On Monday afternoon, I said goodbye to Marsha and Steve and headed toward Susanville. This 21 mile run is a really beautiful trip, and one we took most days either by a bus that was provided by the college, hitchhiking or driving (when we woke up too late for the other options).

You go past some beautiful meadows, and again, you can see Mount Lassen in the distance. Just across from this scene was a ski hill, where I learned to ski. It was a rope tow lift, driven by a 283 Chevy engine and you would burn through 3 or 4 pairs of choppers a season on the rope tow. It was seriously steep and icy for most of the season, so you learned fast!

Susanville

As you come down the east side of the Sierra Nevada range and into Susanville, the high desert is visible in the distance. Main Street businesses used to be at this end of town, but as with many small towns, new development went to the further end of town and much of it uninspiring.

View of the top of Main Street, where the road from Westwood drops you into Susanville.

Stopped in Susanville long enough to look for a fellow at the local hospital where I heard he was a nurse, but he had retired, so I gassed up and headed toward Alturas, about 115 miles north.

During my time in Susanville, I worked the graveyard shift at Jerry’s restaurant, the 24-hour cafe in town. They opened up Jerry’s restaurants around these parts in towns that were too small for a Denny’s. Otherwise same concept and, when you work the graveyard shift, you always get the bar rush. Aggies and hippies and passing carnies always provided lots of interesting moments for our crew and on more than one occasion, Lindan, a waitress and good friend, delivered a plate of food upside down on a patron for a lewd comment.

Lindan and Fred came up from the San Diego around the same time as the rest of us. They were a really sweet couple and Lindan was one of the happiest people I ever knew. Lindan and Fred got married out in a meadow outside of Susanville and it was a really cool moment, all hippied out in a beautiful white flowing dress, barefoot and a crown of flowers in her hair.

Fred was a GI home from Vietnam and while being a really sweet guy, he was also John Prine’s Sam Stone. We affectionately nicknamed him Fred Plus 2. If we had a beer, Fred would have 3. Take a toke of a joint, somehow Fred would be a couple ahead. You get the picture. We loved him, but even the marriage breaking up did not get him the help he needed. Heard he lived in his mom’s home and passed away there from Hep C about 15 years ago.

The map below will show the route. Heading to Cedarville in the upper right corner and you can see where Susanville, Westwood and Lake Almanor are in the lower left. Taking 139 up to Alturas, then Robin has given me directions through Cedarville and 17 more miles on to Eagleville, population 50 or so, and where she and Randy live.

Looking back at Susanville way in the distance as I climb into the high desert.

Was that really an insect or a small mammal?

Robin James Quick

When I met Robin, she was like, 14 or so, but she had a sophisticated wit far sharper than her years. This must have been from being the observer of the activities in her home and unable to participate in most of them.

Robin reminded me that she rode down to Los Angeles with me once and met my folks in their Bel Air home 😳 She was on the way to San Diego and would meet up with another ride in LA.

And then, once I was settled in Minneapolis in a brownstone on 19th and Stevens in 1973, she and a friend came by out of the blue on their way back from Ann Arbor. Problem was, I just came from a doctor and had both nostrils packed to the gills due to the nose bleeds I was having back then. Sorry kids for passing this down to a couple of you. For some reason, they looked at me and decided to keep going!!!

Robin and Randy met in 1976 at Lassen College and became Robin and Randy almost immediately. Randy got his teaching degree and they moved away from the excitement of the big cities of Susanville and Westwood for the peace and serenity of the small towns of Cedarville (population 500) and ultimately Eagleville (population about 50). Here they raised their family and taught at the school.

They live at the end of a road looking at Warner Mountain, Eagle Peak and the lower Cascade range.

Their home has multiple fruit trees (pear, apple, cherry) and this should be a bumper crop year!

An incredibly peaceful and beautiful place!

Brush with fame

Before Robin began working in the school system, she worked at the general store in Cedarville. I think it was 1991 and a fellow came into the general store wanting to buy hay. Robin asked him how much hay and he said lots! Robin connected him with some farmers and the fellow was able to get his hay for some event he was planning a bit further up the road from Eagleville – the town of Gerlach, Nevada. Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man, continued to buy his hay from Eagleville farmers for many years to come.

Being the enterprising type, Randy and Robin organized car washes for the school so when the Burning Man folks rolled through town on their way home, they could get their cars washed from the talcum powder type coating that covers all vehicles on the dry lake bed.

For a period of time, Robin’s dad lived in the trailer in the photo below. He was able to help with kids and they are glad they had that time with him. Now his ashes are in the field, beneath the tree in the center, along with Connie’s.

Couple quick notes:

When their kids Miles and Kevin graduated from Cedarville, there were 17 and 15 kids in the graduating class. Last year, there were 2. And this year, there would have been 2, except for the 3 exchange students from Germany, Japan and Vietnam!

Randy recently learned his cancer from a number of years ago is back and he has started chemo as part of the treatment process. Unfortunately, he needs to travel 165 miles each way for this treatment every 21 days.

Do well you two! Stay strong and hope you continue to grow old together.

Thanks for your hospitality and welcoming me into your home. It was a simply wonderful 24 hours together. See you in 2065 😉