PLAYING TOURIST IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Before we began our fulltiming lives, Odel and I each lived in Sacramento for more than 20 years (Odel more than 30). As a result, we don't do much tourist-type exploring when we visit here twice a year.

The first items on the calendar are medical appointments. Around those we schedule family gatherings, meals and movies with friends... plus all the RV and Jeep maintenance we sorta' put off until we arrive in Sacramento, along with any major shopping that requires research and price comparisons. All that un-fun stuff (NOT the visits with friends and family) is much easier to do in a city you know your way around.

This visit, the "major shopping" was for a new digital camera. One day recently, I found myself with a free afternoon, wonderful weather, and the need to learn the differences between the new Canon and my old Olympus, so I headed to the California state capitol building and the beautiful, 40 acre Capitol Park grounds - tourist!

California's capitol building, listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, was built between 1860 and 1874 and completely restored in the 1970's. It is stunning. I'm sure every tourist goes away with this shot, of the inside of the dome - it is too beautiful to ignore.

The building was abuzz with kids on end-of-the-school year field trips, tourists like me taking photos, and power-suited, fast moving men and women presumably working. It was great to have no particular place to go and no one to supervise... I idled along the corridors and acted like a South Dakotan.

This shot looks down the Capitol Mall from the Capitol building to the Tower Bridge, a Sacramento landmark. This used to be the gateway to Sacramento. I am a native Californian, born in southern California, and I remember approaching the capitol by car as a kid on a family vacation up north, singing "California, Here We Come" at the top of my lungs with my two sisters. With the addition of I-5 and I-80, no one comes into Sacramento over the river across the Tower Bridge any longer, but it is still the prettiest approach.

I had forgotten another of Sacramento's most wonderful features: the trees. According to an NPR story, Sacramento claims to have more trees per capita than any other city in the world - including Paris, France. In the downtown and midtown area, many of the streets are completely covered with a leafy canopy, a saving grace in summer's sweltering heat and an absolute delight on a sunny spring day.

California, Here I Come

Right back where I started from

where bowers of flowers

bloom in the spring

each morning at dawning

birdies sing at everything

a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!"

that's why I can hardly wait

open up that golden gate

California, Here I Come

ANCHORED IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Odel was home from the east coast for 48 hours when it was my turn for a getaway. Though we have made many new friends since we left Sacramento five years ago, there is nothing like spending time with the girlfriends from "home". Our visits to Sacramento always include a trip with my two longtime friends, Becky and Pat.

Pat has a "cabin" (with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, "cabin" seems a woefully inadequte description to me) near Tahoe City, a small community on the north shore of Lake Tahoe - the side without the big casinos - within sight of the lake. Off we went on Thursday night for the long weekend, leaving Odel and Luna to enjoy some quality time alone, sharing KFC for dinner while lounging on the sofa watching ESPN.

The unseasonably cold weather in the northern California Sierra was a shocking change from the record-breaking heat wave earlier in the week. Our first morning, though, was beautiful - cool and sunny, perfect for a walk to the lake.

Those storm clouds hanging over the south side of the lake kept growing, and by the next morning, snow blanketed the mountain tops and high passes. We hibernated with (too much) great food, plenty of great wine, stacks of magazines and movies on DVD. I don't know any better way to spend time with good friends.

While I had contended with a record-breaking heat wave and the Jeep's malfunctioning air conditioning during Odel's absence, he had his own challenges while I was gone. The Memorial Day weekend coincides with the Sacramento County Fair, held at Cal Expo, the state fairgrounds. We stay at Cal Expo RV Park when we visit Sacramento... and so do the kids and families exhibiting their animals at the county fair.

Cal Expo RV Park is not among our favorites even when it sparsely populated, and it becomes a claustrophobic madhouse during the county fair. Every space is filled, the tow vehicles and towed vehicles jocky for parking anywhere a space can be claimed, and tents pop up on the few strips of grass available. At one point, before I left, a car parked so close to us that its hood extended UNDER our slide. EEEEEK! The minute it left, I tied a red bandana to my lounge chair and settled it as a safety barricade under the slide, but we constantly worried about the skills of drivers parking, backing, and turning just feet from our vulnerable home.

It's all over now. Beginning Monday morning, the county fair folks went back home, leaving the park a quarter full. Whew! We have two more weeks here and no more holidays or events... feels like home again.

A DASHING ADVENTURER

While Odel was away, I tackled my "new technology" list, spending many hours researching the purchase of a new digital camera to replace the Olympus I have had for a couple of years. After owning three Olympus cameras, I finally switched to a Canon. They have a great reputation, but switching brands means a learning curve.

The other technology I wanted to master was the "scanner" aspect of our computer printer - which turned out to be a snap.

For the first time ever, I had something I wanted to scan, this photo of Odel in his flight suit ready to climb into his fighter plane. The photo must be around 40 years old, and is quite faded. Before it is damaged further, I wanted to make a digital copy. What a hottie!