Return to Fiddletown

On my return south to San Diego, the one side trip I took was to Jackson, California, east of Sacramento, to visit my friends Wade and Cheryl Hurst. The O'Hagan's and I had visited the Hursts back in August for a Cowboy Campfire BBQ and concert, but I was happy to have the opportunity to see them again. There was no concert this time, but I had more opportunity to explore the area, some on my own and some conducted by Wade and Cheryl.

There was a bump in the plans when I contacted the Hursts to let them know that I'd arrive in town the afternoon of October 26th, remain the 27th, and leave the 28th. They had been visiting in San Diego and were delayed in returning to Jackson until the evening of the 27th. So we committed to spending that evening and the next day until mid-afternoon together. That gave me almost all of the 27th to explore the area on my own.

Starting from Yreka, CA on the morning of the 26th, I just had to round a corner to have a grand view of Mt. Shasta:

It was considerably more snow-covered than when I'd seen it three weeks earlier. I stayed the night of the 26th at the Jackson Rancheria RV park associated with the Indian Casino there. It was a very nice park, and though I have no interest in gambling (I didn't risk a nickel the whole time I was in Vegas), I took the shuttle bus over to the casino for... you guessed it: the buffet. It was a great buffet, and a lot less expensive than the one in South Lake Tahoe. There were all you can eat lobster claws, crab legs, shrimp, and roast beef, as well as all the other usual buffet fare. It wasn't crowded at all.

The next morning I set out to really see the area around Jackson that I only had time to glimpse in August. To me, the real star of the region is the countryside. I just love the golden fields dotted with trees:

For the Cowboy Campfire we had hurried through the hamlet of Fiddletown to the ranch beyond, but I was intrigued to return. Fiddletown is small, but quite a historic place. Here's an introductory plaque, I hope it's legible:

Besides figuring prominently in the region's gold rush and a Bret Harte story, it was evidently a place where a sizable Chinese community and Anglos got along well together. Dr. Yee was a prominent citizen:

Across the street is the Chinese general store:

Some of Dr. Yee's descendants are important contributors to restorations in Fiddletown. Here's another building that caught my eye:

It's the town saloon during the week and home to the Cowboy Church on Sunday. The Cowboy Church is presided over by none other than Ron Scofield who also runs the Cowboy Campfire.

A somewhat larger town in the area is Amador City. Here's a view of the town from the south end:

and here from the north end:

at most a quarter mile apart. The museum and the Imperial Hotel are notable buildings:

For my tastes, the town that has the best combination of historic interest and fun things to do is Sutter Creek, a few miles south of Amador City. Here's a view of main street:

At the south end of town, I couldn't resist going into the cheese shop:

It has not only a great selection of local cheeses, but others from all over the world. The proprietor was happy to bring me sample after sample, tailoring her offerings to what I liked and didn't like. I ended up buying three wedges that are absolutely delicious; I'm still nibbling on them and wishing I'd bought more. At the north end of town, I chose this wine tasting room from among the many in town because it represented several different vineyards:

I got five samples for $5, which was applied to the purchase I made of three bottles. I hadn't realized that gold country was also wine country. I also had lunch at an Italian restaurant in Sutter Creek, Bella Rosa. I had a Reuben Sandwich (okay, not Italian, but a favorite of mine), fries, and a glass of local wine; everything was delicious.

As evening approached I headed to Jackson to meet the Hursts. We'd arranged that I would wait in the parking lot of a shopping mall and they'd call when they got to town. I just happened to glance at my phone and saw it had no service at that location (stupid Sprint network!). I hurriedly repositioned to a hill outside of town where I got marginal service. Just a few minutes later I got the call that they had gotten home and were ready to come out to meet me. We converged back at the agreed upon meeting point to go out to dinner. We first tried the historic old hotel in the heart of town, but their restaurant only serves dinner a few nights a week, and not on this one. So we went to one of Wade and Cheryl's favorite places, Mel and Faye's Diner. I had a delicious, and very reasonably priced, steak. It was a great choice for all of us.

After dinner, I followed them out to their place; they live in one of several houses on a nearby ranch. It's a cozy place with just one bedroom, so I was happy to stay in my RV parked outside. Here's a picture from the next morning:

Such an idyllic setting. There's always a menagerie of ranch animals around. Here's a turkey looking nervous about the approach of Thanksgiving:

and here's Alice the goat, whom you may remember from my earlier post:

She's grown in the three intervening months, but not as much as I expected.

Cheryl fixed us a delicious breakfast, then we took off in their car for an extensive tour of sights around Jackson and locations in the area where Wade and Cheryl have previously lived. A highlight was the Chaw Sé ceremonial grounds for the local Native Amerian tribe:

Cheryl was initially distressed because it looked like many of the buildings had been demolished, but instead the whole complex is undergoing extensive renovation. She had an long conversation with one of the native workers, and it was fascinating to hear how much they use traditional ways, shaping materials and building all by hand. Here's a bark-covered lodge that they had just finished renovating:

and a set of bark teepees:

I got myself into a shot:

Perhaps most fascinating was a large flat rock that had scores of grinding holes for grain worn into it:

What's shown is only about one-third of the total number.

My time with the Hursts was limited because I had an appointment with Sportsmobile in Fresno for some follow-up work on my motorhome. Though that in itself is not blog-worthy, I decided that as my first trip is coming to a close, this would be a good time to review in general how things are working out with my RV. That will be the subject of my next two posts.