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Gold Prospecting Adventures (Gold Panning)(Jamestown California)

Address: 18170 Main Street Jamestown, California 95327

Gold Prospecting Adventure is located in a small town called Jamestown. It’s about 3 hours drive from San Francisco via I-580 East & CA-120 East. Gold Prospecting Adventure offers a variety of gold mining adventures for the past 40 years. There were two gold rushes at Jamestown one in 1849 and in 1880. Jamestown is a gold rush town, one of California’s original and the gateway to the Southern mines.

Our drive was fun and passed through a couple of smaller towns and back-country roads. When we arrived at Jamestown it really felt like a mining town with narrow roads and old structures. We saw a statue, branch jail, Jamestown Museum, Hotel, antique stores, and local restaurants. We had to check in at the store and were instructed to drive for a few minutes to the small creek to meet our instructor. There were a lot of gold panning or mining supplies, shovels, pan, samples of gold, a bag of sand for panning, and many more antique items. As we arrived at the small creek, we were greeted by our instructor named “Table Top” Terry. He was nice, friendly, knowledgeable, patient, and good with kids. We walked around the creek and found our little spot to dig for gold. We brought our own water boots but they have one available onsite. Terry gave us a brief history of gold mining, how to set up the sluice box, and explained to us the basics of the gold panning and sluicing process.

The creek area is secluded, clean, with lots of trees for shades and beautiful green grass. We wore all our water boots, grabbed our shovel, buckets, strainer, and proceeded to dig for gold. The creek water was a little bit cold but we later got acclimated to it. So, I dug deeper into the creek and dumped it into a deep plastic bucket with a large strainer on top of it. Then, my wife and daughter dumped all the big rocks on the side of the river. The purpose of the strainer was to sort out all the big rocks. We then proceeded to bring the deep plastic bucket with water into the location of the sluice box to separate the gold from the gravel. Terry helped us throughout the process and we all jumped for joy when we found our first gold flakes on the sluice box. Our hard work finally paid off digging through the river and sorting things out. We ended up finding 7-10 small gold flakes and decided to call it a day. We end up staying in the area for a while and enjoyed nature. We all played in the river, relaxed, and threw rocks at the water. After all the fun we then proceeded back to the main store to return our supplies and bought a few souvenirs from Jamestown.

Overall, it was well worth the price, hard work, and patience in looking for gold. We all had fun, quality family time, and a unique experience that we will never forget. Even though we didn’t find a big golden nugget for us to retire, it’s still one of the most memorable family “Strike it Rich” adventures. There is effort and hard work involved because if looking for gold is easy then we will all be rich. Enjoy!

Tips: Bring bottled water, towel, sunscreen, extra socks, or clothing as you will get wet due to standing in 6 inches to 2 feet of stream water. You will also be tumbling, and walking over river rocks. Just enjoy the experience and walk around the town and explore the area. A sluice box is used as a tool to separate gold from gravel and is used in a river or creek. Gold panning is traditional mining that separates gold from a placer deposit using a pan.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about the Gold Prospecting Adventure in Jamestown after your visit in the comments below. And kindly subscribe, comment, and share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Napa Valley Gondola

Address: 600 Main Street Napa Ca. 94559

Cruise aboard an authentic Venetian Gondola along the Napa Valley River. Perfect for sightseeing, special occasions, and for romantic couples. Their gondola cruise is private and good for a maximum of 6 passengers. Enjoy the river, drink wine, listen to music and enjoy the beautiful day.

The gondola cruise is located in downtown Napa Valley Riverfront. We parked in the garage with a limit of 3 hours but there was also street parking available. We selected the Amore Cruise package for our Valentine’s Day celebration. We met Sean and our singing gondolier in the dock behind the riverfront building. Sean provided my wife and daughter a single red rose before getting on to the gondola. The gondola was very clean, beautiful, and authentic. They even have a bottle of hand sanitizer available for safety. And you can bring your own blanket and glassware for wine since they can’t provide it as of now due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The river cruise lasted for about an hour The funny and friendly gondolier informed us about the history of the Napa River and about the Gondola. Our gondolier was even dressed up in authentic gondolier attire with a matching hat. And the highlight of our gondola ride was when our gondolier sang to us while we were passing under the bridge and throughout the river ride. The gondolier even situated the gondola so we can take a great picture with a background of the bridge. We even saw a few species of birds and ducks along the river.

