Feb 12- Dickadoodledoo

Location: Lake Almanor, California

Lloyd and Pat invited us to stay another night but we had lost several days at Lake Tahoe and felt we should push on. In Quincy we had a very successful dumpster dive!

The ride today took us through some nice, open areas as well as narrow, forested valleys. Very beautiful. Once we reached Lake Almanor it was time to start looking for a sheltered spot to pitch the tent because there was rain in the forecast. We checked out a closed Scouts camp and a picnic site but there was no good shelter anywhere. So we just kept riding. It was a long straight road with some small hills, tall woods on both sides. No houses or anything. The light kept fading and we decided to just set up in the woods if nothing better comes up within the next ten minutes. Not long after a road joined the highway from the right and we assumed it led down to the lake front. There must be some buildings down there! Yes there were and we also saw a sign for another camp. They would probably be closed for the season but perhaps there would be a little covered deck we could camp on. At the camp there was a house which looked very much lived in and before we even got off our bikes its quirky inhabitant came out with a big smile, welcomed us to his place, thanked us for swinging by, introduced himself as Dick the camp manager and asked what could he do for us. We told him we just wanted to pitch our tent somewhere, preferably in a sheltered spot so it would not get drenched at night. He said he has just the place for us. He waved at us to follow him and led us over to a smaller house. During camping season it serves as some kind of staff accommodation but now nobody was in it and Dick said we are welcome to set up in here. He turned to power back on, brought us a heater, a bowl of drinking water, several cups (one filled with candies) and then asked if we liked Gin and Tonics. Well yes we do. He disappeared again and returned with a large, half full bottle of Gin and a bottle of Tonic water. We thanked him very much and invited him to have a drink with us. He declined and with a funny smirk replied that the Olympics were on TV right now and he could at no cost miss them. Good night. Call if you need anything.

Hahaha. What a funny guy.

Needless to say we were so very grateful for this cute house. It was so cozy. We had just prayed for a sheltered place to sleep but we got this wonderful cabin and a very funny next door neighbour. Thank you Lord for looking after us. We had a very nice evening and a warm, dry night while it poured buckets outside and the wind blew like mad. Our tent would not have coped well with all this. So happy to be inside!