When we aren’t so busy with growing things, there are lots of places we can go walking, starting here at Wolf Creek Lodge.   Several Wolf Creek Lodge members have joined the current craze of “hunting Pokemon”. Sometimes this is a somewhat desperate measure in an attempt to be able to communicate with grandchildren (who can talk/think of little else), but it also has an addictive quality that appeals to adults, and it provides excellent motivation to get out and walk! For those of you who are new to this whole thing, one point of the game called Pokemon Go!  is to “hatch eggs” into new little cute fun creatures called Pokemon . This is done by walking!  Another point to the game is the ‘catching’ of ‘wild’ Pokemon. Same kind of cuteness, but requires a certain adeptness of touch of a finger on your phone screen.  We have several ‘hunting / hatching routes’ close by. 

There is the ‘very short’ route - out the 2nd floor bridge and over to the SPD shopping center.  There is a ‘PokeStop' at the Post Office, where, on a good day,  you can collect anything up to 4 or 5 balls at once. A quick turn down to the end of the shopping center usually yields a dozen or more ‘wild’ (virtual) catches. Then on the return another visit at the ‘Stop’ to collect a few more ammunition balls , and one can be back home in less than 15 minutes.

The slightly longer route, takes you south along Freeman Lane, to the first street on the left to a Gazebo and another good ‘PokeStop’.   There are less ‘wild‘ things to be found here, but often we meet ‘Real’ people – our neighbors, who usually stop for a chat. Sometimes we even meet creatures that are both “Wild’ and also “Real’– like deer or turkeys.

If you have more time at your disposal, I recommend the walk into Down Town Grass Valley. Wolf Creek Lodge to the beginning of the ‘Historical District”, with its heavy concentration of PokeStops, takes about 25 minutes at a leisurely pace.

If you are in ‘Need’ of restocking your supply of Pokeballs, then it’s possible to do laps of a route of 6 or 7 blocks, and in an hour accumulate more than a hundred! And it’s all pretty safe walking, even with your eyes buried in your cell phone.  WOW! 

Or if you are of a different frame of mind, you can treat this whole expedition as a regular ‘human’ type of event. You can look at the quaint historical buildings, smell the popcorn wafting from the Oro Theatre, drop into the Library and browse, look over picket fences into lovely old gardens, and buy a Cornish Pasty or an exotic ice cream for lunch. You can buy lovely and unusual clothes, gifts of all kinds (for yourself as well as everyone you know), and visit one of the art galleries, or take in an afternoon performance or entertainment

It’s a relaxed sort of place, and a great ‘people watching’ kind of town.

Some of the ‘Real’ people are almost as cute as Pokemon – and some resemble them in remarkable ways ;-