Today we finally returned to The Golden State. The sign that read, “You are entering the State of California” was a simply glorious sight! We all woke up this morning excited that we were only going to have to be in the car for 5 hours!
It took a while to get the car packed up, due to the rain and mud. So we arrived in Sacramento later than planned (par for our trip), wearing mud stained clothes. Instead of going straight to the California Capitol for a tour, as originally planned, we had to stop first at our friend’s house to change clothes and freshen up.
We got to the Capitol around 6pm. We missed the last tour by a couple of hours. But it was beautiful to see the Capitol at sunset, against a blue sky with billowy pink clouds. We took some pictures and walked around the grounds. It is an impressive sight, and we particularly liked the tree garden. There was a tree to represent every type of tree grown throughout the entire state. It was neat to see all of that diversity of plant life in one area. We also visited several memorials. The “In the Line of Duty” memorial for fallen California police officers made mom a little choked up and dad found the name of a friend from high school on one of the plaques.
We were also glad to walk around with my college roommate Elizabeth, who lives in the area and hosted us for the night. She has been to the Capitol many times with visiting family and friends and she was a wonderful tour guide. She shared a lot of interesting facts with the boys like, “This is where a man who was upset about parking tickets and drove his car full of explosives into the building.” (Fortunately, the explosives didn’t detonate. No one was injured and damage was minimal.) Other interesting facts that intrigued the boys were the private security entrance for visiting senators and other important political officials, and the hotel across the street where Arnold stays when he is in town. We learned yesterday that there are underground tunnels for him to travel from his hotel suite to his office.
After leaving the Capitol, we drove past the historic governor’s mansion, which unfortunately was under renovation and was shrouded by white sheets and scaffolding. We also drove through Old Sacramento and the boys were able to shop at a toy store for a few last minute souvenirs.
We picked up some Italian food for a late dinner on our way back. A friend of mom’s from high school and his wife live in the area, and they came by Elizabeth’s house to catch up. It was wonderful to see Josh (not to be confused with Elizabeth’s son Josh) and his wife, Jolie. Mom and Josh hadn’t seen each other since they were in college. And it’s always good for the boys to realize that mom really was a teenager a long, long time ago.
It was hard to go to bed on the final night of our vacation. We are all ready to be home, but we have had a wonderful time and it’s a bit sad for it to end. The kids played until after 10:30pm, and Ryan and Wendy were up visiting with Liz and Greg until after midnight. However it was good to be in a nice big comfy bed after 2 nights in a treehouse! We all slept very well!!
Thoughts on Sacramento….
Ryan: It was neat to see the Capitol building again. I am so glad that Wendy insisted that we still went even thought we got into town later than planned! I also really liked their dog spike. He is a black pit-bull, but very sweet and playful. He enjoyed having everyone pet him. I was ecstatic at the end of the day that I could stretch out my legs in the bed and get a good nights sleep.
Wendy: I loved seeing the Capitol. I was surprised how emotional I felt at the “Fallen California Police Officers Memorial”. I felt a powerful mixture of gratitude for my dad’s safety during his 30 years serving as a California Sheriffs Deputy, as well as a profound sadness for the many families that have lost a loved one in the line of duty. I was particularly moved by a bronze statue adjacent to the memorial of a mom hugging a crying child on a park bench. It brings tears to my eyes as I write about it.
Corey: I liked seeing the Capitol. I had never seen it before. Unfortunately, the Governor’s mansion was covered up so I couldn’t see it too. We went to Old Sacramento. There were a lot of old looking shops. I bought fake vomit (which mom told me I couldn’t open until we were at our own house), two rocks you bang together to make a spark (I also have to wait until we are home to open those), and a “brain-buster” puzzle. I want to go back a take a tour of the Capitol someday.
Jordan: I had fun playing with Josh. He is a really cool kid. I bought a lot of cool stuff. I bought two dart guns and a bug that you have to build. It is hard. My guns are really fun. Sacramento is a really fun place. There are a lot of cool things to see. There are a lot of fun activities. Okay, done.
Riley: I wanted to buy another pistol but my mommy said that I couldn’t so I bought a different gun that had bullets. I had fun playing with Abby. I got to play with their kitties for a long time.
