Gold Country
We left San Jose at 4.30 in the pitch black and it did not begin to get light until we reached Stockton. Mind you, the urban sprawl we were driving through was not much to look at. Just before Stockton we took Highway 4 East towards Highway 99 and then Route 88 towards Sutter Creek.
It was not long before we were in the countryside of the Central Valley and the scenery began to be interesting. We passed a lot of orchards and rows and rows of grape vines sporting their new greenery.
At Lockeford we stopped for breakfast and by 7.30 we were on our way again. It was a beautiful drive through some lovely countryside with masses of wild flowers of every color along the route.
It’s going to be a hot day and already the sun is up and the shades are down. In front of us we can see the Sierras which is always an uplifting sight.
The cattle ranches and vineyards gave way to scrub and rock and we began to climb out of the valley.
When we reached Highway 49 we turned left and stopped off at Sutter Creek.
Sutter Creek
The first thing that caught our attention was a huge banner announcing the 49er Bypass Challenge for Walkers, Runners and Bikers was taking place today. Trust us to arrive when something was going on. The same sort of thing happened to us on our first trip to Murphys and also to Volcano. In Murphys it was a Homecoming Parade and in Volcano a chili cook off.
Another banner was strung across Main Street and the middle of the town was cordoned off so we turned up a side street and found a small car park and took a wander around.
They call this city the Jewel of the Gold Country and it is a very cute place. The main street consists of cafes, gift shops and antique emporiums all situated in buildings constructed over a hundred years ago. Sutter Creek was a tent town during the latter half of the 1800s when gold was found nearby. Be warned, the sidewalk is not suitable for wheelchairs as there are lots of levels and steps.
Today there was a lot of bustle as volunteers for the 49er Bypass Challenge where busy setting up water stations and cones and contestants with numbers pinned to their vests were warming up and studying route maps. There were four routes – a 1 mile walk around town, 5 and 10 kilometer course for runners and a 25k bike ride and they all started and finished at the same point with staggered starting times.
We stopped off at the Backroads Cafe where Tom had a decent cup of coffee and I treated myself to a cup of chocolate (without the whipped cream). Everybody was very friendly and I chatted to the coffee servers, the volunteers in the street, the competitors and the passerbys. There is a laid back and relaxed feel about the place.
I was surprised at how few competitors there were. The first call was for girls 6-7 and men over 80 but there were no participants. There were about a dozen different starting times for the under fifteens and the over 35s but nobody came forward. The announcer was having a hard time to get anybody on the start line. There was one call for 69 year old females so no wonder there were no takers – who wants everybody to know how old you are? It all seemed a little complicated to me and the announcer struggled to get all the categories and start times right. By 9 though he had a few takers and we watched small groups set off on the 10k run in one direction and the dozen bikers set off on the 25k course in the other direction. Between 9 and 9.30 there was a lull before the participants for the 5k run were called to the starting point.
April 16 2008 | Special Places | No Comments »
