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An American Songline

Journeys in Vintage Music with Cecelia Otto

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2011

Post Buy-Way weekend update

August 16, 2011 by Cece

Hello everyone.  You may have wondered my my blog has been silent after the Buy-Way weekend, and this is why.

When my husband and I arrived home from our trip, we found our house was broken into, and the place was ransacked.  There are still a lot of things that are happening right now, and what he says in his own blog post is pretty much dead on (click here to read the post).

Emotionally, things are still pretty raw with me right now.  Something like this has never happened to me before, and compounded with other losses sustained in the last 12

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months, it feels overwhelming at times. People have been very supportive, and I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and prayers.  They are still needed and wanted.

I will be writing about the Buy Way weekend, posting pictures and video soon in the coming weeks after doors are painted, closets put back together, and equipment is bought. Please stay tuned for a future blog on the whole weekend.

Take care and stay safe everyone!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2011, Buy-Way Weekend, house, robbed

Post-Conference Highlights and Reflections

July 4, 2011 by Cece

Happy 4th of July everyone!

So it’s been about a week since I last wrote, and my brain is still swimming from all of the things I learned at the Lincoln Highway Association conference. I did not come directly home after the conference, because of some other traveling I had to do. Now that I am home, I now have the time to write about all of my impressions of my first Lincoln Highway Association conference (you can read highlights of it all here on their website). I have photo highlights of Tuesday and Wednesday on this website in previous posts if you would like to see more photos.

Monday’s welcome dinner was quite a welcoming.  The guest speaker was McAvoy Layne, who is “The Ghost of Twain”. He regaled us with Mark Twain’s first view of Lake Tahoe and the mishaps that ensued upon arrival. As a performer myself, I very much enjoyed how he engaged the crowd, but was genuine in his performance.  For a first-time attendee like me (it was noted on my lanyard/name badge), the dinner also gave me a chance to meet new people and learn more about the association and the conference.

Tuesday’s tour of California was impressive.  I’ve only been to San Francisco for a quick weekend trip, so I’ve never really explored the state. We started at our hotel in Stateline, Nevada taking the southern route of the highway along what would have been the pioneer route with stops along the way to Clarksville, CA. The view from Echo Summit was breathtaking.  The paved road underneath my feet had been there to serve pioneers and motorists for a very long time, and it was humbling to think that people negotiated this road in worse conditions not very long ago.

The road near Echo Summit.

The highlight of Tuesday for me was when the Hangtown A’s out of Placerville, CA treated us to a drive on the original Lincoln Highway roads in Model A cars through the ghost town of Clarkesville, CA. Here the road was only 14 feet wide in some places, and the texture of the road was not the smooth tarmac we are all used to. It was a conglomerate of stone and concrete. It is believed that Folsom prisoners laid this part of the Lincoln Highway. Driving along these roads in the heat of day (it was around 100 degrees), the speed of the car and  sound of the horn all took you back in time instantly. Our driver Ernie was pretty “zen” with his 1927 Model A. It takes a delicate sensibility to know when to shift gears and when not to.

Driving along the original road, near Clarkesville, CA.

As we were part way along our drive, the car turned and we were on part of the road that had been updated and now paralleled Highway 50, the new alignment of the Lincoln Highway. Ernie commented on this, and I remarked about why they didn’t incorporate the old road in with the new road.  Why did they build the new road right next to it? Ernie then said, “It was much easier to build a new road next to the old one. That way people could still get to where they were going without stopping traffic.”

This echoed some of the comments made on the tour that morning. There were still a couple of these old Lincoln Highway roads that could still be used if US 50 had to be shut down due to inclement weather. These older roads still provided a temporary safe pass through the Sierras.

For some reason, this thought hasn’t left me in the last week. Maybe this shows what generation or locale that I grew up in, but that never happens now. No one cares if you’re stuck on construction laden roads, that’s just the way life is. It was quite a “Kodak” moment to be moving along on the old road while watching the traffic and construction on the new road.

View of modern Lincoln Highway (US 50) while driving on original Lincoln Highway road.

Wednesday’s tour of the Nevada side proved to be just as memorable. Starting off at the Carson City museum, we were able to have a special tour of Coin Press #1 which was in use for many years all over the country. Being part of the conference, we were given a unique coin memento which was made from this very machine. This museum is a great museum with plenty of exhibits. We had two hours there, but I’m sure we could have spent the whole day there if we wanted to.

Special Coin minted just for our conference.

