Walk #230: Chico...A Walk on the Old Highway

Took my new Yaris in for its 5,000 mile(!) check up. My cars get more check ups than I do. Since the wait was two hours, I took a two hour walk on the "old highway" into Chico.

Most towns of 90,000 souls or so, have an old way into town. Highway expansion and freeways have made the "old" highways into just city streets. Still, these old roads are almost always interesting. Pure Americana (what is left of it, since the franchises and corporations have taken over).


This $50,000 500 series BMW has a "peace" bumper sticker. An example of what conservative columnist David Brooks calls: "Bobos". Bohemian Upscale Yuppies. Chico likes to think it is a "green" community...hence the bike racks on the Bobos car.

I couldn't resist. Stopped in for a burger and a malt. Anything non-corporate is worth supporting.

Sierra Nevada beer is made in Chico. There are signs for it everywhere.

Jeffrey St. Clair would say companies like this is part of the problem. Fire suppression has destroyed the natural order of the west--and has created larger, tree stand replacing fires. Tree studies show that fire prone areas (such as where I live) should be burned over every 7 to 14 years. Anti-environmentalists always tout "fuel reduction" which means logging. They take out the large trees and don't bother with the under growth, which is what normally burns in a normal fire. Fuel reduction gets it backwards....

An old nut factory. Being a psychiatric nurse, I couldn't resist the photo...

This is a coffee house. I got there too late to stop in and ask about what the name means. I'm thinking it has something to do with the Spanish explorer.

This was a hot, hot walk. Having not showered for awhile, I looked like a homeless person walking the streets of Chico. People gave me wide berths. Way, way for the leper!!