Making Memories at Big Trees State Park

This weekend I was able to check two things off my bucket list, going inside the earth at Moaning Caverns and visiting the Big Trees State Park in Calaveras, CA. Since we retired the Grand Poobah camping trip, we don't see some of our friends every year like we used to. We've tried to plan other things, but it just doesn't always come together the same way it did with Poobah. Julie had plans to take this trip and when she heard us Partaks had a dinner date with Steve and Ro, she suggested we all meet in Columbia for the weekend - we did, and we had a blast! We had so much fun, we are already thinking we need to plan a weekend with a bigger group, who wants to go?

 

 

 

We met Saturday at the Moaning Caverns in Angles Camp and did the walking tour of the cavern. WOW! What a cool thing to see, the inside of Mother Earth is really something special. Mason, Julie, Ray and Maddie (Ray's daughter) rode the zip line and then we made our way to a local winery where we did a little tasting and had lunch. We made our way to Columbia where we checked into the historic Columbia hotel (no TV or Internet, the kids were aghast!) where we had the balcony rooms up front overlooking the main street.

 

 

We all met up in Jamestown where we had dinner at the National Hotel and as many of you know, it is never a dull moment dining with kid cook Mason Partak. As usual, Mason is always a bit put off when he is offered a kids menu, because seriously, can't people see he is a kid with a more mature palette just by looking at him? If they can't see it, they will get the message one way or another, this time it was this exchange:

Mason: Excuse me, I'm looking at the dessert menu and I see you have flambe'.
Server: Yes.
Mason: I'm curious, can you flambe' peaches with grand mariner?
Server: Looks around the table in disbelief that this is a 10 year old making the inquiry.

 

Yep, that's my boy! Laughing!

On Sunday we had breakfast and took the walking tour of Columbia and then took the stage coach ride. Mason and Maddie panned for gold and then we were off to Big Trees State Park. The weather had cooled significantly from the day before so it made for a lovely walk through these majestic trees. We finished up our weekend with an early dinner in Murphys, CA. Julie and Ray had plans to spend one more night in Angels Camp and Mason was elated to be invited to join them. On Monday, they went horse back riding and of course ate more good food.

Those of you who know me know that I would rather spend my hard earned dollars traveling with my family than buying "stuff." This weekend was exactly how I want to spend my time; learning about history, experiencing new things, and most of all, spending time with my close friends making memories. This weekend added another extraordinary element to my joy, my lifelong best friend took my son with her and got to know him a little bit better and in turn, he got to know her as well. I love that they love each other as much as I love each of them!!

Have a wonderful week and make sure to make a memory this week, after all, it is our memories that will not only hold their value, their value will increase as we all get older.