ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME: The Amador And Calaveras County Fairs

As we all know by now 2020 was the year that most of us would like to forget due in large part to the havoc that COVID-19 caused for everyone in one way or another. Thankfully when the calendar flipped to the year 2021 our daily living routine started to slowly but surely get back to normal. 

Since most people have now gotten the vaccine in one form or another, that means our lives can start to get back to a more normal way of living that existed before we even knew anything about the virus. For us that means being able to get out and about more often to explore new places and things to do in our local area and beyond. 

The first of what is hopefully many more fun adventures that made 2021 more fun than was the Calaveras County Fair in the town of Angels Camp, California. The 2021 Calaveras County Fair was held from May 13 through May 16. 

We went on the first day that the fair was held for a few hours of fun. One of the more interesting sights that we saw as we were driving into town on our way to the fairgrounds was the vast amount of what looked like freshly laundered clothes that were hung on a clothesline. We soon found out some time later that this is a Calaveras County tradition that takes place during the time when the county fair occurs.

After taking in the laundry scene in downtown Angels Camp, we finally arrived a short time after at the county fairgrounds site. After parking our car and buying our tickets, we spent most of the time there walking around checking out some of the fair exhibits and having some corn dogs to eat. We also came across a group of what looked like school kids who were part of a dancing group that we had to wait for to go by us each time we saw them.

While it was nice to experience the usual fun activities that are a part of any county fair, the main attraction of the Calaveras County Fair is seeing the annual jumping frog competition that has become a big part of Calaveras County's history ever since Mark Twain wrote about them in one of his books. 

The annual jumping frog competition is held in an outside open area of the fairgrounds where the participants gather on a stage with their fellow amphibian competitors to determine which frog can jump the farthest. When we were there we got to see a few of these competitors in action. The basic fundamentals of the competition include people placing a frog on the stage and then kneeling down on the ground and using their outdoor voices so to speak to get the frogs to do about 2 to 3 jumps or so. 

We stuck around for about an hour or so to watch the proceedings before we decided to call it a day and head back home from our first county fair experience in 2021.

Our next journey to a 2021 county fair was in July for the Amador County Fair in Plymouth. We had already been to the Amador County Fair a few times before we moved to where we live now so we had a pretty good idea of what there is to do there. After all we had been coming to the Amador County area off and on for many years before. 

The theme for the 2021 edition of the fair was Back In The Saddle Again. This was most likely to poke fun at the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown that forced many of us to stay home during 2020 for health and safety reasons. 

The list of things to do and see at the Amador County Fair include the usual suspects of carnival rides food booths and fair exhibits. A couple of our favorite exhibits in particular there are the outdoor tractor exhibit where you can see and hear a lot of neat old looking tractors and the animal livestock exhibit.

The 2021 fair was also a special one for us when it came to the exhibits area because my mom decided to enter one of her knitted shawls in the fair! After the competition was over we saw that the judges awarded her with a second place ribbon!

There is also a rodeo that takes place each year at the Amador County Fair each year but we didn't go to see it in 2021. When all was said and done the 2021 county fair season in our local area was very fun! We can't wait to see what's in store for the 2022 season!

Tim Musick
Copyright 2022-All Rights Reserved.

   

   

 

CLASSIC TRIP - Montana and Yellowstone 2002, Part 1

A Montana Collage - Gallatin National Forest

Be careful what you wish for, right?  My wife wanted to really get away (we were having our kitchen remodeled and we were stressed) so I found what, so far, has been the most out-of-the-way and as-far-away-from-civilization accessible lodging in the country - 14 miles from the nearest town and 7 miles from the nearest paved road...the last mile was the driveway into the lodge.  She also had never been to Yellowstone so we put together this trip.  So let's go back to 2002, shall we?

Right up front, let's just say that you need a little extra determination to get here and then get around...especially if you use a wheelchair for mobility.

The state's major airports at Bozeman, Billings, and Helena just don't show up on major airlines radar screens so direct flights from most of the country is not an option. What flights you do find are not going to be cheap. Once you arrive, accessible public transportation will be a challenge to find as will accessible van rentals.

