Still More "Peak Experience"

Number One Niece, knowing that I like to get into hot water, took me to a place, close to Atascadero, called Sulfur Pond. The bouquet of sulfur was scarcely notable. Upon arrival I promptly noted, come would say complained about, the loudly amplified music. My niece promptly took me home, fed me, and put me to bed. I did find time to have the owner turn down the amplification and have him tell me some interesting things about the geology and hydrology of his spa.

I feel the spa would be worth another visit. The pond is stocked with catchable, cookable, eatable fish. The waters of the adjoining pool have some fame for curing or alleviating certain skin problems. The facilities are modest, but there is place to change and there is shade. It was one of those places that you can bring a chest of cold beer to drink without hassle, within reasonable limits.

There is a web site for Sulfur Pond, but I haven't located it yet. If you know a web-site that seems right, please put it in "Comments."


Being a Sulfur Pond reminded me of another place I had gotten into hot water. In my imagination it was one of those place built before the war with a kind of frontier gentry in mind.

The place I was reminded of was California Hot Springs. I Knew it was in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada somewhere south of Yosemite. My niece pointed me toward the Central Valley of California and I followed her directions. The Central Valley, for those who don't know it, is one of those great, fantastically fertile and productive agricultural areas sometimes referred to as bread-baskets of the world. The valley runs north and south(and visa versa). It is bordered on its east by the Sierra and on its west by The Coastal Range. Much of it was quite beautiful, but now its air has been fouled.

My niece's directions got me to the valley, but there, I promptly got lost. I was lost in the middle of the valley for many hours and many miles. The air was so foul that I could see neither the Sierra Nevada nor the Coastal Range nor locate the sun very well.

I'm usually pretty good at getting unlost, but I have limitations which have improved little with age. For example, for some of my early years I confused New York with California (and visa versa).
Perhaps my confusion was due to their both being similarly illustrious and both being contingent to ocean.

Peak Experience Continued

The next day as I drove toward Atascadero in Hopes of seeing my Number One Niece, I continued to be astounded by the evidence of the successful growth of humanity.

As soon as I detected signs of Atascadero, I found a way to pull off the highway, stop, and 'dial' my niece. Got her voice mail and left a message. I had only set her a vague email some days before, so she had little more notion of my arrival than did Lady B. I got back on the road and before long my cell-phone sounded. I picked it up, and as I drove, used my thumb to press as many keys as I could again and again. Much to my surprise, Niece Number One's voice came to me. It was my first time to respond to a call on that phone and my first time to use a cell-phone while driving. We began to speak. I managed to do so without killing anyone or even causing any wreckage. We arranged a place to meet.

We met. She had bought another slightly used Volvo; this one was a convertible and a bit more sporty than the last one. I followed her up a hill to here many leveled, hill-side home.

She was as good a hostess as she was a guest. She greeted me with love and respect as a good niece should. By close observation I could tell that she had rather I had made better arrangements with her for the visit. In my short days there she took me up and down and all around. We went to the sea-shore and traveled far inland. She had an idea to move some capital out of metals and into some highly rentable real estate where a solar project was slated to begin.

I believe that if I had made better arrangements, she would have arranged a day, or two, more off work and encouraged in a search for a peak experience. I enjoyed my visit with her very much. She is not Number One Niece just because she is my first niece.