We woke up at the crack of dawn to the sounds of the neighbor's donkey. I was amazed at how wide awake and talkative the kids were, especially because it was three hours before the start of a regular school day and usually I don't see that type of animation until noon! Rob started us off with a history and science lesson about how gold is formed and where. Did you know we are in the third gold rush right now? The second one happened during the great depression when more gold was found then than by the 49rs.
We were on a private claim and were the only ones around. It was absolutely beautiful and warm. We found out last weekend was freezing and hailing. We lucked out. The kids learned how to pan and sluice. Almost everyone found something. (ask about "fly poop"!) Rob was so kind as to leave us with a parting gift each of a piece of gold worth $15-25.
We had a great time. As we were packing up to go to Sacramento, Ken, our other gold teacher, suggested we stay a little longer in town and visit Columbia State Park. Not doubting a local's suggestion, we followed his advice, postponed our trip to Sutters Fort til tomorrow, and found ourselves traveling back in time to a part of town left in the 1840's. Main street included shops with pioneer stuff, old fashioned candies, a blacksmith and livery shop and historic artifacts.
We were on a private claim and were the only ones around. It was absolutely beautiful and warm. We found out last weekend was freezing and hailing. We lucked out. The kids learned how to pan and sluice. Almost everyone found something. (ask about "fly poop"!) Rob was so kind as to leave us with a parting gift each of a piece of gold worth $15-25.
We had a great time. As we were packing up to go to Sacramento, Ken, our other gold teacher, suggested we stay a little longer in town and visit Columbia State Park. Not doubting a local's suggestion, we followed his advice, postponed our trip to Sutters Fort til tomorrow, and found ourselves traveling back in time to a part of town left in the 1840's. Main street included shops with pioneer stuff, old fashioned candies, a blacksmith and livery shop and historic artifacts.
We finally got on the road around 1:00 and made our way down the beautiful mountain landscape into endless grape vineyards and fruit trees. On arriving in Sacramento, we found our campground, argued over whether boys or girl got the "better" campsite. (Girls won this time...) We spent a relaxing afternoon unpacking, paddle boats, swimming, playing cards and eventually winding down for a new day tomorrow.
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