Family Vacation Part One: Columbia State Park

This summer we loaded up the car and trekked 11 hours west to the sleepy town of Angels Camp, California. The drive was terrible. The rest of the trip was great.

After settling in to our resort we chatted with the concierge about things to see and do with kids. When he learned our boys are 7, 3, and 1 he didn't have much confidence that we'd be able to do much. He was wrong.

Our first adventure was to Columbia State Park. We spent most of the day in this authentic gold mining town. High on Tyson's to-do list was panning for gold. So that's what we did first.

This gentleman taught us how to pan for gold. Then he left us to do the work ourselves. We quickly learned that it was much easier to find stones such as amethyst, jade, and garnet than it was to find actual gold.

(Tyson's vial of treasures)

After gold mining in the hot sun we were more than ready for some lunch. We enjoyed burgers at Black Bart's. This is where the boys discovered Sarsaparilla. They were hooked. Three bottles at lunch weren't enough. Dan ended up buying a case of sarsaparilla to bring home. (As well as a bottle of syrup to make our own when the case runs out.)

After lunch we visited the Old Fashioned Candy Store. The kids were . . . . well, like kids in a candy store. In the end we couldn't talk them out of these giant lollipops.

Next we found a little shop where Tyson was able to dip his own candle.

We also dressed up as cowboys for a family picture, enjoyed ice cream in an old fashioned ice cream parlour, panned for more gold, and window shopped in various little shops. My favorite shop was an old bookstore where this sign was posted by the cash register:

In the end were were tired, sweaty, dirty and happy.

It was a good day.