Gold Country 001
After Leaving San Francisco We Traveled Through Sacramento, Stopped For Lunch & Groceries at Wal-Mart, Then...
Gold Country 002
... Into...
Gold Country 003
... And Through The Eldorado National Forest.
Gold Country 004
We Stopped a Few Times Along the Way to Enjoy the View.
Gold Country 005
This Road Was Not Busy And It Was Nice to Listen to the Silence.
Gold Country 006
We Could Imagine The 49ers Coming Through in Wagons and on Mules.
Gold Country 007
A Rough Journey, But The Alternative Was a 6 Month Sea Journey Around the Tip of South America.
Gold Country 008
Neither Trip Was What You'd Call Fun.
Gold Country 009
More Like an Endurance Test for Reaching California.
Gold Country 010
As It Was Told to Us, The Gold Rush Was Really Over Before It Started.
Gold Country 011
All the "Easy" Gold Was Picked Up And Panned Before Word Ever Got Out.
Gold Country 012
The Miners Who Came After The First Year, Ended Up As Employees Working For Large Mining Operations.
Gold Country 013
Most Never Found Their Fortunes And Remained Because They Were Ashamed to Return Home.
Gold Country 014
We Entered Sutter Creek, CA, Where...
Gold Country 015
... We Took a Tour of a Working Gold Mine.
Gold Country 016
Well, It's Not Actually Working (Yet).
Gold Country 017
It's Taken DECADES to Get the Proper Permits.
Gold Country 018
They Don't Expect to Have Them All Until Some Time in 2012!
Gold Country 019
We Had Some Time to Kill, So...
Gold Country 020
... We Explored the Area.
Gold Country 021
Dad Even (Wait, That's Not Dad)...
Gold Country 022
... Tried His Hand at Panning for Gold.
Gold Country 023
It'd Take Some Pretty Big Nuggets To...
Gold Country 024
... Retire Us for Life.
Gold Country 025
I Discovered an Old Winery Across the Street, But Had to Hurry Back, And...
Gold Country 026
... Put on a Hard Hat Because It's Time For The...
Gold Country 027
... Mine Tour!
Gold Country 028
Hmmm, I Don't Recall Our Guide's Name.
Gold Country 029
Caution - Mine Shaft!
Gold Country 030
This One Was...
Gold Country 031
... Dark!
Gold Country 032
Look an Ass!
Gold Country 033
A Pictorial View of Gold Country.
Gold Country 034
A Canary in a Gold Mine? Absolutely!
Gold Country 035
Some Tools of the 49ers Trade.
Gold Country 036
The Safety Room Where We Had Our Briefing.
Gold Country 037
A Vein of Quartz Where the Gold is Found.
Gold Country 038
There's Gold in Them Thar' Veins! An Ounce and a Half Per Ton of Quartz.
Gold Country 039
The "Widowmaker." Miners Died Daily From "White" Lung From the Quartz Dust. It Took Years Before They Used Water to Reduce the Dust.
Gold Country 040
Miners Operating the Drill Were Paid $7/Day, While Others Were Paid $1/Day.
Gold Country 041
How Much is Your Life Worth?
Gold Country 042
Many of the Original Hard Rock Miners Came From South Africa.
Gold Country 043
An Upgrade to the "Widowmaker".
Gold Country 044
End of the Line - This Tells a Miner to Stop Digging.
Gold Country 045
The Safest Place You Can Be During a Earthquake.
Gold Country 046
Explaning The Use of Nitro Glycerin.
Gold Country 047
Gotta Recall That Dynamite Was a "New" Invention.
Gold Country 048
When The Mine Opens They'll Dig for a Year Before They Begin Processing the Ore.
Gold Country 049
The Light at the End of Our Tunnel!
Gold Country 050
I Hope It's Safe!
Gold Country 051
Back Into the Eldorado National Forest.
Gold Country 052
The Gold Rush Attracted People From All Over The World.
Gold Country 053
We Stopped by Kirkwood Ski Resort Looking for Dinner But Ended Up Eating in Carson City, NV.
Gold Country 054
Peaceful...
Gold Country 055
... Very Peaceful!
Gold Country 056
Into Carson City for Dinner And Accomodations, Then...
Gold Country 057
... Off to Lake Tahoe, to Celebrate Independence Day.
Gold Country 058
This is the Same Rest Stop Anita and I Visited a Few Years Earlier.
Gold Country 059
People Were Camped Out to View The Fireworks.
Gold Country 060
Fortunately, We Were Able to Make Other Arrangements.
Gold Country 061
The Water Looks Sooooo Inviting, But...
Gold Country 062
... Is Quite Cool. We Did See People at the Beaches in the Water.
Gold Country 063
I See You.
Gold Country 064
Most of the Timber in This Area Was Clearcut to Support the Gold Rush.
Gold Country 065
I Found Someone to Take My Picture.
Gold Country 066
Actually I Offered to Take Their Picture and They Returned the Favor.
Gold Country 067
Dad's Trying Out The Camera on His New iPad - GREAT Photos!
Gold Country 068
Time to Load Up Dolly And...
Gold Country 069
... Head For Our Appointment on the Other Side of the Lake.
Gold Country 070
Here We Are, Waiting For...
Gold Country 071
... Our July 4th Adventure Aboard The...
Gold Country 072
... Tahoe Gal!
Gold Country 073
We Booked a Dinner And Fireworks Cruise, to...
Gold Country 074
... Celebrate The 4th of July.
Gold Country 075
I Think Papa Bear is Hungry.
Gold Country 076
The Cruise Was Full.
Gold Country 077
The Fireworks Barge is Ready.
Gold Country 078
It Was a Beautiful Evening.
Gold Country 079
Off We Go.
Gold Country 080
Incoming!
Gold Country 081
Nice View.
Gold Country 082
Hello Captain.
Gold Country 083
Hello Top Deck Passengers.
Gold Country 084
Dad Enjoying Some Time Away.
Gold Country 085
Buzzed by a Jet Ski.
Gold Country 086
We Had Lots of Company.
Gold Country 087
The 1st Mate Looks a Bit Hairy.
Gold Country 088
Go Golden Bears!
Gold Country 089
Sailing Into Position, For...
Gold Country 090
... The Fireworks.
Gold Country 091
We Could See Fireworks on the North, South and West Shores of Lake Tahoe. The Following Day We...
Gold Country 092
... Toured Virginia City.
Gold Country 093
We Discussed Staying Here vs. Carson City - We're Glad We Stayed in Town.
Gold Country 094
Like Most of the "Boom" Towns of the Era It Had a Colorful Past.
Gold Country 095
Vampire's Paradise!
Gold Country 096
We Headed Into the Delta Saloon...
Gold Country 097
... to See The Suicide Table (No Incidents).
Gold Country 098
Then To See...
Gold Country 099
... The Silver Queen.
Gold Country 100
It's a Working Saloon And Even Had a Marriage Chapel.
Gold Country 101
Not Sure It Got Used Very Often. Let's Pack Up and Head to Yosemite!