last day of vacation (saturday, august 21)

in an attempt to recover from depression over our early morning goodbyes, we picked up jordan, and drove back into sacramento one last time, to do something I’ve been wanting to do for YEARS! in connection with the california state railroad museum, which we visited on tuesday, you can take a short, scenic train ride, pulled by a working steam locomotive!

supposedly…

so I tried not to make too big of a stink, and enjoyed the fact that it was still a train ride, even if it was pulled by a diesel. anyone want to see the governator? there’s the capitol!yes, that is a real conductor, punching my ticket!

the replacement locomotive:when you get to the ‘end of the line’ in baths, the engine unhooks, switches tracks, pulls past the waiting train, switches tracks again, and then couples to the other end of the train to pull it back to the station.

and I had to take a picture of the really ugly gold bridge that is a landmark in sacramento. seriously. it’s metallic!

this was our train:after the train ride, we stopped through the old schoolhouse to explore.shane, jordan and layla, doing some writing on slates.dave, attempting to get suspended…shane, ringing the school bell: and then there’s the “rules for teachers”. this is a hoot!

after that, it was laundry, packing, one last swim, one last in-n-out burger,and then hitting the road. we drove all night again, and got home around 10:30 the next morning. it was a long trip, but totally worth it! we miss everyone so much.

thanks, gramma and papa, for putting up with all of us and helping us have such a great time! so many great memories! we love you and can’t wait to see you again!

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