Sacramento

We had mainly two reasons for stopping in Sacramento, to see the capitol building and to ride a bit on the American River Trail. The Trail is a reclaimed rail grade that runs for some 40 miles NE from downtown. When we made these plans we didn’t realize there would be a 3^rd reason for our visit, and despite being fraught with the potential for disappointment and discomfort, it turned out to be as pleasant as unexpected repairs could be.

When we arrived we got Colectiva set up at the Ponderosa RV Resort and marveled that her windshield looked out right onto the American River. Apparently it is an active kayak and rafting river, so we grabbed our picnic lunch, a bottle of petite Syrah and sat down to take in all the activity. What an idyllic setting!

The vortex phenomena continue. We soon learned that maybe two miles away from us is the location of John Sutter’s lumber mill where gold was discovered in 1848 and set off the infamous gold rush. I say vortex again because when John Bidwell first arrived in California he got a job at Sutter’s mill, his first employment and where he learned to prospect for gold.

Being 1848 there was really only one source of power for a saw, a water wheel. Sutter placed his saw next to the American River and built a trace to supply the fast moving water to power the water wheel, which powered the saw. A trace is a diversion of a fast moving river to channel the water to where you need it – we had seen many a trace visiting the DuPont family gunpowder factories back east. Anyway the wheel wasn’t providing enough power to the saw, so Sutter’s partner James Marshall emptied the trace of water to try to diagnose the issue. As he walked through the rock filled canal he caught yellow glinting reflections of the sun on some rock. Assuming they were pyrite or fool’s gold, he picked some up and hit them with a hammer. Instead of shattering like pyrite would, the yellow stones were soft and bent. He knew immediately what that meant – Gold!

The State Historic Site has a recreation of the mill and the trace where Marshall’s discovery changed the course of California development. We hiked up a nice trail to the location of the Marshall monument. Local historians felt it only fitting to erect an appropriate monument on the bluff overlooking the site of the discovery. We found it interesting to learn latter that Marshall himself is buried neath that monument.

Also on the grounds is the actual cabin that Marshall lived in while he built and operated the mill site. While it has been subject to considerable refurbishing, most of the cabin is original, and probably still has Marshall’s DNA all over it.

We headed for the American River Trail. It was really pleasant and held many more surprises than we originally expected. We maybe biked 20 miles or so round trip, much of it right on the banks of the River. The weather was spectacular, and being a weekday the Trail was not too crowded.

It turns out there are many forks of the American River and 3 of them converge near Auburn California. We set out to hike the North Fork trail and immediately strolled under the highest bridge in the state of California, the Foresthill Bridge. Built in the early 70’s its bridge deck is 731 feet above the raging waters. This is the bridge Vin Diesel drove his Corvette off of in the 2002 film "xXx".

We hiked the North Fork until we got to the North Fork Dam. Built by the CCC in 1939, the North Fork Dam created Lake Clementine, primarily used for recreational boating.

The Dam is unique in that it was built as a debris dam. Rather than just holding the water and diverting flow in some way under the dam, the water of the North Fork spills over the center of the Dam creating a wonderful spectacle. The force of the waters crashing over 150 feet as it flows over the Dam created such mist that a permanent rainbow graces its base.

Then we headed the other direction from the confluence on the North Fork of the American River. Another reclaimed rail bed the first thing we came to was the magnificent Mountain Quarries Railroad Bridge. Built by the Portland Cement Company as a spur to bring material from a nearby quarry to the main rail line in Auburn, this reinforced concrete bridge was at the time the longest railroad bridge in the world. This bridge was just a bonus on what otherwise would have been a great hike. We actually came to 3 other bridge locations along the hike, but the bridges in these areas were wood trestle construction and only the concrete foundations are left. But the 1912 bridge still stands proud, even though other bridges near the confluence, including the original Highway 49 Bridge, have all washed away at times due to floods and dam breaches. Locals call it the “No Hands Bridge” nicknamed for an avid rider who used to show off by riding his horse across the bridge without holding onto the reins.
 

