Got up early to beat the crowd to Sacramento area. Did well, Rt. 50 had light traffic. Chugged up to Echo Summit at 7,382 feet. From there our day was all "downhill," literally, from the Sierras.
Passed through the towns of Strawberry and Kyburz (which had a store sign with both "Welcome to Kyburz," and "Now leaving Kyburz"); the El Dorado National Forest; Pollack Pines, elev. 3,980, where, coming out of the mountains, Rt. 50 changed from a 2 lane route to a 4 lane freeway. Could see flat land in the distance. When the forests thinned out, billboards began to dot the highway. The communities sprang up and spread out. Ah, we're back in civilization!
At Placerville we left Rt. 50 to venture cross-country on Rt. 49 to Auburn. It was a nice change of pace to drive this gently winding and sometimes steep 2-lane road through attractive farm and grassland. We really enjoyed it. Passed through the towns of Coloma, Lotus and Cool. After crossing the South Fork of the American River, we reached Auburn, "Gateway to the Sierras."
It was time to deal with growly tummies. We headed to the Old Town area (where we stopped for an evening meal five years ago when traveling from Maine with Pat's belongings in a new ten-foot U-Haul truck). Here we looked around for where the locals were dining.
Discovered Awful Annie's had "awfully good" cinnamon orange iced tea, and surprisingly good cold tomato pesto soup. Pat's banana pecan waffle was excellent, as was Vance's Polish sausage on marble rye.
Walked up the hill to the Joss Temple - an old building where Chinese families could gather and relax. The children learned Chinese language and culture here.
Interesting photographs and original artifacts. The building sat abandoned for many, many years, and the things in it remained. We spoke with some of the people who cleared the cobwebs and opened it to tourists.
Visited a number of the gold mining era shops. At the Auburn Old Town Gallery Pat was trying to choose between some earrings and a necklace that she liked. Vance treated her to both! What a lucky duck.
Headed to the Fairgrounds, site of the Gold Country Museum. Walked through a hard rock mine entrance and learned various ways gold was extracted from the earth and rivers.
Watched a little boy pan for gold. Miners and their families came overland, sailed around the Horn, and walk/sailed across Panama to get to the gold fields. Most made barely enough to keep body and soul together. VERY hard work.
Taking I-80, (6 lanes wide!) we reached Rocklin, in the Sacramento Valley. Sunday traffic slowed to a crawl. It was soooo hot, we really needed a cool drink. Colonel Sanders winked at Pat at the KFC /A & W where we stopped for an afternoon A&W root beer float (and air conditioning).
As you can see, we have had an up and down day:
Elev. 6,254 feet, South Lake Tahoe
Elev. 7,282 feet, Echo Summit
Elev. 1,255 feet, Auburn
Elev. 218 feet, Folsom,
where we stopped for the night at "Beals Point" of the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. Vance knocked off the back bumper while backing up to check out the site we selected. We just loaded it into the RV and parked as planned.
Pat scouted the area, taking photos of Folsom dam and the very low Folsom Lake. The water must be at least 1,000 feet farther out than expected (which made for a very wide "beach").
Seen along the way: turban-topped vans (colorful rubber rafts strapped to roofs of whitewater rafting outfitter vehicles) -- Pony Express route marker --
"Memory Lane" offered old time candy -- long wire farm fence with old shoes atop each stake -- Sutter's Mill Discovery Site -- in Auburn, "the oldest continuously used post office in California" -- many bicyclists.
Ended at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, 7755 Folsom-Auburn Road, Folsom, CA 95630
Odometer 63,140.2 (114.1)
Total: 5084.8
On the way west on I-80 we saw Camping World in its new location in Vacaville. We pulled in and they reinstalled the rear bumper with stronger bolts than before. (Maybe next time the bumper will win over the post! -- or Vance will do a better job of checking out the rear before backing!)
On the way again, we discussed places we might stay on or near the coast. We're both tired of the heat. (We had the air conditioning on almost all night last night.) 
As we continued west it slowly became clear that, as in The Wizard of Oz, there was no place like home. We arrived around 4pm and began unloading the RV. 
When we first entered the house, we saw it with new eyes: There is so much space! The ceiling is so high! The water runs endlessly, the toilet is beautiful and large, the shower doesn't have a water restrictor or a place to put quarters (or loonies) to keep it flowing. 
The bed is so large and has such easy access! And there will be no RV park charge tonight!
