Incline Village, like many other Lake Tahoe communities, survives because of the summer and winter tourism. Traditionally most residents were involved with serving the tourists and were therefore unable to take their own vacations during the summer therefore the October Break was instituted. All the schools in town take off the entire first week of October during the off-season. I honestly don't know how many families who can actually afford to take vacations are really impacted by the tourist season. My experience is that if families take vacations, they take them wherever and whenever they desire regardless of the school calendar or tourist seasons. Those that truly work in the service industry seldom take vacations of their own because their incomes simply don't allow it.
With Ben now in preschool, we are now locked into the school calendar roughly until June 2026 when Sam graduates from high school. Luckily for us, the week in October is a great time to go to northern California to visit my family. The summer heat has passed and it's the time of year I like best on the Klamath River.
After having Brian's college friend, Ali, in town for the weekend with her family for a brief visit, the boys and I packed up the car and headed out on Sunday the 4th with the plan to return on the 10th. Our route was dictated by the newest addition to our family, new baby cousin/nephew Isaac.
We made our way up and over the mountain following several highways (Hwy. 28, Hwy. 267, Interstate 80, Hwy. 20, a couple of back roads to Hwy. 70, the short CA State Route 149, Hwy. 99, and finally Interstate 5) to our overnight stop in Yreka.
Along the way we stopped in Redding for a quick visit with my sister Pauline, brother-in-law Howie, niece Olivia and new nephew Isaac. Ben and Sam were thrilled to be out of the car and have a chance to play with Olivia. I too was thrilled to be out of the car but more excited to hold the new little man.
From Redding we headed north on I-5 past the incredibly low Lake Shasta, Castle Crags, and Mount Shasta which was practically bare of snow! I'm not sure what it is but I always have a kind of sinking feeling as I drive closer and closer to my hometown. Is it because all the little towns that seemed so normal and quaint to me as a kid now just seem depressed through my adult eyes? Don't get me wrong, I love my trips north especially with Ben and Sam but there is still something that just makes me sad about how Siskiyou County, which in my lifetime has never been a wealthy county, now seems on the verge of collapse. I can't imagine how my many family members who still call it home must feel to see it's shine become tarnished.
We arrived in Yreka to Gram and Pop's for dinner with them and Ray and Annie. We stayed the night with Ray and Annie so as not to disrupt Gram and Pop too much after Pop's recent hospitalization. We returned on Monday morning to visit more with Gram and Pop before heading down the river towards Happy Camp.
I wish I could say that Happy Camp is the same as always but it isn't. It seems like every time I go home there are more vacant buildings and fewer familiar faces. The river is the same, as is the briskness to the fall mornings. Though Grandma was working all week, Grandpa was great at helping me keep the boys busy during the day. In the afternoons Grandma joined us while we picked the vegetables from the garden and caught two small tree frogs who were hopping in the tomato plants. We went to the River Park, visited our good family friends the Parrys, went to the local Forest Service Ranger Station, and drove to Cave Junction for Wild River Pizza and ice cream at Dairy Queen. And in the mornings when it was too chilly to be outside, the boys played non-stop with Legos, their new car carpet, and had a guitar band with Grandpa every day.
Both boys always have something insightful to say when we are away from home and Sam took the cake with this observation....
Sam had been playing in the living room for some time when he glanced up and noticed the head of my dad's trophy buck on the wall. "What's that, Grandpa?" he asked.
"That's a deer," Grandpa replied.
Sam continued to study the deer for another moment then stated, "Deer going through a tunnel."
Ben's funniest moment was when he outfitted himself in a new pair of footed fleece jammies, an old fireman's helmet, work gloves, rainboots, and sunglasses, held the rolled up car carpet as a hose and said, "I'm the red hunky fireman and Sam is the blue hunky fireman."
I don't know if he somehow confused the word hunky with another word but it was fitting to describe a fireman regardless!
After four quickly passing days we loaded up the car and headed back toward Yreka to have lunch with Gram and Pop on Friday afternoon before continuing on for a stop in Redding to check on Auntie Pauline and the baby, then on to our overnight in Chico at my friend Kirsty's home. After the extremely long haul on our way north from Tahoe to Yreka in one day, it seemed like a better idea to get within just a few hours of home going back. The boys were thrilled to have time with their good buddy Jemma, Kirsty's ten year-old daughter. She was an excellent hostess as she pulled out a truckload of toys and helped entertain the boys while Kirsty and I chatted and caught each other up on our happenings.
Before we climbed back in the car on Saturday afternoon the boys enjoyed more time with Jemma in her play house and even helped knock walnuts off the tree in the back yard to sweep up. Before we were even 10 miles outside of Chico, both boys were asleep and I had a quiet drive up the mountain.
