Waterfalls, Family & Fishing!

Placerville, CA
Storm Valley Ranch



The next weekend Dale and Ruth stopped by for a hike and lunch.  They were camping down near Sacramento for a bit.  Had to take them to the waterfalls in Coloma.  It was that pretty.

Steve, Me, Ruth & Dale.

  

Views of the American River.

Mt. Murphy. 

I think there were even more wildflowers blooming.

Funny how much the grass grew in just a week.  And the poison oak.  I felt like everyones Mom, reminding them not to touch the nasty stuff as you hiked by.  Luckily no one got it this time either!

While the water was just a little bit slower, it was still amazing.  The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds but it was still a gorgeous day.

Ruth carefully climbing down from the "Sofa Rock".

This time we hiked up a bit further to where the REAL gem of the waterfall is.  Luckily a guy going past told us that if we went just a bit up we would be really surprised!  It's even more amazing up here.  Dutch Creek Falls (the Upper Falls) is joined with Johntown Falls across the canyon. 

That is Johntown Falls above.  I couldn't really capture the entire falls as I was on a very narrow, steep part of the trail just to get this shot.  You can't really get both falls in their entirety in one picture without a nice wide angle lens.

The upper hillside above Dutch Falls was covered with its own waterfall of purple flowers.

Another shot of Johntown Falls (above) and a shot below where they join Upper Dutch Falls (below).

Ruth goin' in for the shot on the steep hillside.

Since you can't get down the steep, slippery rock I just couldn't get a picture of Dutch Creek Falls from the best angle.  It is just gorgeous to see this spot!  Guess I'll have to do a three-peat and bring Curt and Glenda here next week.

 

Once back down at Coloma we decide to stop in to Gold Hill Winery & Brewery for some tasting.  Here is the link to the brewery portion of their website.

We sat outside with our drinks and planned where we'd go for lunch.  In the end we decided to walk down Main St. in Placerville and give them the Timmy's Brown Bag experience.  You'd have to go to their site for examples of their crazy, but DELICIOUS sandwiches.

We had a great time with Ruth and Dale and we also got some great tips on things to do and see from them while we are in Oregon next month.

The next day we were up early to go to Lake Berryessa where our son, Brennan, had planned a farewell day of fishing and BBQ for our family and his girlfriend, Alex's, parents. It can be difficult to see everyone you want in just a month, so this was great!  My brother and Alex's Dad brought their bass boats, we all brought our kayaks and my sister brought her paddle board so there was plenty of water fun for everyone!

My Dad, Kaylee, Shane (the fashioniesta of the family!), Brennan and my Mom.

My brother taking my parents out for some fishing.  This was very memorable as my Dad has not been able to fish or hunt anymore.  It's been years since he last fished.  Both of them caught several Bass and he was in heaven!

Ryan, Hurley and I out and about in the kayak.

Diane, Courtney and Josh.

My brother's dog, Ruger.  He is like a little kid.  He will just swim around by himself.  His favorite though is just sitting or standing in the water and splashing.  He could do this for hours! SO funny!

Kaylee all happy that she was able to stand up and paddle without falling off.

Even happier when she caught a bass later from the paddleboard. Way to go Kaylee!

Kris caught a nice Bass from the shore.

 

My brother with one of his catches.

 

After lunch Steve and I went out with Alex's parents, Rob and Sandra.  From the pictures you can guess who caught all the fish!

 

Nice one Rob!

Rob and Steve.

Me and Sandra.

 

I never did get a picture of Brennan and Alex, but thank you both for all the work coordinating everyone and planning the BBQ!

 

And that wraps up another busy week!  I'm not sure how much more back to back fun I can take!  I guess we'll find out as Curt and Glenda arrive in a couple days.  We'll show them around Placerville for a few days then we'll all head up to Oregon!