Next, we were off to Dayton, Nevada, which was settled around 1863. The Dayton Historical Society really pulled out the stops for us as we ate lunch and were able to walk the old part of the town freely for the afternoon. They were truly wonderful people. We were able to get a tour of the old firehouse/jail, and see the museum (which is in the old schoolhouse). The museum houses hundreds of items from the community and is definitely worth a stop if you are in the area. One neat hidden part of the town is actually off main street.  There is a rock wall next to the Union Hotel building, which is the remnants of an Overland Stagecoach Station, and was a Pony Express stop.

Overland Stage Station Wall, Dayton Nevada.

Thursday was seminar day and all of the speakers were wonderful. The two speakers that stood out for me and my upcoming travels the most were Bob Chase’s talk on his motorbike ride across the Lincoln Highway in a Piaggio MP3 in 2008, and the keynote speech by Craig MacDonald. Craig spoke about the evolution of US 50 historically, going back over 150+ years to talk about pioneers and stagecoach drivers including the infamous Charley Parkhurst (a female stagecoach driver who was the first woman to vote in the US).  We surprised everyone when I came up on stage at the end to sing and lead everyone in an anthem fit for Charley. I have video of me singing, and it will be posted at a later date.

There are so many memories of this week, I could write a book on it.  For a first time conference goer, it was a fantastic experience. Many thanks to the California and Nevada Lincoln Highway Chapters for their organization of such an awesome week. I also want to thank all of the other members who went out of their way to help me, give advice on my project, and just make me feel welcome to the organization overall. I look forward to communicating with all of you in the future.

Filed Under: Community, Lincoln Highway Conference, Music, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2011, Bob Chase, California, Carson City, Charley Parkhurst, Clar, coin, Coin Press #1, Craig McDonald, Dayton, Echo Summit, Hangtown A's, highlights, keynote speech, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Highway Association, McAvoy Layne, Model A, Nevada, Overland Stage Station Wall, Piaggio, Placerville, Reflections, The Dayton Historical Society, The Ghost of Twain, US 50

Final day of the conference

June 23, 2011 by Cece

Hi everyone!

Today is seminar day for the LHA conference.  The speakers have all been fantastic, and I’ve learned so much.

I was asked to sing a small anthem at the end of the Keynote speech by the speaker himself, and we surprised everyone when I came up onstage.  It has been videotaped, and when it is edited down, expect to see it on here shortly.

Tonight is the awards banquet at the top of Heavenly mountain, and then we’re all off!  I will be leaving very early in the morning to catch a flight to a family wedding in Indiana where I will also be singing.  I’ll be offline in a few hours today (wifi expires), and cialis in uk will write up something once I’m back home.

Thanks to all of the new friends I’ve made here in Tahoe this week, and to all of the online followers as well.  I look forward to meeting and working with you more in the future.

Filed Under: Travel-General Tagged With: 2011, Heavenly Mountain, Indiana, lake tahoe, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway Association, Singing

East Tour of LHA 2011 conference in pictures

June 23, 2011 by Cece

Hello all:

Another great day, but man I am tired.  Today’s tour was in Nevada. We started in Stateline, and then went to Carson City, Dayton, and then came back to Lake Tahoe for the Thunderbird lodge tour at sunset (an old mansion built from 1936-1939).

Again, I will write more later, but here are the highlights of the day.

This is Coin Press #1. This is the first coin press ever used in the United States, and still makes coins/medallions today. All of us who went on the tour today have a special medallion made for us, and it was made just for us.
Feral Horses outside Carson City, NV.
The historical society of Dayton NV went all out for us. We were able to walk the whole town for 2 hours today.
Sign on Dayton Fire House, Dayton NV.
Horse Hitch outside of the main saloon, Dayton NV.
Fence in Dayton, NV.
Coach/Carriage house, Dayton NV.
Original Lincoln Highway stretch outside Dayton, NV.
Thunderbird Lodge at sunset, Lake Tahoe.
Looking down to the water at the lodge. Yes, the rumors are true. Lake Tahoe is very clear. You can see down 100 feet in some places.
Another great sunset in Lake Tahoe. It will be hard to leave.

Filed Under: Driving, Lincoln Highway Conference Tagged With: 2011, Carson City, Carson City Mint, Dayton, Dayton Nevada, Ghost Town, lake tahoe, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway Association, Nevada, Stateline, Thunderbird Lodge

West Tour of LHA 2011 conference in pictures

June 22, 2011 by Cece

Hello all:

It’s been a long but exhilarating day (14+ hours). I will write more about the day post conference, but in the meantime here are some photo highlights of today (I had over 200 pictures to choose from).

