What a fish!!!!!!

Oh boy!!!! Biggest fish Gary has hooked and landed. Fish was 13.5 lbs, 33' long. What a day!!!!

Gary is enjoying the porta-bote

The sun finally came out for a whole day. We are at Turtle Beach in Manteca, Ca. So far, most of the days have been very foggy. Lots of moisture in the air. The temp has been in the 40s and los 50s during the day. We decided to carry our porta-bote this year. We have been in a lot of places where Gary would have had lots more fun if he only had the boat. So after days of rearranging the bays, we added the porta-bote . We will be carrying the bote on top of the jeep as we travel down the road.


There are a few trees here with some color. Gary is coming in from a hard day of fishing.


Nice striper.


This is the set-up for hauling the boat to water when we are camped close to the lake.

Tall Ship in port

Gary and dad went fishing and discovered that one of the tall ships was docked at Rio Vist. This is the Lady Washington. It is 112 feet, has 11 sails, and has 4.400 square feet. It currently has a crew of 14 but can sail with a crew of 8. This ship was used in the first Pirates of the Caribean movie. We enjoyed talking to the crew and got to go onboard. During the week-end, people can pay for a three hour tour as the ship sails on the river.


Lady Washington docked in Rio Vista, California.




One of the 3 lb. cannon.


Gary, Mom, and dad on board the Lady Washington.

Gary caught a couple of bass

We have enjoyed our stay at Delta Shores RV park in Isleton, Ca. We made it to our favorite restaurant twice. Gary was able to fish as often as he wanted. My folks were able to camp with us here for 5 days which meant that mom and I got to go shopping while the guys went fishing. Weather was just marvelous.

Gary caught this 18" in the Sacramento river.


This stripper was 23 3/4" long. Gary says it gave him a good fight.


Our new view just across the road.


Gary and dad fishing. Lots of bites.

Coloma Gold Rush Live, Oct. 11-13

We discovered that they were going to hold the Coloma Gold Rush Live Days at Coloma while we were camping at Ponderosa. 1000s of people attend this celebration of the gold rush days. The event was held in the John Marshall Gold Discovery State Park located in Coloma, Ca. The only cost was $7 to park the car. We enjoyed our day walking around and seeing the people in period costumes. Some were even cooking in the dutch ovens. Gary and I played a game of Farro, just don't ask who won. If you are ever in this area when this event is happening, make sure to attend. Lots of events for kids.


This group was playing music of the gold rush era. Great entertainment.


Gold miner's camp.


This gentleman was showing us what was meant by a "flash in the pan."


These ladies were spinning threads and making lace the old fashioned way.

Marshall Gold Discovery State historic Park

We took a tour of the site where James Marshall discovered gold in 1848. Lots of buildings and items to see. Cost was $5 per car. The visitor center has about 6 informational movies that you can watch. We really enjoyed our day. For more pictures just click on the travel photo link and look for the Coloma album.


Concord Stagecoach


Replica of a miner's cabin.


On Jan 24, 1848, James Marshall went to check out the tailrace of the sawmill. He scooped them up with his fingernail, pounded them between 2 rocks, placed them in the crown of his hat and hurried off to tell the mill workers what he had found. Four days later, he rode to Sutter's fort with the samples of gold. Sam Brannan, who operated a store at Sutter's fort, went to the mill to see about the gold discovery. When Brannan visited, San Francisco in May, he paraded up and down the streets with a bottle full of gold shouting, "Gold, Gold from the American River!" By the end of May, San Francisco was reported to be half-empty.


Replica of the sawmill.

Camping by the Truckee River

We are dry camping at the Tahoe/Glacier Flat campground along the Truckee River. The colors are really pretty. We will be here for 2 nights.

Blairsden, Ca

We are slowly making our ways towards Los Banos, Ca, stopping along the way so Gary can fish the lakes and rivers. We spent 2 nights at Little Bear RV Park in Blarisden, Ca. Campground was pretty. There were lots of chain-saw carvings in the camp.

One of many of the carvings.


We drove to the Lake Basin area so Gary could fish the many lakes. The lakes sure were beautiful. This is Sand Pond. Sardine Lake is located behind the pond, just below the mountain.


Gary's catch for the first day's fishing at Sardine Lake.


Gary caught lots of fish at the Pluma-Eureka State Park. We also visited the Eureka Ghost town while we were in the park.

Camping near Lake Almanor

We are just traveling down the road on our way to Los Banos, Ca. We find a good-looking campground and pull over for at least 2 nights. Of course, one requirement for the campground is that it is located near a body of water where fish swim around looking for a meal. Thus, we are now at Lake Cove Resort and Marina located near Westwood, Ca on the east side of Lake Almanor. Gary has been fishing and caught a couple of trout. He also had 2 on his line that ended up breaking his line and swimming away. Last night we had a visitor to our campground. This little deer came down for the apples that were under the apple tree.

Time for dinner. Apples are on the menu for the night.



The water level is down at Lake Almanor. For all those fishermen out there, you can see what your lures and hooks get caught on. Strange looking tree trunks. Bet lots of bass could be found near these tree trunks when the water was up.


Looking at the mountains from Lake Almanor.

Eagle Lake Trout

Gary caught his limit of Eagle Lake Trout, the limit is only 2 here.


Measured the fish, one is 19 inches, other is 16 inches



This is the Marina. You are not allowed to fish in this area. Below you can see all the fish swimming in front of the rocks.


Lots of fish.


Gary would really like to catch one this size.

Traveling Hwy 395 to Likely, Ca

What a trip. Most of the scenery consists of high dessert, just grass and sagebrush. We also had to climb a couple of mountain passes which meant that we traveled at 25-40 mph. The scenery along the John Day River was pretty but the highway did not follow the river that much. Very little traffic on the road. Not very many places for pulling over for potty breaks.


We stopped at a roadside rest and I took my camera out and captured this photo of a butterfly.



This is Lake Abert in Oregon. A very akali lake. The lake is very large.


Highway 395 follows John Day River. This part of the trip was very pretty.


Didn't take Gary long to catch dinner once we arrived in Likely, Ca. He has really been looking forward to fishing the river. Now I know why.

Fishing at O'Sulivan

Gary just got back with lots of fish. He is really enjoying this camping spot.