Since we biked the American River and hiked both the North Fork and Middle Fork, we decided to hike some of the South Fork as well. In a BLM managed section of the historic Cronan Ranch we hiked quite a bit, taking advantage of the many geocaches hidden in the area. As we made our way to the South Fork we stumbled upon an old movie set we had heard rumors about. In 2003 some of the movie “Love Comes Softly” directed by Michael Landon and staring Katherine Heigl and Corbin Bernsen. While we had never seen this movie, now that we have been to the set we may have to check it out.
 

Since we were so near to downtown we paid a visit to the California state capitol. Built in 1874, it is a truly impressive building. As we had learned in the past the state’s capital changed many times over the early years, first in San Jose in 1850, then Vallejo in 1852, and finally Benicia in 1853. The first state house built in Sacramento in 1854 eventually was replaced by the current capitol. We had actually visited the old Benicia capitol a few years back on another trip to the Bay Area and found it really interesting. We got really lucky and caught a guided tour which had just begun.

The guide was outstanding, bringing up lots of interesting facts for example about how the capitol was chosen (legislators at the time didn’t want to deal with the hubbub of San Francisco, and Sacramento offered all the nicer amenities of a big city – i.e. taverns - without the hassle.) We were told about interesting features of the capitol like the fact that Lincoln’s portrait hangs in the House gallery. That is mainly because of all he did for California. The completion of the transcontinental railway meant agricultural products could be shipped to the rest of the country in 7 hours rather than many months, the food supply from central California that now makes up some 50% of what all Americans consume found new buyers.

We got to see the hall of portraits of California Governors, which includes some famous names. And yes, when I say some famous names, I also mean some scandalous names. Get to the chopper!

Finally visiting the Governor’s office was a treat. During Arnolds term he was skiing in Vail – the guide was quick to point out he could have skied at Mammoth in California but chose to ski instead in Colorado – he saw this great brass bear. Knowing that the grizzly is the state’s symbol he bought it and had it mounted outside his office. Apparently nobody had the heart to tell Arnold that it was actually a black bear, not a grizzly. Apparently Jerry Brown has decided to put up with it.

Two last interesting facts. First, the 2^nd floor doors were originally designed to be the main entrance doors to the capitol building, much like the capitol building in DC. However, they ran out of money during construction and so were never able to complete the massive marble staircase that should have graced the entranceway. So the impressive doorway now just leads out to nothing but a ledge.

Also we learned that term limits in California provide that a governor can only hold the office for two four year terms. However, Jerry Brown is now in his fourth 4 year term. That is because the last time he was governor the term limit was not yet law. Once the law was in place he could only serve two terms, but the terms he served before don’t count.  I wonder what kind of portrait he might go with when he leaves office the second time! Who knows, maybe Arnold can come back for a couple more as well!

OK, so now for the unexpected repairs. Our combination washer/dryer was behaving badly. In its spin cycle it was rattling so much that I was seriously concerned about damage to the structure of the coach. The Woman had to run one more load of wash, and when we got back to Colectiva we found one of the buttons you press to set the wash cycle had literally sprung from the face of the machine. I tried to replace it but to no avail. Also, the day we left Vegas I hooked up the newly equipped Equinox to Colectiva. When I went to connect the emergency disconnect cable that automatically applies the brakes on the car in the event the hitch fails, I learned it was not there. Findlay had put the tow bar on the Equinox, but had failed to wire it for the emergency disconnect! There was nothing to do except to drive without that safety feature as we had reservations and time schedules.

So we have been driving all this way with no backup on the tow hitch, and now the washer/dryer goes kaput. I searched ahead and saw that Le Mesa RV was a ways outside Sacramento. We called and they could get us in for both repairs, and they had a replacement combination washer/dryer in stock. The great folks at Findlay overnighted us the emergency disconnect cable that needed to be installed, so we arrived bright and early at La Mesa. It was a long day in the customer lounge, but La Mesa did what they promised. Both Equinox and the Woman were now happy – cable and washer/dryer installed and we were still back on the road by about 3.

 

Talk to you soon!