Kiwis and Fairy Bread

27 June 2025

It was time to say good bye to Yosemite. One last time down the winding Henness Ridge Road we stopped for just one more look at Tunnel View. Salute to El Capitan, a wave to Half Dome and a kiss to Yosemite Falls. Even after seeing it so many times, it still doesn’t look real.

Up and up on Big Oak Flat Road, we passed a sign saying Priest Station. I understand needing a priest after traveling over these mountains! A former stage coach station, it’s now a very run down cafe. Our route took us through some lovely looking small towns, all boasting the label “historic”, and over the Don Pedro reservoir, where dozens of house boats had gathered.

Our destination was Napa, a five hour drive. In planning our route weeks ago we looked for a halfway point to stop for lunch. Columbia State Park, a restored Gold Rush town, looked like an interesting spot. Driving in, we were not quite sure what to make of it. When an actual stage coach pulled by two large horses crossed an intersection, we knew we had made the right choice.

Parking in the shade in a near empty lot, we walked into town. It was very quiet. There were shops selling gifts, books, leather goods, candy and clothing. But the shop keepers, in vaguely pioneer dress, didn’t seem to want to sell us anything. They didn’t greet us and one literally told us she wasn’t allowed to use the register because her mom was in the back. The blacksmiths curtly answered my one question. Out on the street I got the distinct feeling we were not wanted. I could almost hear those almost-costumed people saying “We don’t take kindly to strangers in these here parts”.

When we asked about the stage coach we were told “Some of the parts are 200 years old. We used to have a brochure about it. But it didn’t say much. I don’t know what happened to them”. She sold us tickets anyway. A blonde woman in breeches and straw hat nodded to us in the doorway.

The stage coach driver was the first person who seemed to be glad to be there. Wearing a bright purple long skirt, she said the stage coach was hers and she loved being out here. The heat didn’t bother her one bit. She introduced us to her big strong horses, Mason and Colby. They didn’t mind the heat either.

Mike and I climbed in and took a seat. It started off. Wow!! Leather seats, light brown wood interior. It was pretty no frills, but it was real! A very bumpy ride, we laughed as the stage went down roads and through a boulder lined pass. An uncomfortable ride, for sure. But we were having a great time when….

Out of the woods came the notorious Calamity Karen! The stage coach came to a stop. She moseyed up to our windows, saying we “looked mighty familiar”. We thought the same. Other than the bandanna over her face, she bore a striking resemblance to the woman we saw standing outside the stage coach office. Calamity Karen was looking for valuables. Fortunately Mike found some gold wrapped dark chocolate in his pack, with which were able to bargain for our lives. A piece of the chocolate was all it took to get us safely on our way again. We laughed all the way back to town.

Back on Main Street, it seemed like we weren’t strangers anymore. Locals, costumed and not, talked to us. The guy in the ice cream parlor was especially nice. He was excited about tonight’s opening of The Wizard of Oz, by Sierra Rep. Two mothers chatted on a bench while their children ate lunch at the pizza parlor a few blocks away. We applauded her patience as she spoke to her son on the phone instructing him on how to order a pizza “You go inside and you order a pizza”, she repeated four times. He just wasn’t getting it. Still, she told us how she just moved back here from the city and loved it. Another family lounged on the rocks that had been uncovered in the search for gold. The town used to be ten feet higher, their mother told us. They all loved coming here. We even spoke to Calamity Karen’s “twin”.

Back in the 1950’s the town of Columbia decided to restore the relics of their Gold Rush days and make these few blocks not only a state park, but also their downtown. Not many tourists pass through. Mostly locals and school groups. Gold may have been found in the 1850’s, but we were told it was the business owners who really struck it rich.

We couldn’t have picked a more interesting spot to have our picnic lunch.

Back in the car I took the wheel up a winding road, over a broad bridge and out of the Sierra Nevadas. A meadow of blonde grasses went on for fifty miles. Farms and ranches popped up occasionally. Seeing a sign for fresh strawberries we stopped at a crumbling shed to get some. They were really good.

The Napa mountains loomed along with suburban sprawl. Miles of big stores and malls. Not a vineyard in sight. We checked into RiverPointe “Resort” and were assigned a cottage #76. It was quite a bit like a big RV actually, very comfortable.

Out to Whole Foods for milk, salad greens, bread, cheese and a nice bit of smoked salmon for dinner. Being in Napa, I was in the mood for a nice alcohol removed wine and expected to have many choices. But it seems Napa hasn’t gotten in on that trend yet, the only bottles we could find came from New Zealand! For dessert, we bought one last bag of the chocolate brioche we had been eating the entire trip (I think we consumed several dozen!)

After dinner we headed to the laundry room to take care of all our trail-dust covered clothes. But it was far more complicated than we expected with only one working and very slow washing machine and a dryer that was really, really, loud. Mike had put nearly all his clothing in the wash and it was getting chilly. He put on my well-traveled cloak for warmth. A sympathizing employee gave us a plastic bag for our wet clothes and suggested we use the laundromat down the road in the morning. So word to the wise: free laundry isn’t always as easy as it first appears to be.

I was excited about the morning. After finishing our laundry we would then, at last, be returning to Enchanted Hills Camp.