Visiting Dunsmuir.

Dunsmuir is one of my  most favorite little small towns in the world.

    It was where my grandparents lived when I was growing up. 

Driving to Dunsmuir  from our home seemed to take forever back then.

  Of course  back then , you traveled on old

  highway 99 with it's dangerous mountain curves,

  and steep  engine lugging climbs. 

We didn't have  air conditioning then,

 and at summer temps of over 100 degrees, it was tough.

  The curves made my brother car sick.

Every time.

Our parents smoked.

Enough said. 

Once we were in Dunsmuir though, ah!

 Clean  and cooler  mountain air, enough to clear the lungs

 and settle the queasy stomach from too many curves.

We just loved our grandparents house.

There was a very small creek running along side

our grandparents house that kept the small back yard nice and cool,

even on the hottest days.

We drove by the house last weekend.

Oh my gosh.It's so tiny!

So much smaller, than I remembered.

Now   Interstate-5 with multiple lanes and far fewer curves to drive,

 make the trip much easier, and fast.

 One local spot to enjoy is called  the Brown Trout Cafe and Gallery. 

 It's located in an historic merchantile building

 with brick walls, high ceiling, and a wooden floor.

  It overlooks the rail yard and the Sacramento River beyond it.

One side is the coffee house where you can order up a brew of organic and free trade coffees. 

 How about scones, muffins or cookies?

They also serve lunch if you're so inclined. 

They have framed historic photos of the railyard  inside the restrooms.

  I stepped inside while waiting for  our coffee. 

 I only had time to click one photo, before the room was needed  by someone else. 

 There were several  photos of train wrecks,  snow removal scenes,  and old town photos.

Back in the gallery,  I thought this summer outfit was cute.  For a tiny person.   

I really loved this, for an even tiny-er person.

It's too cute for words, and the colors ~~ wow. 

Check out the wheels!

  Oh so colorful and cute, and did you notice the little tiny fish?

I wanted to take another close up photo of the fish,

 but a tiny

 and awfully cute little two year old girl

 wanted to get a close up look as well. (sigh)

Moving on,  there's one feature to the building that I think is way cool.

Care to guess what this is?

It's natures air conditioning. 

 The creek that runs beside what used to be my grandparents  house,

 also runs underneath this building.  

The cold air flows up through the floor grate and into the room.   

 They must seal it off in the winter time.

  You can just see the  rushing water in the shaded section of the grate in the photo above.

 I love these old wooden floors.