August 2008 Newsletter
Greetings Gold
Country Families
E-Magazine Subscribers:
What is it about small US
towns that makes them so
charming, alluring, and welcoming to travelers?
Is it the need to experience a totally different
environment, a unique place
to run away and escape too, or perhaps they offer those special
opportunities to
find uniquely odd treasured bargains?
Regardless of the reason, Small Town USA
is a perfect low cost get-a-way
vacation or weekend excursion by car, RV, train, bike, or for that
matter on foot.
I was
asked a unique question the other day, and I had to take some time to think about how to answer it. Are small towns in the US
really always so charming and
unique, or is it that visitors in their quest to escape the
complicated,
hurried, and congested familiar city environment just envision it that
way? Now my old
Psychology-101 professor would say
the visitor is seeing what they want to see to protect their sanity by
getting
away from their overwhelming daily lifestyle, the reaching out for a more simplistic environment. That
makes some
sense, but to be honest, people in Small Town USA
aren’t simpletons…well at least
not all of them. I
should know, I
grew up in the city and bought a whole new lifestyle in rural Small
Town USA
over fifteen
years ago. I
got a very quick education from those small town folks regarding water
wells, septic tanks, and dealing with an assortment of pests and wild
critters. Truth
be known, early on I learned all by myself (the hard way) that it’s not smart to
go out on late evening walks without a flashlight, as it gets
really really dark on moonless nights without street lights; making
even really
huge tree trunks unhealthy obstacles.
If one can close their eyes to that
sparkling rural town charm, it's easy to see Small Town folks are in
fact marketing geniuses! Small
towns have all the same issues big
cities have, they’re just on a smaller scale; however, in Small Town USA, everybody
knows everything
about everybody’s business whether you like it or not. Think about it, small
towns aren’t immune to
sewer, water, building, or road issues.
Realistically,
little rural towns probably have a greater deteriorating infrastructure
then a
city, 'cause the locals don't want to change anything so as to maintain the town's original
marketing character and charm. Why else would
the little town look the same way it did a hundred years ago. The savvy town folks know
visitors for the
most part don’t stick around long enough to investigate beyond the photo image. Trust me, there are more
Band-Aid fixes
than a herd of preschoolers running in circles on cracked uneven concrete. The
magical quick fix is to just keep slapping thick coats
of paint on the old buildings year after year.
I’d swear some of the older structures are just
paint facades, because
termites and rust ate the underlying building long ago.
Apart from the seemingly invisible small
town issues, the wonderful little towns
actually do try to maintain their charm and character.
As I
said before, small town folk are marketing geniuses, wherein each
quaint little town
wears its badge of history proudly, regardless of angelicness or evil. They idolize their famous
local heroes,
politicians, and athletes. They
bestow
fame to the local dastardly villains, robbers, and murderous
evil doers from years past. However,
what I like most are the huge
leaping stretch of faith shrines where the famous and sometimes not so
famous celebrities…slept
here, sat there, ate here, used this commode, or died and now haunts
the
place…promotional glitz and glamour. Oh how Small Town
locals love a good story to tell.
So, is there any wonder why we all love Small Town
USA? They are wonderful places
to visit, fascinating
to investigate, charming eye candy, soul satisfying, and just plain
hometown
fun. City folk can
visit, let their hair
down, not worry about keeping up with the Jones, and return to the
simple comforts and joys of yesteryear.
The locals
of Small
Town USA
welcome everyone…just bring
lots of cash and leave any uppity better than you big city attitudes at
home.
“Ya‘all stop in 'n visit wit us some time, ya hear.”
"Sizobonana"
("See You Later" in Zulu {S Africa, Lesotho})
Patrick
Witz
Writer/Editor/Publisher/Photographer
Gold
Country
Families E-Magazine
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of
events and activities is available for viewing on the website
separated into various categories for easy navigation by clicking on
the link above.
FAMILY
DESTINATION SECTION:
http://www.goldcountryfamilies.com/family-destinations-page.html
- Listed below are
portions of
this month's featured article(s) recently added to Gold
Country Families E-Magazine.
