Day 4 2016

Today we went to the Marshall Gold Mine State Park which was where the California Gold Rush began.  Gold had previously been discovered in Southern California when it was still Mexico, but this was not the start of the Gold Rush.  It was dry and hot, around 90 degrees!  The kids enjoyed exploring the area and panning for gold.  They each found gold and garnet, but it was not easy.  We realized the one with the best eyes in our family was the one who found the most, and that was Rebekah :).  Elizabeth told me that she was going to keep panning for gold the rest of her life, even when she was adult.  Even though she was very disappointed when she found out the amount of gold she found was not worth very much, she was determined to continue panning to help pay for college and a truck when she got older.  Love that sweet little girl!

The air was hot, but the water was COLD!

Panning for gold definitely takes lots of patience and good eyes!

Benjamin Marshall at Marshall Gold Mine pointing to the river where the gold was discovered.

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When we were finished and had enough gold to pay for dinner (ha!), we drove on to Sacramento.  It was a very different city.  On the river, in downtown, it is like a Western town, with one original building still standing.  We met a nice gentleman in the Visitor Center right before closing whose wife used to work for Ronald Reagan.  He gave us a brief history of the city and talked to us about an original stagecoach they have in the center.  I wish we could have had more time with him to learn more of the history.  

We saw many homeless people.  There seemed to be two extremes of very wealthy people and people in poverty, but not many in between.  It was definitely an interesting, sobering area.  

We ended our day tired, yet grateful, and went to bed early.