This is the view from the old Echo Pass Summit.
The LH was based off of many trails, including the Pony Express.
Old Tollbooth from the circa the gold rush days.
Clarksville is a ghost town where original LH roads still exist. Thanks to a local Model A association, we were able to go back in time and drive these roads in cars from the period. My car was from 1927.
Traffic Jam-1914 style. The original roads were 14 feet across in most places, so you had to

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pass carefully.

A closeup of the original 1914 pavement. It is believed that Folsom Prisoners built these roads in Northern CA.
Abandoned house in ghost town of Clarksville, CA. A Bee Keeper still lives in the entire town and acts as a watchman to keep trespassers out. A developer has bought the whole town, and the hope is to rebuild it when the economy improves.
The boat we were on was the “Tahoe Queen”, an old Paddlewheel boat.
We took a cruise on Lake Tahoe to Emerald Bay. This view is looking from the bay back to the lake at sunset. What a way to start the first day of summer!

Tomorrow we go East into Nevada; there are more photos to come, so stay tuned!

Filed Under: Lincoln Highway Conference Tagged With: 1927, 2011, California, Clarksville, echo pass summit, Emerald Bay, Folsom, Ghost Town, lake tahoe, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Highway Association, Model A, Paddlewheel boat, Pony Express, Sunset cruise, Tahoe Queen

Continental “Divide”

June 21, 2011 by Cece

Greetings from sunny South Lake Tahoe on the first day of the Lincoln Highway 2011 Conference! While it there were a couple bumps getting here, I am here, and so glad to be here. If you haven’t been to Lake Tahoe ever, you must put it on your bucket list. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in this world.

The weather in-flight was quite good once we hit the badlands in South Dakota. As we got closer to Wyoming my heart started to beat a little faster. I would see mountains again soon.  I watched the Bighorn mountain range come into view, and I let out a huge sigh. The clouds and the mountain snow blurring into one another at times, it was a sight I didn’t think I would see in late June!

We passed over the continental divide, and another level of “zen” came over me. In my previous years living out west, I always felt a unique peace in and around the divide. It’s always a “Kodak moment” around the divide. What I mean by “Kodak Moment” is that time stops and you want to capture all five senses of that moment.

Time stopped on the plane as we passed over the divide as I thought it would, and I reflected and reveled in that moment.  I didn’t feel “divided”-I felt united and whole.  All of the good and bad of me and my life sat next to me on the plane in that moment, and it was beautiful.

In the short time I’ve been here with people from the conference tonight, the Lincoln Highway represents so many things to the 100+ people present, but all of these people still manage to come together to celebrate a different part of the road. It’s clear this road has some spiritual meaning to many veteran conference goers, and I look forward to seeing how many on this trip moments “stop time” for me and for others in the next week.

View from hotel at the LHA Conference
View from my hotel room. With a view like this, I could blog every day!

Filed Under: Lincoln Highway Conference, Travel-Flight, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2011, continental divide, lake tahoe, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway, Lincoln Highway Association, mountains, zen

Hello world!

June 8, 2011 by Cece

First off, a big thank you for liking, following, or checking out my project. This is not just a musical journey, but it is also about community.  Roads are powerful to us – they can bring us together and drive us apart.

We live in a world where people seek to find the negative differences first, and then try to find the positives after that.  Absurd!  While the diversity in America is engaging and wonderful, let’s not forget that we really have more in common than we think.  We all want to be loved.  We all want to be heard.  We all need a place to sleep and some food.  There is so much that unites us, we should embrace those ideals more each day.

It’s so easy with technology these days to forget that there is a live person sitting behind a computer.  I hope that with this project you reach out to your community, wherever you are to see “where the road takes you”. Take a wrong turn on your way home one day and see what you find.  You may find a store you’ve always wanted in your neighborhood, or a local cafe where you can work unfettered, or a community center where you

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can finally take that oil painting class you’ve always wanted to take. You may make a new friend.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing about everything related to this travelogue.  This blog will be live pre, during, and post journey, so keep checking back for updates.  Next week I’ll be in Lake Tahoe for the annual Lincoln Highway Association’s conference.  You’ll see daily updates and pictures from the road.

Once again, thank you for being a part of this journey. See you on the road!

 

Filed Under: Driving Tagged With: 2011, America, community, Journey, lake tahoe, LHA Conference, Lincoln Highway Association, project, Road

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