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Trip Down Memory Lane
My wife was working in St. Helena which is in the northern part of the Napa Valley, so I thought I would take off mid afternoon on the ST4 and meet, have dinner, spend the night and ride back the next day. We had unseasonably cool weather for Northern Cal last week and much rain too boot. Weather was absolutely perfect. I went up through Berryessa, Pope Valley, Angwin and dropped down into the Napa Valley. First pic is the hotel in St. Helena.
Next morning got up bright and early and decided to head up to the Geysers, which is north of the Napa Valley about 50 miles. It is a large geothermal area. I used to work there right out of college for PGE (Pacific Graft and Extortion) as a field engineer supervising the construction of Unit 11, a 110 MW power plant. Worked there for a little over a year before moving on to greener pastures. I hadnt been up the road for 35 years. The road had been paved since I was there but parts were not in very good shape. Imagine realizing a road had been paved and then see it deteriorating. Man am I getting old! I also didnt remember the vineyards going so far up the mountain. Wine grapes as far as you can see. I used to ride my Norton Commando to the Geothermal area when the weather was nice. On dirt roads to boot!
I come up to the little town of Mercuryville. Yep, the sign hasnt changed. See the pic. It reads Mercuryville, Pop. 2, the 1/2mile high city. Never was a city. Never was more than one shack up the hill from the road. There used to be mercury mining all around, but that stopped before I every got there. Some of the mines are still around though.
I stopped to take the pic of the sign and this old guy was walking down the road with a couple of his dogs. I didnt know what to expect as it is very desolate. So I said howdy and that I used to work up here years ago. He was a friendly old guy and retired from trucking, the only resident of Mercuryville. He used to haul equipment and such up to the construction sights at the Geysers which is just a few miles up the road from Mercuryville. We talked a bit and I asked why he lived way up here. He said he liked to be far away from people, so it was just he and his dogs. I told him he should change the number on the sign to 1. He laughed.
I then went on up to the entrance of the Geysers and really wanted to see the old resort, where we would stop and have a beer after work some days. The resort was built in 1872 and was visited by President Teddy Roosevelt and Mark Twain. Natural hot springs were valued back then as a therapeutic for all sorts of ailments. At the time I was working there, the place had really fallen apart. The pool that was filled with the natural hot springs was empty and in bad shape. The resort was just a bar and offered some food to all the rednecks that worked the drilling rigs. There was a hippy commune on the other side of the road where all the guys would strain out their car windows to see if they could see the naked girls as we left work each day. As I come up to where the resort had been there was guard shack with crossing arm closed off. The guard eyed me as I came up on my ST. I parked and she asked me what I was doing there. I told her I was looking for the old resort. She said, well it used to be right over there but was torn down years ago. I was disappointed. I remember the old guy who owned the resort. He was so proud of the picture he had behind the bar of himself with Teddy Roosevelt. All gone now, but at least I have the memories.
I was hoping to ride into the Geothermal area as I know roads that go all the over the mountains to Cobb Mt., but she wasnt going to let me ride through. Not allowed she said. So I got back on the bike and road back down to Alexander Valley and on back through Napa Valley. I took the pics on my way out of Mercuryville.
The little jaunt really brought back alot of memories, good ones, of a time long ago. Many many stories came back to me as I was riding back from the Geysers. It is a beautiful ride if you are ever in the area.
Mike
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