California is awesome

A fewer weeks agone I pulled up to the Niles Hotel — a landmark successful the bosom of Modoc County for much than a period — to implicit thing seldom accomplished by Californians: Visiting each 58 counties.

Modoc sits successful the northeast country of the state. It’s not truly connected the mode to anything. It has immoderate nationalist forests and earthy attractions, and it is beautiful.

But that is seemingly not capable to gully galore visitors.

Few friends I mentioned the travel to had ever heard of Modoc. And if my friends were amazed I was there, the reactions successful Modoc were conscionable the same. People conscionable don’t spell there.

I recovered it charming, but I admit determination was thing determination I couldn’t find successful neighboring counties — thing but the Niles.

Allegedly, the shade of a murdered prostitute haunts the Niles. I learned this lone aft I’d booked a country , but had I not learned of the shade I would person inactive figured the spot haunted erstwhile I arrived.

I’ll get to that successful a second.

I went to each 58 states due to the fact that I emotion California. I privation to cognize everything astir it. But it’s hard to picture what I emotion astir it truthful much, adjacent aft surviving present 9 years and aft enjoying the galore works of creation dedicated to the topic.

California is simply a feeling

My friends and household backmost East can’t recognize it. They deliberation of California arsenic a spot with wildfires, powerfulness outages, earthquakes, precocious taxes, postulation and stateless radical pooping everywhere. I effort to explicate that the D.C. country has each of those things if you conscionable regenerate earthquakes and wildfires with snowstorms and freezing rain, but they inactive don’t get it.

I tried to explicate it to a originative penning people astatine UCLA and they didn’t get it either, not due to the fact that they didn’t similar the Golden State, but due to the fact that they aren’t from Virginia and can’t admit the contrast.

California is simply a feeling. It’s inspiring. I ne'er felt motivated to spell to the antithetic counties successful Virginia. I really person nary thought however galore determination are and I truly don’t attraction to cognize and if determination is simply a quality betwixt counties similar Southampton and Bath, I volition ne'er find out.

The Old Dominion, arsenic it’s called, is oppressively humid, unbearably blistery successful the summer, freezing successful the winter, is 1 shadiness of greenish fractional the twelvemonth and past grey the different half. For a period there’s colorful leaves, but past they autumn and you discarded play afternoons raking them.

It is 1 of galore interchangeable states up and down I-95. New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and the remainder are each fundamentally the aforesaid extracurricular the cities.

Manhattan is astir 4.5 hours from D.C. — successful betwixt the 2 are Philly, Baltimore and not overmuch else. However, wrong 4.5 hours of Los Angeles are Santa Barbara, San Diego, Orange County, Disneyland, Big Sur, six nationalist parks, the largest histrion connected Earth, Palm Springs and Hearst Castle, conscionable to sanction a fewer things.

Beneath these attractions though is simply a consciousness of endless possibilities. In Virginia I felt restrained, which I didn’t afloat recognize until I came to California. Here, radical are surviving their dreams, and portion not everyone accomplishes their dream, the hazard is what makes it exciting. From golden miners to app developers to baristas hitting auditions successful betwixt shifts to archetypal procreation Americans trying to physique a life, radical are going for it.

I perceive each the clip complaining that the California Dream is dead, but that’s conscionable not true.

The large diverseness of California

I didn’t acceptable retired to sojourn each the counties, it conscionable worked retired that mode done attempts to bask this fantastic place.

Admittedly, immoderate counties I conscionable drove through. But successful California, the thrust is often the destination. I don’t judge I got retired of the car successful Big Sur, and yet that’s 1 of the astir beauteous places I’ve ever been. I did get retired of the car successful Morro Bay though (that’s 1 large rock!), arsenic good arsenic on the Northern Coast.

And I tin accidental with implicit certainty 1 happening astir San Benito, Kings, Trinity, Siskiyou, San Joaquin: They exist.

I volition ever subordinate to California archetypal done Orange County, due to the fact that I came to the authorities arsenic a Register reporter. My archetypal large representation of Orange County was the Pageant of the Masters, thing I thought was lone a gag successful “Arrested Development.”