We decided to drive. From L.A., this is not a quick and easy road trip especially if you have trouble sitting in the car for long spells. After 3 nights on the road, we were finally at our destination....Big Timber, Montana, about 50 miles east of Bozeman. We needed some time to just not drive any more.

Researching for a place to stay yielded the Burnt Out Lodge, a bed and breakfast run by Ruth Drange on her family's cattle and sheep ranch. The lodge is accessible with three ramps leading into the building. The area around it is not, so you will need your own private van or car to get there.

The reason you need your own ride is because it is remote. In fact, for a wheeler, I cannot think of a more remote accessible accommodation that I have ever come across. The lodge is located at the farthest reach of the three thousand acre ranch abutting the Gallatin National Forest.

Only 7 Miles to go to the Burnt Out Lodge

To get there, you first drive seven miles beyond Big Timber. Then, it is up six miles of dirt road to the first gate. Someone must get out of the car to open the gate (an attendant here is really necessary for all but the most hardy wheelers), drive through, return to close the gate lest any cows escape the ranch. One more mile of bumpy road is necessary to navigate before you reach the lodge building where one more gate must be opened and closed.

It takes a pretty major effort just to get here.

Once here, it is pretty easy to go up a ramp into the building and into your room. The lodge has a vast open public area with a two story fireplace to warm up at. Five rooms are all on the first floor and each will allow access for a wheelchair easily. One room in particular has been built with bars for the toilet and bathtub for access. There is no roll-in shower, however. Plastic chairs are available for use as bathing chairs.

The View from the Room

We stayed in the accessible room, although as the only guests at the inn Ruth offered us our choice of any room. The room is huge and very open and airy. A twenty foot ceiling reinforces that feeling. It is furnished sparsely with just a bed, two night stands, a small table and two chairs. It was sparkling clean and comfortable, but it does take a bit of getting used to.

Our first day had started in West Yellowstone, Montana after we had stopped there for the night. Along the way to Big Timber, we stopped at Nevada City, a recreated Ghost Town where authentic buildings had been moved to from other areas. It was a quiet and not unpleasant stop but not exactly enthralling either.

In Big Timber, we had dinner at Prospector Pizza in a pretty little downtown area before bedding down for the night at the Burnt Out Lodge. We saw dozens of deer along that 7 mile access road up to the lodge.

After sleeping pleasantly in our large room with all the windows and the front door open (great things to do when you're several miles from the nearest road), we had our breakfast and decided to do a little sight seeing.

This morning, that would entail heading up the Boulder River valley from Big Timber. We stopped when we got to Natural Bridge.

A short hike lead us to a bridge and several viewing platforms built into the rock. The paths are accessible but be careful of the hundred foot drop off of the sides when heading to the platforms. The bridge path is not as scary.

From the bridge and the platforms, you can see the natural bridge when the water level is low, as it was when we visited in July. In a spectacular display, the river drops down a hole and travels about one hundred yard before emerging from a shear cliff face.

When the water level is higher, the hole is underwater and the river flows over the natural bridge but you can still see the other waterfall emerging from the hole in the cliff.

After our tour up the valley, we headed back to Big Timber. It was over one hundred degrees when we hit town so we decided to spend the afternoon in the community pool. A buck fifty was all it took to get all three of us in where we lounged around for an hour and a half...until the lifeguard's shrill whistle told everyone to immediate evacuate the pool. A thunderstorm was approaching fast.
 
We took quick shelter in the small pool house where I took the opportunity to give Tim a shower in the only roll-in shower we would see in Montana. Now that's what I call thinking on my feet!

We changed back into our street clothes and headed out of town. The rain had let up enough so that we could visit Prairie Dog Town State Park. This is a small area set aside for these large, barking rodents where you can see them in a wild setting to your heart's content. Outside the park's perimeter, the critters are fair game for the farmers and ranchers who shoot these animals as pests when they see them.

