Arnold Trip Report (Fall 2008)
Sep 14th, 2008 | 06:52 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
Arnold Trip Report (Fall 2008)
We had a wonderful time in our week in Arnold (well, mostly out of Arnold). Pack a small backpack for your day trips. We ended up buying one at Ebbett's Pass Sporting Goods. If you need any directions or advice on outdoors stuff, STOP HERE. The owners are so nice and helpful and knowledgeable. For sandwiches to take with you on your treks, stop at the Chevron where there is a deli inside. Also pack binoculars if you have them (we didn't but wished we had).
Day 1: Flew into Sacramento and was "upgraded" @ Hertz from our reserved convertible (they were "out of them" grrrr) to a Mercedes. Drove out to RCI timeshare Mountain Retreat in Arnold. About 2.5 hours drive. Drove up Route 4 to Lake Alpine and enjoyed the views. Shopped at Big Trees Market (aka "the market") for food, water, snacks. The timeshare had a coupon for dining at the Sequoia Woods Country Club across the street. USE THE COUPON! The food was absolutely great! (only serving dinner Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
Day 2: Hiked the north and south groves of Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Fantastic! (This is right down the road in Arnold.) They describe the north grove as a walk and the south grove as a hike. The south grove was so quiet and peaceful and the trees, well, there's just no describing their size and impact! If you hike the south grove trail, pack a small towel & stop and splash a bit in ice cold Big Trees Creek before the rest of the hike. You'll be glad you did. That night, discovered a flat tire on the rental and Hertz sent AAA out to put on the spare. (Don't rent a car in the mountains that doesn't have a spare!)
Day 3: Had to go exchange the rental car an hour away in Sonora. Exchanged it for...get this...a Toyota Camry. At least we didn't break down on Ebbett's Pass, which we had planned to take on the morning of Day 3! And at least we got better mileage for the rest of our week, which included lots of driving. Took in the small town shops in Sonora while we were there. Then drove out at to the Bear Valley ski resort (closed in summer, but the road is open) for the views.
Day 4: Drove from Arnold up Route 4's famous Ebbett's Passs (there is a Youtube video if you're interested) to Lake Tahoe. (About a 3-hour drive.) A motorcycle that sped around us took one of the later hairpin curves on Ebbett's Pass too fast and fell over into the other lane (almost off the 8,000 foot cliff). Yikes! Then we spent a few hours in Lake Tahoe, but just the lower half. Saw Emerald Bay and hiked down to the Scandinavian Castle. Walked the "rainbow trail." Visited the Marriott/gondola side of the lower east portion of the lake. Personally, Lake Tahoe was beautiful, but not what I expected. I hadn't anticipated all the commercialism. But we did walk the shops a bit and ate lunch. We took Route 50 to 49 home, but could have saved about 45 minutes if we'd taken 88 from Tahoe (didn't see that way on the map) according to the locals when we got home. We did NOT want to drive Ebbett's Pass in the evening!
Day 5: Took it easy and walked around the nearby town of Columbia (actually a state park). It's a rebuilt gold mining town with shop owners and tradesmen dressed in period costumes. About 4 blocks square. Try the sasparilla at the "saloon" before you leave! Ahh! A nice, leisurely day. Short cut to Columbia and Sonora from Arnold is Parrot's Ferry Road E18 (but don't take it at night). Then we ate dinner at Sarafina's. The food was good, but pass on the dessert IMO.
Day 6: Yosemite! The highlight of our trip by far. We left the resort at 6:45am but didn't make it to the visitor's center until around 10. We underestimated the time and were totally unaware of the INSANE drive into the park on the curvy mountain roads. We unfortunately missed the 8-hour tour we wanted to take. It leaves at 8:45 each morning. We drove the "village" and did just about every stop on the map there. We hiked to the top of Vernal Falls (Yosemite Falls were completely dry as was Mirror Lake), and took in the rainbow at the base of the falls. Saw a bobcat on the river rocks on our way down from the falls too. The hike to the footbridge there was the worst part. From there to the falls and back was more manageable. A lot of people gave up at the footbridge thinking they couldn't make it. After that, we drove up to Glacier Point. Wow. You just can't describe that! It was the highlight of our whole week. Took a wrong turn on the way out of the park. Ended up taking Tioga Pass for about 7 miles and then back down because there was a fork in the road where a sign read "San Fransciso" one way and nothing the other way. That other way happened to be Tioga Pass, which had we KNOWN we never would have turned in. So we finally reached Arnold around 9:45 and were utterly exhuasted! (My DH more than me since he did all that crazy mountain driving all day.) Stopped and ordered pizza to go at The Round Table Pizza. It was good but we were almost too tired to enjoy it!
