After checking out of the motel we drove to the Gurdwara on Bogue Road.
Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Temple
2269 Bogue Road
Yuba City, CA 95993
Tel: (530) 671-9816
The Gurdwara is situated in a great location, in between orchards and is built in ten acres of land which was donated by a member of the local Sikh community.
After bowing before the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, we had lungar.
Afterwards we walked around the Gurdwara grounds outside and some elderly Sikh community members called us over and asked where we are from, what are we doing in Yuba, have we family in Yuba…the usual! Then a gentlemen called Gurbax Singh came over, he had brought hot samosas for all. As I was very full from lungar I declined and just had some coke. He went on to say ‘all the orchards do not mean we are rich we are also in debt…..’ not sure what brought this on, I think he thought we were interested in moving to Yuba City to start farming. He then asked me what caste am I?!?! (As Sikhs we do not believe in a caste system) I just replied saying I am a Sikh…he then guessed from my turban style that I was from East Africa (I am very proud to be from East Africa) I said yes and he gave me a lecture on Idi Amin!
The time spent with the elderly sangat members was very enjoyable – between them they gave us a positive and negative perspective on the farming business.
Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Yuba City, California was opened in April 1980 and serves over 15,000 Sikhs in the area since the area is home to many Sikhs. 10 acres of land was donated by Chanchal S. Rai to construct the Gurdwara and a committee was formed. This Gurdwara is also 6 miles away from another Gurdwara in Yuba City on Tierra Buena Rd (we went there yesterday). The Gurdwara has a main Langar hall, and prayer hall and welcomes those from all faiths (or none!).
By the way, we received an email from our close sister, she mentioned that Chardi Kala Jatha will be doing Kirtan in Yuba city this weekend, something not to be missed!
As we were travelling to the Gurdwara we saw a couple of shops Delhi Fashions and Apna Bazaar. So after the Gurdwara we went to the shops. Delhi fashions, as you can imagine was an Indian clothes shop. Apna Bazaar was selling the usual Indian spices. From the bazaar we bought a kulfi lolly each. Mine was pistachio and Sangeet’s was cream of milk mmmmmm tasty!!!
We said our goodbyes to Yuba City and headed south on interstate 5 to Sacramento, the state capital of California.
After checking out of Hotel Acarta, we had one last walk around the plaza. We will definitely miss this fantastic town, the people have been warm if not high!
We started driving to Redding taking the 101 north then 299 east, the drive as yesterday was fantastic, especially going through the forests. When we left Acarta the temperature was 75 degrees F. As we got closer to Redding the temperature rose to 99 degrees F. Amazing for only a two hour journey. Felt good to feel the hot weather!
Just before Redding there is a town called Whiskeytown, where there is a fantastic lake…Whiskeytown lake, obviously!
We stopped there for a while and had some snacks.
Afterwards we carried on, there is a Gurdwara in Redding but we did not know the location, suddenly we saw a Starbucks, we parked up outside and used their free wifi and found the location of the Gurdwara.
The Gurdwara is located at
The Sikh Centre
P.O. Box 991033
Redding
California 96099
USA
Tel: +1 530 276 3792
Inside the Gurdwara:
The Gurdwara has been open for 5 years and is attended by around 25 Sikh families. We bowed before Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Afterwards a lady approached us, called Parminder Kaur, a sevadaar (voluntary server), and offered us some melon, she sat with us whilst we ate and told us that whist she was cutting the melon, she thought to herself there are only few of them to eat the melon. She was so happy when we appeared! Amazing how Waheguru works….!
We spent about an hour at the Redding Gurdwara then carried on to Yuba city, taking the interstate 5 south and then 99 towards Chico and Yuba city.
Once we got to Yuba city we stopped at a Starbucks to use the wifi. Don’t you love Starbucks, I heard they also do great coffee! There we found the address and directions to one of the Gurdwara’s
Sikh Temple Yuba City
2468 Tierra Buena
Yuba City, CA 95993
Tel: (530) 673 9918
www.sikhtempleyubacity.org
We were in time to listen to some fantastic Kirtan:
After a great lungar (meal from the free community kitchen open to all):
Which consisted of lentils, spinach, roti, yoghurt, rice pudding and chutney. Later, I got talking to some of the guys, they suggested their uncle’s motel and said we will take you there.
