We finally get into Happy Camp after about 10 hrs on the road. We had a blow out on the boat trailer (we used it as a trailer). After 2 hrs of trying to find a tire then finding someone to put it on the rim we finally got on the road again......... Dad was funny...... he was really anxious to get there. I was towing the boat and the speed limit was supposed to be 55 for me towing something. We pulled over to get some things and he asked me if I wanted to him to drive my car and me drive Ricks, that way we could do the speed limit (70 mph) and he wouldn't have to keep slowing down to wait for me. I told him no that I would try to keep up.
Arrival We pull into Happy Camp not sure as what to do or where to go. We thought that we would just try and find the camp site ourselves. So we go to the Rangers office and dad asks where Indian Creek Campground is. No one seemed to know anything, and said that there wasn't such a place, but did tell us of one that was close to town. We go and drive though that one, see no one that looks like out group or any cars that look familiar. Dad goes to one of the campers to ask if they have seen anyone like who we were looking for, nothing, so he goes to the camp host and he says that there isn't any camp with the name that we are asking for, but does know about the group that is supposed to be coming. We knew that we didn't have the right place cuz Laura and Susan we knew were already there SOMEWHERE! Well anyways, Dad gets the idea to check the hotels that are there. We get to the first one and he goes in and asks if there is anyone by the names of Laura, Susan or Cat registered there. Not at that one. We make it to the other one, pull up next to it and dad goes into the office. In the mean time we are waiting in the cars hot and tired from the long drive. We see 2 guys talking (one drunk as a skunk) and a lady out there. After a min. or so, dad stick his head out of the office door........... MEOW, MEOW, MEOW....... (trying to get Cat's attention) Well it didn't work!!!!! She didn't respond at all!!!! Which really surprised us....... So he called her name, sure enough it was her!!! One of the 2 guys that was standing out in front of the office was Q, (not the drunk one) We get out of the car and all introduces ourselves. Cat goes into her room and gets her husband (Robert) and son (Andrew). They come out and we are all talking for a min. or so......... Well Q offers to take us to where Laura (UT) and Susan (AZ) are, and Cat rides with him. After what seems like another hr we get there....... actually it was only about 8 miles but a long 8 miles!!!! we pull into this gravel pit.......Q seems to go right into the bushes that are there, you can't really tell that there is a road there. We make it down the road and can see Laura's tent and car and Susan's truck........ as we pull in Dad gives the "wolf whistle" Then it all starts!!!!!!! LAUGHTER AFTER LAUGHTER AFTER LAUGHTER!!!!!!!! Right off we all know who we all are, but introductions are in order anyways. And ofcourse right off dad sees Laura's 3 white feathers that she has hanging from her tent. After we all start to settle down we finally get the tents set up and thing sort of in order. We weren't there for an hr yet and low and behold but who should come out of the woods is JESSE and RC riding up in Rc's red van!!!!! Here comes more laughter!!!!!!!!! It just doesn't stop!!!!!!!!! (you can read more about this on Jesse's part) About 3 hrs go by, it's now 11pm..... well here comes one more coming up the road....... Load as can be with yelling and laughing...... and who is it this time?!?!?! non other than Bob~O!!!! With 2 of the local drunks who showed him where we all were. (you can also read that on Jesse's page and probably Bob~O's when he get it up) We are up for another 2 hrs and then Rick and I get our kids Laura, Ricky and Amber into bed, and very soon after that we joined them. Everyone else is still up, we can hear all the laughter!!!!!!!!!!! (I don't think it ever stopped, even in their sleep!!!!!!) Everyone seemed to congregate into our camp, and dad was worried that no one was going to come to ours!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOW THAT WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!