Overall, we enjoyed the fun, romantic, unique, and memorable gondola ride experience in the Napa Valley River. We will definitely go back again this summer. Please mention to Sean that you were referred by me (Archie).

Tips: We also bought and ate a delicious breakfast sandwich and deserts at Sweetie Pie close to the docking area. We took a picture at the famous Napa Valley’s Riverfront “big chair” which is located near the gondola docking area. Enjoy!

Let me know if you have any questions and what you think about the Napa Valley Gondola cruise after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Wylder Hope Valley Resort former Sorensen’s Inn.

The resort is located in the Hope Valley on the eastern side of Carson Pass. The Wylder Hope Valley Resort used to be called Sorensen’s Inn. The resort offers cottages, a sauna, a restaurant, log cabins for rentals, and many more. The famous Sorensen’s Cafe in the resort serves great classic food recipes and has a relaxing ambiance. The cabins are separated from each other for privacy and for visitors to enjoy the beauty of its natural environment.

We went around the area and visited the resort. We took a lot of pictures with all the surrounding Fall Foliage color displays around the area. They have an average size parking inside the property. But we saw some cars parked alongside the main road. A portable toilet is available for public use and located in their parking lot area. We even took a picture across the street on a bridge over a river near a private property area. Overall, the area near the resort has an amazing display of fall colors for visitors to enjoy and take memorable pictures.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Wylder Hope Valley Resort/ Sorensen’s Inn after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Hope Valley Meadows (Highway 88)

Address: Hope Valley, Ca. 96120

Situated on the south side of Hwy 88 at Blue lakes Road with an elevation of 7,000 feet. During the Gold Rush era, settlers and emigrants used the Valley as a passage to and from California. Some of Hope Valley’s advantages are its lack of development and the view of the beautiful Meadows. Hope Valley is famous for its fall colors and a favorite destination for day hikers, photographers, artists, fishermen, and many more.

There is no available restrooms or portable toilet available near the meadows. Visitors typically park their cars on the side of the road. We saw a couple of cars not parked properly and watch out for people crossing the street to get to the other side of the meadow. There is a small Cabin in the middle of the meadow surrounded by beautiful fall foliage great for taking pictures. Hope Valley is also popular with skiers during winter and surrounded by an array of fall foliage colors during the autumn season. Hope Valley is about 40 minutes south of Lake Tahoe.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Hope Valley on Hwy 88 after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Bodie Gold Mine and Ghost Town

Address: CA-270 Bridgeport, Ca. 93517

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuinely eerie, and historically preserved California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that had a population of 10,000. Small amounts of gold were discovered in the hills north of Mono Lake. It’s located 13 miles east of Highway 395 on Bodie Road Hwy 270. The drive is a very unique, challenging, and memorable experience. We hit the end of a paved road and it was off-road (gravel and sand) for at least 3 miles one way. We drove slowly and safely along the rough dirt road. We were lucky that we had rented an SUV with a road adaptive feature that helped us maneuver through it.

The entrance fee per adult person is $8, and $5 for children ages 4-17, and children ages 3 and under are free. We were also given a brochure that shows the history of Bodie and each individual buildings. The mining carts and burned houses reminded us of a scene from Indiana Jones and Old Western movies. We walked through the area and saw all the original old houses, vehicles, tools, artifacts, and furniture with different states of decay. The one that is visible in the middle of the town is the Gold Mill building with original machinery that processed gold extraction. There was also a gift shop where we purchased our souvenirs. Public restrooms are available near the parking area. The site has 2 locations for parking and is made up of gravel and sand. Everyone was wearing masks and social distancing due to Covid-19. Reminder to bring lots of water and sunscreen. Just a reminder that your car will be very dirty and dusty.

Tips: Try to drive or rent an SUV since you will be driving slowly on an unpaved road with a combination of sand and rocks. There was a lot of dust created by other cars passing through on both ways.

Let me know if you have any questions or what you think about Bodie State Historic Park after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.