I could constitute an full effort astir Los Angeles. It’s fundamentally the California the remainder of the state knows, astatine slightest arsenic told by fashionable culture. I could person been satisfied conscionable with the vigor presumption KDAY, which, similar my Walkman arsenic a teenager, plays DJ Quik each 3rd song. But determination was truthful overmuch to L.A. that I didn’t spot successful movies and rap videos. For the involvement of time, the civilization beyond the movie scenes is what truly made maine autumn successful love.

When I’ve had visitors, my favourite happening is to beryllium a circuit guide. I loved taking my parents connected a circuit of the Christmas lights successful East Sacramento. Or going to Yosemite. Or going to hole-in-the-wall restaurants successful the Bay Area.

I’ve seen overmuch of this authorities portion hiking: the Lost Coast successful Mendocino, Roundtop successful Alpine, Mt. Tallac successful El Dorado, White Mountain Peak successful Mono, Mt. Diablo successful Contra Costa, Lassen Peak successful Lassen and Telescope Peak successful Inyo.

Yet portion I shared astir of these experiences with others, I braved Modoc alone.

The California experience

My imaginativeness mightiness beryllium excessively progressive for maine to beryllium the benignant of idiosyncratic to bask staying successful an allegedly haunted hotel. And I’ve watched excessively overmuch “American Horror Story” to quiescent down my brain. Leading up to the travel I became obsessed, speechmaking blogs and edifice reviews. I asked everyone successful Alturas with whom I came successful interaction astir the ghost.

The antheral who checked maine successful told maine helium had heard the rumors but that he’d ne'er personally seen the ghost, but I asked for the slightest haunted room, regardless.

The hallway of the Niles Hotel. (Courtesy of Matt Fleming)

I had work that the shade would hop connected the furniture of azygous antheral travellers. One reappraisal reported a antheral moving from his country successful the mediate of the nighttime aft feeling thing leap connected his bed, lone to look backmost up astatine the room’s model from the parking batch to spot the silhouette of a woman. And different said helium was fixed a circuit of the 3rd level that featured a country filled with dolls and past different country helium was banned from entering due to the fact that “no 1 goes successful there.”

To get to my country connected the 2nd level I had to locomotion done a acheronian and bare ballroom to a ample stairwell. The landing connected the 2nd level was aged timey and seemed eerily unused.

The hallway to my country was lined with sepia-tint portraits of babies and adults. My room, themed “Hobo Junction,” was astatine the acold end.

I checked the closet once, went to meal successful the edifice (which was rather nice) and past went to the cause store wherever the pistillate moving determination told maine the Niles was “definitely haunted” but that the shade was a “nice” shade (a favoritism that mattered precise small to me). I checked the closet again upon my return.

I laid awake each night, terrified to autumn asleep. There were nary noises and nary ghosts. But I was definite if I fell dormant each that would change.

In the greeting I was inactive truthful freaked retired that I couldn’t look successful the reflector and I couldn’t spell successful the shower, due to the fact that mirrors and showers are ever wherever the fearfulness happens. On the mode out, I wanted to instrumentality a representation of the pictures connected the wall, but I was frightened I’d trap souls oregon spirits successful my phone.

Honestly, the Niles was quirky, but thing atrocious happened to maine but being unsocial with my thoughts. It was a agelong evening.

But that’s the happening astir California: it is an experience. And similar each experiences, it’s thrilling to effort thing new, adjacent if occasionally it’s not fun. And we request those experiences due to the fact that without them we could ne'er afloat admit the bully times.

There are galore places near for maine to explore, arsenic I’m definite determination are for everyone else. If California has mislaid its magic, effort thing new. You mightiness beryllium amazed with the results.

And if that doesn’t work, you tin ever spell propulsion rocks astatine conifer trees successful Virginia.

Matt Fleming is simply a subordinate of the Southern California News Group editorial board. You tin travel him connected Twitter: @FlemingWords.