World United States California Columbia Historic State Park

Chuck's RV Trip Summer 2008

Columbia Jun 22, 2008

Thursday, June 19 – Visalia, CA – We left the Magic Kingdom today, and picked up the RV in Corona (south of LA). Nice rig, and Mike Bandfield really outfitted it well for us – Pampered Chef stuff and Henkel knives! We have headed north, climbed the mountains (which look like gold carpeted hills) and down to the valleys where so much of our food is grown. We went north through Bakersfield on our way to the Col. Allensworth State Park in Earlimart. Actually we left Fantasyland today and entered the bowels of this state and came safely out the other end!! This is the most god-forsaken place on earth. Flat, incredibly hot, and nothing to look at but crops. The kids now know what a livestock, cattle yard smells like. We all had our hands over our faces trying not to breath, but were laughing so hard we almost gagged. We turned off the main highway 99, and after passing a maximum security prison the size of Ft. Mill, we arrived at Col. Allensworth State Park. It is a self-check in park, but the only things besides us, were hundreds of rabbits and frogs trying to get out our way. There wasn’t a soul in sight – then again it was pitch black. We pulled into a camping space at 9:30 pm., but that didn’t last long. Since there wasn’t another camper, the kids were certain they wouldn’t sleep at all. We were in the middle of nowhere-really. So Fred made a search on his new GPS device and we were off again. As we turned to leave the park, we were given a treat! The most beautiful full moon was rising from over the mountain range. It hung in the sky like a massive orange pumpkin – but Natalie brought us back to reality by reminding us that the moon is only orange because of the air pollution! Next, we pulled into the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) in Visalia at 10:45 pm. It is now 1:00am and I’m interested to see what is here in the morning that warrants a campground of any kind in this area. Good-night. Friday June 20 – to Columbia, CA We were on the road early this morning – having a drive of about 2.5 hrs. Up and over another mountain range. I think if I could take someone from here and put them under a live oak in the low country they would believe they have died and gone to heaven. Once we made it up to Snelling, CA the scenery really changed. It looked like a rolling ocean of smooth golden hills. Once in Columbia, I thought it would be cooler – wrong!! It was 102 degrees today. Since we arrived during the hottest part of the day the kids rested in the RV and I did laundry. This is a cute little RV park called the 49er Ranch. The greeters are Fred and Penny - super nice folks! But it is definitely like Sun City. The average age is probably 75. There’s not another kid in sight.About 6pm it was cool enough to walk down to the little town of Columbia. It was deserted, so we hiked back to the campground until Saturday. If you are visiting with kids, don’t take the 1 hr. tour – they will be bored. Stay at the Marble Quarry Campground, they have a pool and geared towards families with kids. Saturday, June 21 – Columbia Lots of fun today! I’ve downloaded some photos of this town. It was a gold mining town, one of the few to survive. It was “purchased” by the CA State Parks but there are actually businesses here. At one time there were over 25K people here, and the total gold mined was valued over $150,000,000 (today just over $1 billion). This is the most welll preserved gold mining town in the state. A few of the homes, but most of the buildings have been restored. There is a small house here that was used in the movie High Noon. Several restaurants, grocery store, gardening shop, blacksmiths etc are open and operating. It was fun to step back in time. The kids panned for gold, found a little. Later we drove north to the Moaning Caverns. Here we hiked down hundreds of feet and into the caverns. You can go repelling if you are interested. The Linville Caverns are more impressive, but not as deep. If you have a fear of heights don’t go to the Moaning Caverns. Tonight I was invited to play cards with the other RV'rs. Really nice people and lots of fun conversation. They let the kids play another game too. Tomorrow we head off to Yosemite Nat’l Park. Will send another update soon.

Advertisement