Kayaking on Bullards Bar Reservoir - CA

Oregon House, CA
Lake of the Springs RV Resort 

Oregon House is about 2 hours north of Placerville.  We stay in town for a couple of weeks to be near my parents to help care for my Dad.  Then we go away for a week or two.

This is a Thousand Trails park.  It's pretty nice.  We stay up top, away from the lake as it's better internet and much less people.  The weather was still very cold and rainy, but expecting a couple of decent days in the middle of the week.  We're counting on that as we want to do some kayaking. There is a small lake here but it’s closed while they work on the dam.

Our site is quite roomy and there is hardly anyone here.  This is the view across from us looking over the mountain side.

Steve really liked our neighbors old Jeep.  Strangely they parked right next to us even though there were plenty of openings a couple of sites down.

We had quite a few homemade soups and chili planned for the week.  We got in late in the day so we enjoyed some Italian Sausage, Spinach and Pasta soup.

Our first dry day we drove further up the mountain to check out where we wanted to kayak as well as some National Forest campgrounds that we'd like to come back to in the summer when the lower elevations heat up.

Too much snow to get into the campgrounds.  They don't open until May/June anyway.

This is the dam at Bullards Bar Reservoir.  They are still letting water out full force as there are still more big storms coming with a lot of snow/rain.

The soil here is a rainbow of colors.  Mostly it's the dark red clay color that we have up here.

It started to rain again as we were leaving.  Houseboating is very popular.  Some people moor their boats all year and some people rent them for the summer.

We did get our 2 days of sunshine.  It was still pretty cold, but no wind.

Hurley kept his sweatshirt on as well as a blanket.  He was happy to be out again.

The water is gorgeous.  Turquoise colored.

Plenty of waterfalls everywhere.

I loved how these rocks looked like stacked blocks.  Sort of like steps leading into the lake.

The water was like glass most of the time.  We paddled for a couple of hours and then headed back as the sun was heading down and it cooled even more.

Another warm bowl of Beef Vegetable was for dinner tonight along with grilled cheese sandwiches.

We had a nice warm up again so off to the lake we went.

We chose a different direction this time.  There were more coves and much more trees and bushes in the water.  The fishing should be great here!  Maybe we'll be back when the water is warmer and the fish are biting.

The stumps cracked us up.  This one looked like the Leader and was on it's tippytoes.

HA!  Oh no, they are coming after us!

I sure hope they can't swim!

This looked like a giant snowball at first.

Nope.  Just a big boulder.

These trees are holding hands (branches).

Lots of pretty reflections.

Canadian Geese.

A long line of Quartz.

What a great time we had on the lake while we were here.

I did find a covered bridge nearby that we drove through.

The bridge was built in 1860.  It was taken away by floodwaters in 1883.  It was restored in place by Ox teams and log rollers.

Our last evening was St. Patricks Day.  What are the odds that this tiny mountain community has a wonderful restaurant?  There is only a gas station and post office here.

They had a special for the holiday.  We started off with 2 for 1 Mimosas and Steve had a Guinness Stout.

It was warm and cozy inside.

The food was fantastic!  Steve had Beef Stew and I had the Corned Beef with a Parsley Mustard Sauce, roasted cabbage and potatoes.  

Desert was a delicious sponge cake with fruit and a special whipped topping.

We stayed for a few songs then had to get back to Hurley.  Our park is only 5minures down the road.

Down the road is an old ghost town called Frenchtown.  Actually there is only one building left partially standing.

This little town lies on Dry Creek.  Mining was first done in 1852 and a permanent settlement sprang up in 1854,  Paul Vavasseur built a hotel (perhaps that is what this building is?).  There was a store and bar in town too.  There were about 500 men making this their home.  Eventually there were 4 stores and 3 saloons, 3 hotels, 2 blacksmith shops, 1 bakery and a barbershop.  Since 1870 it has been abandoned.  He also built an arrastra for grinding and pulverizing gold ore.  Some family members still live in the area and grow wine grapes.  The town gets its name from the large amount of French immigrants.

The backroads here are farms and ranches.  I love the old barns and wonder what their use was like back when they were built.

Our time came to an end and back to Placerville we go tomorrow.  We did spend some time lounging in the warm morning sun with our coffee.  Hurley really loved being able to lay on his rug in the sun.

Steve, Mom, Dad, Diane, Steve & Ryan

Once back some of our kids came to visit as my brother has made his way back to also help out and be with our parents.  

Brennan & Alex

We had some cake and Hurley was wondering where his was.