Week ending Dec 25, 2014 Auburn

Thursday, sunny and warm, we spent in downtown Auburn getting visitor information and groceries. We then headed back to the trailer to spend the afternoon making plans and checking the quality of the wi-fi by talking to Elizabeth via Skype. We confirmed that the wi-fi in this RV park is excellent, as good as the neighbours had told us when we arrived.

Friday was our rainy day. Joan did some Christmas baking, and we did our usual rainy day activities, Wii bowling and golf and some video pilates.

Saturday, although cloudy and damp, we headed to the farmers' market in old town. This area of California grows mandarins.  As well as vegetables we picked up some locally grown mandarin oranges.  We then walked through historic old town. This town is here because of the California gold rush. After browsing through numerous shops we headed back to the RV park for lunch and a lazy afternoon.

Placer County Courthouse

Although Sunday was a cloudy day, it was dry, a good day for hiking. We headed to Auburn State Recreation Area to hike the Park HQ-Confluence loop. Depending on which map you believe the hike was 3 1/2 miles or a little more than 4 miles. It was a great hike partly along the historic Stagecoach trail, that carried passengers between Foresthill and Auburn in the 1800s. The trail also took us through manzanita groves  and coyote brush, and returned along the American River. The recent rainfall has caused the all the streams to be full and Black Hole of Calcutta waterfall was spectacular. After our hike was completed we went back to the campground to soak in the hot tub to relax our well worked muscles.

American River Confluence

Manzanita tree

Calcutta Falls

Mountain Quarries Bridge

Monday was sunny and warm.  It would have been perfect for exploring the recreation area some more but our truck's 'check engine' light had come on the day before, so we had to take it to the local Chev dealer to see what the problem was.   While we waited for a fellow to finish a phone call, we heard him say 'We'll see you on January 9th'.    When we told him we wouldn't be in town that long, they said they hoped they could check it out today providing we could leave the truck with them.  They gave us a ride back to the trailer and we started laundry.  About 10:30 they called to say the problem was a glow plug, and did we want them to replace it.  Of course.   About lunch they called to let us know the truck was repaired.  After picking up the truck we decided it was too late to head out of town for the rec area, so instead we walked around the Rock Creek reservoir beside the RV park.  It was about 2 miles round trip from the trailer. The biggest issue was 2 long narrow metal walkways over a canal. Joan was less than impressed, but decided it would be okay as long as we didn't meet anyone. We got half way across the first bridge when three women appeared at the other end of the bridge. They waited until we got over the bridge.  It turned out one of them was just as nervous about this whole procedure as Joan was. She really believes that a handrail can't be all that expensive.  The reservoir is still suffering from the California drought of the past few years, although there is some water in it.



Tuesday was a perfect day for hiking again, so we headed back to Auburn State Recreation Area. After eventually finding the interpretive trailhead, off we went. It was an easy trail along the North Fork of the American river. We stopped religiously at each marker reading about the point of interest. As we were about to leave point 8 a couple of gentlemen stopped us to ask whether the self-guided pamplet we had said anything about the landslide they had seen at point 10.  After imparting the required information we stood and chatted with them for about 1/2 hour. They live in the area and gave us tips as to other hikes we  might enjoy. Point 9 was the underneath the highest bridge in California.   At point 10, the final one on the interpretive trail,  we turned around and returned to the truck. While eating lunch on a rock at the river's edge we watched a group of firefighters training a new group of trainees on water rescue techniques. We then left the trailhead deciding to do a scenic drive back to the RV park. We noticed a road down to Lake Clementine. We parked about 1/2 mile from the dam to walk in to see it. As we walked down the steep grade we encountered a fellow we had met on the last trail. It turns out that if we had just carried on for 3/4 mile from point 10 we would have arrived at the same place. Oh well the drive which took us at least 1/2 hour was scenic and well worth the time. Our trip also took us over the bridge that we had walked under earlier.







Wednesday was a dull and showery day so we hung around, did housework and in late afternoon had a Christmas Eve visit via Skype with John's parents and his brother George.

Christmas morning was beautiful and sunny, but just above freezing.  We had a pre-lunch group Skype visit with Trev, Sue, Anthony, Taylor and Jamie and Karen and Dominique.  Our first group Skype visit worked okay after sorting out a few glitches.  In the afternoon, we went for a walk in the neighbourhood and then came back to cook Christmas dinner.  Nothing gets the appetite activated better than the smell of turkey and stuffing roasting after a walk.