archive: gold country, california 2003
SUMMER 2003
Gold Country, California
August 8-10
Molly and I went to Auburn, California. I am fully accountable for choosing the campsite. Do you know that KOA stands for “Kampgrounds of America”? Our site was great, if you discount the nearby airport, the yelling dads, the up-at-7am-at-full-volume-next-site-over families… at least there was a swimming pool! And you can’t not love a website where you can send an e-postcard!
Look at the amenities of the Auburn KOA! When was the last time you even thought about tetherball?
The KOA brings out the best in a person. I love my new Corona™ hat (purchased at the Target next store to the campsite), and it is a Gold Country boy magnet. I removed all traces of subtlety by drinking Corona™s while wearing the Corona™ hat.
Corona™: Miles Away from Ordinary!
Saturday was our Day of Culture in Auburn. Look, it’s the courthouse! [plagiarized from Auburn’s website:] Auburn is one of California’s earliest mining towns. During the Gold Rush in May of 1848, a miner by the name of Claude Chana was taking a short cut to meet his friend James Marshall and discovered gold in the Auburn Ravine. Auburn then became a shipping and supply center of hundreds of gold camps. In 1853, Auburn became the seat of Placer County, an honor befitting its stature as an important trading center and supply depot for the mines.
There was a fabulous tour at the museum at the Auburn fairgrounds. I learned more about hydrolics, dredging, alloys, etc etc etc than I can even remember right now.
Saturday night we attended the Nevada County Fair in nearby Grass Valley. Superduper! This fair is right in the middle of this pine forest … proclaimed by the State Senate as “California’s Most Beautiful Fairgrounds.” Too true! Go to the nevada co fair website.
Didn’t go on the Ferris Wheel.
This is Molly on the Wave Swinger. You know, the one where you get in a baby swing seat, hanging on superlong chains and then you spin around. [plagiarized from Butler Amusement’s website:] The Wave Swinger is a work of art, combining the traditional swing ride with lavish, hand painted scenery. Imported from Germany, the Wave Swinger lifts riders slowly from the platform and then proceeds to take them on a leisurely ride, tilting one way and another to add to the excitement. Its unusual size, unforgettable scenery, lights, music and ride make the Wave Swinger a Butler Amusements classic.
I don’t know about leisurely. I was a little scared. More about that later.
This clown looks happy and anticipatory. Didn’t go on this ride either.
Molly and I rode the Kamikaze. You know, that Pirate ship swinging thing that turns you upside down and makes you think you might have wandered into hell [or at least some sort of permanent high-discomfort state of being]. At least, that’s how it felt on Saturday. Molly experienced fear, too, but in a much different manifestation.
There’s a lot more to this Kamikaze-riding story than I can go into here. Next time you see Molly or me, buy us a drink and we’ll give you the whole, shocking story.
The fair was great. We saw livestock, rockclimbing, karaoke; we ate pink popcorn bricks, corndogs (sponsored by Job’s Daughters); we saw a hay bucking competition and played Bingo.
Hay bucking? Why, that’s grabbin’ two hooks and loadin’ bales of hay; in this instance, onto a truck. The competition was fierce; the winners (by hundredths of a second) were Jake and Josh. We ran into them at Bingo. Here they are with their trophies!
DID YOU KNOW: Hay, once harvested, is gathered into piles (or put onto frames) to be dried and bundled. These piles are called hay cocks. And yes, that’s where my name came from.
The bingo tent was sponsored by The Soroptimists. [plagiarized from the Soroptimist website:] Soroptimist is an international volunteer service organization for women in business, management and the professions. Soroptimist’s mission is to improve life for women and girls by identifying needs and working through targeted service projects to address those needs. Founded in 1921 in Oakland!
The Soroptimists were $6 dollars richer thanks to Molly and me. I itched to snag one of these Bingo cards imprinted with the Soroptimist logo… which would have improved this woman’s life, but would’ve been tres uncool, in the bigger Soroptimistic picture.
I liked the glowing-pod spaceship look to our tent when the light was on inside. Many thanks to Stacey for providing sleeping pads for our trip, which actually allowed me to not sleep in the car this time.
You’ll be relieved to know that I had very few Blair Witch Project-prompted fear attacks this camping trip. I had many Corona™-fueled late night bathroom trips; all of which were conducted in a leisurely manner. No panicked running this time!
Little did we realize how much sadder we were going to be when we got on the road only to hit Pac Bell Park Giants traffic and Candlestick Park Metallica traffic!
Thank you for sticking with this mini-travelogue. Tell me what you’re up to this summer!