I initially intended to write a few stories about our animals and memorable experiences. I began and wrote a page about Heidi, our German Shepherd. This led to my revisiting connecting links that I feel are necessary and probably need to be told because this will make the story of Heidi at Camp Shasta entirely clear. Also, why it was serendipitous.
This beginning “corner-stone” story starts with our being lost and trying to find our way to Redding, California. But first, Lenette and I decided we needed to leave our Day Camp (Purple Sage), a beautiful estate we leased in Malibu Canyon. We decided to seek out our own land for both a resident camp and if close to LA, continue our very successful Day Camp.
We began our search in LA and continued to expand it, heading Northward in California. We started our search in 1958. We found beautiful land, but with prices that were impossible for us. The journey kept expanding until we reached the small town of Redding, California, where land, we were told, might be in our price range.
As a matter of fact, we had no idea what our “price range” was, being totally ignorant of what we were doing. But that’s why I title the tale “Serendipity” because that is what it was as you will read. So, we were blind to costs but not creating programs for youth.
We searched the country around Redding for a day and found nothing to our liking. As night fell, it was raining hard and very dark. We became lost as we tried to return to Redding for the night. I saw a man leaning against a streetlight and went to him for directions. He was standing outside a small Bar in the pouring rain—drunk, which was why he was out in the rain. Surprisingly, this turned out to be an incredible stroke of luck!
CONTINUED IN THE NEXT PAPER. SY