The Travel Notes

You would think, that beingness inward the middle of i of the state's oldest vino producing areas, that the county fair would sell wine. You'd endure wrong. At to the lowest degree when we're there, the vino bar is closed. Beer as well as margaritas are costless flowing, however. We're at the Amador County Fair inward the pump of California's Gold Country inward Plymouth. We've been wanting to come upward hither for years.  A few years ago, nosotros had a trip planned but travel got inward the way. Last twelvemonth was unopen to other endeavour but a large wood terminate inward the expanse made it a no-go. Finally, we're settled inward to the neat Shenandoah Inn as well as we're gear upward to go. Watch the Video! It's a small-scale fair, 2 hours volition pretty much instruct you lot through everything. It's got neat displays of 4H raised animals similar sheep, cows, as well as goats.  Horsemanship competitions are g...

For those of yous who are tired of all the "Napa Valley" theatrics of the wineries...i.e. overcharging for tasting, castles, gondolas, etc...California offers many other vino countries.  From the almost completely unknown Cucamonga Valley past times L.A., Temecula fifty-fifty further south, Monterey, Mendocino, Lodi together with more.  My favorite of them all is piddling Amador County, nearly halfway betwixt Lake Tahoe together with Sacramento.  Still mainly undiscovered, this is California's oldest continuing vino producing area.  It's unpretentious, has slap-up vino (especially reds similar Zinfandel), together with yous tin soundless notice gratuitous together with inexpensive tastes there.  We teach at that spot equally oftentimes equally nosotros can...we were at that spot concluding inwards June of '09. Here's business office 2 of our Amador Country trip from 1998 where nosotros teach from peradventure the most historic site inwards California ( part ...

Please indulge us for some other classic trip, a novel trip volition live upwards adjacent week.  For now, it's fourth dimension for some other trip inwards the WayBack Machine.  This time, means dorsum to 1998.  One caveat is that our lodging inwards this study no longer appears to operate every bit a bed in addition to breakfast.  It is right away but a house to concur weddings in addition to receptions, which is likewise bad because it was a real prissy house to stay.  Kind of similar a Tom Sawyer trouble solid along the banks of a prissy fiddling creek.  Oh well, fourth dimension marches on... After driving 300 miles in addition to getting lost on some province dorsum roads, it was amazing looking at this humble fiddling stretch of sand that is the epicenter of California history. For it was here, on a Jan twenty-four hours 150 years agone that a sawmill managing director bent over to alternative upwards a shiny flake inwards the fountain of t...

Although the province is criss-crossed amongst interstates, freeways, superhighways as well as is habitation to to a greater extent than millions of Americans than whatsoever other state, i time inwards awhile y'all tin uncovering a seldom traveled stretch of asphalt that is genuinely a fourth dimension machine. One such route exists starting at highway 140 inwards the foothill town of Cathey’s Valley, nearly twenty miles due east of Merced, California. Turning due north on Hornitos Road volition accept y'all through some spectacular rolling loma solid soil dotted amongst happy cows. Green inwards the wintertime as well as spring, golden inwards summertime as well as fall. Watch the Video! After nearly nine miles, you’ll outset to run into mounds of rocks scattered nearly the creek off to the side.  Dug upward roughly 150 years ago, these are tailings left yesteryear the master copy Gold Rush miners.  Following that creek, you’ll halt upward at the picayune...