Into Gold Country

6th December 2008
Brent here.
Looking out of the motel window now across the Pacific Ocean. We are going to take a hike along the coast today. Desperately hoping to see whales that apparently migrate at this time of year.

After Maripose we headed out along Route 49. This is so named after the 49ers the people who came in the Californian Gold Rush. The road we took wound its way up and down the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. We stopped in Jackson. The town was very sleepy and we walked into the Historic Town – the single street which could easily be imagined in wild west movies. Walked into a traditional bar with people sat at it on stools and the pool table in the back. Have discovered that the beer is good here. They do copies of the Belgian Wheat beers and they are delicious – ordered two which we drank out of bottles. Barmaid offered us some chillie she had cooked for the pool tournament players – was very tasty. Slept rather fitfully that night in a non-smoking room that was invaded by smoke from neighbouring rooms!!!

4th December
Woke up to a some smog. We have seen lots of it in the valleys on our journey. The weather cleared as we drove higher passing through such classically named towns as El Dorado. All of them were sleeply little middle American towns with only one street. Eventually we arrived in the town of Coloma. This was reputedly the place were gold was first discovered by James Wilson Marshall – it set of the Gold Rush. Visited the museum then walked down to the river to find gold. I found two small nuggets in the water Linda says they are just pieces of gravel but I know better. I used to watch lots of cowboy films when I was smaller so consider myself an expert. Put them into my wallet to be assayed at a later date!
The drive continued on through strangely named places like Cool and even one called Linda. Which we tried to stop at but the freeway didnt allow!!
Our final destination for the day was the town of Clearwater Oaks. This was on a beautiful lake and we arrived at sunset. Found a tiny little place to stop called 20 Oaks. Was essentually an RV site but had a couple of rooms. The owners had moved from the big city and were proud owners. The room was very homely with patchwork quilt on the bed. The air was very crisp and clean by the lake and we both slept a long and peaceful night.