A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3

Left the Burney Falls behind, we drove on the McCloud, California for the evening.

According to Wikipedia, "McCloud is a small town and census-designated place (CDP) in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,101 at the 2010 census, down from 1,343 at the 2000 census. Visitors use McCloud as a base to engage in nationally-recognized trout fishing in the nearby McCloud, Sacramento and Klamath Rivers, or come to see and climb Mount Shasta, Castle Crags or the Trinity Alps."

We drove towards McCloud, guided by the landmark of Mt. Shasta.









On our way out of McCloud towards Ashland, we also saw a companion peak to Mt. Shasta:





McCloud was a quaint little town, with some Victorian houses, serve as Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts.  Mt. Shasta was always present.











It had some charmingly rustic shops like these:





Our hotel, McCloud River Inn was a beautiful country Victorian. It has lovely lawns and woodlands and is a Nationally Registered Historic Inn.  As the former headquarters for the McCloud River Lumber Company and the home of McCloud's first bank, we saw some interesting artifacts and in case we missed the connection to lumber, many decorations and utensils made of saws constantly made references to the past.  Apparently, McCloud has large amount of snow in winter, demonstrated by the warning sign about the snow on the roof.










There was a long train track near our hotel and several rather well-kept cars sat there discretely:



During the breakfast, we learned from the hostess that there used to be a three-hour dining train ride, starting from McCloud and had attracted many tourists all year long.

According to the official website of Shasta Sunset Dinner Train, "the Dinner Train cars, with their deep "Pullman Green" and gold exterior finish, were originally built for the Illinois Central Railroad in 1916. Acquired in 1995, these "heavyweight" cars have been carefully rebuilt in the McCloud Railway's shops where meticulous attention to detail is evident in their rich mahogany and brass interiors. Our dining cars are named for north state counties Shasta, Siskiyou, and Lassen. Our Trinity car can be set up as a theater car for up to 70 people and can also be used for music and dancing."

The website also features the route and interiors of these glorious cars.  It is such a shame that they are no longer in operation and it is doubtful that they would come back, since I heard from locals that even the tracks had been ripped apart and sold years ago.  So sad.






Dance Car



The website also mentioned an hour-long Excursion Train, which is open air and starting from McCloud and it seemed to me that it was not in operation either.

Below is a compilation of videos of the Mt. Shasta and other peaks, shot on our way in and out of McCloud:




Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

"Lake" in "Scapes: Land, Sea & City" at Pacific Art League, Palo Alto

My entry for "Scapes: Land, Sea & City" at Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, "Lake", has been accepted and will be part of the juried show, which will run from November 4th through 23rd.  The juror for this competitive exhibition is Maria Medua, director of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery at Fort Mason.

Lake
Oil on Canvas
30" x 40"
Completed in 2007

© Matthew Felix Sun

The opening is on Friday, November 4th, 5:30 - 8 pm.

The gallery hours and location are:
668 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301, Phone 650.321.3891, Fax 650.321.3617

Hours:

Mon-Fri 10 am - 5 pm

Sat 10 am - 4 pm

Related article:  "Scapes: Land, Sea and Urban" Juried Exhibition at Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, California

Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregon Trip, Part 2

Following my trip to Sundial Bridge at Redding, California, I visited Burney Falls, a waterfall on Burney Creek, in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta Country, California.

According to Wikipedia, "The water comes from underground springs above and at the falls, which are 129 feet high, and provides an almost constant flow rate of 100 million US gallons per day (4 m³/s), even during the dry summer months.

"The falls are an example of river drainage regulated by stratigraphically-controlled springs, and also of a waterfall formed by undercutting of horizontal strata."

It was truly magnificent - not unimaginably tall, perhaps, but every inch of it was enchanting.  The trails built around the water fall led people from vintage points high and low, and from facing the waterfall to be directly on top of it.

I visited it in late September, perhaps the low season of the melting snow, therefore, I imagine that the water amount would be even more impressive in spring.  However, I don't complain.  Whatever I'd seen, was unbelievably beautiful in this misty valley, including the gray mosses.
























Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregon Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

The Sundial Bridge at Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay crosses the Sacramento River in Redding, California was the first stop of my road trip to Ashland, Oregon and then coastal Northern California and Sonoma County late last month.

The Turtle Bay was a gorgeous site and many water fowls live their harmoniously with human beings.  The landscape was made lusher with the dazzlingly white suspension bridge.









The bridge was very graceful at the anchor and the body was both sensual and powerful, a very good balance was struck.  It seemed to me that the bridge would be illuminated at night and it must be a wonderful sight to behold.



















The Turtle Bay Exploration Park website stated such on the bridge:

The Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay crosses the Sacramento River in the heart of Redding, California. Opened July 4, 2004, the bridge links the north and south campuses of Turtle Bay Exploration Park and serves as a new downtown entrance for Redding’s extensive Sacramento River Trail system.

The bridge celebrates human creativity and ingenuity, important themes of the 300 acre Turtle Bay Exploration Park. The steel, glass, and granite span evokes a sense of weightlessness and the translucent, non-skid decking provides for spectacular viewing at night. The bridge is also environmentally sensitive to its river setting. The tall pylon and cable stays allow the bridge to avoid the nearby salmon-spawning habitat there are no supports in the water while encouraging public appreciation for the river. Plazas are situated at both ends of the bridge for public use; the north-side plaza stretches to the water allowing patrons to sit at the river’s edge.

In addition to being a functional work of art, the Sundial Bridge is a technical marvel as well. The cable-stayed structure has an inclined, 217 foot pylon constructed of 580 tons of steel. The deck is made up of 200 tons of glass and granite and is supported by more than 4,300 feet of cable. The structure is stabilized by a steel truss, and rests on a foundation of more than 115 tons of steel and 1,900 cubic yards of concrete. The McConnell Foundation, a private, independent foundation established in Redding in 1964, funded the majority of the bridge’s $23 million cost.

World renowned Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava conceived the Sundial Bridge’s unusual design, his first free-standing bridge in the United States. Calatrava has built bridges, airports, rail terminals, stadiums, and other structures around the world. His notable designs include the new PATH transportation terminal at the World Trade Center site in New York City and several projects at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, including the main stadium where opening and closing ceremonies were held.

Below are two video segments of the bridge and a view of the bay:







Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

Twenty-Two Years Later - on the Fourth of June (1989.6.4)

It is hard to believe that twenty-two years have passed since that fateful fourth of June. It was a most disturbing day I've ever lived and but the memory of it was rather hazy now. Perhaps, I have tried to suppress the trauma?

I cannot help wondering now that since that day, how many people have passed away and how many have been born. How many still have memories of that day or any knowledge of it at all and how many have totally forgotten or are ignorant of it?

How many have become richer and how many poorer? How many have lost their humanity, courage, conscious and reason and how many have traded their innocence for advancement?

How many have been troubled by conscious and how many remained gleeful of the pain of the others? How many have been trying to remember and remind and how many have tried to erase any trace of it from their own minds and history? How many have been mute and how many have been speaking with almost no audience?

I do not know. Probably I will never know. In the end, i hardly matters. What matters is that someone will remember and remind.

It is raining in Berkeley, California - unseasonable and unreasonable - rationality seems to do not belong to this day. I have nothing to offer, except for my dimming memory and some images of flowers - pictures of flowers in May - to the suffering souls.