Lake Almanor
Chester, California: Goldie headed north on
I-5 around 11:00 a.m. We didn't know where we were going, or what we were
doing, but knew we could be home in two short days if we didn't take some
sort of detour. An immediate turn, east or west, was needed. We had just
spent the week on the beach, so we headed east to the mountains. At the
point of this decision, the next exit was Highway 113 - so that was our new
route. We followed 113 through agricultural country to Highway 99 and
finally followed the beautiful Feather River, along Highway 70. This was a
very scenic drive, one of the nicest drives we have ever taken. Though
seriously dammed, the Feather River is very pretty, in deep canyons, often
flowing through huge boulders. We stopped for lunch at a relaxing spot
- the sun was hot, a little stream was loudly bubbling into the river and
the bank was covered with blooming lupines.
The Feather River
At Paxton, we headed north on Highway 89 to Lake Almanor and
found a rustic campground near Chester, California. We had a lake-side site
and enjoyed the sunset watching hawks, geese, stellar jays, quail, larks and
black birds. Lake Almanor is at record lows, according to a fellow camper,
because the "damned bankrupt PG&E is making electricity like crazy and
keeping all the profits, since they are protected from their creditors".
Since we had never seen the lake, high or low, we just enjoyed the views and
didn't think of the politics. The campground was very, very old - in tall,
old trees. A cool oasis of a forest. Three campers spend the summer in
premium lake-front campsites surrounded by luxurious green lawn. One camper
has a headstone at his site reading: "Hear lies the last dog that pooped on
my grass." (His spelling, not mine.)
North shore of Lake Almanor
Much later, we enjoyed a delicious meal of spaghetti tossed
with Myzithra, greek salad and freshly-baked-by-me Challah. Even later, we
watched a stoopid film, Meet the Parents, really bad, but we
laughed a lot.
RV Park:
North Shore
Campground