...California here we come

Margaret Winters Madsen passed away at the age of 93. She is Dave's grandma. So, last weekend we drove to Chico, CA to attend her funeral. I love the drive over the Salt Flats and through the deserts of Nevada. I love the old railroad systems and run down mining towns. I especially never get sick of the Great Salt Lake. This day it was a brilliant green.

There was a snow storm which closed I-80. Luckily, Kent told us about California State Route 70. It crosses the Sierra Nevada near Beckwourth Pass via Feather River Canyon at a lower elevation than Donner Pass. It was dark, and snowy, and cars were sliding off the road, but Dave likes driving in those conditions. He claims he has "velcro tires." We could just pick out dark silhouettes of trees and canyons, but we knew we were driving through beautiful country. This is what it looked like to us.

Thanks to Wiki, we know what we missed.

At 10:00 pm we were starving as we pulled into the quaint town of Belden. As of the 2000 census, Belden has a population of 26 people. Yee haw! Across the river we saw a bar/restaurant that was bustling with activity. To me it looked like people might be playing pool and having a good old time. So we crossed the historic Belden Town Bridge (1912) looking for food--even bar food. 

We pulled up to the restaurant and splashed through the slush to the back door. An older sophisticated woman with beautiful white hair passed us on her way out. Not the type I expected to see in the bustling bar at 10 pm. We stepped inside and looked around in confusion. There were hundreds of microscopes lined up on long tables filling the whole room with people quietly sitting and chatting with petrie dishes in their hands. We spotted a bartender type man and asked what was going on.

     "A moss convention," he said. Moss convention?

     "Are you serving food?" Dave asked.

     "No, kitchen closed at 7," the bartender replied and walked away. 

Poor timing for a moss convention--for us and for them. Three feet of new snow outside and no food for our grumbling tummies. We made it to Chico and ate frozen burritos and Lean Cuisine sold at the hotel front desk. The next time we make this drive, I want it to be in the summer and in the daylight. To be continued...