Sunday, June 8, 2025
We were out of the house and on the road at 7:20 a.m. to start a road trip adventure in Laurie's Blueberry.
We needed to be in Seattle for a wedding next Saturday and opted to drive leisurely during four days of sightseeing all that California, Oregon and Washington had to offer.
On this first day, the goal was to get to the city of Jackson, California. Our route took us north on Interstate 5 over the famous Grapevine, on to Highway 99 through Bakersfield (Sun, Fun, Stay, Play) then to Fresno where we headed east on Highway 41 before joining Highway 49 in Oakhurst heading due North.
Highway 49 is also known as the "Gold Chain Highway" because it goes through several of the quaint, small towns that 176 years ago became boom towns during the California Gold Rush.
On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma about 45 miles northeast of Sacramento.
Word of his discovery spread like wildfire around the world as an estimated 300,000 souls descended on northern California in search of their fair share of fame and fortune. The peak year of this Gold Rush immigration occurred in 1849 and these miners thus earned the sobriquet, "49ers."
Thus the reason for the NFL's San Francisco team's nickname.
After four hours and 30 minutes of driving, we stopped for lunch at our first Gold Rush city on Highway 49.
Stop #1
Mariposa, California
Population: 1,526 souls
The historic Old Town is well preserved
Lots of neat old buildings
can be found in Mariposa
Who doesn't love an Odd fellow or two
The Mariposa Pizza Factory
beckoned
Once inside the Pizza Factory,
I was hooked
There was lots to digest besides
the excellent pepperoni pizza and
their tasty salad bar
Go Grizzlies, INDEED!
Grizzlies were all over the city!
A good lunch to be sure and
we loved their slogan:
"We Toss'em,
They're Awesome"
No argument from either of us.
A Gay Pride flag and a TACO sign,
CLASSIC!
Fun to learn some of the local
history as we patrolled the streets
The Blueberry needed lunch too,
at Grizzly Gas of course
A rather large Grizzly guarded
the gas pumps, a no brainer
One last mural as we left Mariposa
We continued on Highway 49
heading towards Angels Camp
Eerie clouds greeted us as
we worked north through sparsely
populated areas of the state
What we did see occasionally were old farm houses with old cars and farm equipment littering their yards. The look just screamed, "Meth Lab!"
But I could easily be incorrect.
Stop #2
Angels Camp, California
Population: 3,667
This Mark Twain story immortalized
quaint Angels Camp
The city embraced the tall tale and since 1928 has hosted a Jumping Frog contest as part of the annual Calaveras County Fair the third weekend in May.
The Jumping Frog is King
in Angels Camp
Frogs are . . .
. . . everywhere!
The winning frog in the year of
my birth was "TWA"
A winning leap of 14'4" was somewhat awe inspiring 78 years ago.
The start of the Steroid Era in
competitive frog jumping
Again, historic markers like this
one add to this tourist's interest
A massage would have been good
An old storefront
Again with the frogs
We wound up our visit to
Angels Camp with two small ice creams
I highly recommend their Banana-Oreo concoction.
Final stop of the day
Jackson, California
Amador County Seat
Population: 5,019
Our hotel for the night
Our charming hotel was erected in 1862.
It was late afternoon on a Sunday when we arrived and most of Jackson's business were already closed.
Cool hotel lobby
Did I mention that it's an
OLD hotel?
We love stained glass
Funky lamp shade hiding
a fire extinguisher
The National Hotel's
Entertainment Center
We opted to stretch our legs and stroll Jackson's Historic District.
Pack mules were big in
the lives of the 49ers
This store has seen better days
Jackson History
A 49er panning for gold with his
pack mule providing encouragement
You had to be there and
we weren't
What is going on with this hillside?
California's wine history has a
definite connection to Jackson
Laurie's Dad, Bill, was
a proud Rotarian
Our delightful concierge, Tamara, highly recommended dinner at Mel & Faye's Diner which was a short walk from our hotel.
It turned out to be a GREAT call!
We split a delicious sourdough burger, fries and a rich chocolate malt.
As good as the food was, having found a second shrine to local high school sports in one day was more than just a little exciting to me.
Jackson H.S. Tigers
1957 Undefeated
Mother Lode Athletic League Champions
We were seated at the
"UNDEFEATED BOOTH!"
In the 1980s, Jackson H.S. and Ione H.S. merged to form Argonaut H.S. which is in Jackson.
The walls were covered in
local athletic lore
The Big Game in Amador County
1950 Jackson H.S. Baseball Team
The new Argonaut H.S. Mustangs
have had success in football too
The Big Game again
Meanwhile, overseas today . . .
Italy's DIII football playoffs
started up
The European League of Football
was at it again as well
One close game with an eight point difference.
Two somewhat competitive games with 17 and 24 point margins.
Four no-contests blowouts with winning margins of 32, 32, 34 and 38 points.
The separations in each
Division grow weekly
Only two remain, the first year
Nordic Storm in Copenhagen and
the long time power Vienna Vikings
Two games of interest next week
Frankfurt Galaxy (3-1) at
Nordic Storm (3-0)
and
Madrid Bravos (3-1) at
Tirol Raiders (2-2)
Actually, this would be more
like Laurie in action
A good first day on our road trip completed, on Monday we will meander our way to a night spent in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Stay tuned . . .
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