a black president is a sign you older boomers at least did something right (yes, mild humor intended), but it sure would have been nice if you could of come up with one less like George Bush, and who wasn't so enamored of vigilante justice meted out by armed drones.
Chuck, I do remember reading about the sit-ins, now that you have reminded me. I was overseas at the time---the Army news paper didn't give it much coverage. I didn't get involved until after I was discharged. There were a lot of vets in the anti-war movement.
DeleteAfter Nixon got elected the 2nd time; I dropped out--figured the country deserved whatever it got.
I felt the same way after 'W' was elected the 2nd time.
liked Bill--still do---but was not happy with NAFTA or the WTO---worse thing that has ever happened to the US or the poor countries as well.
Vigilante justice, is if you or I did it. When the government does it---it's a question of law. I do not believe they can do it under our law as it is today. Laws are subject to change, however.
You have to understand I'm against most things the government does against its citizens. But the American people seem to be quick to give up their freedoms. This was a lesson a lot of us learned back in day. Remember 'Nixon'.
Moto, that tear gas incident was a bit grim. The day after the Cambodian invasion, several hundred students staged a sit-in on the freeway two hundred yards from my office. Twenty minutes before it was to end peacefully, the cops showed up, started tear gassing, and turned it into the worst riot in local history. After driving the students off the freeway, the cops started randomly firing gas grenades into parts of campus with no demonstrators - into the dorm areas, for instance. One landed in the parking lot beneath my office window. I started screaming about killing cops, and my friends had to restrain me. I always wondered what thug ordered the cops in. I learned just last year that it was Judge Matsch. Learned it from his obituary. He was the one that later achieved national notoriety for stealing a strip of his neighbor's lot as a public right-of-way. None of the authorities was ever even reprimanded for this atrocity, whereas some of the victims went to jail. Never forget. Never forgive.
DeleteChuck, wow, what a story! Never forget, never forgive, indeed. If we could only get people to take action to prevent such atrocities, instead of just being upset after the fact, then we would be making progress. However, as Konotahe mentioned, above, Americans do seem quick to give up their freedoms.
DeleteTom is right. If you don't like heat, stay close to the coast. Light fog in the morning, sunny afternoons, fog returns late afternoon to early evening. I have plenty of humidity! I live in Jacksonville, FL, or as the locals say "lower Georgia ". Love it! Hate the cold!
ReplyDeleteYes, Sharon, the California coast is wonderful. Before my family moved to Tulare in 1955, we had lived in Petaluma for about six years, which is about 60 miles north of San Francisco and 30-40 miles from Bodega Bay, and when my wife and I lived in Mill Valley, San Rafael, and Petaluma (!) in 1967-70, we enjoyed the weather very much and were not for from Pt. Reyes National Seashore and Stinson Beach.
DeleteAnd, in San Jose, we were not far from Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterrey, and Carmel, where we went fairly often.
Of course, the temperatures that far north (it doesn't seem that far north to me) are lower than motomynd and Anissa are looking for.
I guess I have a much wider temperature zone that I can be comfortable in. I didn't mind the heat in the San Joaquin Valley, although of course I wasn't fond of a string of 100+ days. One occasionally was quite enough.
And I even worked out in the fields during the summers, helping my dad load and unload hay bails, and—the summer after I graduated from high school—working for the Mosquito Abatement Society (I think it was called). The local newspaper even ran a story about me—local boy going to Yale sort of thing—with a picture of me driving a Jeep and holding an insecticide wand in my hand.
My worst experience with the heat was the Sunday the high school baseball team played a double-header. I guess I got heat stroke. All I could do when I got home was lie famished on the living room floor, with the water-cooled fan running at full blast....
I never knew life without the Central Valley heat (and no air conditioning.) I hung out at swimming pools as much as possible.
DeleteOn the rare occasions I've returned in the summer, I don't understand how I survived. Moto, if you are trying to escape heat, get as close to the coast as you can afford!
Sharon, you love Jacksonville? Year round? Really? WOW!
DeleteMorris, so as not to sound too wimpy, my wife and I can stand heat and cold - as proven by our surviving the Southeast, and my many skiing and snowmobiling trips to Upstate New York and Canada - but we are looking for something more comfortable year-round, even if it isn't quite idyllic. If we could have cooler temperatures without rain - and the hefty price tag - we would indeed look for something closer to San Francisco.