GOLD We are working on the mountain side across the creek. After getting the sluice box all set up and deciding how we are going to get things going, we start picking at the mountain side with dads rock pick and our shovels. We have a visiter, come down and talks with us, tells us who he is (a 49er official) and asks how we are doing, tehn tells us to have fun. After taking 3, 5 gallon buckets down to the sluice, Rick (my husband) asks me to pan a little to see if we have anything that is worth working in that area for. After the first pan I get a small flake, it looks good so we continue. We go through about 7 buckets of dirt in the sluice and still nothing so we decided to call it a night. I didn't want to clean the carpet just yet so we went back to camp. Jesse comes in and asks what we did, we tell him "Nothing to speak of" then I tell him that I didn't clean the carpet out of the sluice. Well he asks if he can do it. (more like just takes it on his own and does it!!!!! hahahaha) he got it all clean but not panned. Well by this time it is getting dark so he says that he will pan it in the morning. Monday morning comes and the first thing that he does when he get into camp is pick up the pan and head down to the creek. He comes back a little later and says that there was just a few little flakes, but he didn't have them................ HE DROPPED HIS LITTLE HAND SLUICE AND LOST THEM!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA. (I will let Laura tell you about the BLACK GOLD that she threw away) They (Jesse and RC) left about noon to head back up to Oregon. That was the last of them, unfortunately!!!!!! We get our stuff together and go back across the creek, work another little area a few feet from the first. After working for a while I check the sluice and see nothing, well the next bucket was good to us (sortof), I see what I know is a nugget and tell Rick to lift the sluice up slowly....... he asks why, I put my hand in the front of the box and pull up a nice little nugget. Surprised him!!! Just a little while before that Q had come over and shown us the one that he had just found, so I had to go show him ours! He got his after only 3 pans and we got ours after 8 bucket!!!!!!!But nothing else was there, so again we quit for the night.
SNAKE We are all working the hill side (Susan(AZ), Laura, Jim (dad) Rick, Q, and myself), Laura is working the sluice while the rest of us are hauling buckets and working the dirt loose, while dad is using his MakVak. Well all of a sudden Laura screams!!! Dad asks what's wrong and she yells "That damn snake startled me!!" btw, she's not afraid of them. I ask "where" and she points to it in the water. Well Susan (AZ) starts telling me to go for it!!! I start jumping all over that creek chasing that stupid snake. All the time Susan is still yelling "Get it Susan get it before it get into the rocks!!!" It almost made it and I grabbed it's tail, it came toward me and I let go and slipped on a rock banging the SH** out of my knee, a few more jumps and I've got it!!!!!!! Everyone is cheering as I bring it back over to them. Susan gets a picture before I let it go, she tells me to stick my tongue out just like it is...... so I do, and that is the picture that is one Jesse's page with one of the locals!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA.
BEARS To start we were warned from Marcie from the get go that there were bears in Happy Camp. Well we got our fill of them!!!! The first encounter was when Susan had just come back to camp after she had been out all day, the baby had gotten into our trash. (that one is on the locals pages too). She had gotten a few pics of it and then scared it out of camp. When we got back she was gone and we could tell that a bear had been there. Dad and Laura had gotten back just before us, and had scared it a way again. This time it had finished the job it had started with our trash and tore a hole in Laura's canopy. That night he had been back, Laura had paw prints on her trunk to prove it!!! ( I won't mention "BEAR WATCH") Next day he had been back, but we didn't see him this time, just had to pick up trash again and Laura had 2 more rips in her canopy, and trash again the next day!!!!! Well the 5th time that we say it, it was about 11pm, Rick had just gone to bed, I was asleep already. Dad and Laura and Rick all heard a loud "CRACK" about 30 to 50 feet away, just on the other side of the boat. Dad knew it was the bear coming back, he yells at me "Susie get your gun" which was under the head of my mattress under my head. I got it out and immediately handed it to dad. It only had 8 shots in a 10 shot clip, as we had shot one earlier and I got one out of the chamber to check it. Well boom boom boom went 8 shots as dad is chasing that damn bear into the woods!!!!! All we say was a BIG BLACK FLASH. He tells me to get the other clip (25), I get it out of the trunk, and by this time the bear is long gone. Dad goes into the woods anyways after it!!!!!! We don't hear anymore shots, so we know that he didn't see it. Needless to say I can't sleep now!!!!! BRING ON THE COFFEE!!!! So I am up for another 2 hrs listening to all of the little sounds and cracks and pops!!! Dad gets up a few times to check sounds, this whole time my dog is sound asleep in the tent with my kids who are also sleeping!!!!! Flash is no mountain dog!!! I finally feel like I can sleep so off to bed I go again. Rick wasn't far behind and Dad and Laura go about 3 am or so. And this is all Friday night the night before we are leaving. The next morning Rick wakes up before dawn to some strange noises and unzips the tent and sees the baby running down the road from Laura's tent, looks over toward the boat and sees a BIG BLACK THING standing above the boat, thinking "that doesn't look right", he get the flash light from inside the tent, shines it on that big black thing and it is the mother bear about 300 pounds!!!!!!!! The light seemed to scare them away, then Rick wakes me up and again we have to clean up trash!!!!! Needless to say none of us were really ready to go home, The kids really miss the water and so do we!!!! We just don't miss the DAMN BEARS!!!!!