Room 613 Talk

My California and Nevada Journal by Brianne C. 

11/18/05

We had a flight at 2pm From Hartford to Dallas. It took 4hours and 33 minutes. We had a ½ hour layover. Our next flight was at 6 o’ clock central time, which is one hour before Eastern Time. We arrived in San Francisco airport at 8 p.m. We rented a blue minivan with squeaky brakes from Alamo. We drove 1.5 hours to Vacaville, near Sacramento, to my uncle and aunt’s house. We stayed up until 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

11/19/05

Today we visited Sacramento. We went to Old Sacramento and took a horse and carriage ride around the town. The town looked the old west that we see in movies. We ate lunch at a place called Eat at Joes. I had a plain cheese pizza. We saw the tall ships docked outside restaurant. My aunt told me I missed out on seeing some cute deck hands. After that we went to a candy store that gave out free samples. There was even a giant sugar daddy. I love sugar daddies. I would like to go back and get one of those sugar daddies.

11/20/05

Today we went to San Francisco. We went over the famous Golden Gate Bridge and went down Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world. We also ate lunch at the Hard Rock Café. After lunch we saw some sea lions. My aunt took a mini movie of the sea lions play fighting. Then we went on a double-decker merry- go-round (I didn’t have to wear the harness so I put my feet on top of the horses head and sat sideways and backwards). After that we watched a magic/stunt show. The guy gave out money. I didn’t get any money, but I was picked as a volunteer. I got to hold a unicycle during the show. The unicycle was 6 feet tall!!! He gave my uncle a lighted torch and asked his name and where he was from. Then he ran across the alley and yelled “Everybody come here, we’re burning Dennis from Vacaville.” It was hilarious. Then we went to Cliff House Beach and my sister and I wrestled in the sand it was a really fun day!!!!

11/21/05

Today we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. It’s the only place in the world where they make Jelly Belly jellybeans. Jelly Belly’s became famous when President Ronald Reagan said Jelly Belly Beans were his favorite type of jellybeans. The Jelly belly company also makes the jellybeans in flavors like described in the Harry Potter movie. Did you know that it takes 7-10 days to make one jellybean? After the jellybean factory we went to the Green Tree Driving Range and Golf Course. I did pretty well, but my dad did the best out of the family. My uncle hit this huge golf ball out on the middle of the field. I hit past the 150-yard marker once, and the rest landed short of it. Then, when we came home, my aunt introduced us to her neighbors, Josh and Nate, who are 9-year-old boys and who love basketball.

11/22/05

Today we went to Lake Tahoe. We took a 2.5-hour car drive to get there. We went to Emerald Bay on the south shore. The Washoe Indians visited there to worship their gods and to collect food. We had picnic near emerald bay. The reason the bay is called Emerald is because of the color of the water. It is a blue green color because of the reflection of the evergreen trees. We took a 1mile hike to a house that replicates a castle from Norway. Then we took a 1-mile hike along Eagle Falls, also near the south shore of lake Tahoe. Later, we drove to Reno, Nevada, which was a 1.5hour drive. We stayed at a casino/hotel called ATLANTIS. Reno is famous for its many casinos. After we got there we went to the swimming pool and hot tub.

11/23/05

Today we drove to Virginia City, Nevada, a gold and silver mining town. I was amazed that once we got to the top of the mountains on the Nevada side, that there was sprawling desert all around. In the 1860’s during the height of the gold rush, the population of the Virginia City was 30,000 people. Now the population is about 900.They found more silver than gold but it was more than a year before they found out that the blue clay-like substance that they found in the hills was silver. After we drove back to South Lake Tahoe and visited a beach called cave rock. We found gold dust in the sand at the edge of the water. On the way back to my uncle’s house, we took a 1-mile hike around Echo Lake. It was a busy. but exciting day.

11/24/05

Today was Thanksgiving. In the morning we took 2-1/2 mile hike before we came home and ate. After dinner, we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was really good.

11/25/05

Today we drove 2 hours to the Calaveras Big Trees otherwise known as the sequoias. Those trees were around when the dinosaurs were on earth. There was a tree there that was 3,000 years old and 30 feet in diameter. The pine cones from these huge trees are one of the smallest pine cones we saw while we were there. Then we came home and now I am writing this entry in my journal. For dinner, I am going to have left over turkey, stuffing and other Thanksgiving goodies, as well as Tri-tip steak. Tri-tip is only available in this area and it’s delicious. Tomorrow we return home to Connecticut..

Overall, I enjoyed the trip. While the warmer weather was not surprising, I was amazed at the amount of open farmland we saw in California. I wondered why Nevada allowed gambling, and its neighbor, California, did not.