Claudia and Bruce reserved a few days at the Jackson Rancheria RV Park, located at the casino near Jackson, California. I gladly accepted their invitation to join them. The RV park is very clean, with grass areas between the parking spaces. The park is located near the top of a ridge, and as a result, we had some very strong winds on the first night.
We explored the surrounding area, including a short trip to Sutter Creek, a nearby gold country town. It was a pleasant walk along the main street, although many of the businesses are closed on a Tuesday.
Main Street in Sutter CreekSutter Creek winds through the townI thought this pipe wrap looked like a giraffe
We also checked out some of the gold country artifacts in Jackson. The Kennedy Tailing Wheels Park featured a couple of large tailing wheels from the mining operation in Jackson in the early 1900’s. One of the tailing wheels is still standing while the other one had collapsed. A few years ago, the standing tailing wheel was encased in a large building to protect it.
This tailing wheel had collapsed – it is still part of the display at the parkThis large building surrounds a tailing wheel. I took this photo of the tailing wheel in the late 1970’s, before it was enclosed by the large building.Looking through the tailing wheel, the Jackson Mine is visible in the distance.The same view about 45 years ago.
On Wednesday, we ventured to Pardee Lake Recreation area and Camanche Reservoir, both about 10-15 miles from Jackson. The dam at Pardee Lake is unusual. The road on the top of the dam is one lane width, so traffic is controlled by stoplights at each end of the dam.
Pardee Lake and damThe stoplight controls traffic on the one lane road on the top of the damIt was rather eerie to drive on the top of the dam. I couldn’t stop to take a look.
On Thursday, I drove in to Jackson to run a couple or errands. While in town, I took some photos at a local cemetery and an Orthodox Church. I also went back to the tailing wheels for another shot of a different wheel. It is closer to the Jackson Mine.
The Serbian Orthodox Church in JacksonAnother tailing wheel
We headed for home on Friday. Even though the RV Park is part of the casino property, we didn’t venture into the casino. The weather on this trip was pleasant, especially for January. The Jackson Rancheria RV Park is another great destination that isn’t very far from home. The gold country area is a great place to explore rustic settings and small towns with plenty of history.
December’s road trip stayed closer to home. We went to Plymouth to stay at the 49er RV Village. The 49er Village is a large RV park located alongside Highway 49 as it passes through Plymouth. The park has a nice open feel to it, with plenty of trees and a small water feature. Apparently, spaces near the water are priced a little higher due to the attraction. I assumed that the attraction was some ducks.
Most of the park’s normal amenities were closed due to Covid, but the restrooms and showers were open, and were modern and clean.
A few day trips were in order. We started with a short drive to Apple Hill for lunch (including pie) at Boa Vista Orchards. We drove around the Apple Hill area, but many of the farms were closed during the week. On the way back from Apple Hill, I took a side trip to the little town of Fiddletown. My oldest brother used to live on some acreage near Fiddletown and I wanted to check out the area. I managed to locate the driveway to his former property.
Fiddletown consists of a number of buildings and houses in a cluster along Fiddletown Road. I stopped at an old building that used to house a blacksmith shop. The front porch of the building was loaded with old machinery, wooden wagon wheels and an old safe among other things.
The front porch of this building was scattered with antiques. The side yard was a massive jumble of more.This old scale had some interesting colors.
On the next day, we drove to the Calaveras Big Trees State Park near Arnold, California. The park consists of two groves of giant sequoia trees. It was reasonably quiet at the park, not many visitors. The visitors center was open with Covid restrictions. The hike through the park was breathtaking, the trees are massive.
The trail begins with an enormous stump, big enough for a dance floor. I used an ultra-wide angle lens to capture the full height of the trees.Bruce and Claudia pausing to take a photo.
That evening we learned that the RV Park would be closing in a couple of days due to new Covid restrictions. In addition, the forecast called for rain to begin moving into the area. Since this was going to be our last night anyway, we decided to head home that evening. It turned out to be a good decision as it started raining on the way home. I preferred that to taking down camp the next day in the rain.
