Road Trip

Last October my husband & I took a road trip A friend had just bought a bar in Doyle California and my husband wanted to drive down there to see the place. So we loaded up our 1978 Fleetwood Cadillac and hit the road. I had never been to Crater Lake so we decided to stopped there for an afternoon. I was amazed, the photos do not do it justice, everyone should go to Crater Lake at least one time in their life. We sat on the balcony of the lodge drank some beer and ate some snacks as we watched the sunset reflect over the water. We had looked into to stay at the hotel but it was booked according to the on line system. While we were there we decided to ask if there was an opening, there was one room for $185 located over the kitchen refrigerators...there was a slight hum but the hotel clerk said it was not that bad. We decided that was a little pricey for us and went on as planned to Klamath Falls. On the way down to Klamath Falls from Crater Lake it was quite and we we almost hit a HUGE cow that was in the middle of the road & a deer ran along the side of the car for a few feet. I was very happy that we did not get in an accident with an animal. Did you know that several businesses in downtown Klamath Falls is heated by underground geothermal energy that was installed in the early 1900? Neither did I. After a night in Klamath Falls we went to Doyle California. Our friend Steve Heck bought a bar called the "Buck Inn". We wanted to see what it looked like and see the small town. It's cute and about 40 miles northwest of Reno. Steve is known for building sculptures from pianos. He was not in Doyle when we arrived but we stopped and had a drink. It's a cute little town, with a population of about 650 people. There is a small grocery store and the Buck Inn…that is really all that is there. We left Doyle for Reno. We were only going to stay for a night but while in Reno our breaks went out and we had to have them fixed. So we spent a couple of days looking around. I kind of like the large neon signs but walking through the casinos was ver strange. You enter one corner and end up exiting the building 2 blocks later. It's difficult to tell where you are as you can not see outside. We found a few crushed penny machines and wondered around Reno but were ready to leave after 2 days. We headed east to San Fransciso (well really we stayed in Oakland)!!! It seems that our Friend Steve was finishing up a sculpture for an artist community warehouse. Steve had installed a large sculpture with about 18 pianos as you pull into the space and was installing another smaller piece in the community kitchen area. We met up with Steve and spent the day helping him work through the process of moving and playing with the 4 pianos he was using to make the sculpture (mostly handing him supplies and beverages to stay hydrated).Since we were so close to SF we took BART into the city and wondered down Fisherman's Wharf. I collect crushed pennies and there as a place Musee Mecanique that had about 13 crushed penny machines. So off we went…the place is amazing. Musée Mécanique, one of the world's largest (over 200) privately owned collection of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition. We later met up with our friend John Law who has a office on top of the Tribune Tower in Oakland. John also repairs neon signes…the Tribune clock and the SF Port sign are a couple that he keeps in working order. 
We took a ferry into Sf on a different night with friends and had dinner. I was a able to go to City Lights Bookstore and see Brian Goggin's sculpture "Language of Birds". The morning we left we had one last stop Childerns Fairyland located on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland. They had a crushed penny machine…only problem is you have to have a child to go into Fairyland. We had no kids with us, I was able to see the crushed penny machine from the gate and the nice woman let me go get my crushed pennies. I would have liked to see the park but alas I was only able to get a photo in front of the old ladies shoe.