Long day over to visit friends in Barstow, CA

Our flute circle evening on Friday was just terrific, we took 3 flutes over to Annie's to sell or swap before the flute circle happened, and ended up selling one or maybe 2 of them, and bringing one home.

But we each bought a fabulous John Stillwell made flute from Helaine, Sharon's Mom. I bought a key of F which I don't have, except for a ceramic drone, and Lary bought a key of G, they are both made with incredible workmanship, and we were so proud and happy to get them. And Helaine said that we played them to her huge satisfaction also, so that was wonderful indeed, and very encouraging for both of us. We bought them at used prices, so another joy.

We both played our new flutes in the flute circle gathering which lasted from 7:30 to 9:00 PM due to the swap and shop beforehand. Now that I am a bit more experienced, I often ask if people would provide lots of other sound, and it is so encouraging and exciting to have other talented folks join in, and we all rock on out. It is an incredible bunch of people, and Lary and I are both growing and learning so very much from everyone.

Lary and Chip played duets, and Annie and I also played duets, so that was very cool indeed. Both of us also played alone, I think that everyone got 2 turns if I am not mistaken, the time just flies past way too fast. We were 15 fluties, and 2 guests.

We have another flute lesson this week Thursday, but up at the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Monument on Hwy 74 in Palm Desert, which is a park with a ton of information about the desert flora and fauna, on the Palms to Pines Hwy.

And the following week on Friday morning we'll go over to visit Al Hollinger at his place, he's a fabulous flutemaker out here in Desert Hot Springs. It will be terrific to see his flute making workshop area.

I had developed a bad allergic hive reaction to one of my blood pressure medications, and I was scratching my legs raw, so I went to Eisenhower Medical Centre Urgent Care. I got an injection to stop the hives, and a followup dose of both an anti itch medicine, and some prednisone to stop the allergic reaction, as well as an Epipen in case of beestings which I am desperately allergic to.

It turns out that my home doctor had continued to leave me on a diuretic which I am obviously allergic to, from previous experience, so we discontinued that, and I stayed on my main blood pressure med. But now I will have to follow up by finding a doctor down here to sort out my BP meds. Ah me.

Today Saturday we raced up to Barstow, CA to visit friends Harold and Georgette Gillis who are now on their way home, (way too early in my opinion), it's a journey of 100 miles to Barstow from our place, and took us about 2 hours each way in our car.

Together we ate lunch at IHOP in Barstow, then went up to a ghost town named Calico, about 10 miles from Barstow off I-15. The town name comes from the variety of colors in the towering King Mountain that provides the backdrop for the town. The town produced 86 million dollars of silver and 45 million dollars of borax, and was born in 1881 amidst the largest silver strike in California. At the peak of production it had over 500 mines.

Highest pop. was 1200 officially, with 22 saloons, a China Town and a red light district. It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day, and when we visited the temps were very pleasant and warm.

The Silver King, Oriental and Bismarck mines were the driving force behind the town that flourished between 1881 and 1907, but when the price of silver was halved, the town became a ghost of its former prosperous self. Other mines of note were the Odessa, Waterloo, Garfield and Maggie.

Today Calico is one of the few remaining original mining towns of the western United States. The town has burned in its entirety twice, and water supply has always been a problem there. Originally the town got its water from a nearby above ground part of the Colorado River, but that ceased when some of the town's folks died of typhoid from the same river water.

Mr. Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farms rebuilt the town in 1951 although some 5 of the original buildings seem to remain, and in 1966 he turned over the town to San Bernardino County which now operates it as a county regional park.

There is a nice campsite right there in the narrow canyons below town, it is open all year round with full hookups, and there are 6 camping cabins, and a large bunkhouse that provides heating and A/C and bunk beds for groups.
Off highway vehicle camping with restrooms and showers is also available, and when you camp there your admission to the town is included in your campsite fees.

The town is basically one main street, with many very nice stores with good reasonable prices for shopping.

A mine tour is available in the Maggie Mine, one of the more important mines in Calico, and the Calico/Odessa Railroad takes you on a narrated 8 minute ride where you spin around a small hill and see more of the mined area, and the mining equipment, and you hear a good talk about the town and the mine operations. We didn't see the cemetery, but we also could have panned for gold, and visited the Mystery Shack.

Our driver was John, a most colorful Harley Davidson owner, and former freight operator on a train system in California. He was friendly, chatty and seemingly perfect for the job, as were all the other park rangers that we encountered. A wonderfully fun location to visit, with restaurants and a beer garden to visit and support your needs, not to mention a couple of restroom locations in town, too.

Shopkeepers there are very friendly, and most interesting of all was the man who runs the Boot and Saddle shop, he makes period saddles from yesteryear to sell to folks doing historic reenactments and things like that. He took special joy in pointing out that he had sold a Union saddle to a Rebel for a historic reenactment of one of the battles of the Civil War. This Civil War reenactment takes place on the President's Day weekend in February each year.

He also showed us several types of pack saddles, and he does leatherwork of all kinds. His was a most wonderful shop.

We four wandered the town, rode the train, got an ice cream, sipped on beers at the beer garden, and just enjoyed a lazy afternoon together in the sunshine.

Returning from Calico to Barstow we had a glass of wine with Harold and Georgette in their room at the California Inn, and then went to Sizzler for dinner together. We left right after that and drove back home along Hwy 247, a country highway through the desert areas. Saw more wildlife at night than in the daytime, a small vole and a rabbit crossed the road in our headlights.