Places visited: Columbia, CA; Sonora, CA; Twain Harte, CA
First Day
‘This was our first trip in the RV. It wasn’t long after we purchased it that we had already scanned a dozen sites and settled on 49er RV Park. The park was pretty close, in the foothills of the Sierras near Columbia, CA., a spot we’ve visited before…just not in an RV.
The Ranch looked like it had some interesting flair to it. Old waterwheel, ore carts, hoe-downs by campfire. It sounded like a generally neat place. I recall the trip up starting out with us both very nervous, but after we’d been on the road 30 minutes, I was feeling confident about getting us up there safely. Backing into a site…well, that was another story.
Before we left, I had spent some time practicing backing up and parking out at the Tracy aiport, which had a lot of open space to maneuver a camper around in. After an hour or so, I was felt pretty good about not killing anyone, and maybe even not damaging property!
Once we arrived and pulled up to the office, we found out that our spot was close by…the end of a row next to the propane service area. I think I started sweating bullets. Hitting another camper was a bad day…taking out a propane facility would have been slightly more bad.
Fortunately we had a helper from the Ranch accompany us and helped us to back us in. It was a tight squeeze…not much privacy…but after we parked and got ourselves set up, it was an awesome experience! Our site was pretty much smack in the middle of the “ranch”, and we went out exploring the sights as soon as we were done pitching camp.
created by dji camera 
Here are some of the “attractions” of 49er RV Ranch!
Columbia State Park
After we settled in and did some panning in the ranch’s “creek”, we headed out to visit nearby Columbia State Park. I remember is was blistering hot that day, and there weren’t that many folks around, but we spent the morning wandering about and checking out the town, which was a replica of early mining days. Fortunately, there was an ice cream store and a neat hotel where we could escape the heat for at least a little while. The smith shop was really cool!
First Night
Back at camp that afternoon, we made a nice fish dinner and then headed over to the bonfire to hang out with other guests. Great experience! I really started to feel what the RV life is all about. Everyone was super nice, and had great stories of traveling. We met folks from all over the US, not just California. I was very inspired.
