Your mom and I celebrated your Grandpa Gene's 65th birthday today by taking him into the hills for some sightseeing. He ended up having a great time seeing some of California's history and getting some fresh air in the foothills.
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| We took a short drive up into the hills east of Sacramento to the small ghost town, Coloma, which is now operated like a small State park. Here, gold was first discovered in California, sparking the nation-wide gold rush of 1849. |
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| Your grandpa Gene asked me to take this picture, because he really has an affinity for pretty skies and he swore this was the bluest sky he'd seen in his whole life. This area of the town was a nice open park with picnic tables and stone fire pits and grills for cooking out. |
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| Nearby was one of the old-town jails, now half fallen apart but explorable. Your grandpa had some fun picking up the old pieces of granite which used to make up the cell walls. |
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| The old post office in the town still operates. Your grandpa, a retiree from 32 years with the postal service, have some career counseling to the young woman working inside. |
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| From a bridge we admired the South Fork American River flowing by the town, once the power source for a number of mining operations in the town. |
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| This cute little one-room house still stands as part of the museum which sprawls across a number of buildings in town. |
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| We overheard part of a demonstration of traditional blacksmithing, as this guy made from scratch a replacement part for a toy another young visitor to the park needed. Your grandpa Gene chatted with one guy, sharing stories of hammering railroad spikes. |
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| After seeing the mining town, we drove a windy road to nearby Auburn, where we enjoyed the old downtown before getting some lunch at the local brewery. |
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| I enjoyed an excellent sampler of beers from the place and listened to your grandpa reminisce a bit about his 65 years. He's got a storied life, to put it simply. |
