The Model A Touring club is pleased to announce our Fall 2018 tour to South Dakota and the Black Hills September 4th to the 16th. This two week Model A tour will cover approximately 1340 miles of driving along the rugged landscape of South Dakota. Spearfish, SD is both the starting and ending point of … Continue reading South Dakota/Black Hills Tour, September 4-16 2018
But first, here are sights from yesterday’s drive from Oakhurst to Jackson, CA. Fremont’s Fort pictured above is a scenic lookout on Hwy. 49. General Fremont, a cohort of Lewis and Clark, was the founder of Mariposa, and had several gold mines in the area. Presumably, the Fort was built to protect his mines! In … Continue reading It’s a Wrap…
Our hotel on Sunday night was in Oakhust, CA. This was the southernmost point of the official tour and the last time almost everyone was together. Cars scattered in many directions today! Some seemed anxious to head home; the cars from the LA basin left the group in the morning and are already home. The “official” … Continue reading Heading Home (or ???)
Today is a driving day. The group travelled along the California “Golden Chain Highway” (aka Highway 49) from Sonora to Oakhurst. There were quite a few sights to see. First, leaving Sonora, Paul Hohman documented that even the “oldtimers” in Sonora have their phones in use! A main stop for most of the group was … Continue reading On The Road Again
Today the Model A tourists went down to the Station. That last one reminds me of “Petticoat Junction.” The group enjoyed a tour of Railtown 1897 (a state historic park in Jamestown, CA), which consists of the original depot, headquarters, and roundhouse of the Sierra Railway, built in 1897 to carry passengers, ore from mines, … Continue reading Down to the Station (early in the morning…)
Everywhere our cars go, crowds gather… Here is an example when we checked in at our hotel in Sonora, CA, on the 14th. Today is what could be called a “lazy” day (for a Model A tour, that is), in that there were no specific commitments until dinnertime. However, with so many interesting sights nearby, … Continue reading Twain Country…
The first stop today was Mokelumne Hill, CA. The town takes its name from the neighboring Mokelumne River, which in turn is Miwok for the "people of Mokel," the likely name of an Indian village in the area. The Hotel Léger is one of the oldest hotels still operating in California. George Léger, a Frenchman who came during the California Gold Rush, opened his Hotel de … Continue reading Today Included an Historic Bar and Monsterous Caverns
On September 13th the Model A tourists paid homage to some non-mining California history. First was the Chaw’se Indian Grinding Rock State Park and Museum in Pine Grove. The Krills explain the photo below. It’s “…a close-up look at the Soaproot plant the Miwok people used for soap, food, etc.” The word Miwok means people in their native language. … Continue reading From Miwok Culture to a Foundry to a Castle!
I never knew there were so many mines in the California Gold Country! Here the Touring Club’s on the way to the Kennedy Mine in Jackson, CA. According to Fearless Leader John, “This mine along with the Argonaut across the street, produced over $53,000,000 in gold. They call this section the richest 1/2 mile of … Continue reading Another Day, Another Gold Mine!
Ah… September 11, Patriots Day – a day to reflect and to remember, so here are a couple of flag images from Placerville, CA: The one on the left shows a flag one of our cars was flying, reflected in another car's window. The one on the right shows the Gold Bug Mine, which was … Continue reading Model A Folk Are Becoming Gold Mining Experts
