Sacramento - Day 30 - March 13, 2015

Took Christine and her mentor Eric to the airport this morning so that they could attend a transportation hearing being held in LA. Christine had written the background paper and the Senator's opening remarks for this meeting. We will go and pick the two of them up this evening.

Wow Doesn't she look all grown up and business like. Yet they still proof her in the grocery store and at bars!

We decided since it was Friday the 13th, to stay close to home - only kidding. We went and got Chris' car cleaned, vacuumed and put some air in the tires. It was so dirty it didn't come clean first trip through the car wash so they let us go through again for free.  Then we went to Safeway to pick up a few items for this evening. Came back and had a restful afternoon just reading, relaxing and having a little down time. Except for Ron who waxed Christine's car .. Aunt Anna would be proud of how her old car looks. 

We will only have about 4 days at home before we head off to Florida so we know we will be busy with our next trip preparation. We are traveling in the RV with the Volmuts, Colleen, Brayden and Kylie. Cooper is staying with Eric and flying down to meet us later.

Here are some pictures of Chris' apartment. It is nice, clean, safe and close to her work so it seems like a very good fit. It is only a one bedroom but it has ample closets and storage space which is unusual for a small apartment.

 



Christine's cat Clu eyes are really showing up! (back of couch)

There are two closets in the bedroom that go all down the far wall and there is a huge storage closet next to the bedroom. Someone in NYC would use it as a nursery.

We needed to find a place to eat that had fish and we wanted to stay close since we need to pick Chris up at the airport so we headed back to Burgers and Brew for their fish and chips. It is a nice place with a great selection of beer. Besides we like being able to sit outside in March.

When Chris gets home we have some cheese, crackers and wine that we will share while we hear about her day in LA. Plane is delayed hopefully it won't be too late.

Sacramento - Day 28 & 29 - March 11 & 12, 2015

Said good-bye yesterday to Pacific Shore Condo, San Diego and Jason after he dropped us off at the airport. Had a stop in LA before we arrived in Sacramento at about 7 pm. The flight from Sun Diego to LA took all of about 20 minutes.  Chris met us at the airport and gave us a brief tour of the area. The airport is about 10 miles out of the center of San Diego and her apartment is in midtown within walking distance of the Capitol her work location. We had dinner at the Burger and Brew and called it an evening. We had to be at the Capitol at 9 am the next morning.

ours was in there someplace.  Their system is a bit different in Cali



What no BOGO?  Well as long as they have a well crafted local brewski ... and they did!

 

The newlyweds - lol

Christine showed us her office before she went with us on a VIP Tour of the Capitol.

First pair of long pants I've had on since we left

It was just the 3 of us with a guide who gave us all kinds of interesting facts and history of the Capitol.

sample of how the old capitol looked before renovations in 1906 and 1975

Arnold, AKA the terminator, (no idea how to spell Schwarzenegger) brought and bought this bear from Austria.  It's called bacteria bear and with the 1000's of grimy fingers that touch it daily it's advisable to not touch. We didn't.

In the ceiling of the Capitol - the guide explained the significance of all the figures in California history

senate chambers

youthful Columbus

youthful Sue ....

Chris then left us to go to work and we looked at some other exhibits, watched a couple of short films in the theater and browsed in the bookstore. From there we took our own tour of the gardens which are beautiful. Sacramento is the city of trees and we witnessed so many different varieties around the Capitol. The flowers were also lovely and blooming - hard for a Northern New Yorker to imagine. The grounds, probably more than 15 acres surrounding the Capitol, were also dotted with many statues dedicated to those who had served - some through the military, some through fire service etc. The ones dedicated to the firefighters and the Viet Nam Memorial were especially poignant for us.

Camellia similar to what we had in North Carolina 

These next ones are for you Dad

Since they began keeping records in the 1860's 1000's of firefighters have died during the course of their duty in California.  Almost both sides of the wall have been filled with the names of the fallen firefighters symbolized by the jacket and helmet.   

Very impressive Vietnam Memorial

We also went into the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament but they were having mass. A glimpse of the church was enough though that we would like to return later when we can see more.

Walked back home to Chris' apartment and waited for her to come back from work.



Not enough walking or I need to do some sit-ups which I haven't done since we left NY.  Entering Christine's "gated" apartment area.  Nice and safe although it's in a lovely neighborhood about a mile from the Capitol.   

After Chris got home from work she went to a boot camp workout and we went along and walked around McKinley Park while she exercised. The park is really nice with running trails, a lake, playground, rose garden etc. From there we went out to a Thai restaurant. Sorry no pictures tonight it was gone before I knew it. We'll see how Ron and I do on our own tomorrow as Christine has to fly to LA for the day to do a presentation.

San Diego - Day 27 - March 10, 2015

Our last post from San Diego as tomorrow we will be flying to Sacramento. Hopefully we still will be able to blog from there.

This morning we rode our bikes to Mission Bay Aquatic Center to attempt completion of yesterday's activity. We both wanted try paddle boarding.  It was a lot windier today than the smooth as glass water we had yesterday. The going out with the wind wasn't a problem it was getting back against the wind that was trickier. Ron went first and managed it like the athlete he's always been and I did ok but wasn't sure if I could paddle back against the current. In fact one lady got swept away and couldn't paddle back had to be rescued by boat.  Ron helped me take off from an easier place in the cove and I was successful paddling. I didn't go out too far but I didn't fall or need to be rescued.  Ron went out a second time and really got the hang of it.

First tenuous strokes and then like a duck to water off he goes

Sue survived too.  Actually at this point she was being pushed backward by the wind but regained control with deeper stronger strokes and successfully navigated her adventure. 

From there it was on to pre - happy hour at the Baja Beach Café formerly the Green Flash Restaurant that had been there for years and one of our favorite haunts. We had a giant Green Flash Margarita to celebrate crossing something(surf paddling) off our bucket list and the end of a wonderful month in SD.

objects in mirror seem  ... no way around it this was a big a$$ drink 

We went home and started to pack before heading off across the street to Café Bar Europa Turquoise for a final night of music, sangria and tapas. Ahhhh the good life. What a great finish to a fabulous month here in San Diego. We look forward to coming back in November for Jason and Chris' wedding. We're off to Sacramento and so happy to be seeing Chris again. She has a VIP tour of the Capitol set up for us on Thursday.

a Joni Mitchell cover artist at the Café Europa 

a Spatten Beer locally crafted.  I think it was the third beer I had while in Sun Diego.  Believe it or not thus far I've lost 1 pound on our vacation

Bye for now!!