Sacramento

In July I had to attend a conference for work in Sacramento. I'd never been there before and it was on my list of to-do's, so I decided to drive up a few days early, rather than fly with the rest of my colleagues. Also, my sister decided to fly up and meet me since she had also never been there. I left early in the morning and made the 7 hour drive, checked into my hotel and then picked Diane up from the airport a few hours later. We headed straight to the temple, stopping for Subway on the way there. We did a session in the Sacramento Temple and were in awe of its beauty! Seriously, such a beautiful place!

Breathtaking!

The next morning, we woke up super early and headed out to Sutter's Fort. It was an hour or so away, but it was worth the drive. We got to see where gold was actually discovered and learn some of the history of it. The American River was absolutely gorgeous and so full of energy and life! It was just such an amazing place to be. Life is so stressful, even during the summer and being out in nature like that was just what I needed. It was even cooler that I got to be there with my sister!

After Sutter's Mill, we drove back to Sacramento, where we toured the Leland Stanford Mansion. It's now used as the official gathering hall for the governor of California. I love architecture and touring old homes, so this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. Diane and I got there a while before the next tour and so we walked around and then hung out in the visitor center/gift shop. The guy who was working there was a bit eccentric, but a lot of fun. Docents are often fun people to be around because they're usually older people who are retired and now have the time to do things that they have a passion for. They're usually really knowledgeable and excited about their work, and in turn, incite passion in those on their tours. This guy was exactly this way. After the introduction of the house, his shift ended and we got a different guide to take us through the house; she was equally good, so we had a good tour.

We wandered around town a bit and ate lunch at a place called Café Bernardo. Neither Diane nor I were very impressed, but we did like their place cards.

After this place, we walked to Sutter's Fort where we had way more fun than this poor kid whose mom was forcing him to listen to every last bit of the driest narration on the planet. Diane and I had a good laugh at the look on his face, which we both knew well from our own childhood! Sucka!!! haha

After this, we grabbed some dinner and headed back to our hotel. The next day, Sunday, Diane took a very early morning shuttle to the airport and flew home, while I slept a bit, caught a Sacrament Meeting in town, which happened to be a congregation with the friendliest people ever! Then, I had to check out of the hotel and kill a few hours before checking into the Hyatt Regency for the conference. After checkout, I went to Old Sacramento to browse around a bit. I went to a Sacramento History museum and decided to buy a ticket for a Sacramento Underground tour. It was actually really cool! They showed us how they lifted the buildings above the flooded areas. We got to see some of the artifacts and the archaeological field site. I had no idea Sacramento even had an underground, so getting to tour it was unexpected and fun! I also visited the Railroad Museum, which was amazing!

Before checking into my hotel for the conference, I decided to grab some lunch. I went to this place that looked interesting and it ended up being a little scary. It was underground and, for a while, I was the only one there. It was dark and musty and a little like you were about to get murdered, but what's life without adventure!?!

Then, I headed to the Hyatt Regency. I checked in and headed to my room. I'm always a little amused by hotels that are supposed to be fancy. Sometimes they go overboard and end up being super cheesy! For example, my room had an entry way and an ugly painting hanging on the wall. In addition to the ugly painting, it had a special lamp and light switch just to illuminate the ugly painting.

The rest of the room was kinda nice, though!

And the view wasn't too shabby either.

Over the next few days, I attended lots of hours of the convention and spent lots of fun lunchtimes and dinners with awesome coworkers! We took walks around the city, checked out many different restaurants, bought way too many snacks at the 7-11 and even played a little Pokémon Go! I also got to see the California State Capitol Building for the first time!

 

It was majestic and pretty during the day, but all lit up, it was magical!

One of the nights, we walked to Old Sacramento, grabbed some dinner, and then walked around the gardens by the Capitol and explored the monuments around it. It was a really fun evening!

After the conference, we all checked out and I headed home, while my colleagues caught their flight. It was a business trip, but it ended up being tons of fun with my sister and then with my co-workers! Definitely worth the 7 hour drive!