going to Redding for a week, how is it?

[Alameda]

I noticed there a lot of Republicans there. Is there anything I should know, be careful about there? edited to mention, we are not exactly mid America types...or that white.

[bemildred]

1. It's an agricultural, resource-extractive sort of economy.

There are lots of non-whites (latinos, american indians, asian indians, etc.) living and working there and/or passing through. I would worry about the drug scene if I was running around in the great outdoors, the drunks if I was running around at night, but otherwise I would not worry much unless you are the argumentative type. They will be happy to see your money. It is true that some of them are religiously or politically lunatics, or both, but they still have to make a living, and it ain't easy. Pretty country.

(Disclaimer: I have not spent time there in some years now, and I am an older white male that nobody bothers even if I am in the wrong place.)

[Alameda]

2. so if they hear someone talking on, say a cell phone, in a

foriegn language, they don't go bezerk? My husband is Mid Eastern, we are Muslim, so I worry. I don't wear a hijab, but I do wear long sleeves and high necks, no tight jeans & cover the butt garments. I try to blend in, but there are just some things we don't do, like eat pork. Now with all the concern about the sun, it's not such a big deal, in the past I got a lot of flack because I wasn't showing more flesh.

[bemildred]

3. I would not think so.

It gets cold in the Winter, and I can't imagine people even noticing that you are not "advertising".

It's on I-5, the main North-South artery on the Left Coast, and they see everything. The area can be very tolerant too, people who live up there will leave you alone if you leave them alone, it's one of the reasons they live there, to be left alone. It's not like LA or the Bay Area, but it's not like the midwest or down South either, or Fresno.

But you can always run into a jerk. The company of friends can be very useful, even if it only makes you feel better. I think you'll be fine.

[mackerel]

4. It sure has grown from when I was a kid. It's more white

than the Bay Area. Check out the Sundial Bridge. I had an Uncle who had a saloon not far from there at Whiskey Town. This time of year that area is really nice.

[bemildred]

5. I first saw it in the '60s, so I know what you mean.

And my wife has some relatives there. I used to pass through or visit several times a year. It was a sleepy little town back then, no Interstate. Now it got the usual franchise strips on all the main roads, just like anyplace. It's not as white as it was back then, I can tell you, but it's still pretty white by the standards of where I live now (LA). And it is a great place to visit if you like the outdoors, all sorts of place to go, boating, camping, hiking, sightseeing, some great motorcycle roads, etc.

[XemaSab]

6. Redding is fine

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

What will you be doing here?

Any activities you're interested in?

[Alameda]

7. Going there is to help a realtive who is having surgery.

Yes, I know it is a beautiful area. I have only been there as a tourist, for short times. We probably won't be there too long, but it is different than just going as a tourist.

[pink-o]

8. I actually spent close to a year in Anderson, a Redding 'burb.

Which is a ludicrous concept within itself. Of course, it was in 1988, and I haven't been back because of the crazy reactionaries that were my neighbors. My first clue? The dude next door had this sticker on his truck:


God created Man.
Smith and Wesson made them equal.


Yeah. I knew I was in for trouble immediately.

Also, someone mentioned the drug scene. There are a lot of bored teenagers and a lot of Meth labs, so it's like Wasilla, AK south.

With 120 degree temps in the summer, need I add. The last thing you need is to put that much heat on a bunch of Freepers.

But here's hoping that some things have changed in the last 22 years!