Speaking as a motorcyclist who wears a full-face helmet and all available protective gear just short of a "Michelin Man" suit, dry heat is fine - and definitely preferable to wet heat, or worse, wet cold - as long as I'm moving. Open backroads and 105 degrees somewhere not too far inland from San Luis Obispo; I will take that deal! This past summer I was trapped in traffic in Chapel Hill on a 102-degree day, and was perilously close to your heat-induced baseball situation by the time I got out of there.
Before all you old-school tough guys jump in and point out that I could just wear less gear - okay, maybe I am somewhat of a wimp. When I recall a time I went off a bike and slid what seemed an eternity down an interstate, and when I think of what that would have been like without protective gear, I deem it preferable to move to a more tolerable climate than to endure countless skin grafts and probable re-attachment of body parts.
Motomynd, if I rode motorcycles, I'd be with you in wearing protective gear, and that would make a BIG DIFFERENCE for me too in what temperatures and humidities I could tolerate! Good on you.
DeleteMoto, you might want to take a ride into Lake County. It sets in a bowl--so maybe one cold spill a year. In the summer, by the afternoon there is a breeze, that is pulled in from the coast so the nights aren't bad. No A/C needed--they use water-coolers. Real bike country. Don't know what the house prices are now. It sets right in the middle of everything.
DeleteMorris, the days of you or I on a motorcycle is like thinking we can still do the limbo. The mind may be willing but the body isn't going along
DeleteKonotahe, I don't think that I was EVER either old OR young enough to be a motorcycle rider....
DeleteRemind us where Lake County is (or did you expect us to google it?). Ah (I did google it), north of Petaluma....
Lake county is part of Clear lake. It sets on Hy-20 which runs from I-5 to Hy 101. Its part of the area, where the hippies made their back to the earth movement. I was manager of the CC for the county and owed the only head shop in the county---only in Calif.
DeleteBased on my limited biology experiment - with me as the one member of the study group - I will say it is easier to get back on a motorcycle when you have passed age 55 than it is to do the limbo.
DeleteThey used to have head shops in California? Really? So the movies at least weren't lying about that? Who could have guessed?
Konotahe, thank you for the tip on Lake County. We had considered a drive through Santa Rosa and points not too north on our next trip, but had considered scrapping that plan because several people said it was in a valley and was too far from the ocean so it would be too hot for our taste. It sounds like you know something about that micro climate that others may not. I have queried a couple of magazines on the idea of an article built around riding a motorcycle from Fort Bragg (NC) to Fort Bragg (CA), so a tour of Lake County would fit nicely with that.
Two points: Anywhere north of the SF Bay tends to have a rainy Winter season- which is why Napa and Sonoma counties are the prime wine growing area, and can have hot Summer periods. As can Lake and Mendocino counties- which are the major commercial pot growing areas of California these days, not always safe to venture off the beaten path.
DeleteTom, good point about the region's winter rainy season, but relative to what we get in NC it is practically a drought. The record rainfall for a week in Lakeport is about what we can expect on any given average day here.
DeleteAnother real plus for Lake County is it puts us much closer to the realm of Jack London, a mostly forgotten writer who I still regard as one of America's greatest.
If you play golf, there is a great golf course on the south side of the lake. I had a home on the 4th tee. The houses, back then, were in the 100,000 range---all facing the greens. Each hole gave you a new look at the lake. The heat is a dry heat(water-coolers not A/C). Not sure how it is now. But the pop. was 36,000 county wide, until summer when it jumped to 90,000 and up. If you owned a business you had to make your money in the summer, because in the winter---you could fire a 30/30 down Hy20 and not hit a soul. but if you like to hunt---it's great for birds. There is an Indian burial ground at the east end of the lake. Never the Town of ClearLake and close to the Res. That and the Geo-thermals is what cost me my job. I really gave being a Republican a try---there was just a part of my soul I couldn't let go of. There is very little I don't know about the history of the county, so when you go let me know.
DeleteKonotahe, is White Thorn in Lake County? I once visited a college classmate who was (at that time, but not later) living as a Redwoods hippie with his girlfriend somewhere in the vicinity of White Thorn. That was their p.o. for mail.
DeleteKonotahe, when I saw that line above, that you "owed the only head shop in the county," I assumed it was a typo and that you owned the head shop. Especially in light of the anti-mainstream, drop out sort of mindset revealed in your writing. Now that I know you worked for the county, tried to be a Republican, and lived on a golf course, hmmmm, not so sure. (Sorry, very slight humor again.)
