by Bob Sparrow
The famous Alturas Railway station
This week, on Thursday, Brother Jack and I will embark on a road trip that was borne out of some nonsense that Jack uttered years ago. He and I like to bet on football, both college and pro; when we’re in Vegas we make actual bets, but most of the time we just make imaginary bets – granted you don’t win much with those, but you don’t lose much either. One Monday after a not-so-good imaginary weekend of football betting, I called Jack to discuss our poor results. After my reporting all the bad news, he said, “Maybe we should just go to Alturas and open a turkey farm” He then asked me, “Do you know how to make Turkey Pot Pies?” What?!!! I didn’t know where that came from, I didn’t know where Alturas was and I sure as hell didn’t know how to make a Turkey Pot Pie. Jack explained that Alturas was a small town in the northeast corner of California and that he had never been there, but it sounded like a nice little town. And so, Alturas and the prospect of getting into the Turkey Pot Pie business remained the butt of many of our jokes in the ensuing years.
At the end of last year, we decided, since we’re both California natives, and neither of us had not only never been to Alturas, but we didn’t even know anybody who had ever been to that booming metropolis; so it screamed, “Road Trip!” So, earlier this year, we planned a road trip that would include some of the places in the state that are near and dear to us while also checking off Alturas, a town that surely is on most people’s bucket list to visit.
So, here’s what we’ve learned, and I’m sure you’re dying to know, about Alturas:
Fisherman’s Wharf . . . or Sausalito?
Alturas is Spanish for “Heights”, as it is at an altitude of 4,370 feet above sea level. With a population of about 2,700 people, albeit one of the largest cities in the region! It is located at the confluence of the south and north forks of the Pit River. I’m sure that helped you pinpoint it’s exact location! We searched for the possibilities of Alturas having a fairly large turkey populations, but to no avail. We’re not even sure the concept of a Turkey Pot Pie has ever been introduced to the fine people of Alturas! We shall see!
The trip will start with me driving to meet Jack at his home in Santa Maria. The next morning we’ll head north and decide while driving through San Francisco, if we want to stop. It was such a wonerful city when we were growing up in Novato, and we have many fond memories of ‘The City’; but given what we’ve heard, we’re just not sure what we’ll find. If we don’t stop at someplace like Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch, then we’d probably head over to Sausalito and grab a bite. We’ll then continue up to Novato, the town where we were both born and raised. We’ll do some drive-bys of the houses we used to live in and Novato High School, as well as cruise down the main drag, Grant Avenue, which, I’m sure, we’ll bring back lots of memories. We’ll then head over to a classmate and football teammate of Jack’s, Pete Ferrarese, where he has offered us lodging for the night. It’s the only night were we have secured accommodations, as we’re not sure how long we’ll stay in any one place. We may even end up sleeping in the car!
Lake Almanor
We’ll then head up through the ‘Wine Country’, perhaps stop for a taste, then drive up to Willows, the small town that our father was born in. We’ll keep heading north to Mt. Shasta, and then head east to Alturas. Once we’ve looked for any turkey farms and quizzed the local barkeep about all there is to know about Alturas, (perhaps two drinks worth) we’ll hopefully find some adequate lodging. We will then head south to Lake Almanor. A lake that neither of us have ever been to. We may connect with some friends of mine from Yorba Linda County Club, who summer in Lake Almanor, if so, we’ll stop and say ‘Hi’ and learn all about the lake. We’ll continue heading south to the town of Quincy, where we spent a few summer vacations as kids. We’ll then head to some familiar haunts of Lake Tahoe, where Jack lived for 14 years and owned a restaurant, and where I owned a cabin and where our family went every summer from 1952 to sometime in the ‘70s and beyond. We’ll spend time at both the north and the south end of the lake possibly doing a bit of gaming at one of the casinos at the south end. After a day or two at the lake we’ll connect to Highway 49 and visit California’s ‘Gold Country’. We’ll visit one of the most famous towns there, Angel’s Camp, where, in 1865, Mark Twain wrote, ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’. From there we will head home.
That’s the plan, but there will be much left to how we’re feeling at the time, so nothing is carved in stone. But I can guarantee you this . . . we will get to Alturas!