Day 7: Slept in and packed for our trip to Sacramento. We checked in at the lovely LeRivage Hotel (a treat for our 25th anniversary) and then set out for Old Sacramento. We loved the little shops right there on the river. Old Sacramento has a unique "free spirited" feel to it. Missed seeing the capitol because we got there right around 5pm. Back at the hotel, we ate their Scott's seafood restaurant, outdoors overlooking the river. Another GREAT meal and atmosphere to match. Then sank into the claw-foot tub for a nice soak and got enveloped in their soft massive bed!
Day 8: Drove about 20 minutes to the airport, dropped the rental, and flew home to Virginia.
Day 1: Flew into Sacramento and was "upgraded" @ Hertz from our reserved convertible (they were "out of them" grrrr) to a Mercedes. Drove out to RCI timeshare Mountain Retreat in Arnold. About 2.5 hours drive. Drove up Route 4 to Lake Alpine and enjoyed the views. Shopped at Big Trees Market (aka "the market") for food, water, snacks. The timeshare had a coupon for dining at the Sequoia Woods Country Club across the street. USE THE COUPON! The food was absolutely great! (only serving dinner Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)
Day 2: Hiked the north and south groves of Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Fantastic! (This is right down the road in Arnold.) They describe the north grove as a walk and the south grove as a hike. The south grove was so quiet and peaceful and the trees, well, there's just no describing their size and impact! If you hike the south grove trail, pack a small towel & stop and splash a bit in ice cold Big Trees Creek before the rest of the hike. You'll be glad you did. That night, discovered a flat tire on the rental and Hertz sent AAA out to put on the spare. (Don't rent a car in the mountains that doesn't have a spare!)
Day 3: Had to go exchange the rental car an hour away in Sonora. Exchanged it for...get this...a Toyota Camry. At least we didn't break down on Ebbett's Pass, which we had planned to take on the morning of Day 3! And at least we got better mileage for the rest of our week, which included lots of driving. Took in the small town shops in Sonora while we were there. Then drove out at to the Bear Valley ski resort (closed in summer, but the road is open) for the views.
Day 4: Drove from Arnold up Route 4's famous Ebbett's Passs (there is a Youtube video if you're interested) to Lake Tahoe. (About a 3-hour drive.) A motorcycle that sped around us took one of the later hairpin curves on Ebbett's Pass too fast and fell over into the other lane (almost off the 8,000 foot cliff). Yikes! Then we spent a few hours in Lake Tahoe, but just the lower half. Saw Emerald Bay and hiked down to the Scandinavian Castle. Walked the "rainbow trail." Visited the Marriott/gondola side of the lower east portion of the lake. Personally, Lake Tahoe was beautiful, but not what I expected. I hadn't anticipated all the commercialism. But we did walk the shops a bit and ate lunch. We took Route 50 to 49 home, but could have saved about 45 minutes if we'd taken 88 from Tahoe (didn't see that way on the map) according to the locals when we got home. We did NOT want to drive Ebbett's Pass in the evening!
Day 5: Took it easy and walked around the nearby town of Columbia (actually a state park). It's a rebuilt gold mining town with shop owners and tradesmen dressed in period costumes. About 4 blocks square. Try the sasparilla at the "saloon" before you leave! Ahh! A nice, leisurely day. Short cut to Columbia and Sonora from Arnold is Parrot's Ferry Road E18 (but don't take it at night). Then we ate dinner at Sarafina's. The food was good, but pass on the dessert IMO.
Day 6: Yosemite! The highlight of our trip by far. We left the resort at 6:45am but didn't make it to the visitor's center until around 10. We underestimated the time and were totally unaware of the INSANE drive into the park on the curvy mountain roads. We unfortunately missed the 8-hour tour we wanted to take. It leaves at 8:45 each morning. We drove the "village" and did just about every stop on the map there. We hiked to the top of Vernal Falls (Yosemite Falls were completely dry as was Mirror Lake), and took in the rainbow at the base of the falls. Saw a bobcat on the river rocks on our way down from the falls too. The hike to the footbridge there was the worst part. From there to the falls and back was more manageable. A lot of people gave up at the footbridge thinking they couldn't make it. After that, we drove up to Glacier Point. Wow. You just can't describe that! It was the highlight of our whole week. Took a wrong turn on the way out of the park. Ended up taking Tioga Pass for about 7 miles and then back down because there was a fork in the road where a sign read "San Fransciso" one way and nothing the other way. That other way happened to be Tioga Pass, which had we KNOWN we never would have turned in. So we finally reached Arnold around 9:45 and were utterly exhuasted! (My DH more than me since he did all that crazy mountain driving all day.) Stopped and ordered pizza to go at The Round Table Pizza. It was good but we were almost too tired to enjoy it!
