But first, the final day of our last post. Indeed, as one might expect, we did not head straight home from the camping trip. We meandered highway 49 through the Sierras. It was cold and rained all through the mountains.
The clouds were low in the trees creating an eerie smoky image.
We stopped at a couple of quaint towns reminiscent of the gold rush era. Downieville was an enormously prosperous city in the mid 1800’s during the gold rush. Now a tiny little mountain town of approximately 300 inhabitants, in it’s heyday, it was a contender for the state capitol, receiving only 10 less votes than Sacramento. I am not sure you can read this below. Gold was so prevalent during this time, a housewife, sweeping her dirt floors, discovered $500 worth of gold.
We continued on down the highway to discover Nevada City. An outdoor festival was in progress, with booths of arts and crafts, dancing, and the street lined with rainbow flags. This city reminded me of hippy Santa Cruz in the days when our downtown was a more popular tourist stop.
Be prepared for cow, deer and bear. A ranger told us a story of a resident bear getting into a local’s house while on vacation and destroying their kitchen. We saw none of the below…..
We love the discovery of new places, wandering the streets, window shopping, and talking with the locals.
Now we are preparing for a three month stay in Europe.
We fly with British Airways airmiles and their companion ticket program, which allows two people to travel on one ticket. Of course, availability for these seats is limited and must be booked well in advance. We booked this trip nearly a year ago while still in the midst of pandemic restrictions, anxieties and doubts. All during the pandemic, we continued to rebook cancelled reservations, with hardly a thought as to where we might go, and with no idea when we would be able to actually travel again. Only when we successfully departed for Italy in the spring did we get excited about traveling again. The travel restrictions have lifted, and anxieties, while not disappeared, have lessened, so we are going to adventure to new counties.
Traveling for an extended period of time requires a significant amount of preparation and planning. Over the years we have learned a great deal about how to travel; packing light, researching the best methods to get around, booking places with a kitchen, but most of all, starting with a well-honed packing list and preparing a folder of our itinerary and reservations. I can’t remember everything and if I leave it to chance, invariably I arrive having forgotten my hairbrush, or bathing suit, the charger for my phone, or to pack my favorite sweater. Of course, in most cities you can go out and buy what is missing, although this is not always convenient. We had a freezing one-day layover in London on one trip and wanted to explore the city. It was windy and so cold, and Gary had not brought a neck scarf. We found one, and it costs over $35.
This is the draft of the first and second round of planning.
We decided after looking at the flow it was too many stops for us. We enjoy the traveling portion of travel; trains, boats, driving, and plan as to not exhaust ourselves by either trying to fit in too many places or by making a travel day too long. We like to have enough time in each location to really explore the area, have a bit of down time, and work if needed. This way we rarely feel rushed,
except when the unexpected happens and we are running to catch a train, plane, bus, etc.
Understanding, with all this meticulous preparing, always things happen throwing the best laid plans to the wind. And, that is part of the adventure!! Already we have had a flight and an accommodation cancelled and we haven’t even left yet.
Travel Adventures - Gary and Nancy 