DeleteNo worries about my looking for a golf course: 25 years or so ago I finished my last round birdie-par-birdie and still had the resolve to walk away before it became an addiction. Since then have been a confirmed member of the Mark Twain camp: "Golf is a good walk spoiled." That said, from an environmental standpoint, I will take the worst golf course over the best shopping mall any day.
I'm no longer a bird hunter, but I am a birder and photographer: What type of game birds, and otherwise, is the area known for?
We have tentatively planned a summer research trip for July or August. If we can fit Lake County into that trip I will definitely take you up on any and all information about the area you can provide. Thank you very much for your interest in our little quest!
Never heard of White Thorn. But that does not mean it is not in Lake Co. The county has a very checkered past. A lot of little places around with names that are not on a map.
DeleteMoto, my first wife,told me if you want to change things, I would have to be with the people that have the power to do the changing. I thought--what the hell, I had tried everything else. I found I was very good at business---owned a Liquor Store along with the record/head shop. Was asked to run for the water board(in the red when I was elected and in the black after I moved.)
Everything was going along fine, until a group bought the land with the burial site. Some of the guys I was in the movement with in Seattle, were in DC by then(one was a Congressman/ later the Governor of the State of Wash.---one of them is still a congressman(they all inhaled). Anyway they helped me get the land placed on the National Parks List---then got me $3M to buy back the land. I thought the builders would at least be happy to get their money back--not so much. Anyway, I found I was not cut for that soul selling crap. Gave the wife the house, two business, a sport car(that hurt) and caught a Greyhound out of town. She still speaks highly of me. As for as I know the Indians still have their Burial Grounds. When and if you go; more than likely you come up from Napa Valley, everybody hits the wine country. This will mean you will be coming over Mt. Helen. You will wish you were on you bike. They pulled the first Ferry Boat up that road with horses. That doesn't sound like much, now---with until you see.(I never was a Republican and that's the problem. You can only fate it far so long.)
Konotahe, your great stories, and some on-line research, are building my interest in Lake County. If a couple of magazine projects come through and the schedule holds, I will actually be riding one of my bikes there instead of just wishing I was. The plan is for me to ride a bike out and back from NC, have my wife fly out and rent a car, and tour the area together in the car - since my wife absolutely HATES motorcycles. A cross-country ride on a bike may actually be worth everyone following, even if another long weekend tour in a rental car probably won't.
DeleteHmm, Konotahe, there's a "Whitethorn" (one word) in Humboldt County (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitethorn,_California), but I'm sure it was two words (around 1967) and much closer to San Francisco. Probably in Mendocino County, for which I have a fondness from trips there with my wife and children; the town of Mendocino was then a sort of artists' center. Pleasant walking streets and coffee and pastry shops, but also very near a cliff on the ocean, so physically beautiful. I see no "[anything] Thorn" on Wikipedia's list of 37 towns in Mendocino County. Nor in Sonoma or Napa County. Could it be that "White Thorn" (if I remember it correctly, but I really think I do) no longer exists? A hippie community then, but no community at all now?
DeleteMaybe motomynd will check it out!
I've been to Mendocino City many times. Love the little shops. There was a cigar store, which carried cigars from all over the world. The old hotel was built back in the 1850 something. The rooms are all of that period. It was a logging town back in the day. They brought giant Redwoods down from the mountain and made large floats that were moved by water to San Francisco.
DeleteThe guy I had working in my shop lived back up in the hills with his wife, in a house or shack might be a better word. They were completely off the grid. He said at one time there had been a lot of couples and families that lived up there. I took me home with him once, and indeed; I could see ten or fifteen remains of shacks and camp sites.
These places popped up all across Northern Cali.
(I like that, I think I'll steal it from Moto.) for one reason or the other, people came back to the world. Jerry Rubin, was asked by a reporter: "What happened to all the hippies?"
He replied, "They're still here. They are the ones working on Wall Street, but still don't wear underwear." He stepped off a curb in New York City and was killed by a car. Life is funny
Morris, your memories of California reveal some intriguing points of confusion. Did you perhaps spend more of your time there in shops such as that owned by Konotahe than you are revealing?
DeleteKonotahe, you are a walking encyclopedia of those times - did you by any chance personally know any folks such as Jerry Rubin and do you have any stories to share?
To both of you: Mendocino is officially on the travel agenda for our next trip - thank you!
