There really is sun in California!

Well, the last two days have been absolutely beautiful and the weather people say the sun is here for a while now!  Just this week we were on our way to town and this was the view out the windshield

Hail was pounding the truck and the road was white.  Today it's in the 80's and sunny.  The firewood is finally drying out and the lawn chairs are back in a circle around the fire pit -- for good, I hope!

We had a chance to get out last week during a window of good weather so we decided to visit Sutter's Mill where the gold that started the California gold rush was discovered.  On the way we stopped in Auburn and walked through the old town.  This statue can be found right along I-80 in Auburn's old town district

Here's a replica of Sutter's Mill, rebuilt on dry land since the first mill was eventually overtaken by time and water.  It was in the mill race they were digging for this mill that they found the first gold.  I guess Sutter wasn't  too excited since he thought the discovery of gold might lead people to overrun and take over his land (He, of course, was correct!)  They say that, in the end, Sutter died in poverty, never seeing much profit from his land, his mill, or the gold.

Diana and Isabel are standing at the monument where the mill originally stood

At its peak the area around Sutter's Mill had a population of around 10,000 people.  Here is one of the churches that served the area.  This church started as an Episcopal church and was later sold to the Methodists.  The park service still rents it out for weddings and other occasions but we don't think they hold weekly services here any more...  There was a huge bees nest in the bell tower and bees were flying everywhere which must make the weddings exciting!  

Isabel is standing on a rock that the Indian women used to mill acorns on.  On top, where she is standing there are several depressions made by hand millstones.

Diana and I are standing in front of a cave (or mine?) entrance just above the rock formation Isabel was standing on above.

And now, here is the wildflower shot of the day. There are so many beautiful wildflowers here that we find ourselves taking pictures of all of them.  Rather than posting them all at once, we'll try adding one to the end of each post.  Those of you who are better at taxonomy than we are can help us by posting their proper names.  This shot was taken at Sutter's Mill with the flower draping itself against a background of granite with a quartz vein.

Back at the campground -- here's our wildlife shot of the day.  These deer are part of a larger group that live here.  They wander through our loop each morning and throughout the day and have effectively put to rest the notion that we might be able to have a tomato plant or two at our site...

There was also a confirmed black bear siting the night before last down by the lake, but we weren't there to see it or take pictures (not that I really mind missing the close encounter).  We'll see if we can get a hold of the pictures that were taken so we can post them.