River City...

Or... Sacramento, CA, is the general location of our recent travels.  Most of you know that for a few months during the late spring and early summer, we have family time in and around the Bay Area.  World traveler/grandson, Robb and his girlfriend, Helga are visiting mom Stephanie and Gary in Citrus Heights, having recently arrived from Romania, where Helga lives and goes to school studying for her medical degree.

Helga & grandson Robb

When we weren't visiting, we decided to take this opportunity to actually "see" some of the sights of Sacramento, namely the Historic State Capitol Park.  I can't believe we've lived in CA off and on all these years and never visited our state capitol, though we have in many other states.

Capitol Building

 Capitol Park is considered one of the most beautiful State Capitol grounds in the nation.  Covering 40 acres and spanning 12 city blocks, it contains species of plant life from nearly every part of the globe.

The Southern Magnolia is a "notable" tree

We did a self-guided tour of the interior, including the Senate Chambers and galleries of portraits of the former governors.  Arnold apparently has been too busy to sit for his.  This one of Jerry Brown, after his first governorship, is my favorite.

The first "Jerry Brown"!

Looking down on the Senate Chambers

After our Capitol tour, we headed to Old Sacramento which is situated along the Sacramento River, and a popular tourist destination.

Old Sac

Along the Sacramento River

 We decided to take the 40 minute, 6 mile steam-powered train ride, featured at the Railroad Museum.

The steam engine repositioning

Our ride

We passed the golden towers of the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge across the Sacramento River.

Tower Bridge

We waved at cyclists along the way and admired the river traffic.  A great way to spend a few hours in between family visits!

Next time!