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 3rd 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 2nd 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!
While
biking around the Fairplex area I discovered another hidden gem. The Wally
Parks National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Museum sits on the grounds and was
luckily open on the day we were getting ready to move on.
Wally
Parks was born in 1913 in Oklahoma, but later relocated to California. By the
post-Depression era was he was an avid automobile hobbyist, active in modifying
stock vehicles to enhance their performance. In the 1940’s he founded and
became the first editor of Hot Rod Magazine, and was later instrumental in the
founding of Motor Trend Magazine. He used these platforms to promote hot
rodding safety, trying to get drag racing off the streets and onto organized
tracks, launching Safety Safaris where he toured the country promoting
organized racing as opposed to street racing. In 1951 he founded the NHRA,
today the largest sanctioning organization in racing in the world.
The
museum has a fantastic collection of vintage hot rods of many different kinds.
Classic stock vehicles modified by their owners, full rail dragsters, some
NASAR vehicles and several that set speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats
all grace the floor. I liked the collection of funny cars, bringing back
childhood memories of the Mongoose and the Snake – driven by Tom McEwen and Don
Prudhomme. I remember them more from the Hot Wheels than from actually watching
them race however.
We
found the most interesting part of the museum to be the huge display room
dedicated to Gale Banks. We know Gale Banks because he and his company provide
RV engine performance enhancement products, claiming to boost horsepower of
both gasoline and diesel engines. Our good friends Ron and Teresa have Bank’s
equipment in their RV and swear by it.
n on high octane “Battle
Gas”.
