Keeping busy

We spent the last 2 days sight seeing with kids. We were lucky to have Matt and Beth off work to show us around the area. Went to San Francisco on Monday. Took the boat to Alcatraz for the tour of the prison. Walked around town a lot, rode the cable car, took a taxi and the train. Talk about a full day. On Monday we went to Matt and Beth's for a steak lunch before heading to the coast and the John Muir National Seashore and a walk through the Muir National Redwood Forrest. On the way back we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge to take a few nighttime pictures. Stacy has to go to her conference Wednesday evening and Beth has to work. Matt has to retun to work Thursday so we will lose our guides around town. Hope we don't get lost.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Monterey

We had a really nice trip to Monterey and on down to Big Sur. The coastal scenery is beautiful. We took the drive through the Peeble Beach golf club. It cost $9.00 just to drive on their roads. I guess that is why they have all that money. When we stopped at the club house there were realstate ads for houses from 1.6 million to 28 million, that's dollars!!!!!!! The pic of the golf coarse is the 19th hole. It cost $350 to play a round of golf.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

SAN FRANCISCO

Friday we spent the day with Matt and Beth in San Francisco. We went Fishermans Wharf, saw Alcatraz, Lombard St. and the Golden Gate Bridge. We took the Bart train from their house, just a short walk, to the down town area. Then caught a bus to the wharf. After getting there we walked and walked. Walked up the hill to top of Lombard St., what a hike, what a view! We ate lunch on the wharf.....had..... you guessed it, sea food. The food was real good, but pricey. Oh well it's California. Took the bus to Golden Gate Bridge and hiked across it. The view from the bridge is great. After leaving the bridge we rode the bus back to the bart station, then the train home. We got back to the house at the same time that Stacy and her co-worker Sue arrived from Ohio. They are in town for work, but came a few days early to spend some time with us. Looking forward to our time together. Matt cooked burgers on the grill, we all ate way to much for that late at night....lol Going on a hike today.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Gold Country

We spent yesterday in Coloma, Ca. The gold rush of 1849 was started in this area. The town of Coloma is now a state park. There is a museum and lots of buildings from that era that has been saved. They have lots of exhibits about the gold mining that took place here. The road into this area is very curvy and very steep. The first pic is the place where that first nugget was found by James Marshall. The statue is of Marshall pointing to the place where he found the nugget. The 4th pic is overlooking the valley from the base of the statue. The statue is on top of the hill above the river. The 2nd pic is an overlook on the road to Auburn, Ca after leaving Coloma. This road was as curvy and steep as the road we took to get there, but better scenery. We were planning to visit a couple of other towns in the area, but as we usually do, we ran out of time. Route 49 runs through the gold belt and is REALLY a pretty drive. I don't think I would like to drive the motorhome on this road, it is STEEP with a lot of horseshoe bend turns. We would like to be able to spend more time around here to explore more. We went to Sutter's fort the day before. It is in Sacramento and is also a state park and it is right downtown. It is the original building. So much to see we don't know where to go next. Stacy will be here on Friday to run around with us for a few days. It will great to be able to spend some time with her. I think I need a rest from all this fun.....lol

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Coloma, CA

We spent the day at Coloma, Ca, where the 1849 old rush all started. The whole town is now a State park. The blog site will not let me post pictures tonight, so I will have to try again later.

Duane and Louise

Bodega Bay, CA

Hi all.....Been a while since I have had new pics to post. We have been at Matt and Beth's since Monday but have not been doing much in the way of sightseeing. Been spending time with the kids and running around the town. Today we went up to Bodega Bay area near Napa. Matt drove so I could relax and enjoy the scenery. The metal figures are made by an area artist and are made entirely from junk. They are really cool. The house in the picture is the school house where the movie "The Birds" was filmed. The seashore shots are at Bodega Bay. It was very pretty drive that took us through part of Napa Valley with all the vineyards. The wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour, well it seemed like it anyway. I had a hard time steadying the camera for the pictures at the beach. After the drive back to Concord we stopped at Toni Romas for a rib dinner, oh how I like those ribs......I think we will go to Sacramento on Monday. The kids have to work so we may spend the day up that way. I hope I can get some good pics to post.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

No gold

Got to go on my first gold panning trip today. Bad news, didn't find any color. Color, that's what the pros call finding gold. I had to take a picture of the flower growing along the stream to get my color. Had a great time even if I didn't find any. The old guy that I went with showed me how to pan, set up a sluice box and where he thought we should find gold. He was wrong today. I shoveled sand and gravel for 3 hours, didn't find a speck. I am tired and sore from all the work but loved it. The picture is the stream we were working in, real pretty place. It is on the property of the rv park we are at. Louise spent her day picking up rocks. If she keeps picking up rocks we are going to need a bigger rv...lol.......She wants me to get her a rock polisher for her birthday. We need more hobbies....LOL.... May go back to the stream tomorrow for a bit, not sure. I hope everybody has a happy Easter and don't eat to much candy.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

The Train

Yesterday we took a ride on the old logging train. The ride takes you back in the mountians a little ways were they use to log years ago. The engine is the original one. After the ride we went geocaching for a bit then back to the rv. Today we went to the little town of Mariposa to the California Mining and Mineral Museum and the History Museum. At the mineral museum they have the largest gold nugget ever found in California. It weighs 13 LBS, what a nugget. If I cound one that size I would never have to worry about money again....lol... When we got back from our travels today, we went to talk to a guy here in the park that I was told to look up about panning for gold. We are going to go to the creek tomorrow to try our luck. He says that we should find some gold, we'll see. I hope he is right, can't wait to try it. The creek runs through the rv park so if I do any good I may just spend thhe rest of our stay here at the creek....if Louise lets me. Wish me luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Till next time

Duane and Louise

YOSEMITE DAY 2

Spent the day at Yosemite again today. Drove the big loop through the park, then took the long way home. What a great scenic drive. There is a great view around every curve and there are a LOT of curves. Went from 1800 ft above sea level to 6000 ft and back and up and back...lol. We hiked down the mountain to get the shots of the little falls near where Louise is standing. Not to bad getting down there but a real butt kicker getting back to the car. Thinking about taking a train ride tomorrow, will let you know. The redbud trees are in full bloom as well as the California Poppy. Great color to go along with the great views.

Till next time

Duane and Louise

Yosemite National Park

We spent the day in Yosemite. The trees are Sequoia, really BIG trees. The falls in the park are spectacular. I have pics of 2 different ones on here today. We plan to go back tomorrow and see some different ones. Got a late start today so we didn't have time to see more. We hiked through the Sequoia area of the park most of the day. Walked 2 miles up a mountian to a musuem, it was closed, oh well we needed the exercise. The traffic in the park is bad, the roads are real curvy and the people drive like nuts, 0ther than that we had a good time ...lol.. We hope to drive all the way through the park tomorrow. Going to get an early start, I hope. I'll have more falls pics if they turn out good.

Till next time

Duane and Louise