other blog

If you read this one try granfolks.blogspot.com as well that is our daily blog and local happenings. We also post prayers for the Roadhouse Community Church which is up country in Chiquita.

When Acorns Fall

When August arrives with a slight chill in the air, and the acorns started falling you knew that summer was about to end and the Penobscot  camp would be coming to a close.  You would   have the feeling that every one at the ranch was trying to savor each moment by cramming the days full of swimming, horse riding fishing & just clinging to all the wonderful stories that the staff share.  The bunk houses are looking like they could use a good cleaning and face lift, the cook I know, is probably so tired of Monday spaghetti Tue gummy rice etc etc. but he always has great smile on his face & greets each child with a wink  as if they were  his very own.  We must not forget the horses, 57 of them of all kinds of breeds.  The requirement to be a Penobscot camp horse was to be gentle.  Some came without love & by the end of the summer they knew just what to do. Stand to be saddled , knew the trail better than the trail master, and oh yes stand for that well deserved bath.
What a sight to see the children trekking down the hill to the barn with a bucket of half eaten breakfast, to feed the chickens, heaven help the dogs if they try and eat out of the bucket, "that's garbage"  they would say, as if once it was out of their plates it was not good for anything else except the chickens.  This was such a learning experience for all of them.  A new concept.  Parents would just be amazed at the change in their children.  So many memories for all of us at the ranch.
When the last group had left I would go to the camp ground and experience such a strange, lonely almost homesick feeling. The horses would show up looking for the children, the ponies were ready for their grooming, this was such a rewarding time. Memories were made, seeds were sown.  I would walk under the large oak trees and know that winter was on its way as the acorns were a plenty.

FOLSOM SCHOOL OVERNIGHT TOUR

I have the 1991 Folsom School overnight tour book written by the fifth grade class and assembled by the teacher Leslie. She was one of our favorite teachers we loved her and she must have liked the Penobscot as she kept coming back with a new class each year.

Penobscot Ranch History

We lived on the Penobscot Ranch in Cool CA for more than 30 years and it is the only town with that name in the entire world. One structure remains even to this day (2010) of the original town, that being a portion of the Cool General Store, originally built in 1883. The back of the building is still a residence and has a false front so to see the house it must be viewed from the rear. The post office was established in 1885 and the first postmaster was Henrietta Lewis.

The begining of Gates Penobscot Ranch 1975

The  the story began as we were looking for another house in a location between Placerville CA and Auburn CA as I had been employed in both Counties as a computer programmer, I was programming in a computer language name COBOL which must be extinct by now. We had searched and were in the market for a home in the $45.000.00 neighborhood. It was Easter Sunday the year was 1975. We went to church at Sierra Baptist Church in Auburn and were on our way home. The scenic route seemed attractive as we had no particular thing to do that afternoon, so we took highway 193 at the Cool intersection and drove along enjoying the scenery when a real estate sign appeared in front of this huge three story home and barns. Joyce was excited and I was dismayed I knew the price was way out of my reach. When we arrived at out Placerville home Joyce was appealing to me please may we just go and look? and after much persuading I gave in and we went and looked. The real estate lady picked us up in  limousine and I knew then I was way over my head , I had never ridden in a limo before. We looked but only a cursory look as the owner had all the houses rented and did not want to disturb the renters so we never were able to look at the houses. There were three houses as a matter of fact another clue it was out of the question. after our visit we were comfortable back in the the limo the real estate lady said "any offer of any kind would be carefully considered' or something similar. Which gave Joyce hope and I thought why not? I get in lots of predicaments with that answer. So we started working on a proposal of an offer. I for the first time realized one point of interest on the mortgage was considerable amount on the monthly payment. I worked on my resources. We owned an old house in Placerville, we did own a lot on the Clackmas river n Oregon but it was not build able in a flood zone, so I thought it was worthless. But as we were computing things the Lord sent a buyer for the Clackmas river lot offered $8000.00 beyond any thing I would ever dream of. I decided I could pay only the interest and the price would have to be cut in  half from what the offered price was. The listed price was $360.000.00 and I was thinking $45,000.00 what a dreamer! but I kept on calculating. It had to be interest only payment for five years and then a balloon payment the amont I would offer was half of the listed price $165,000.00. I offered $2000.00 down we did have some money in the bank and I had a good job. Joyce had resigned her position as manager in a figure control salon to be home with our youngest Tom. Well we got it all together the offer I mean and met with the real estate broker Mr. Ellinghouse, who said by law I am required to take this but "can't you offer a bigger down payment this little offer won't even pay my commission". I upped the down payment some and we signed the papers. I said to Mr Ellinghouse "If god wants us to have this ranch we will get it" . He just looked at me like what is wrong with you and he took the offer and went out the door. I went back to work and Joyce headed back home to Placerville, in about two hours he called and said "She accepted your offer" unbelievable I called Joyce and said "are you sitting down she accepted".