We arrived at the Days Inn, Yuba city for a well earned nights sleep!
Days Inn Yuba City
700 North Palora Avenue,
Yuba City
California
USA
Tel +1 530 674-1711
We decided to stop in Acarta for the night, as most places I go, I try and find fe wifi! There was one showing up saying Hotel Acarta, so we looked for the hotel, the rates were very reasonable and we booked a room. The reception give you a parking permit allowing you to park overnight for free. After securing the room, we wandered around the downtown shops. Boy you can just smell the marijuana in the air.
“The Hotel Arcata is a National Historic Place and fully operational hotel located in Arcata, California. It was built to accommodate visitors to Arcata, California, drawn by the Humboldt State Normal School (now Humboldt State University) and delivered by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. In 1920 the Redwood Highway, US 101 provided more access to Arcata.
The hotel was renovated in the 1980s and was acquired by the Big Lagoon Rancheria, becoming the first off-reservation Native American-owned hotel in California.”
Hotel foyer:
Also what was nice was the number of people saying Sat Nam to us. They may not know that we are Sikh but they do know Kundalini yoga and can link us to that, amazing!
Whilst we were walking we passed the Minor cinema, one of the oldest, if not the oldest theatre in the USA. The Minor Theater, located at 1015 H Street in Arcata, California, is one of the oldest buildings in the United States built for feature films that is still open and showing movies. It was the first building in Humboldt County to be built as a “true movie theatre. We walked in and decided to watch the 9pm showing of ‘Trouble with the curve”
We walked down to Wildflower cafe for dinner, which was again fantastic, we can definitely recommend this restaurant.
After the meal we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before going to the cinema. The theatre was small and very nice. The movie, which has Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake, had a great story line and very good acting from all.
Had a great walk back and saw a few people ‘high!’ Entered the hotel and you could smell marijuana walking to our room……this will be a fun night!!
Walk through the corridors at Hotel Arcata, passive smoking will make you high!
About 66 miles into the journey we stopped at a fantastic vista point, Sangeet suddenly said “where is my green bag” then we realised that it was left at the cafe! Both our mobile phones did not have coverage so we had to rush back, we arrived at a town called Willow Creek where we managed to call the cafe, they said they had the bag…phew! I still wanted an excuse to drive fast on the winding roads so put my foot down and made good progress! I miss the sports car!
We picked up the bag from the cafe and then decidedly explore Acarta some more, we parked up, the majority of parking in Acarta is free but limited to two hours, we wandered and sat in the Acarta plaza, a piece of grass marking the middle of the town. There were many students. Some guys practicing yoga and some juggling, what a fantastic atmosphere.
After leaving Trinidad we headed south on 101 to a university town called Acarta. As soon as you enter the downtown area you can see that the hippy generation is very much alive here. We drove a couple of blocks when all of a sudden somebody shouts SAT NAAM! That just felt so amazing to hear, I did not know who it was but shouted Sat Naam back!
We needed some cash so drove to Chase bank, unfortunately they charged $3 per transaction so we declined and carried on exploring the downtown area by car.
Sangeet remembers there was a vegetarian cafe in town, as we could not find it we decided to drive the two hours to a town called Redding, then all of a sudden the cafe was on the corner! As we were both pretty full we decided to park up and ‘just’ look at the menu.
The cafe is called Wildflower
Fine vegetarian cuisine
1604 G St
Acarta
California
CA 95521
USA
Tel +1 707 822 0360
After ‘just’ looking at the menu, we decided to sit down and order some food, well we might as well review it now that we are here!
Sangeet ordered a scrambled tofu and I had Eric’s favourite, a burger consisting of grilled tofu, portobello mushroom and onions. Both meals were fantastic!!
Afterwards we started our journey to Redding, taking the 101 north then 299 east. The drive was amazing and we drove through Trinity national park. What spectacular views!
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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