California Hi-Lo Club First Campout!
 

Howdy California Campers!

Garry and I have been e-mailing each other the last several weeks and have come up with a proposal for our first campout, keeping in mind the locations of those who had previously expressed interest. We think we found a place that is a fair driving distance for all.

Where: 49er RV Ranch in Columbia, CA. For those not familiar with it, the park is in the heart of Gold Country in Tuolumne County, just north of Sonora. I have never stayed there but it sounds pretty good! There are many attractions, state parks, etc. to visit that are very close to the RV park, and it is an easy day trip to Yosemite for those interested. Check out the park website to learn more. Be sure to play the little video Huell Howser did about the park!

49er Ranch RV Park: RV Campground and Resort Columbia CA

When: October 19-23. This is a Monday-Thursday nights, ending on Friday morning. I have already contacted the park and they can accommodate a small group for these dates.

I don't think we will be large enough to be considered an official group (minimum 8 rigs) so reservations will need to be made on an individual basis but I can contact them and see if they can get us all fairly close together once I know who is interested. This is a pretty highly-rated Good Sam park with full hook-ups so there are several types of discounts available off the regular rate. There is also a discount coupon for $20 off the first night for first-time visitors that you can print out:

RV Trip Planning: RV Camping Columbia CA ? Reservation Rates | 49er RV Ranch

If you think you can make it, either post a message or send me or Garry a private message. You can also e-mail me. Let me know if you need my e-mail address. I'd like to get at least two other commitments before proceeding. We are still open to suggestions but time is running short. Hope ya'll can make it!

Thanks,

Ahhhh bummer. We can't do weekdays M-Th :( We can do the complete opposite....Fri-Sun...LOL

Oh...and in looking at the website. A group is considered 2 or more....with 8 sites booked you get use of their clubhouse.

Hi
I made reservations for the Oct 19-22 time and got the $40 rate. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

Regards

John Schmit

Hi Mossy,

Sorry to hear that you won't be able to make it! Since it is a smaller campground, we thought it would be less impacted if we met during the week, realizing that some folks may need to work but hoping they might be able to attend anyway. I was very interested in meeting you and seeing your rig but understand if you can't make it.

The good news is, this is only the first campout so I'm hoping you can make it in the future! I'd like to talk to everyone who attends about future get-togethers so perhaps we can incorporate a weekend in the next one.

Great, John! I just went ahead and made my reservation as well. I also got the group rate of $40. The gal said she would try and put us as close together as possible. FYI, the cancellation fee is $10 if made outside of 48 hours and one nights camping ($40) if made within 48 hours of arrival time. Be sure to tell them to apply the $20 coupon off the first night's stay if you have never camped there before.

Are you leaving on the 22nd or 23rd? Would you mind sending me your contact info (cell # and e-mail address) via a PM? I've started a contact list for interested members which I plan on sharing with everyone once I have their permission.

Looking forward to meeting you as well!

Thanks,

I was unable to edit the original post for some reason but please note that I meant to say the dates for the campout will be October 19-23, leaving on the morning of the 23rd. My apologies for the confusion!

Greg,

Fixed it for you.

Thank you, Les!

MossyOak,

Just sent you a private message.

Any Nevadans?
 

We've noticed that we have some forum members in the western part of Nevada so would like to extend an invitation to them to attend our first campout in October in Columbia, CA since it is relatively close in proximity. Please let Garry or myself know if you are interested, or post a message on this thread.

bumping the thread

My hubby wants to take the week off for this. I'm still trying to find a sitter for pets and parents (we take care of my parents).

Hope you are able to make it but understand it's a tough situation when caring for aging parents. Hey, maybe you could bring them along! :)

I wish I could take them! Dad is in a wheelchair, and our tiny Hi-lo can only fit 3 people.

I have asked the powers that be, and she is up for it.

However I do have 2 major projects and they need to be completed before the snow flies.
Typically it snows the last week of Oct in the Sierra's.

If I can complete, we are a for sure MAYBE.

I won't make reservations until I know.

Would love to put faces to names.

Hope to be seeing you!

MosseyOakLane,
we were both nurses if medical help close by is an issue.

steve

Hey great, Steve, hoping both you and Mossy can swing it!

Since the 49er Ranch park is a fairly small park, I just called them to get an update on availability. They only have 2 spaces left for October 19th-22nd, although there are plenty of spaces left for the 19th-21st. If you are on the fence, I suggest you call and make a reservation now to be safe. Be aware there is a $10 cancellation fee if made outside 48 hours and a one night's fee if cancelled within 48 hours. Their phone number is 209-532-4978, 9am - 6pm PST.

https://www.49errvpark.com/reservations/

Thank you...my husband was an EMT :) Dad doesn't camp well anymore, we tried it a few years ago, Our Hi-lo is far from fancy....we have one bed....LOL

Good News, Bad News
 

Hi all you California Campers! I'm looking forward to meeting all those who are attending the campout on the 19th!

