The Gold Rush - Wednesday

We awoke at 6.00 on Wednesday morning to a wet bed! The skylite above our bed had a neat little hole punched in it, perhaps an acorn or pine cone dropped on it. It had rained solid from Midnight, so a fair amount of water had dripped in. We had wet duvet, bottom sheets, mattress topper and memory foam topper and it was miserable, so we packed up early. We left Yosemite in pouring rain, heading for Folsom Lake SP near Sacramento, taking a last look at the Yosemite Falls, which was now flowing quite fast. We drove north on very winding roads back up to 7000ft (and snow) then down onto US120. We stopped at a little roadside cafe for a brunch, we really enjoyed the 50's Americana decor and the excellent Pancakes (with warm syrup). Driving on we turned north onto US49. This road meanders up through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, through the area known as the Gold Rush Country. This was the area that gold was discovered in California in the 1850's and is dotted with lots of small towns which still have the victorian wooden buildings, with their balconies and wooden sidewalks so distinctive of the 'Western' style. In fact many westerns moviesw were filmed here.
Folsom Lake is a 177 mile drive, so we stopped overnight at Jamestown, famous for the Jamestown Railway, which we discovered (after we had left) was the railway used in Back To The Future III. Spielberg also had the town built at the end of the railway, but it burnt down in a wildfire. But first things frist, we needed to do some washing, both to dry the bedclothes and clean our clothes. After the washing we did get time to have a wander down the Jamestown Main Street, before going on to Sonora, which also has a Main Street, but is much busier as it still takes the through traffic. We stopped there for an evening meal in a local grill called Outlaws. We had the Blue Plate Special, which was Steak Masala, corn on the cob and scallop potatoes. It was delicious, the steak was huge, tasty and tender. We really enjoyed that one and I claim it as one of the best meals we have had on this trip.
On Thursday we packed up in the rain, but were determined to see as much as we could of the Gold Rush, so we stopped off at the Columbia Historic State Park.