Last weekend we took a trip down to Southern California so that we could go to Disneyland's 60th Anniversary (which coincides with my 60th Birthday!). While we were there, we were able to visit our friend Eleanor. Her dad and uncle owned the lodge from the 1930s to the late 40s.
It was so nice to see her again (the last time was at the lodge). She is still doing very well and is such a pleasant person! Jim, Katie and Mary Beth got to meet her at last and now understand why we have become such good friends.
She shared some additional information about the lodge with us on this visit that I will be updating to our history pages. She also shared that she is a painter and showed us many of her lovely paintings.
Though she is over 90 years old, she is still able to get around and enjoy her backyard garden and is a wonderful hostess. She reminded both Jim and I of Jim's godmother Mickie.
She is such a delight. We hope to be able to visit her on our next trip down to Orange County!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Monday, August 31, 2015
August 30 2015 - CAL Bear weekend plus one Duck
This weekend we hosted a bit of a reunion with some of Jim's dorm mates from CAL (and one Oregon Duck). Attending were Kevin, Kate, and their little Duck - Sarah, Dave, Karen, Jim, Laura, Karlyn, Bruce and Sue.
It was great seeing Karlyn again after such a long time. Somewhere along the line we lost touch - glad she and her boyfriend Bruce were able to attend. Dave and Karen brought along Kona (our Dog - Quincy's girlfriend) which made it nice for all of us since the dogs played and played and gave us room to visit.
On Saturday, though who arrived by lunch, took a hike down to the North Fork of the North Fork Falls, then went into the backyard and played Frisbee Golf, Horse Shoes other assorted games. We had a great BBQ dinner and lots of talk and wine at night.
On Sunday, Karlyn and Bruce had to leave early to catch a skipe from Karlyn's daughter and that was followed by everyone else leaving by lunchtime - so no Kayaking or swimming at the lake (ALAS).
We also got to set up the portable - now the Lodge Game room by moving in the Ping Pong table and setting up the air hockey and dart board. There will be a lot of customization to the new Game room in the future. We have already cleaned the interior (still need to clean the rug) and plan to paint the inside soon. In the future, we will add a lot of wood (to give it that rustic bent that we like), paint the exterior to match the lodge, add a bar, a wood burning stove, add some windows and move the door. Then maybe someday we will add a deck. Lots more projects in store for us.
Fall is quickly approaching at the Gap and we are hoping for lots of rain storms and snow. Keeps your skis crossed!
It was great seeing Karlyn again after such a long time. Somewhere along the line we lost touch - glad she and her boyfriend Bruce were able to attend. Dave and Karen brought along Kona (our Dog - Quincy's girlfriend) which made it nice for all of us since the dogs played and played and gave us room to visit.
On Saturday, though who arrived by lunch, took a hike down to the North Fork of the North Fork Falls, then went into the backyard and played Frisbee Golf, Horse Shoes other assorted games. We had a great BBQ dinner and lots of talk and wine at night.
On Sunday, Karlyn and Bruce had to leave early to catch a skipe from Karlyn's daughter and that was followed by everyone else leaving by lunchtime - so no Kayaking or swimming at the lake (ALAS).
We also got to set up the portable - now the Lodge Game room by moving in the Ping Pong table and setting up the air hockey and dart board. There will be a lot of customization to the new Game room in the future. We have already cleaned the interior (still need to clean the rug) and plan to paint the inside soon. In the future, we will add a lot of wood (to give it that rustic bent that we like), paint the exterior to match the lodge, add a bar, a wood burning stove, add some windows and move the door. Then maybe someday we will add a deck. Lots more projects in store for us.
Fall is quickly approaching at the Gap and we are hoping for lots of rain storms and snow. Keeps your skis crossed!
Saturday, August 1, 2015
July 26, 2015 - Excitement at the Lodge
Jim and I brought some really cool stuff up to the lodge that I acquired on Craigslist. 3 Park Picnic Table, a Ping Pong table (including a portable garage to keep the weather off of it), an air hockey table and a kids merry-go-round (something called a whirlybird).
We brought all of these up in preparation for the first big group to be staying at the lodge without us. Our niece Denise and nephew Matt, borrowed the lodge this week to host their Scheil family reunion. Looks like they will have a total of 30 people attending.
A lot of planning on their part and some preparation on ours. Mary and mom came up the weekend prior to help us get everything cleaned up and set up for this big group. Katie and Mary Beth printed up our lodge history and the pages on things to do in the area so that we would have a packet waiting for them when they arrived.
We managed to have lunch ready for them on Sunday and did the big handoff of the keys with a brief orientation by Jim. Then they all pitched in to get the last few things set up (the ping pong table and moving the air hockey into the portable).
Unfortunately, the school still has a lot of stuff in the portable, so we were not able to use it this week. And we still need to get the PGE transferred and complete the paperwork to get the portable moved into our name. But we did get the key so that we could store a few items in there.
So far, so good on the reunion. We have received texts that they have had a great time, touring the train tunnels, fishing at the lakes, kayaking on Donner, and pee wee golf at Kings Beach. Tomorrow is August 2 and I will be heading back to the lodge for the Scheil reunion closing day. Actually, I need to pickup our kayaks for camping the next week.
I am hoping to post some of the pictures from this event over the next few days.
We brought all of these up in preparation for the first big group to be staying at the lodge without us. Our niece Denise and nephew Matt, borrowed the lodge this week to host their Scheil family reunion. Looks like they will have a total of 30 people attending.
A lot of planning on their part and some preparation on ours. Mary and mom came up the weekend prior to help us get everything cleaned up and set up for this big group. Katie and Mary Beth printed up our lodge history and the pages on things to do in the area so that we would have a packet waiting for them when they arrived.
We managed to have lunch ready for them on Sunday and did the big handoff of the keys with a brief orientation by Jim. Then they all pitched in to get the last few things set up (the ping pong table and moving the air hockey into the portable).
Unfortunately, the school still has a lot of stuff in the portable, so we were not able to use it this week. And we still need to get the PGE transferred and complete the paperwork to get the portable moved into our name. But we did get the key so that we could store a few items in there.
So far, so good on the reunion. We have received texts that they have had a great time, touring the train tunnels, fishing at the lakes, kayaking on Donner, and pee wee golf at Kings Beach. Tomorrow is August 2 and I will be heading back to the lodge for the Scheil reunion closing day. Actually, I need to pickup our kayaks for camping the next week.
I am hoping to post some of the pictures from this event over the next few days.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
July 4th Weekend
Jim, Katie and I went up to the lodge for the 4th of July weekend. Mary Beth could not make it since she is attending masters classes at Holy Names in Oakland. I got there on Thursday and did a bit of clean up before Jim arrived on Friday. We had a bit of rain on Thursday, which helps to keep the fires at bay.
We had a few surprise guests on Friday - one of my best friends was heading to Reno for a birthday party, so she stopped by at lunch time and one of Jim's friends from work stopped by on his way up to Sierra City.
They had a few people in tow with them so we gave all a tour of the lodge. We forget how cool some people think it is and how much of a wreck others see it as. But it was fun and we all ended up sitting on the deck for quite some time before they had to get on the road.
After they left we took our dog, Quincy, to Lake Valley Reservoir for a swim. It was a bit to late and breezy for us to go in. I wonder when Lake Valley actually became a lake? I know that Crystal Lake was since it is mentioned in most books about the area, all the way back to the late 1800s. But I am thinking that Lake Valley was "built" as part of the PGE string to support Spaulding.
On Saturday (the 4th), we drove down to Dutch Flat for their parade. We love their festivities. The parade goes around the town twice (since main street is so short) and people throw water balloons at the parade and the marchers throw water back. It is wet and fun.
After the parade, we headed up to Carr and Feely Lakes (above Fuller Lake) for a short 2 mile hike. The last part of the dirt road to get there is quite an experience. Carr and Feely are part of the string of lake in the Grouse Lakes Wilderness area. Quite lovely.
We were supposed to go to the fireworks that are over Donner Lake and watch them from the summit - but it was overcast (and raining a bit) so we stayed home and watched the Music Man on TV.
On Sunday we went jet skiing on Spaulding Lake - the water is down about 20 feet right now from the drought. But it made the creek that enters the lake into a bit of a gorge that was nice for swimming and rock jumping. We got to the lake early, so we missed the crowds that gather on the shore and only had to deal with them as we loaded the boats to head back to the lodge. That afternoon, my friend stopped by again on her way home and this time made it for lunch. We had a lot of left-overs from the 4th since a few people canceled on coming up. Ribs etc. Yum!
On Monday, Jim and I took the dog to Lake Valley again and this time it was warm enough to swim. Jim headed home that night.
Tuesday I went to Reno to visit my favorite thrift stores and worked on varnishing some cabinet doors that we are putting in the kitchen. I also painted part of the laundry area (we had to open the drywall there to fix some chipmunk chewed electrical). Then, once the temperatures cooled a bit, I mowed the upper part of the property.
Headed home Wednesday after finishing the projects from Tuesday. All in all a great weekend.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
June 2015
It is hard to believe that it has been four months since our last post. So much has been going on at the Gap. First - Jim and I remodeled the back bedroom on the main floor. That included removing all the old walls and ceiling, cleaning up debris, insulating the walls and new wiring, new drywall, paint, refinishing the floor, new wood trim and new fixtures. The balance of the room, furniture etc. remains the same except that we replaced the old plywood closet with a really nice looking armoire. Less storage space, but more floor space as a result. The room still needs it window trim as I post this - but I should have that completed by this weekend.
The old closet was repurposed as a ski gear closet on the lower floor (near the washer and dryer).
We also finished sanding, priming and painting the hallway. Originally we were going to add wainscoting to the lower wall - but after much discussion, we decided that the wainscoting would make the hallway too busy. After painting we started to add floor and door trim - we are just about done with the main hallway and hopefully will complete the entry hallway this July.
We put in some new lighting fixtures and are working on adding some more soon.
And we found 2 - 1100 gallon water tanks for fire prevention that are installed and just waiting for us to fill with water. That task will require a pump, some power source and a traveling tank. I now have all three, so I hope to try to get some water this weekend.
Jim added a new to do item to our endless list - break out and replace parts of the sidewalk that were tilted up from years of snow and erosion. He completed two of the sidewalk squares last week.
sad news - our neighbors who own the old Hyatt store (I think the oldest building in Emigrant Gap) have decided to sell their cabin. They moved over to Reno area, so the cabin just does not make sense for them anymore. They have totally remodeled the place and it is stunning. I toured it with some perspective buyers (who seemed quite nice). It would be nice to own a done building. Alas.
Last week, we mowed down most of the weeds (our style of grass) and have set up the outdoor furniture for the summer. We plan to spend a lot of time at the Gap this summer. Hope to see some of you on the 4th of July!
The old closet was repurposed as a ski gear closet on the lower floor (near the washer and dryer).
We also finished sanding, priming and painting the hallway. Originally we were going to add wainscoting to the lower wall - but after much discussion, we decided that the wainscoting would make the hallway too busy. After painting we started to add floor and door trim - we are just about done with the main hallway and hopefully will complete the entry hallway this July.
We put in some new lighting fixtures and are working on adding some more soon.
And we found 2 - 1100 gallon water tanks for fire prevention that are installed and just waiting for us to fill with water. That task will require a pump, some power source and a traveling tank. I now have all three, so I hope to try to get some water this weekend.
Jim added a new to do item to our endless list - break out and replace parts of the sidewalk that were tilted up from years of snow and erosion. He completed two of the sidewalk squares last week.
sad news - our neighbors who own the old Hyatt store (I think the oldest building in Emigrant Gap) have decided to sell their cabin. They moved over to Reno area, so the cabin just does not make sense for them anymore. They have totally remodeled the place and it is stunning. I toured it with some perspective buyers (who seemed quite nice). It would be nice to own a done building. Alas.
Last week, we mowed down most of the weeds (our style of grass) and have set up the outdoor furniture for the summer. We plan to spend a lot of time at the Gap this summer. Hope to see some of you on the 4th of July!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
February 2015
It has been a while since I have posted much to our blog. I still have not found the time to go to the Bancroft Library in Berkeley, California State Library in Sacramento, and even the County Offices in Auburn to continue our historic research of the lodge and our little hamlet.
We spent Christmas at the lodge and were lucky enough to have some snow just before Pattie, Jeremy, Jody, Jenny, Ryan and the kids arrived. It is always so much fun to have snow play with the kids. Also the cabin is much too large for just Jim, Katie, Mary Beth and I over the holidays.
Between Christmas and New Years Billy, Mary, their two and Mary's sister Tish came up from So Cal. We had fun playing in the little bit of snow that was left and touring Lake Tahoe area.
Christmas was our only big snow storm. Though there has been a little snow here and their - we have already reached Springtime weather in February.
The first week of February, our cousin Debbie and her boyfriend Chuck came up for the day to see the lodge and try some gold panning. I finally got to eat at the Dash and Dine in Colfax. I have to say that the Chili is really good and the decor is cute.
We gold panned in the Bear River for a bit - no luck. But we did not bring our wading boots and shovel. Just a gold pan. We'll try again later. I think we need a paint bucket for good luck (everyone else on the shore had one).
For Valentines Day weekend, Jim's college buddies Jim and Laura and Dave and Karen came up for a weekend. Unfortunately, just before they got to the lodge, I tweaked my back and was down for the weekend. So Jim got to entertain with the help of Katie and Mary Beth. Then on Sunday afternoon since I was still sitting on a heating pad, they went to Nevada City for the Mardi Gras parade. I think they had a pretty good time and it was something new to do in the foothills.