Never met him personally. Was at a few rallies where he spoke. I know of a civil war on the Rose Bud Reservation, that few people ever speak about.
DeleteIt was back in the days of the AIM movement. (America Indian Movement---I did this for you Morris). The George family has run the Res forever.
The family split over the movement. A brother and sister(they were Georges)---were friends of mine. I won't bore everybody with details. Its end was the same as always; a lot of people dead and the government won.
Moto, out of the Chicago 8---I think Hayen is the only one still alive---I missed the 68 Convention. That was really a display of freedom of speech. Watching a police force go crazy had to make you proud to be an American.
Motomynd, I laughed at your query whether I may have spent more time in "head shops" than I'm revealing. The truth is that I'm not sure I ever even went into a head shop. For the longest time, I thought that patchouli was what marijuana smelled like! On two occasions, after I learned what patchouli was, I puffed on a marijuana cigarette, but with about as much effect as smelling patchouli!
DeleteA fellow by the of Bill has already used that line.
DeleteHa, or something quite like it! Ah, the uncertainty, it is fun.
DeleteI would swear I was in Dublin earlier.
ReplyDelete<big grin>
DeleteOkay, I'll bite: Dublin?
DeleteWhen I scheduled James T. Carney's Ireland piece, I mistakenly set the date as March 10 instead of March 12 (tomorrow), and Steve took advantage of it to post a comment, which I hope will still be there when Mr. Carney's piece is published tonight at midnight, EST.
DeleteImmediately after I "reverted the Carney piece to draft," Steve came back to the current post (which at that time was still yours, since I had received no review from Jonathan Price for Sunday, and I hadn't written one myself yet to fill in) and joked about having been in Dublin the last time he was in Moristotle & Co.'s current post.
I'm sure you already noticed it, but Steve has one of the drollest senses of humor in the world! In fact, that's another thing that makes his three published novels SUCH GOOD READS!
Sorry for those parentheses; that sentence in the second paragraph IS an awfully long sentence, isn't it? How many times did you have to read it?
Thank you for the explanation. I was concerned everyone had started channeling Konotahe's flashbacks. About your long parenthetical interlude(s): no worries, every time I see such in your writing I just assume it is unimportant and skip it. My attempt at droll humor there...
DeleteMotomynd, your attempt succeeded in prompting a pleasant contraction of my facial muscles! Would you be willing to do yet another monthly column, devoted to your humorous writing?
DeleteMotomynd (and everyone else in this conversation), I just received another email comment from someone I sent the link to, a young man from Culver City, who was born in California and has never lived anywhere else:
ReplyDeleteIt is good to hear from you! You won't hear any complaints from me about the California coast. If you're still in the area [he seems to think that I'm the one who took the tour], and it sounds like you are, I recommend checking out Cambria. It's become my favorite getaway with my girlfriend, Avital. Our favorite restaurant is the Black Cat Bistro. Robin's is great too. Excellent wine tasting in Paso Robles near by, if you're interested. I can give you recommendations. If I were going to move to Southern/Central California, I would seriously consider San Luis Obispo. It was "scientifically" determined to be one of the happiest communities in the US by some study a few years back. Very nice. Very progressive. A lot of the culinary and cultural benefits of a big city, but lots of nature and NOT a lot of people.
Okay. Gotta work now. Enjoy your trip.
Morris, thank you for this - will add Cambria to our list for future trips. As you and others will read later, we were quite taken with San Luis Obispo (apparently known as SLO to those in the know).
ReplyDeleteProblem is, after all the wonderful feedback, I don't know if I should continue the series and tell about the rest of our trip, or quit on a winning note and move onto another topic.
Motomynd, the topic will CONTINUE to be a winner...please send me the 2nd installment by Thursday! <smile>
DeleteAnd I call on fellow participants in this lively symposium to encourage motomynd to continue with the series! It's scheduled for three more Saturdays.
Motomynd, Indeed, "SLO" has turned up many times in recent correspondence about California's Central Coast, but I admit that when I first saw it in YOUR email weeks ago, I suspected that it was your own shorthand—like your "Cali" for California, which I had never seen and still haven't—not even any longer in your own writing.
DeleteYou won't find many people who say "Frisco" a second time either—especially not if they've been reviled by someone who lives in San Francisco.
