Discovering Gold & A 3-Pete

Placerville, CA
Storm Valley Ranch

 

Eureka!  There's gold in them thar hills!  Curt and Glenda, of Illinois Camper's, caught up with us on their way to Oregon so they hung out a few days and we showed them around our little western town of Placerville in the Gold Country.

The Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is in Coloma, less than 10 miles from our old ranch.  It's the famous location that set of the Gold Rush of 1949.  We've been here many times as it's a popular place for school field trips.  That's four visits alone just with our kids and many other visits when friends or family come.  They have enlarged the museum since we were here last and did a good job with it.

 California was ruled by Spain, Mexico and then became part of the United States.

 The American River.

 We walked around the pathways along the river to some of the interesting locations.

 Steve, Glenda & Curt.

 The statue of James Marshall.

 

Since the rivers were still flowing, I did a three-pete and we took them back up to the Dutch Creek Waterfalls.  The weather was still gorgeous and so were the flowers.

 Still pretty!

 Curt kicking back on the "Sofa Rock".

 A couple of flowering plants growing out of holes in the boulders.  Pretty cool.  I didn't notice them on my first two visits.

 The grasses are slowly loosing their bright green and soon enough will dry out.

 This tree had a very interesting view from underneath.

At 1/2 mile long, SR 153 claims to be the shortest in California.  This is also in Coloma.  Apparently, however, it is not.  There are 3 others that claim to be shorter. 

It's always fun to walk down Main Street and visit all the eclectic stores.

 Here we are goofing off in the Army Surplus Store.  They have everything from Western Wear to gasmasks, outdoor items and survival gear.

We walked past Placerville's famous Hardware Store (the oldest continually operated in the US), several great restaurants, clothing stores, etc when Curt saw "Bowtie Barbershop".

What a cool place!  It says for "Gents Only", but Glenda and I were welcomed in also.  It was decorated with bowties on the ceiling, and lots of sports and 50s memorabilia.  They also served cold "beverages" while you waited.

 All done.  Lookin' good Curt!

It was our last day in Placerville as well so we headed out to our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Casa Ramos with Curt and Glenda and also invited our friends Mike and Rose.

Mike, Curt & Steve.  No picture of Rose, Glenda and I for some reason.  Well this wraps up another busy visit with family and friends in California.  Tomorrow we visit Lake Tahoe then head north to Oregon!