Man on the Street by Greg Kristapovich
“When you need a little “getaway”, where do YOU go?”
(asked in Tuolumne City)
“I head to River Ranch Campgrounds, only two miles out of town! (on the North Fork of the Tuolumne River, near Tuolumne City) That’s the most relaxing place around! We camp, fish and swim; just relax! We go there every weekend during the summer! At the beginning of the summer, and at the end, they have a huge get-together with bands and everything! We take the family, the kids and the grandkids! They like to swim there. We’ve been going out there since I moved up here about eight years ago.” – Joanie Long, Tuolumne City, (gas station/mini-mart manager)
“We’ve been up here about five years, and we like to go to Basin Creek/River Ranch Campgrounds. We also go out to Cherry Lake! (an hour East of Tuolumne City). I like the scenery. It’s nice! You can boat there and stuff, so it’s a lot different. In the summertime, we go there a lot! There’s a little beach down there. You gotta kinda walk a little ways to get down there. They got little barbeque spots and stuff. There’s a swimming hole! I go with my three year old daughter and my friends. I like to go down there and watch the kids swim – and barbeque!” – Joseph Ponce, Tuolumne City, gas station/mini-mart clerk)
“I go to the Twain Harte Tree Farm and visit my horses! We’ve owned our three horses for about eight years. They’re up in pastures up there. I feed ‘em (her horses), ride ‘em, bathe ‘em; just play with them! That’s my leisure time! I like horses! When I get away, out of the area, I go up to Citrus Heights (in Sacramento County) probably once a month. That’s my getaway! I’ll go shopping. They’ve got a lot of shopping in Citrus Heights compared to here. I’ll go there and maybe spend the night. I have some friends there!” – Sharon Munday, Tuolumne City, (bakery manager)
“I normally go down to Santa Cruz, or San Francisco. It’s nice living in California! Up in the mountains, we got all the snowboarding and the rivers and stuff! But it’s only a short drive to go down to the beach, so it’s real nice to go do that. Me and my girlfriend went down to San Francisco last year and they were having a sand castle building contest! That was real neat! In Santa Cruz, we like to make sure there’s a show, a sporting event or something. It kinda makes the trip a little more exciting! We normally get out of town at least once a month. Spend the weekend down there, and by the time the weekends over, you really want to get back to the daily business.” – Caleb Jones, Ponderosa Hills, (hot dog vendor/entrepreneur)
“…for a walk in the forest, because it’s peaceful. It’s by my house. It’s like a river, with a forest with lots of trees. It kind of reminds me of a rainforest! I took a walk yesterday, and I do it twice a week, maybe. It makes me calm.” – Kimberlee Goode, Tuolumne City, (11th grader)
