To explore Arnold's beautiful lakes and nearby trails, Inna reserved a
charming Mountain Cottage in Blue Lake Springs (via Airbnb). The cottage is
located at 1709 Manzanita Drive, Arnold.
Initially, we planned to rent a kayak, but the nearby shop charged about
$80/day and required a roof rack to transport the kayak. We decided to order
the
Explorer K2 Kayak Inflatable Kayak from Amazon.com for $140. It would pay for itself in 2
or more sessions.
We planned to drive our Tesla Model Y to minimize unnecessary fuel costs,
given the high price of gasoline ($7.00/gallon).
Friday, June 10, 2022
In the morning, I woke up and remembered forgetting to charge the Tesla’s
battery. I plugged it in immediately, setting it to charge to 90% capacity (it
would take 5 hours on our 24A charger).
I showered and went for a stroll around the neighborhood. As the weather was
very hot, I decided to skip the tennis ball machine workout (since I'd played
the day before) and use Adobe Lightroom to correct numerous photos from our
recent trip to Boston.
At around 3:00pm, Inna freed up from her work, and we drove to Arnold. This
was our first long trip in the Tesla Model Y. I needed some time to get used
to driving it. Unlike most cars, the regenerative braking works very well, and
I mostly had to use the accelerator pedal to accelerate and the brake pedal to
brake.
The drive to Arnold should typically take about 2.5 hours, but it took us
close to 4 hours due to heavy traffic. My Tesla was charged 95% before we
left. While on the way to Arnold, we decided to stop by the Tesla Supercharger
in Copperopolis (a tiny little village).
When we arrived at 6:05pm, our Tesla Model Y had 49% battery left. I connected
it to the Model Y (it was pretty easy), and it started charging immediately.
While setting up the Tesla, Inna and I played some games (Driving,
Tic-Tac-Toe, and Chess). The cost to charge went from 49% to 80% and was
$11.75. After 15 minutes, we drove to Arnold, stopping at
Dogwood Italian Restaurant for dinner.
We were seated outside after parking our Tesla Model Y nearby and checking in.
We looked at the menu and ordered the following:
- Inna: Pear Salad, Ribeye (half-portion), Hot Tea
- Boris: Pear Salad, Ribeye (half-portion), Hot Tea, Lemonade
- Dessert: Cassis Cobbler
Inna and I enjoyed the Ribeye, and the Pear Salad was decent. I
really liked the Cassis cobbler. Overall, it was an average-quality dinner. Since it was getting dark, I
hurried to check into our Airbnb rental.
Although nearby, the road to 1709 Manzanita Drive was twisty, narrow, and
complicated. It was challenging to find the correct address in the dark.
Tesla’s GPS was inaccurate, and I relied more on Google Maps on my iPhone.
When we finally identified the correct house, I drove up the steep driveway
and parked the Tesla. I unloaded our suitcases from Tesla’s trunk, and we
walked toward the house.
Immediately, we ran into a few problems. According to the owner’s
instructions, we needed to enter a 4-digit code on the door. A lockbox was
near the door, and we thought this was what we were supposed to open. We
entered the combo, but it would not open.
We contacted the owner but could not call her, as Google Fi had no reception
there. I can join the Mountain Hideaway WiFi network so Inna can send messages
to the owner (using both Airbnb and SMS).
While we waited for the owner to respond, Inna explored the house further. She
discovered another door with a keypad. We decided to try it and heard whirring
sounds, but the lock did not open. After trying the lock a few more times, we
managed to open it.
Once inside the house, we unloaded our suitcases and opened the door onto the
patio. The patio had a two-speaker Bluetooth speaker (on which we could play
music). In addition, there was patio furniture covered with covers, which we
removed. We cleaned the main table and sat down for a game of Scrabble. Inna
and I played while listening to Jack Johnson’s playlist.
I lit a Citronella candle to keep the bugs away, and we played Scrabble until
midnight. Inna won!
Saturday, June 11, 2022
In such peace and quiet, we slept pretty soundly. I woke up at around 8:15am,
as my iPhone alarm started playing. I dressed, showered, and shaved. Inna woke
up, too, and we decided to skip breakfast and head to Calaveras Big Trees
State Park.
I tried to connect my work’s Dell Laptop to the Mountain Hideaway WiFi
network in our Airbnb, but it wouldn't connect. I was unsure why, as my iPhone
and iPad connected quickly, and Inna’s MacBook Air connected perfectly well.
The Google Fi phone connectivity issue turned out to be unfixable. Although I
contacted customer service, the steps suggested were useless because Google Fi
has no coverage in Arnold. In addition, since Google Fi does not currently
support WiFi calling on the iPhone (though it does on Android devices),
calling someone in Arnold is difficult. Perhaps using Skype would work.
