Day 1 - Conway, AR - Sacramento, CA

Over the summer, I was feeling the call/drive/motivation for a road trip and was fortunate enough that my good friend and travel buddy, Carolyn Scott, was up to accompany me.  We most recently (in April 2018) did a trip in the Pacific Northwest.  This time, we're back on the West Coast, but a little further south:  Northern California and Southern Oregon.

We had an uneventful flight this morning from Little Rock to Las Vegas.  Clouds obscured much of our view until Arizona, but I was happy to be able to see the Grand Canyon from 38,000 feet.  Unfortunately we flew directly over Hoover Dam, so no spotting of that on this trip.  Our approach into Las Vegas was interesting as it was to the southwest so the Strip buildings were literally zooming by right outside the window.

After a short 30 minute layover, we were on our next plane and off to Sacramento.  Soon Lake Tahoe was passing the right side of the plane and we turned into our approach.  After landing and on the way to the baggage claim area, we took note of how nice, airy, and beautiful the Sacramento airport was.  Other airports should study it.

We grabbed our rental car and made our way to our hotel.  After unpacking and having a small rest, we headed to Old Sacramento which is a historic waterfront area downtown.  With 53 historic buildings, Old Sacramento has more buildings of historic value condensed into its 28 acres than most areas of similar size in the West.  A boardwalk sidewalk sits above the former streets which flooded in the 1850s.

The two hour time difference caused us to be really hungry by 5:00 so we snuck into Fat City Bar & Cafe where we had a terrific dinner surrounded by Tiffany-style lamps overhead.  A block away from Fat City, there's a nice path along the Sacramento River from where we saw the Ziggurat Building in West Sacramento.  Nearby was also the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge that is on the National Register.  Recently, it was part of controversy as the city voters selected the paint color, gold.  Many of said the final result didn't accurately represent the gold color they chose.

Following our brief after-dinner walk, we got back to our car and did a driving tour of Sacramento.  We passed the State Capitol building, made our way through Midtown, and then ended up enjoying driving up and down the roads of East Sacramento where amazing homes have been preserved and improved.  This "Fabulous Forties" area includes Tudor, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, California Bungalow, and Craftsman homes with broad streets and overhanging trees.  It was a real treat to see these beauties.

That's it for today.  We start driving tomorrow as we head to Sutter's Mill and then through the Stanislaus Forest up to Lake Tahoe!