Hello Fellow Travelers!
Last week I traveled to Burney Falls in Shasta County. All of Shasta County is ridiculously beautiful, the cows seem happier, the water tastes better, the folks are really friendly, (I mean, how could they not be? Right? I just want to "be with" Shasta County!) I left a device up there and they couldn't have been nicer about getting it back to me! Another lost, outdated, device? (Mine, no doubt!) Who cares? Shasta County, that's who!
You know what else is in Burney? Lots of things! All manner of things built to observe the natural wonders of Shasta County. We spent an afternoon at The Hat Creek Radio Observatory where there are 42 satellite dishes that rotate in unison (think Jodie Foster in "Contact"). These amazing dishes listen for radio signals coming from specific points in space! SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute directs the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to search the stars for radio transmissions!
And they had T-shirts! And hats!
Paul Allen donated millions of dollars (Allen co-founded Microsoft) and I bought a $10 mug for my dad.
One sight I didn't see (or miss) was the "Subway Cave". I make it a policy to never go anywhere where "Cave" is in the title. I avoided the "tube-like" cave but I heard all about it and it sounded like everything else in Shasta County. The cave was spacious, remarkably clean and bug and bat-free!
But it's still a cave.
The only reason I don't beg to start a temple of some kind there is in the photograph- giant, multiton, volcanic, boulders that threaten to spill across the highway (299). Look closely at the photo - California's solution to ancient, crush-anything-in-it's-path-red-rock? Chainlink fencing! For miles! It's really disconcerting! You know it's just a matter of time before the snow and rock move down.and whatever or whoever is unfortunate to be on that road when that avalanche happens will be snapped like twigs! The fencing looks like it's holding on for dear life! It's OK for a couple of miles and after a little while it's all you think about - being crushed by giant boulders. Very stressful! Too stressful!
It's like the mountains are wearing knock off Spanx, or some other form of retention that's doomed to fail!
What being in heavenly Shasta County reminded me was that there are still plenty of places I want to see or experience both nationally and globally. Tony Soprano once advised an underling to buy real estate "Cause God wasn't making more." (I actually think he lifted that line from yet another underling!) He had a point though!
Seeing a ton of trees and happy ranchers on their little "Shangrila's" (PS's term for really large homes in this area) makes me see why our forefathers moved here across the country in stifling wagons, came across the sea in leaky, little boats hundreds of years ago: they had to see what happened next.
Happy Independence Day!
Last week I traveled to Burney Falls in Shasta County. All of Shasta County is ridiculously beautiful, the cows seem happier, the water tastes better, the folks are really friendly, (I mean, how could they not be? Right? I just want to "be with" Shasta County!) I left a device up there and they couldn't have been nicer about getting it back to me! Another lost, outdated, device? (Mine, no doubt!) Who cares? Shasta County, that's who!
You know what else is in Burney? Lots of things! All manner of things built to observe the natural wonders of Shasta County. We spent an afternoon at The Hat Creek Radio Observatory where there are 42 satellite dishes that rotate in unison (think Jodie Foster in "Contact"). These amazing dishes listen for radio signals coming from specific points in space! SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute directs the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to search the stars for radio transmissions!
And they had T-shirts! And hats!
Paul Allen donated millions of dollars (Allen co-founded Microsoft) and I bought a $10 mug for my dad.
One sight I didn't see (or miss) was the "Subway Cave". I make it a policy to never go anywhere where "Cave" is in the title. I avoided the "tube-like" cave but I heard all about it and it sounded like everything else in Shasta County. The cave was spacious, remarkably clean and bug and bat-free!
But it's still a cave.
The only reason I don't beg to start a temple of some kind there is in the photograph- giant, multiton, volcanic, boulders that threaten to spill across the highway (299). Look closely at the photo - California's solution to ancient, crush-anything-in-it's-path-red-rock? Chainlink fencing! For miles! It's really disconcerting! You know it's just a matter of time before the snow and rock move down.and whatever or whoever is unfortunate to be on that road when that avalanche happens will be snapped like twigs! The fencing looks like it's holding on for dear life! It's OK for a couple of miles and after a little while it's all you think about - being crushed by giant boulders. Very stressful! Too stressful!
It's like the mountains are wearing knock off Spanx, or some other form of retention that's doomed to fail!What being in heavenly Shasta County reminded me was that there are still plenty of places I want to see or experience both nationally and globally. Tony Soprano once advised an underling to buy real estate "Cause God wasn't making more." (I actually think he lifted that line from yet another underling!) He had a point though!
Seeing a ton of trees and happy ranchers on their little "Shangrila's" (PS's term for really large homes in this area) makes me see why our forefathers moved here across the country in stifling wagons, came across the sea in leaky, little boats hundreds of years ago: they had to see what happened next.
Happy Independence Day!
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