September 2, 2024
We awoke to another beautiful day in the Tahoe National Forest. Lindsey & Jon stepped out of their tent early so we could have as much time together before checkout at noon. Time with beloved family is precious, especially when you live far away and don't get to see each other often. So we shared a lovely breakfast under the trees, then tearful hugs as we said goodbye.
Jamie and I hitched up Rhoda and drove out of Tahoe along with throngs of others heading home after a long Labor Day weekend. The traffic on route 80 headed toward Sacramento and San Francisco was brutal. We were relieved to exit onto route 49 toward Coloma, our home for the next few days.
The relief was short-lived. There may have been no traffic but there were tons of twists and turns on the steep and narrow roads with tons of blind switchbacks as we climbed higher and higher above the American River..It would have been intimidating just in a vehicle but pulling Rhoda made it quite a challenge met by my amazing husband James Drver Rich. Yes, his middle name is actually Driver and he more than lives up to it.
We chose to stay in Coloma for its natural beauty and because James Marshall found gold in a stream bed of the the South Fork of the American River, just downstream from our campsite, leading to the California Gold Rush in 1849. You never know, a big ole nugget might wash up in front of our campsite since we're just above the river and the Troublemaker rapids.
The sounds of the rapids are making us sleepy so we're turning in early.
Good night from Coloma, CA on the Rhoda.
Wow pulling the Rhoda up those mountainous curves! Yay Jamie Driver - I remember when u posted re him parking the boat in Italy - Jamie really is gifted in handling large unwieldy vehicles!