A Short Stop in Marysville, CA, at Beale Air Force Base

Whew, after a long stay of almost 2 months in Coarsegold, CA,  I am SO glad to be on  the road again!  We got so tired of the 100 degree heat for so many days.  But we did have a very nice stay.  So after a pretty fair-well sunset last night, we left this morning for about a 4 hour drive as we headed further North to Marysville, CA, across the Sacramento River from the larger town of Yuba City and are staying at Beale AFB. 

 

Riverboats used to stop along the river in the mid 1800s at the ranch that used to be at present Marysville and drop men off to head to the gold digging grounds. A sign on the roadside as one enters Marysville carries the slogan: "Gateway to The Gold Fields."  The town was named after Mary Murphy Covillaud, a survivor of the famous Donner Party.  But the town today sure isn’t much to brag about and certainly not a pretty area.  Beale AFB was established in 1942 as Camp Beale and is named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822–1893), an American Navy Lieutenant and a Brigadier General in the California Militia who was an explorer and frontiersman in California. It became a United States Air Force Base on 1 April 1951. 

We are just north of Sacramento and it is still hot. But at least it is down in the 90s, which makes it a little better.  There are a few trees in the campground and the campground works hard to provide the luxury of some green grass.  But I still had to put up my thermal panels over the big side windows because the sun was on that side and it was very hot even with the window awning out.  We could see mountains on both sides of us way in the distance on our drive here today.   We are only stopping here because it is on the way to Mt. Shasta, our next stop.  We were here in 2004 and 2010.  Gosh, hard to believe we have been here twice before this year.  The base is spread out over the plains under wide open skies.  It is hard to describe how open it is out here unless one actually sees it.  Being so open, you can see why it can get so hot during the day.  But we are only 8 miles from Wal-Mart!  They are everywhere!  Of course we stopped!  Then we made a quick trip to the commissary  so we will have tomorrow free for a return visit to Oroville Dam, about 25 miles a bit further North.  I am sure with the severe drought this year, that the lake’s water level will really be down.

 

There is a small lake across from the campground.  Even that water is very low.  Funny to see water way out here in this dry area.  Even funnier to see little Sandpiper birds way out here and far from the ocean.  There were some Canadian Geese across the lake but too far and dark for the picture to be very good.  A couple of guys were trying there hand at a bit of fishing.  At least it is quiet out here!  

  

I like to wander and see what is around the campground.  Just like the birds, you never know what wildlife you might find!