Recap - Gold Country / Columbia Run
Our morning started out overcast and cool at 7:45 at the Starbucks on Vasco Road Livermore. The leaders of the drive were Steve and Tina, with lots of assistance from Anne, who is very familiar with the Gold Country area. Isaac, a Mini owner, joined NorCal Minis for the day. Anne collected all of the lunch orders for everyone, and called in the order during our drive. Simon led the drivers meeting, Dolores passed out tickets for the drawing, and 16 cars left the parking lot at about 8:45. Once we got outside of Livermore, we picked up Alex and Sarah and then picked Phil and Valerie near Stockton. We headed east on Highway 4, with nice rolling hills. Then we continued east on Highway 12 and Highway 26, where we got to enjoy a few twisties.
We stopped in Valley Springs at another Starbucks/Burger King/Taco Bell for a short break. We got back on the road heading east again on Highway 26 for lots of twisties. The sun was coming out by then, and we arrived at Murphys Hotel for lunch at about 11:30. NorCal Minis had the entire Mark Twain Banquet Room for lunch. Simon led the draw with 3 lucky winners winning cool MINI prizes – a MINI baseball cap, a MINI t-shirt and a MINI bag. After lunch we explored Murphys for about 20 minutes. Then we all got back to our cars, and headed to Columbia, a historic mining town. We took Parrot’s Ferry Road, with beautiful scenery and a few twisties. Some folks headed back toward home, and others explored the town of Columbia. Panning for gold was available for those who wanted to try their luck.
Overall it was a fun day, with several folks visiting Murphys and Columbia for the first time on this trip. Thank you to all who joined the run, and we look forward to the next one!
