The Trek South – Niles
Sunday 13th – a day of rest . . . well, sort of. Trailer definitely needs a cleanup. Very pleasant sitting in the shade, beside massive 3ft spiky Aloe Veras and assorted potted plants (not pot plants!) colourful strings of flags, hanging ‘goldfish’ made from garbage cans (brilliant) . . . I s’pose they should really be ‘aluminumfish’ . . . Bruce is hugely artistic AND a musician to boot. All manner of birds chirping and trilling lustily. What a wonderful funky place. There are trains though . . . two-decker ‘Go’ or West Coast Express types and long goods trains that rumble through but thankfully stop running overnight. Apparently today is Super Bowl, but we’re not particularly interested, so took the opportunity to book further campsites along the way . . . a mug of tea and some bikkies to hand. Reserve California don’t make it a simple process!! A large, friendly and slobbery black lab came for a visit . . . not sure where from . . . perhaps the Catholic church across the way – he was wearing a St Francis of Assisi tag with scripture on the back . . . no name though.
I’ve included a couple of photos inside our home-away-from-home (not the messy end though!).
Explored the town . . . admiring the orange and lemon trees in just about everyone’s gardens. Quite envious. The Essonay Theatre Museum only opens on weekends but we missed the 4 o’clock closing. Famous for Broncho Billy Anderson – one of the first well-known cowboy stars of stage and screen – – who made hundreds of movies between 1912 and 1917 . . . even luring a then relatively unknown Charlie Chaplin away from Mat Sennet’s movie studios. The Tramp was filmed in the area. A collection of wonderful old cars and trucks are parked along the main street for visitors to see … there’s a train museum too.
