More California 'ol timers'

Now, we all know that the West isn't old compared to the East coast, but some of these towns still date back to the mid-1800's. Many of the original buildings are still there. When Karen and I left the Placerville area, we headed over to Meadow Vista. Sorry, no pics, but it was old...take our word for it.

We were going to meet my new "boss" and his wife..."Stretch" and Lisa. You're asking..."what's this about a new boss? I thought you retired!" Well, through my previous coworker, Steve, we were told of a person who had a portable air traffic control business that may be looking for help on forest fires this summer. So we decided to look into it as a fun way to spend time doing "real ATC" like it used to be before over-regulated government intervention (FAA).

Anyway, they took us for some sight seeing trips around the local area.

These two places are in Auburn, CA...the upper is the old fire station and the lower, I believe is the county courthouse

The next pics are of our trip up to Truckee, CA--------------------------------------

That's Karen between Stretch and Lisa

The old gas station has been restored to its original luster, although you can't buy gas there for any price...it's just for looks. The town reminded us a lot of Red Lodge, Montana...very touristy!

On the way back down from Truckee, we stopped at this historic wayside. This is one of the main valleys the pioneers brought their wagons through over the pass near Truckee. It's the one the Donner party probably wanted to use in 1846.  You remember that story, don't you? Lost settlers in the Sierra Mts...took a route overland that caused a lot longer time to make the trip. Stuck on top in an early, heavy snow...ran out of food after a couple of months...except.......umm. Out of 87 originals, 48 survived to finish the trip.

These pics below are of another town...Dutch Flat
Lisa and her mother, Joan, attend the Methodist Church there.

The Post Office above, the hotel in the middle and the IOOF meeting hall on bottom (it's for sale, if you're interested)

So, what is IOOF, you ask?  Independant Order of Odd Fellows. I didn't know what that was all about, so I looked it up in Wikipedia. Since I'm a full-service blogger, I'll make the link available for your enjoyment.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOOF

Did I mention all of the great meals and conversation we had at their home? WOW! Stretch even entertained us with some fantastic "blues" on his guitars and his studio equipment. It seems to be our destiny to keep meeting really wonderful people!

Now, if we could get some forest fires going, I would be able to talk to some helicopters with Stretch...Just kidding! Don't go lighting any on my account.

So, anyway, that's all of the "old timer" buildings I have for now.