Thursday, October 6, 2016

Relaxing in Nevada City, CA

After spending time on the coast and then a few days in Mt Shasta, we decided to head closer to Reno as we needed to be there by 9/25 but weren't ready to get there yet. So we headed to Harmony Ridge Resort were we have a camping membership and we could stay there for no extra cost, always a plus. We've been going there since we first stated RVing about 8 years ago and finding it relaxing to go there especially once school has started and the campground is not very full. Harmony Ridge has always been dog-friendly  and there has never been an issue with setting up our fences for the babies to play in with us. We have  a few favorite spots there that are a bit wider and more screened from others and we were able to get our favorite one for most of the stay. We did have go into another site for the first couple days and then move but it was just a couple spaces away so no biggie to move. All of the RV sites are full hookup and some have been upgraded to 50 amps, making it nice on the few hot days we had so both ACs could run along with the hot water heater and microwave. Yes there are times we like to be spoiled!


Harmony Ridge is 3 miles outside of Nevada City and sits in a bit of a valley. This is nice as it makes it quiet with no road noise. The only issues with were it sits is that there is very little wind so on a hot day there isn't any relief and it doesn't cool off at night as much. The valley also doesn't have great cell coverage. It has gotten a little better of the years we've been going there but even with our Verizon phones we only get 1-2 bars if we are in the right spot. I've been looking at cell boosters and will be getting one before much longer so we don't have this issue as often. The campground is situated in the trees so getting a satellite signal is difficult and I was only able to lock onto one Dish satellite and only got about half the normal channels.

We spent more time exploring the area since we had two weeks to enjoy. One of the fun times we had was an evening at Naggier Vineyards. We have been there many times and always enjoy going. One evening we went and listened to the music on their patio (after a bit of wine tasting of course). The evening happened to be the harvest moon night, so we were treated to quite the moonrise.

While there we found that they were having a wine and food pairing one afternoon so signed up for it and it was quite the event. The chef made some amazing small plates and the pairing with their wines was perfect. The employee that was our host was knowledgeable about the wines and vineyard and shared lots of information with us. It was a fun afternoon and we were glad we went.

The area around Nevada City has many hiking trails and we took the babies on several as well as enjoying some just for ourself. One of our favorite spots to take the babies is the Rock Creek natural trail just a couple miles from the campground. This website describes it better than I can. There is also the Pioneer Trail that starts in Nevada City and crosses a pedestrian suspension bridge and loops back to Nevada City.

Nevada City has a farmer's market on Saturday mornings and while small we found a nice variety of organic fruits and veggies, along with a couple meat vendors that featured organic raised meats. That Saturday night we went to a small production of Revolution at the Nevada City Theatre. It's a play featuring live 60s music, the people playing the band members were talented musicians.

We left Harmony Ridge on Sep 19 and headed for Reno to spend some time with family and get Kim ready for her girls trip. More to come on that adventure!