The 49er RV Village was a good destination. The location is in good proximity to several day trip opportunities spanning in several directions. A grocery store is located across the highway and some interesting eateries are located in town. Maybe another visit after the restaurants open up will be in order
Casini Ranch Family Campground – Drone photos by Bruce PrichardThat’s my trailer at the bottom of this image.
November was a good month to camp near the Sonoma Coastline. The Casini Ranch Family Campground is just a few miles inland along the Russian River. The RV Park is well maintained with a variety of spaces. I chose a space along a wooded area, with the river a couple hundred yards behind me. Other spaces were available nearest the beach area. The weather was great for most of the week; the rain started about the same time we were packing up to leave on Friday.
Our first full day was Tuesday, November 10th. We drove over the nearby Korbel winery for some champagne tasting. Social distancing was in full effect during the tasting session. The champagne was good, however, in the gift shop I purchased a small bottle of Korbel brandy.
First trip out – four nights at Coachland RV Park in Truckee
My first adventure in the Expedition was only about an hour and a half away, in Truckee, California. Claudia and Bruce had booked four nights at Coachland RV Park and invited me to join them, so I jumped at the chance to try out the new trailer. We had adjoining spaces between some tiny home rental units in the park.
Coachland RV Park is along the eastern edge of Truckee, just off Highway 89. It is a convenient location for mountain adventures, including Squaw Valley, the north shore of Lake Tahoe and other lakes in the area. The RV Park has numerous sites with full hook-ups, an updated laundry room, restrooms with showers and a good-sized community room. Most of the other amenities were not open due to the Covid shutdown.
Breakfast!
Our first morning began with what is becoming a tradition for us: scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes and mimosas! After breakfast we ventured out (in separate cars) for a nice hike along Sagehen Creek Trail, just a few miles north of Truckee.
Sagehen CreekFall colors
After the hike, we explored a couple of campgrounds in the area, as potential future destinations.
On our second day, Thursday, we drove the other direction along Highway 89, towards the north shore of Lake Tahoe. We stopped briefly at a roadside parking area to check out an old shack nestled among some aspen trees.
We continued on, past Lake Tahoe into Nevada, to Spooner Lake for a short hike around the lake’s perimeter.
On the way back from Spooner Lake, we stopped at beautiful Sand Harbor Beach along Lake Tahoe’s north shore. This location is very popular and often crowded during the warmer months. Fortunately for us, it was a little later in the afternoon and most of the people had already come and gone.
Sand Harbor Beach on the north shore of Lake TahoeBeautiful clear water of Lake TahoeClaudia and Bruce at Sand Harbor
On Friday, our last full day, we had planned to stay at the campground. Around midday, I noticed an unusual number of fire and law enforcement vehicles gathering in the campground. Shortly afterward, a couple of police officers came over to the campsite and told me that we needed to evacuate the campground. A few spaces over, an individual had barricaded himself inside his RV and was threatening to turn on the propane. So, Claudia, Bruce and I headed over to a brewery for some lunch and cold beer. We stayed there a few hours, but still no indication that we could return to our campsites. We went back to the RV Park and learned the evacuation order was still in effect. We waited near the entrance for a few more hours until the “all clear” signal was delivered. No explosions. What an unusual way to end a camping trip.
All entries to the RV Park were blocked for several hours
Overall, my trailer performed well. I had some issues with the refrigerator. The first day or so it seemed to work fine, but suddenly it began to warm up. It was more drastic than just not cooling, it was actually getting very warm. I use two wireless temperature sensors to monitor the temps inside the freezer and fridge compartments. During the night, the outside temperature was 34°, the room temperature of my trailer was 44° and the freezer compartment was 56°. I knew this was a problem and turned off the refrigerator for the remainder of the trip. I had brought along an ice chest as a backup solution and put into service.
I knew I would be dealing with the malfunctioning refrigerator in the days ahead. I wasn’t surprised by the problem, the couple who sold me the trailer warned me that they had trouble with it; their solution was a Yeti cooler.
With the cold temperatures overnight, it was cold inside the trailer. I used a small ceramic heater for heat at night and my sleeping bag kept me toasty, as long as I stayed inside it and kept it zipped up. Otherwise, no complaints on the trailer. We headed back home for more tinker-time!
Roadtripping with Ron 