We have not been doing much construction lately at the lodge - but we did have to cut down one of our healthy cedar trees over Christmas (it was listing into the cabin a bit too much for comfort). And Jim built some new basement doors (which may be a bit to small for what he was going to use them for).
Our cedars continue to die from the beetle blight and with the lack of snow and hard freeze, I fear we will lose them all this summer. Additionally, we have to take down the trees that are within 20 feet of the cabin due to the high fire danger this year (alas). I think our lovely property is going to look scalped soon. But it has been that way before and will be that way again. We still have oaks, pines, and fir trees.
I am still looking for a 3000 gallon water tank for the lodge (first line of defense in a fire until Cal Fire gets to the lodge). Wish me luck. The restaurant at the hotel down the road burned down this fall and still is not repaired. We hope it opens again soon.
Someone broke into the old small cabin down the road that is across and down from Tom's place. I boarded it back up and hope that the damage in the place is not so severe. The cabin is a historic railroad residence and should be cleaned up and preserved by the railroad - but they really don't care much for their historic buildings and refuse to give it to our community for restoration. Alas again.
A guy from a company called Plexar stopped by the town and said that they may be adding a high speed internet hub for the school (tapping into the cross continent fiber line that runs along the road). I hope they do and that the school allows us to use their hub for a fee (or possibly a trade since they use our land for their portable building). We shall see.
Projects for this year will include some of the new siding and re-doing one more of the upstairs bedrooms. I would also love it if we could get stairs to the basement and stairs to the attic - but that would be a miracle with Jim still working.
Well that is it for now. We continue to welcome ANY historical information about our little lodge and our town.
We spent Christmas at the lodge and were lucky enough to have some snow just before Pattie, Jeremy, Jody, Jenny, Ryan and the kids arrived. It is always so much fun to have snow play with the kids. Also the cabin is much too large for just Jim, Katie, Mary Beth and I over the holidays.
Between Christmas and New Years Billy, Mary, their two and Mary's sister Tish came up from So Cal. We had fun playing in the little bit of snow that was left and touring Lake Tahoe area.
Christmas was our only big snow storm. Though there has been a little snow here and their - we have already reached Springtime weather in February.
The first week of February, our cousin Debbie and her boyfriend Chuck came up for the day to see the lodge and try some gold panning. I finally got to eat at the Dash and Dine in Colfax. I have to say that the Chili is really good and the decor is cute.
We gold panned in the Bear River for a bit - no luck. But we did not bring our wading boots and shovel. Just a gold pan. We'll try again later. I think we need a paint bucket for good luck (everyone else on the shore had one).
For Valentines Day weekend, Jim's college buddies Jim and Laura and Dave and Karen came up for a weekend. Unfortunately, just before they got to the lodge, I tweaked my back and was down for the weekend. So Jim got to entertain with the help of Katie and Mary Beth. Then on Sunday afternoon since I was still sitting on a heating pad, they went to Nevada City for the Mardi Gras parade. I think they had a pretty good time and it was something new to do in the foothills.
We have not been doing much construction lately at the lodge - but we did have to cut down one of our healthy cedar trees over Christmas (it was listing into the cabin a bit too much for comfort). And Jim built some new basement doors (which may be a bit to small for what he was going to use them for).
Our cedars continue to die from the beetle blight and with the lack of snow and hard freeze, I fear we will lose them all this summer. Additionally, we have to take down the trees that are within 20 feet of the cabin due to the high fire danger this year (alas). I think our lovely property is going to look scalped soon. But it has been that way before and will be that way again. We still have oaks, pines, and fir trees.
I am still looking for a 3000 gallon water tank for the lodge (first line of defense in a fire until Cal Fire gets to the lodge). Wish me luck. The restaurant at the hotel down the road burned down this fall and still is not repaired. We hope it opens again soon.
Someone broke into the old small cabin down the road that is across and down from Tom's place. I boarded it back up and hope that the damage in the place is not so severe. The cabin is a historic railroad residence and should be cleaned up and preserved by the railroad - but they really don't care much for their historic buildings and refuse to give it to our community for restoration. Alas again.
A guy from a company called Plexar stopped by the town and said that they may be adding a high speed internet hub for the school (tapping into the cross continent fiber line that runs along the road). I hope they do and that the school allows us to use their hub for a fee (or possibly a trade since they use our land for their portable building). We shall see.
Projects for this year will include some of the new siding and re-doing one more of the upstairs bedrooms. I would also love it if we could get stairs to the basement and stairs to the attic - but that would be a miracle with Jim still working.
Well that is it for now. We continue to welcome ANY historical information about our little lodge and our town.
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