After a 10-minute drive, we paid our $10 entrance fee and parked in the
parking lot. We decided to hike the accessible 1.7-mile Calaveras North Grove
Trail.
While heading toward the trail, we saw a lot of hikers gathering and sitting
down before a small stage. One of the guides explained that there would be a
show of wild animals. Inna and I decided to stay and see what fascinating wild
animals would be shown.
The State Park’s animals were amusing and educational, while introducing the
following animals:
- Young Kangaroo “Joey” named Clover
- Screeching owl named Boo
- Kinkajou (Related to raccoons)
- Red-tailed Hawk named Tony
- California rattlesnake
- Grey Fox
- Costa Rican Capuchin Monkey named Darwin
We enjoyed the animal show and thought it was funny and educational. All of
the animals were either illegally purchased or hurt in the wild. The owl was
hit by a truck and can no longer fly very well. The rattlesnake was hit by a
weed-whacker.
Once the show finished at 11:00am, we resumed our hike along the Calaveras
North Grove Trail. While on the trail, we decided to try hiking the Grover
Overlook trail for a short time. As we walked upwards, hoping for a better
view, we thought we were missing the park's main highlights. We decided to
turn around and follow the original Calaveras North Grove Trail (which was
the correct decision).
We saw many beautiful, tall, and wide Sequoias on the North Grove Trail.
There were so many beautiful, gigantic trees all around.
For some reason, I was exhausted (perhaps because of the higher elevation),
so I took advantage of the benches spread out along the trail.
When we finished the trail, we were a bit tired and hungry. We decided to
eat lunch at the nearby
Bistro Espresso. After a
short drive, I parked nearby and ordered the following items:
-
Boris: Caprese Chicken Sandwich with Cole Slaw, Mocha with
Pistachio
-
Inna: Caprese Chicken with Garlic Fries, Latte, Ginger Lemonade,
Muffin
Although the people were amiable, I did not enjoy the food or the drinks at
Bistro Espresso. I thought my mocha was too sweet (and not
well-made). My Caprese Chicken Sandwich was quite bland. Inna’s
Ginger Lemonade was too sweet, too. The muffin tasted like it came out of
Safeway.
After lunch, we decided to check out White Pines Lake. After parking our
car, we saw many people kayaking and paddleboarding on the lake. There were
a lot of people barbecuing and enjoying themselves. We also heard karaoke
music and some people attempting to sing along.
Tired, we decided to grab the chairs from our car and sit by the lake,
resting and enjoying nature. We had some laughs watching you girls
paddleboarding and falling off.
At around 5:35pm, we decided to check out the nearby beach, which was much
busier. Afterward, we drove to
Sarafina’s Italian Kitchen. We hoped to get in (without making reservations), as our phones were not
working in Arnold.
We were lucky and were seated right away. After looking at the menu, we
ordered the following:
- Appetizer: Heirloom Caprese Salad
- Boris: Seafood Pasta Special, Dust Bowl Pale Ale, Hot Tea
-
Inna: Veal with mashed potatoes, Ga glassof Local Wine, and hot
tea
- Dessert: Italian Lemon Cake
I liked my
Seafood Pasta Special. It was full of shrimp, octopus,
salmon, and fettuccini. I also wanted my
Pale Ale beer. Inna’s Veal
was delicious. For dessert, the
Italian Lemon Cake was genuinely
excellent. We enjoyed our dinner at
Sarafina.
After dinner, we returned to our Airbnb cabin. Inna swung on the swing, and
we sat on the patio, enjoying music and being outside.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
During the night, Inna did not sleep well, so I let her sleep longer before
getting up. At about 8:30am, I decided to shower and dress. While Inna
woke up, I ate the leftover seafood fettuccine on the patio with background
music.
Inna decided to wake up at around 9:30am. After getting dressed, we
discussed our options. We had the following options:
At about 12:30, we were told that a cleaner was headed to our cabin, so we
quickly checked out and decided to stop by nearby Murphy for lunch. We chose
Rob's Place and ordered the following appetizers (as main entrees would
require more than 30 minutes):
- Artichoke Bake
- Apple Turnover
- Tempura Avocado
- Coffee
- Hot Tea
We liked our appetizers and enjoyed Murphy's warmer weather. I really liked
the Tempura Avocado.
After lunch, we resumed our drive home, making a quick stop in Dublin to
supercharge the Tesla (we arrived with only 14% battery remaining). After 15
minutes of charging, we drove home, coming during a summer shower! The cost
to supercharge my Tesla from 14% to 30% was about $8.
Arnold Trip Report
Highlights
Lowlights
- Opening the Mountain Hideaway door in the dark
- Google Fi has no reception in Arnold
-
Eating lunch at Bistro Espresso
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