We survived the 4th then headed to Sacramento

We finally had a holiday off since it hit the middle of the week.  The park was packed for 10 days straight, a rig would move out and within a couple of hours another was in it's place.  When you are at a park for months you become to know the regulars and tend to make friends with them.  Since we work the weekends when it is busy folks tend to invite us over for a drink or dinner.  We kind of laid low on the 4th taking in the sights enjoying watching families spend time together.  On the 5th one of the regulars I spoke of took us on a boat ride.  We cruised through the sloughs checking out the houses and boats, on the return trip we passed a sea plane that docks just abit up the slough from Sugar Barge, now that's the way to travel.

                 We passed by a real Redneck Yacht club, there must have been 12 boats tyied up.

On Monday the owners had an employee appreciation day at Dave's home. All the food and beverages you could want, a good time was had by everyone.

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We left the following morning headed to Sacramento to visit some folks we meet in Quartzsite last winter.  They are into prospecting as well and we have learned alot from them.  The next day we headed to the Bear River.

                                                 Gay and Yancy getting the sluice box set up.

First you find your Glory hole, dig some material, classify it and then run it through the sluice box.

Then you pan the results hoping for some gold. 

We did find a little but the best part was spending the morning at this beautiful location with good friends. 

It was a very hot day so we decided to head for home but took a small detour that lead us over the highest bridge in California.

The next day Mark & I headed to Placerville which is located between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. 

After the discovery of gold in nearby Coloma  in 1848 which sparked the gold rush, the small town now known as Placerville was known as Dry Diggin's after the manner in which the miners moved cartloads of dry soil to running water to separate the gold from the soil. Later in 1849, the town earned its most common historical name, "Hangtown", because of the numerous hangings that had occurred there.  By 1850, the temperance league and a few local churches had begun to request that a more friendly name be bestowed upon the town. The name was not changed until 1854 when the City of Placerville was incorporated. At its incorporation Placerville was the third largest town in California. In 1857 the county seat was then moved from Coloma to Placerville, where it remains today.

Downtown Placerville CA

When in Placerville one must check out Placerville Hardware est. 1852, this is a step back in time where you can find anything! 

                        The famous Bell Tower stand as a monument to the city's volunteer firemen.

Next we headed to Gold Bug Park & Mine formerly known as the Hattie which opened in 1888 and is a hard-rock mine located just north of Placerville.  Hard rock mining is a kind of underground mining.

Now the cool thing about touring this mine was the cool air that came out of the shafts as it was 109 degrees outside.  Seriously it was very educational and we had a good time.

On the way to Coloma we stoped at the monument for James W. Marshall who discovered gold in CA.  On January 24, 1848, an event occurred in Coloma that would radically impact the history of California and the Nation. James W. Marshall was building a sawmill for Captain John Sutter, using water from the South Fork of the American River. He noticed several flakes of metal in the tailrace water and recognized them to be gold. Though he tried to keep it a secret, the word spread quickly, and triggered the California Gold Rush of 1849.

We drove through Coloma but there wasn't much to see and it was way too hot to walk the streets so we headed back to Sacramento. 

                                          The next morning we went metal detecting with Gay and found some coins.

Thanks Gay & Yancy for a wonderful time, you are great hosts and we will be back.

On our way home we went to the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento. 

I highly recommend checking this museum out, it is very well done and known as North America's finest.  There is a great 20 minute movie explaining the history and along with 20 restored locomotives and railroad cars.

The museum is located in the heart of Old Sacramento so we wandered through the streets enjoying the sights.

                                                                    Pretty cool stuff.

                                                           Boy times have changed.

After all the sight seeing we stopped in a the River City Saloon for a beverage.  The beers were cold and the staff was friendly, a great way to end a good day.

                                                                       Bottoms Up!