Morris, yes, I caved to your rigidity in preferring form over function, so I quit using Cali because I guessed it had a "Frisco" like impact on you. Why we spell out any obvious names instead of using abbreviations is a mystery to me. Using "California" instead of just "CA" seems as absurd as saying "55 miles per hour" instead of "55 MPH" but I try to observe decorum.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for missing the blog yesterday. I was taking a break to do some riding on my 500 cubic-centimeter, Honda Motor Company, Ltd. motorcycle at speeds above 55 miles per hour with the crankshaft, cam and other moving parts of my motor sometimes spinning much faster than 9,000 revolutions per minute. Not using common sense abbreviations makes for a scintillating report, eh? I also spent some time thinking about how to be more droll...
Oh, I see, Motomynd, I "prefer form over function," then, do I? And rigidly no less!
DeleteAbbreviations have their place, and a fool would shun their general use, but laziness often leads to their overuse and attendant confusion.
You need to spend a bit more time on ways to appear droll. But you're doing great impersonating crankiness!
One person's attendant confusion is another person's creative environment.
DeleteMaybe Moristotle could make its mark in the blogosphere by mounting a campaign to shorten the names of states - for the purpose of saving screen space and increasing productivity. The shorter names could be derived from existing letters or by choosing a new name that better describes a place so people can readily remember it. For starters, California could be called Cali, New York could become Neyo, and Mississippi could be renamed Cuba.
Sounds like a project you could really put some interest and commitment behind! Maybe you could undertake it on motomynd.com?
DeleteBeing from Mississippi---I don't think I would want to insult Cuba that way.
DeleteHmmm, I think I need some background on the Cuba references. Do lots of people from Cuba live in Mississippi, first of all—is that the reason, motomynd, you suggested calling Mississippi "Cuba" for abbreviation?
DeleteAnd, Konotahe, are you, in your turn, insulting Mississippians? I have a good friend by the name of Edwin who used to live in Mississippi and, so far as I know, he liked the state...although it's true, he has now left and gone far south of there.
I may be wrong and don't like to speak for people but I think Moto was saying Mississippi is as backward as Cuba.I have to agree. Were did you get the idea I liked living in Ms. My family was the first white people to settle in the State so being kin to half the people that live there; I feel I have the right, to point the failings. I did think there was a change in thinking within the State until Obama was elected. I was wrong they are still locked into 1860.
DeleteI hate that once I post I can't edit. "to point out"
DeleteYeah, Konotahe, me too, I wish I could edit a published comment sometime.
DeleteI thought you had lived in Mississippi because you began a comment on Friday with "Being from Mississippi...."
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DeleteKonotahe, the font's a bit small when I'm reading comments via my cell phone; I thought you said you didn't know where I got the idea that you LIVED in Mississippi. As for how I got the idea you LIKED it, I had said that "so far as I knew," you liked it. [This comment was edited by deleting the original and replacing it.]
DeleteKonotahe and Morris, yes, my comment was a badly worded unintended insult of Cuba. I have absolutely loved my visits to Cuba and would go back at the first opportunity. I could not get out of Mississippi quickly enough.
DeleteThat said, the Natchez Trace Parkway is not bad as one of the allegedly "great scenic drives" in our country. It doesn't have the ocean, as does the Pacific Coast Highway; it doesn't have the soaring, scenic mountains, as does the Blue Ridge Parkway; but at least you don't have to worry about being distracted by the scenery and driving off a cliff.
This is a little off subject. The trip down memory lane remained me of something.
ReplyDeleteWithout going to google; does anyone know were these words came from:
That's a BUMMER man!
He lives on SKID-ROW.
Not without googling I don't, no.
DeleteSheep only have one Lamb. However, once in awhile there are 2 born. The one the mother rejects is called a BUMMER. They don't stand much of a chance, it's a real bummer.
ReplyDeleteSeattle Wash. is where the term Skid-row came from. The railroad by-passed Seattle and build Tacoma Wash. Seattle would have folded if not for the importing of white women from the east. These women of the evening saved the city. They even gave half their take to build the streets. As more church going ladies showed up; they demanded the town fathers do away with Prostitution. A man by the name of Yesler(been awhile I think I'm spelling that right)Had a logging business on the hills above town. He would slide his logs down a long skid to the water below. The order went out that all bars and prostitution had to be moved to the far side of Yesler's skid. Which became known as Skid-row. Now you know the whole story.
Konotahe, you had me on these - thank you for the explanation and education. How about doing a post on this and similar esoterica?
ReplyDelete