A shower and a nap back at the lodge refreshed us and we headed back into town for dinner at the City Club, a combination steakhouse, bowling alley (six lanes!), bar, and casino. We had some delicious Montana steaks...better than the steaks we payed three times as much for on the way home in Las Vegas.

The town turns in pretty early and try as we might, we couldn't find too much to do after 7:30pm. We missed the only showing (7:00) at the local theater but we'd already seen Lilo 'n Stitch back home. A trip back to the lodge where we could reach out and pat a cow's behind as we drove by was in order.

Another night with the fresh Montana air wafting through the room and we were ready to tackle another day. After breakfast, we drove fifty miles to Bozeman to visit the Gallatin County Fair's opening day.

This is a very small fair where everybody was giving out freebies or samples. Everybody had candy bowls out for quick little nibbles. A local political group opposed to an upcoming ballot measure gave us a huge sports cup (with their logo on it, natch) filled with ice cold water with a local chiropractor matching that with a big bottle of spring water out of an ice bucket...perfect for the 105 degree day.

A few local sportmen's groups filled our bag with free fishing tackle...lures and bobbers. A candy maker threw in some free samples of fudge. A local mine even gave us some raw rocks that they grind into talc...along with ruler, pens, pencils. Another local politician running for office gave out free American flags.

We were in hog heaven with all the goodies and we got to see all kinds of livestock and eat that great, greasy fair food while watching some country and western concerts. It was a great day and we met a lot of friendly local folks.

After the fair we ate dinner at McKenzie River Pizza in the beautifully restored downtown area of Bozeman, where some workers recognized us from the fair earlier. It was good pizza and even better beer.

Tonight would be our last night at the lodge. We had one more open-air night before our last breakfast with Ruth.

A deer walked by one foot outside the dining room window while we at our morning meal and a marmot rooted around outside. Before it got too cute, Ruth whispered to us that the marmot was a pest and she would have to shoot it if it returned. Ah, the ways of the Montana cattle ranch life.

Stay tuned for part 2...Yellowstone!

-Darryl
Copyright 2002 - Darryl Musick

A Fair Time in The Motherlode

You would think, that being in the middle of one of the state's oldest wine producing areas, that the county fair would sell wine.

You'd be wrong.

At least when we're there, the wine bar is closed. Beer and margaritas are free flowing, however.

We're at the Amador County Fair in the heart of California's Gold Country in Plymouth. We've been wanting to come here for years.  A few years ago, we had a trip planned but work got in the way. Last year was another attempt but a large forest fire in the area made it a no-go.

Finally, we're settled in to the great Shenandoah Inn and we're set to go.

Watch the Video!

It's a small fair, two hours will pretty much get you through everything.

It's got great displays of 4H raised animals like sheep, cows, and goats.  Horsemanship competitions are going on in the arena throughout the day. A midway full of rides awaits the adventurous fairgoers.

After deciding we'll probably have the fried calamari as our fair food later, we head to the back of the grounds where hobbyists have restored tractors and engines on display.

A small steam engine runs a wood shop complete with lathe and drill press while other smaller engines just sit there running and popping,  awaiting something to use they're power.

One gentleman has hooked his up to a hand-pump and is recycling water from a bucket on a trailer. When I ask his why he did this (it obviously has no practical purpose) he said simply, "because it's fun."

A giant boiler, with smoke that can be seen over the entire fairground, runs an historic lumber mill via steam power.

Pieces of furniture sit on the lawn nearby, products of the lumber produced here.

The sawdust is recycled and used as bedding in the animal barns while the trash wood is cut up and burned in the boiler.

We have our calimari (just so-so) and a couple of beers while we check out our haul of freebies from the exhibit halls. The shady trees of the beer garden make a nice place to watch the parade of antique tractors go by.

Afterward, we go across the street from the fair to Amador 360 to taste some wine and even buy a case.  A very nice dinner at Taste, an incredibly delicious restaurant in downtown Plymouth, caps the day.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved