Roadtrip 2006: Tuesday

After some minor difficulty, I was able to find my way out of San Jose and drive my little car over to Sonora. Sonora resides deep in the mountianside and is the center of California's pride, having only just missed being the capital of California. Sonora was the place where California's first flag (as an independant state) and it's acceptance into the union (as a American state). Was done. This morning I actually passed right trough it though, determined to reach the fabled town of Columbia, CA.

Columbia is one of the many gold towns in the Sonora area and probably the most famous. The original mainstreet has been painstalkingly reconstructed, and shopkeepers, saloon owners and trappers all wander the streets in period attire. Some of the shops have been transformed into museums or displays, (I especially got a kick out of their 1840s dentist tools) or are actively running shops. The trappers even have a gold sluice running so that people can pan for real gold and keep what they find.

I toured several exciting locations, including the blacksmith[no kilt pins :( ] and his giant forge. I also found the distellery and secured some Sasprialla syrup for the manufacture of my own saspiralla (heeheehee). I also found a ROCKING costume shop, with a complete set of 1840 clothes for men and women. Those who know me well, know I have a total weakness for costumes. I also had an adventure talking to the locals and admiring some of the arresters of the town itself. Things were a little subdued, though, as it seems to have decided to rain the entire day. Nevertheless I had a great time and learned some great pieces of history.

Still having a good number of hours in the day, I headed down to Sonora for some antiquing and to check out the historical sites there. I immediately ran into a paradox: although Sonora has set itself up as a tourist town and has some very friendly museum folk, the rest of the town(including some shopkeeps) are not tourist friendly. Period. I spent over an hour trying to find the visitor's bureau (who kept giving me conflicting directions). That one hour, many questions and 1 parking ticket later(parked too far from curb..Doh!)I gave up and proceeded to my overnight camping site.

Fate intervened here too, seems the massive snows this season have closed all major passes to the national parks. Even the smaller campground to the west was requiring snow chains. Worse news, came that I will unable to reach bodie (the ghost town) tomorrow. With some resignation, I've had to head home to sleep and replan. Still, overall, this was a very successfully day. I managed to learn a lot about the 49'ers and have a good time.