Sonora to Yosemite.

The Gold Rush is such a big thing out here. I suppose California was 'founded' on it and they have plaques to its discovery and to remember the names of men who did.

An aside in all these places and tours is that they really just skim over the history and lives of Native Americans. Which is a real shame. I can't decide if they're disinterested, a bit ashamed or if they just spent so long not talking about it, it doesn't occur to them to do so. Sad really.

Anyway, we went to visit a town called Columbia, which is one of the oldest in the area (c1850). Its not inhabited now, but is made up of a number of houses and shops, some of which are set up as they would have been, and some of which you can buy things in. The staff are dressed as people were back in the day. Mostly, anyway, many wear trainers and you can see leggings peeping out under dresses.

We timed our arrival for a tour. Obvs. 

Columbia (the female form of Columbus) had many towns named after her. Originally they thought about calling it American Camp, but that seemed too impermanent. To this day there exist local towns called French Camp and Chinese Camp. 

Welcome to the California Store. An upmarket place for upmarket people.. You can tell that by the slab of marble outside. Marble was mined locally. 

Chicken Licken. Hens were highly prized and there is a record of a man paying $3 for an egg - equivalent to $100 today. 

Where the posh people shopped. Things were paid for in pinches of gold. Shop keepers often sought out employees with large hands, as it was the seller who took the pinch. 

Where the poor people shopped. Scurvy was a real problem. Miners lived off dried consumables, like legumes, mushrooms and hard tack - a delicious creation of baked flour, water and salt, which lasted forever, could only be eaten by adding in moisture and often contained wevills and other insects. Mmm

What happened if you resorted to thieving. 

The outhouse - used by rich and poor alike. Complete with its own thunderbox. 

A wagon of the type many travelled in day to day. Though you did need money to have one and many prospectors just walked. 

A wagon of the type many travelled in when they were dead. The hearse wagon. This is an original one. 

A home. 

The old bath. Once a week, whether you liked it or not. One lot of water, largest to smallest, in size order. 

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.. Mattresses were suspended on frames using rope. The tighter it was, the better sleep you had. Horsehair mattresses were the posh version. 

Bowling was a recreation. 

As was gambling. Apparently miners would gamble on anything. 

Then we tried our luck panning for gold. 

Apparently, there are 'gold nuggets and semi precious gems' in these troughs. 

Rich! Rich beyond our wildest dreams, I tell you. 

Then we drove to Yosemite. It was an absolute scorcher of a day. 

Sat nav in the car was sitting at 99 degrees F, but it did go up to 106. With that and the winding roads I had to stop, NN2 feared vomiting. It was like the Horseshoe Pass for 18 miles. 

Eventually, we arrived. 

Wow. It's so majestic. Really amazing. NN2 wanted to see a place which is famous because people climb it. I was looking for signs but didn't see any.  I saw this:

So I stopped to take a photo. Turns out it was what we were looking for. 

Meet El Capitan. 

After taking some pics while The Captain posed for us, NN2 went scrambling across the rocks while I had a paddle. 

Yosemite is full (we are told) of bears, wolves and bison. 

I saw a lizard. 

Headed home through a beautiful sunset. Traumatically running over a pre run over (and dead) cat on the way. I felt sick. NN2's reaction? 'Just to finish it off?'