A few weeks back we wandered up to Calevaras County with my parents. We
stayed in a nice little time-share condo in Angel's Camp. It was pretty
nice, that time-share thingy. Better than I expected anyhow.
Samual Clemens (nom de plum, Mark Twain, yes that guy who wrote about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) apparently stayed in Angel's Camp for a few months on a personal pocket-mining adventure. He wrote a story about a jumping frog which was based in Angel's Camp. Now the town is a living, breathing tourist shrine to Mark Twain and the Jumping Frog's he made so famous.
There's even now an annual Frog Jumping Contest. Yap. They call it the Frog Jumping Jubilee. They put the frogs on a launch pad in a circle, then try to get them to jump in any direction. The one that jumps the farthest wins. I'm not making this up!
All in all, we had a good time. We went up to the Big Trees forest. We went to the Stanislaus river. We wandered around Angel's Camp and Murphy's and Columbia. We saw a play. We went wine tasting. We descended into the Moaning Cavern. We ate, drank and were merry.
Pictures ensue:
The Pine Cone of DOOM!
Big Pine Cone, Big Pine Cone Maker
Topher Viewing Trees
Mom Hiding in Trees
Serene Making the River Look Good
Father and Son Getting Ready To Empty Them Barrels
Mom and Dad Slightly Tipsy
Serene in My Hat Va-Va-Va-Voom!
Samual Clemens (nom de plum, Mark Twain, yes that guy who wrote about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) apparently stayed in Angel's Camp for a few months on a personal pocket-mining adventure. He wrote a story about a jumping frog which was based in Angel's Camp. Now the town is a living, breathing tourist shrine to Mark Twain and the Jumping Frog's he made so famous.
There's even now an annual Frog Jumping Contest. Yap. They call it the Frog Jumping Jubilee. They put the frogs on a launch pad in a circle, then try to get them to jump in any direction. The one that jumps the farthest wins. I'm not making this up!
All in all, we had a good time. We went up to the Big Trees forest. We went to the Stanislaus river. We wandered around Angel's Camp and Murphy's and Columbia. We saw a play. We went wine tasting. We descended into the Moaning Cavern. We ate, drank and were merry.
Pictures ensue:
The Pine Cone of DOOM!
Big Pine Cone, Big Pine Cone Maker
Topher Viewing Trees
Mom Hiding in Trees
Serene Making the River Look Good
Father and Son Getting Ready To Empty Them Barrels
Mom and Dad Slightly Tipsy
Serene in My Hat Va-Va-Va-Voom!
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