Please stop in and peruse previous months articles on a
diverse variety of family destinations using
the link above:
The
Unknown Jewel of Humboldt County
By Karen
Gillentine
On
the Northern Coast of California there is an unknown jewel in Humboldt County,
the tiny
seaside
village of Trinidad,
the smallest, oldest, and most westerly city in California.
Sparkling blue-green
ocean waves kissing the sea
stacks and sandy beaches and coves make Trinidad
an idea vacation opportunity. The Trinidad area is one of
the most spectacular and pristine segments of the California
coast, and has been established
as a California Coastal National Monument Gateway - an area that offers
the
best shore-based opportunities to discover and view...---
CONTINUED --- For
more of this article and others, please
visit the Family Destination link listed above.
Taylor
Creek’s Surprise
By
Victoria Beninga
During
a camping trip to South Lake Tahoe with friends the week before the
fire last year, our friends took us to a remarkable place. It was built
in 1968, and in all my years of visiting South Lake Tahoe, I had never
heard of it. All of us grownups and our children absolutely loved it,
it’s free, and fortunately it was not damaged by
the fire.
Did
you know that Lake Tahoe has enough water in it to cover the state of
California with 14 inches of water? Did you know that Lake Tahoe has 63
streams running into it? One of these streams is named Taylor Creek.
The Taylor Creek Visitors Center is located on the lake side of Highway
89 three miles north of South Lake Tahoe. There is a trail to the left
of the Visitors Center called the Rainbow Trail, and if you take a walk
on this trail...
---
CONTINUED --- For
more of this article and others, please
visit the Family Destination link listed above.
PARENT
& GRANDPARENT GET-A-WAYS SECTION:
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- Listed below
are
portions of
this month's featured article(s) recently added to Gold
Country Families E-Magazine. Please stop in and peruse previous
months articles on a diverse variety of parent and grandparent
get-a-ways using
the link above:
HIDDEN FALLS TRAILSExcerpt from Jordan Summer's Book,"60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Sacramento, including Davis, Roseville, and Auburn"
Trail in Brief:
Hidden
Falls Regional Park, a new addition in Placer County’s Placer
Legacy Program, is really a model for suburban open-space design and
use. The park’s 7 miles of trails are available to hikers,
bikers, runners, and horseback riders. An accessible trail—the
Hidden Gateway Trail—offers excellent views of the
221-acre site. The other paths consist of either loops or out-and-back
trails that range from moderate to difficult. The hike described here
combines portions of each trail to give the hiker a good workout
rewarded by excellent scenery. These trails are well marked, and
intersections are somewhat frequent, so being temporarily disoriented
should not be a concern on this hike.
Detailed Trail Description:
Your
trail, which starts out near the top of the ridge, descends to
Deadman’s Creek and then...
--- CONTINUED ---
For more of
this article and others,
please visit the Parental-get-a-Ways link above.
READER
STORIES SECTION:
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- Below
are new short-short travel related reader stories that have
recently been added to Gold Country Families E-Magazine's
Reader
Stories Section. Please stop in and read not only this months
but
also previous months short-short
stories of interesting,
funny, exciting, touching, emotional, and sometimes wacky travel tales
by using the link above:
Gold
Country Families E-Magazine is always looking for short-short travel
related stories to be included
in the
Reader’s Section of the magazine.
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WEATHER-FIRE-ROADS
SECTION:
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resource links.
RESOURCE LINKS SECTION:
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are always adding new resource links to this
section throughout the month. If you know of a particular
travel
or travel-related link that you feel would be beneficial to other
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feedback@goldcountryfamilies.com. The editorial staff will review the
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resources.
RESTAURANT
SECTION:
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Families E-Magazine
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Patrick
Witz
Editor/Publisher
Gold Country Families E-Magazine
A
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editor@goldcountryfamilies.com
http://www.goldcountryfamilies.com
Copyright
2008. All Rights
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