May 1-4 - Celebrate Drew’s tenure, biking and tour

We moved the RV from the Alsup RV Resort (aka, Shan and Carl’s where we had lived for about 2 weeks, II’m sure it seemed longer to them) back to the Nevada City Fairgrounds since Carl was on overnights again and we were too rowdy!

We have a nice spot under the big pine and spruce trees. 

We’ll be here till May 4 when we head south to boondock a little and then stay in Joshua Tree to visit Kya and Caleb. 

After we got setup, Shan picked us up and we headed down the hill to Loomis to meet Drew and Erin to celebrate Drew’s tenure acceptance. He is now an associate prof at UC Davis. Quite an accomplishment for both Drew and Erin. 

We had take-out food from a Bernese restaurant then took that to Moksa Bewery close by for some good beer and great food. 

Sunday was a fun-filled day with another bike ride on the Pioneer trail before we headed back to the Ruhstaller Farm in Dixon, a small town west of Sacramento. More great beer and tacos!  Since the last time we were there, they had all their hop vines planted. That was just a week ago. They must have worked fast!

We sat in a covered area that was cozy and  lovely


Then Drew and Erin treated us to a Georgian meal complete with Supra, dumplings with plum sauce, stuffed eggplant with a walnut paste and more. Such a treat. 

With our last full day in Nevada City, Shan took us on a tour of the newly renovated, just opened, historic National Hotel. What a beautiful, authentic renovation. We just ooohed and ahhhhed the whole way through. It is so opulent with luxury all through. 

Here’s Shan pretending to rob the safe. We took this because they are having a photo contest for one night at the hotel. 

Some history of the town will provide some flavor to the reading.

In 1853, Broad Street was known for its houses of “bad repute” even though respectable citizens tried to go about their business. 

While a modicum of civility began to take hold in the camp, with running cattle or riding horses on the sidewalks finally outlawed, much of the town was built of canvas and wood with clusters of tents and closely packed shake-and-board shanties thrown together by the miners, very easy for a fire to start. 

The town burned 7 times before more substantial brick buildings with iron shutters on their doors and windows began to be built. 

The National Hotel was one of those buildings, built in 1856 in what was to become the most sophisticated of the gold rush mining camps, the National Exchange Hotel is a treasured piece of Nevada City history.