Day 7: Slept in and packed for our trip to Sacramento. We checked in at the lovely LeRivage Hotel (a treat for our 25th anniversary) and then set out for Old Sacramento. We loved the little shops right there on the river. Old Sacramento has a unique "free spirited" feel to it. Missed seeing the capitol because we got there right around 5pm. Back at the hotel, we ate their Scott's seafood restaurant, outdoors overlooking the river. Another GREAT meal and atmosphere to match. Then sank into the claw-foot tub for a nice soak and got enveloped in their soft massive bed!
Day 8: Drove about 20 minutes to the airport, dropped the rental, and flew home to Virginia.
Sep 14th, 2008 | 09:27 AM
#3
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 75,010
Likes: 50
Very nice report lookn4adeal. Sounds like you had a great time. Wow - 50 to 49 really DID take you out of the way 
Probably more than 45 mins extra that way.
Lake Tahoe is really 4 different places -- the developed/commercial south shore, the quiet family resort west side, the 1950's-60's era resort area on the north shore, and almost totally undeveloped east side. So the part you glimpsed is the "city side". Emerald Bay is beautiful to be sure, but the other parts of the lake would have given you an entirely different perspective to Stateline.
I think yours is the first review we've seen of le Rivage - sounds wonderful. I've eaten at the other Scott's branches - but haven't yet made it down to that one.
What was your time share unit like? And what sort of amenities do they have? We get questions about that resort from time to time but I haven't been there (have been through Arnold/Bear Valley many times)
Probably more than 45 mins extra that way.Lake Tahoe is really 4 different places -- the developed/commercial south shore, the quiet family resort west side, the 1950's-60's era resort area on the north shore, and almost totally undeveloped east side. So the part you glimpsed is the "city side". Emerald Bay is beautiful to be sure, but the other parts of the lake would have given you an entirely different perspective to Stateline.
I think yours is the first review we've seen of le Rivage - sounds wonderful. I've eaten at the other Scott's branches - but haven't yet made it down to that one.
What was your time share unit like? And what sort of amenities do they have? We get questions about that resort from time to time but I haven't been there (have been through Arnold/Bear Valley many times)
Sep 14th, 2008 | 10:58 AM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
RCI's Mountain Retreat property is aptly named. Do NOT go if you are looking for a cushy resort. Arnold is a small mountain town where everybody knows everybody else. You will have to drive to see most of the area's sights. No cell phone reception (some with Verizon had SOME luck), 12 television channels. Beds were almost comfortable, kitchen had all new appliances and cookware, and new carpeting is on its way. There are just 31 units on the property. There is a small indoor pool (not big enough for laps) and a jacuzzi in the lodge. There is wireless upstairs in the lodge BUT only one computer there for us to use and only for 1/2 hour and only during office hours and only when nobody else is on it. Trying to contact our 3 kids at home on the east coast was a challenge. Our best bet was a phone card and using the phone in the unit. (We had no cell phone reception until we reached Sacramento.) Blow dryers were provided but not on their list of amenities, which was a bummer b/c it took up room in my luggage. You can rent DVDs for $1 or have a movie "sent" to your unit for free. There are many to choose from. There was so much to do off-property that we rented one DVD and ended up taking 3 nights to watch it. We enjoyed the ice cream social one night, a refreshing treat after a day of sightseeing. It was GREAT having a washer/dryer in each unit so I could come home with mostly clean clothes instead of dirty.
Can't think of anything else, but it was clean, neat, well stocked, and lodging was similar to Masanutten Village in Virginia (another mountain resort) IMO.
Can't think of anything else, but it was clean, neat, well stocked, and lodging was similar to Masanutten Village in Virginia (another mountain resort) IMO.
Sep 15th, 2008 | 11:39 AM
#6
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,337
Likes: 2
Dear lookn:
I am glad you had a nice trip. Yes, you will have to go back to Tahoe and explore more.
Glad to hear the good review on Le Rivage - we may try it on our next anniversary. Scott's is particularly nice if you get to sit outside.
JanisJ: Scott's on the river for a Sacto GTG???????
MY
I am glad you had a nice trip. Yes, you will have to go back to Tahoe and explore more.
Glad to hear the good review on Le Rivage - we may try it on our next anniversary. Scott's is particularly nice if you get to sit outside.
JanisJ: Scott's on the river for a Sacto GTG???????
MY