First, the bad news :( . I just called the RV park and we will not be able to have any campfires at all due to the extreme fire danger in the area. The good news is that, as of today, the forecast for our stay looks very good. Highs in the low to mid 80's, lows in the 50's with no rain in sight through Thursday (not sure about Friday morning yet but I'll keep monitoring) There is, however, a 60% chance of showers on Sunday. I know at least one of you will be arriving early over the weekend so head's up!

After we have all arrived and settled in, I'm hoping we can get together Monday evening, either at a park facility, or at one of our campsites (whoever has the largest site wins :D) just to get to know each other and talk about activities to do in the Columbia area, and to discuss future campouts. Nothing has been planned as of yet so bring your ideas along with a beverage of your choice!

I plan on being there by 4pm so those of you already there can be entertained by watching my attempts at backing into my site :o -just look for the white Chevy Tahoe!

Luckydog, Hope you all have a great time! Wish we were there, but it would be a heck of a commute from Fla.
Treeclimber

Hey, if you're ever in the neighborhood we would love to meet up!

Campers, we will be having a BBQ dinner on Tuesday night. Everything will be provided by a gracious, anonymous member: chicken, appetizers, salad, grilled potatoes, grilled broccoli, cookies, and wine. Sounds yummy! Just bring whatever meat you would like to grill and, of course, your appetite! :D

Treeclimber, it would be a heck of a commute, but think of all the fun you could have. September 25, 26, 27th I hosted a class reunion in New Mexico. Wife and I left Southern California August 6th and drove north through Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, finally arriving for the reunion mid day September 25th. That part of the drive was only a little over 7500 miles and by the time we returned home it was 8500 miles.:D

My wife and I were able to make Tuesday and Wednesday night work. Unfortunately there is no availability Thursday night but we have a site reserved next to the group for the two nights. Looking forward to getting out of town and meeting up.

Jordan and Sally

Jordan and Sally,

Great, glad you are able to join us! Looking forward to meeting you as well and we'll see you on Tuesday!

Good to hear you can make it for the two nights. Look forward to meeting you and your wife on Tuesday!

Weather Report
 

Hi Campers!

Our weather continues to look good for the campout. A little rain expected on the weekend for those arriving early but clear after that. Here is the website I've been monitoring. It's for the Columbia airport:

Columbia Airport, CA (95310) Forecast | Weather Underground

Highway Closure
 

Hi all,

I don't think we have anyone, other than Garry, coming from SoCal but just in case there is someone else, be aware that state highway 58 is currently closed from Mojave to Tehachapi due to mudslides. I-5 is now fully open.

See ya'll in a couple days!

Back from our Campout!
 

Back from our first California Hi-Lo Club campout which was a huge success! We had a total of 5 Hi-Lo's attend which was great for our very first campout. Everyone enjoyed each others company, as well as seeing the different year and model Hi-Lo's, and the cool modifications that members have made. We also enjoyed seeing some of the local sights the Sonora gold country had to offer.

Thanks to all of you that made our inaugural campout a great success! The next one has already been discussed and is in the planning stages. More info will be following from one of our members . . .

I will be posting a few of the photos that I took and hope to see some from the other attendees. Thanks again to all who were able to attend and hope to see more of you in the future!

Once again, our thanks go out to Greg who put together our "First" California campout, which was enjoyed by five members and their significant other. The attached photo is our dinner on Tuesday evening, which was hosted by Les and Patricia and held at Greg and Victoria's camp site.

Great photo- thanks for posting Garry! My thanks to you and Linda for helping to get the campout started, and thanks to Les & Patricia for hosting a delicious dinner!

49er RV Ranch
 

Here are some photos of where we stayed. The park claims to be the oldest "RV" park in the country, starting out as a dairy farm and catering to miners during the gold rush. The last photo is "Hi-Lo" row. If you look closely, you can see Jordan & Sally's rig tucked between two of the trailers.

Thar's gold in them hills!
 

One of the activities at the RV park was free gold panning lessons given by Lloyd (aka Willie). You can see that Linda struck it rich! They also have a nice little mining shop where you can purchase supplies. The water wheel was hand-crafted by the owner several years back!

Seeing the Sights!
 

The RV park was very close to Columbia State Historic Park which is an old, preserved mining town. The first photo is of John & Denise and Greg & Victoria. The third photo is Jordan and family with Victoria at Cover's Apple Ranch where we enjoyed delicious treats and a train ride! The last two photos are from historic Jamestown which had lots of antique shops and a cool, old church!

Looks like you all had fun, Greg. Congratulations on a successful rally!

Do you know if the ranch owners "salt" the stream? (Add a little gold for people to find.)

- Jack

Thanks, Jack, we all had a blast! And yes, I'm sure the gold was planted. They would not allow us to keep what we "found" :rolleyes: but it was fun learning!

Looks like it was a success! Maybe y'all can host the 2017 rally! :D

Don't think we are quite ready for that :eek: but thanks for your confidence, Ruben!

Is there a HiLo club in California?

Nothing official. A group of five of us (11) had a campout a year ago last October, but nothing else has happened. One member is in Napa, two around Fresno, one sold his Hi-Lo, and we are near Riverside. I'm still interested but camping sites seem to be an issue.:confused: