Whenever I pick fresh vegetables from the garden, bake my own bread or make some jam, I’m proud of my ability to live more simply. I wonder what life was like for California’s pioneers – no telephones, no computers, waking with the sun, life’s cycles tied to the seasons.
Then I come to my senses and realize that it was a hell of a lot of work. Simple survival was a full-time job. And if you burned the bread, you couldn’t pop over to Holiday and grab a loaf.
You can get a peek at life in Northern California’s pioneer days this weekend at Ide Adobe State Historic Park’s Adobe Day. Sip a sassafras tea while you mosey through the park’s annual living history event. You’ll learn the lost arts of candle making, spinning and wood carving. And you’ll praise modern times as you watch what it was like to do laundry with a scrub board or cook over fire.
A bit about Ide Adobe State Historic Park from its website: Contrary to the quiet, rural impression the park leaves today, the ranch’s location near the California-Oregon Road and adjacent to the Sacramento River (important communication and transportation arteries) probably kept its residents well connected. During the Gold Rush and afterwards, a succession of pack-mule trains, travelers on foot, herds of cattle and sheep, freight wagons, stagecoaches and riverboats moved up and down the valley and along the river. The park today reflects the hard work it took to maintain life away from California’s urban centers in mid-19th century.
So “get outta town,” soak up some State of Jefferson history and play an early California settler for a day. You’ll have a new outlook on life in 2011.
What: Adobe Living History Days
When: Sat, Aug. 20 – 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Ide Adobe State Historic Park, Red Bluff
Cost: $2 Adults; $1 Kids ages 4-11; Free Kids under 4
Click here for details and to learn more about Ide Adobe.
Is your idea of camping a hotel without a pool? Maybe Adobe Days isn’t for you. That’s OK. There’s plenty of other things to do this weekend. Check out the late summer events in 10 North State counties:
Click here for Butte County events.
Click here for Del Norte County events.
Click here for Glenn County events.
Click here for Humboldt County events.
Click here for Lassen County events.
Click here for Modoc County events.
Click here for Plumas County events.
Click here for Siskiyou County events.
Click here for Tehama County events.
Click here for Trinity County events.
Adam Mankoski enjoys experiencing and writing about the people, places and things that embody the free spirit of the State of Jefferson. He and his partner own HawkMan Studios and are the creators of Redding’s 2nd Saturday ArtHop. Email your North State weekend events to adamm.anewscafe@gmail.com.
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
