Day 9, September 18 - Capitol and Sacramento River Train

What a deal!! The "Special Trolley" delivered us to California State Capitol Park. In 1863, Leland Stanford, then Governor, said "An edifice should be constructed...satisfactory of the grandeur of the coming time...surrounded by grounds...with a beauty and luxuriousness that no other capitol can boast". Wow.

After going through security, we were met by Ann Adrian, an enthusiastic lady who has been a guide at the Capitol building for 18 years (this is her retirement career). She obviously loves her job and knows much about the "goings on" at the Capitol .
California became a state in 1850 and the Capitol building was built in 1860. Ann brought us into the Treasurer's office of 1906 where the citizens had to pay their taxes in either gold or silver. Now the Treasurer's office takes up a whole city block. She told us that the door to the safe was so heavy and took so many people to open and close it, they usually left it open. At one time there was almost $7 million in silver and gold coins in the vault. Next door was the Treasurer's office of 1933 with a safe that weighs 22,000 pounds. For security reasons one person had half the combination and another the other half
Visiting the Legislative Chamber she pointed out the beautiful decor in shades of green which represents the people. Hanging on the wall facing the chamber is a portrait of President Lincoln who was called the "people's president". There are 80 members of the Chamber. The Senate is decorated in reds and has a portrait of Washington. This represents the aristocrats. These colors are borrowed from the British Parliament. There are 40 Senators. The seats in the gallery where we sat were made in 1869.


In the hallways hang many portraits of former California governors.
The Rotunda is 120 feet high. Halfway up are golden cornucopias representing the many crops grown in the state. California grows more crops than any other state.

Over the arches in the hallways is the head of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom who was said to have been born full-grown. This is similar to how California became a state without first becoming a territory.

Ann pointed out several other points of interest which included the Eureka (meaning I found it) floor design in each hallway, the stained glass State Seal in the corner ceilings and the original mosaic floor on the second floor that was removed, cleaned and replaced by hand in the 1976-82 restoration. We also saw a beautiful State Seal hand-carved in redwood, the state tree. Our guide would have gone on with more facts and stories, but it was time to board the trolley for a ride back to Old Sacramento.



It was lunch time at "Fat City Restaurant". After lunch it was free time. Some of us wandered the streets to take in more of the old town atmosphere, went below ground to see how the city had been raised, shopped at the wonderful stores and enjoyed the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. A group toured the California State Train Museum which had excellent interpretive exhibits documenting the railroad history from 1860 to 1960.There are 21 restored locomotives and train cars on display.

In the evening the carpool caravan headed to Woodland CA where we boarded the Sacramento River Train for a three hour excursion which included dinner, wine tasting and entertainment. What a blast!!!!!(yes older people use those words) After rolling through town for 10 minutes, we crossed the 8000' long Fremont Trestle. It is the longest wooden bridge in the west, the trestle spanning 1 1/2 miles of the regional flood basin. It climbs 25 feet above the basin floor. During the winter the entire basin fills with water. In the spring the water is drained, seeds are planted and crops (lots of rice) grow. It is a popular bird haven.

As we were served our sparkling wine and salad course,

the tracks began a turn southward and we traveled along the Sacramento River. The headwaters of the river are at Mt. Shasta and flows to the California Central Valley where it joins the American River and the San Joaquin River forming the Sacramento River Delta before flowing into northern San Francisco Bay. We passed houseboats, homes along the levee of the river with docks and great looking boats. This area is a popular water recreation area. Tasting several other wines, we were served an excellent dinner and dessert.

After the sun set, a group of us took advantage of the entertainment car listening to music and singing by a duo and swinging onto the dance floor. A fun evening was enjoyed by all especially those that had the velvet labeled bottle of wine.

Another wonderful day on our great MIM Caravan.......................