California Gold Country August 2008

California Gold Country August 2008

For years, I have wanted to make the trip up Highway 49 into the historic California Gold Country. I didn't have to twist Sandy's arm in order to get her excited about this trip. She loves the old stuff as much as I do! Maybe that's why she loves me so much :-)

Our trip was set to begin on Friday afternoon, right after Sandy got home from work. She went in early that day, so that she could get home early to take off. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, her car broke down on the way home. Needless to say, it put off our trip for a few hours. Long story short, the car had to have a complete new engine. But, we were fortunate and the warranty covered the entire cost!! Another thing to be thankful for . . .

Here's a picture of the BMW broken down. Isn't that sad?

We stayed in Columbia Historic Park, or rather, just outside of the park at the 49er RV Ranch. The RV park is itself a historic park, having hosted covered wagons as far back as 1850. You can smell the history in the air around here . . . or is that the horses? Below is the Columbia School House, built in the 1850's. This building was used as a school until the 1960's!!

The photo above and the one below are of Sequoia Redwoods at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. These magnificent trees are cousins to the giant redwoods in Sequoia State Park a little south of here.

On Sunday, we attended services in Modesto, where a friend of ours is pastor. On the way back, we drove past a ranch that has a host of exotic animals. The picture below is a Bison, commonly referred to as an American Buffalo.
These are known as Watusi Cattle.
Here's a shot of a Brahma bull. Doesn't he look mean?
Here's a closer shot of the Watusi cattle. Weird looking animals.
Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you . . . those are indeed water buffalo.

Below is . . . yes, you guessed it . . . a pile of poop!! Sandy wanted me to take this picture. I asked "why"? She said, "because it's buffalo poop". Mine is not to reason why . . . for that matter, I'm not even sure that it IS buffalo poop . . . but who am I to say?

This is Mark Twains' cabin. It was here that he lived while he was researching information for the famous book 'The Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County'. It is rather sparse, being a one room shack with a beautiful big stone fireplace. I might add that, the cabin was burned to the ground and rebuilt. The only thing that is really original is the fireplace. Regardless, this is a real gem. It is just outside of the town of Angel's Camp and is situated on Jackass Hill. The reason for the name is, this is where the mule skinners would lay over on their way to the gold camps, laden with supplies. In the 1850's, there would be hundreds of mules here. The picture below shows my lovely wife with a donkey. He was a friendly little guy and would follow you as you walked by the fence.

In the town of Sonora, there is an excellent museum where the sheriff's office and jail used to be. Here is a shot of Sandy in jail again!!

They also had quite an extensive firearms display. Of course, that was the biggest thrill for me personally. The guide that was running the museum that day was quite entertaining.

In Jamestown, there is a fine railroad museum. On the weekends, they offer train rides on a loop that covers about 15 miles or so. We missed getting to take the ride, but we did stop by the museum. Quite impressive. This is also a hollywood filming location and has been used for many, many films, including Back to the Future III and High Noon. It is well worth the visit if you are ever in the area.

And finally, not to be left out, here is Boldlygo sitting comfortably in her spot at the 49er RV Ranch. As mentioned earlier, this spot has been used for camping for over 100 years. The area where we were situated was quite private. Although there are other areas that make up the park, this is the exact spot where wagons were circled to form a camp, just outside of Columbia. Unlike popular belief, wagons were not circled as shown in hollywood. Rather, if they circled at all, it was to form a corral for their livestock. Usually however, they set up in a normal camping fashion with their wagons situated wherever was convenient. This may be a loose circle, so that they could visit with their neighbors, but was far from an organized circleing as seen in the movies. So why do the old movies always show the wagons in a circle and how did that get started? Some director, many years ago, thought that they looked good on camera that way. Isn't it funny how hollywood has shaped our perception of things . . . or rather, has distorted our views?
So while in gold country, we visited Jamestown, Sonora, Angels Camp, Murphys (our favorite), Calaveras Big Trees and Jackass Hill, along with numerous little stops along the way. We can't wait to go back!!