Great American Road Trip: Day Five

We started our day in Bend back near the river, in the Old Mill District shopping area. How lovely, to have a city with a lovely river flowing right through the center!

We then took a side trip to see Tumalo Falls.

There were a few miles of dirt roads as we got close, so Cora had fun hanging out of the sun roof.

Oregon is full of rivers and streams! 

Here are the falls.

Look at this awesome photo Stace took!

Violet was in her element here - she loves being out in nature and woods. 
 

We then drove up to the Portland suburb where our friends Casey and Bradley live with their two children.

Casey's sister, my friend Kelly, and her family were in town visiting, too. We had a great night catching up, and Casey and Bradley graciously lent us their guest room for the night.

Great American Road Trip: Day 4

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Lake Shasta Caverns, a fantastic cave in the mountains that requires a boat- and bus-ride to get there.

As we boarded the boat, Stace noticed this WWII troop carrier, which was used in the D-Day landings.

Cora loved our tour - she loves caves! When we got to this one section, she begged our guide to turn off the lights, and he obliged. It was totally pitch black, obviously. I kind of ruined it by taking this photo, but I had to! When would I get this opportunity again?

This was on our walk back to the bus, the mountains and a peekaboo view of the lake.

We then carried on driving north, taking a five-minute detour to see the downtown of this cute town of Dunsmuir.

Mt. Shasta, at just over 14,000 feet.

After we were in Oregon a while, we spotted this most interesting sight on the side of the road. Stace turned our car around so he could get a closer look. 

A Royal Navy plane with the insignia from a base close to Stace's hometown! Incredible. 

We spent the night in Bend, Oregon, an absolutely lovely town on the Deschutes River. We had dinner in the Pine Tavern, a fancy English pub.

Our restaurant overlooked this beautiful river. 

 

The Great American Road Trip: Day 3

Hotel Sutter had a very nice in-room coffee maker, so I enjoyed my coffee with this lovely view on Monday morning.

We packed up and drove about an hour to our next stop, the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. 

This was the site of the first BIG gold find, the one that started the Gold Rush at Sutter's Mill.

(Any proper SClaritan knows that the FIRST discovery of gold in California was at our Oak of the Golden Dream in Placerita Canyon.)

The state historic park is a sprawling site with many things to see, including various types of mining contraption.

We spent some time in the gift store, where Stace got silly with the old telephone.

We bought a gold pan, and headed down to the American River, the site of the first gold discovery yards away from Sutter's Mill.

Violet missed out on the amazing Gold Rush projects her school does in fourth grade, when Covid sent all the kids home from school. We were happy to give Vi a real taste of the Gold Rush. 

Sure enough, 170-some years later, there is still gold specks everywhere - the riverbed looks like God shook a glitter container. We all had a good time cooling our feet on a very hot day, while finding sparkling flakes.

It was quite a moment - panning for gold in THE spot that changed California history forever.

Here's the replica saw mill. The mill never became successful - all the potential workers only wanted to dig for gold.
 

We then got on the road, driving through pretty Placerville, getting a late lunch in Folsom, and then making a quick stop in Sacramento to see the beautiful Capitol building. 

We ended up at Lake Shasta, where we stayed at a hotel close to the docks that specializes in renting houseboats. 

We settled in and Stace and I picked up a pizza from town. Then, we drove with it to another section of the lake that we were told would be better for swimming. Cora got ready in a swimsuit. And on the drive there, the skies opened up, with lightning to boot.

So, we had our pizza in the car in a parking lot near a finger of the lake. Pretty amusing.

The storm stopped, and we drove back to the overlook not far from our hotel for a few more sunset pics. 

The Great American Road Trip: Day 2

We started our Sunday trying to find coffee - no in-room coffee in our hotel room, and no coffee place open in oldtown Sonora! Finally we found a drive-through kiosk, and I got my caffeine and Stace got a cup of tea.

We then drove to Columbia State Historic Park, a Gold Rush town that is like a living history museum, with shops, museums and cafes.

Violet was most excited about the deer on the outskirts of town, which was in the foothills.

Cora enjoyed dipping a candle to color it. Because of Covid, masks were required indoors, and indoor dining and the indoor museum were closed. But plenty of places were open to experience.

We then continued north, stopping briefly in Angels Camp, the town where Stace got his MGB seven years ago. The town is known for being the setting of a Mark Twain short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," and the main street takes full advantage of its literary fame. Here is one of the plaques celebrating the first "winner" of the jumping contest written about in the story.

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That morning, before packing up, I had the family listen to a recording of the story, so they knew what it was about.

As we continued driving, we went through other tiny old towns. Going around one bend, we saw this old car, fitting in with the old buildings and old barns.

It was a very hot day, pushing 100. When we saw a sign promising river access, we made a quick right turn and found a little parking lot for the Mokelumne River. This was apparently a popular drop-off spot for river rafting and tubing. 

The water was very cold, but that didn't stop Cora and Stace from jumping in, in their clothes!

These are great memories we'll keep forever - just pulling over, and going for a swim.

After a bit more driving, we pulled into Sutter Creek, our home for the night at Hotel Sutter on the right.

Such a lovely big room! Very fancy. This was another historic hotel, and it had a lovely restaurant, which we went downstairs to enjoy.