We took a whirlwind trip to Sacramento last weekend with my parents. It was an overnight trip with stops at Apple Hill, IKEA, Old Town Sacramento, the train museum, and a train ride. We were hoping to get to the capital, but there just wasn't enough time (and it was incredibly wet!).
Our first stop was Apple Hill. Apple Hill is a series of apple farms just East of Placerville. Some of the farms are small and others are huge! One of the smaller farms we went to was filled with colorful flowers and each person was given a freshly cut and corkscrew sliced apple. They were so delicious! We even got to try a Liberty apple at one of the farms. . . they were delicious! Some of the larger farms had so many people, you could hardly drive down the road to get a parking spot. We were so glad we started early! By the time we left, it was pouring down rain. . . perfect time to go and check into our hotel - the Embassy Suites in Old Town - my favorite! We then headed to Fat City for a delicious dinner . . . it just took a quick walk in the rain. After that, we fit in IKEA. . . making it the quickest trip the large store. . . 30 minutes (we had no choice. . . they were closing). Then, off to bed. . . we were exhausted!
Sunday morning, we slept in - which was great, because Ethan let us. We started getting our breakfast at the Embassy Suites' amazing breakfast feast, when the fire alarm started going off, along with these incredibly powerful fans that sucked out any smoke. . . it was like a hurricane inside the building. . . even more funny when you were heading out into the winds and rain to wait for the firemen. Ethan enjoyed watching the firemen in action, but he still whimpers whenever he sees a firetruck. Once that fiasco/adventure was over, we went to try to save our food and finish our breakfast in peace. Then we headed out to buy our tickets for the train ride. That was so much fun. . . Ethan loved every minute of it. It was all decorated for halloween. We even had a visit with the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter - Ethan was a tad scared of them, but not scared of the strange man walking by with a "scary" hand. Ethan was willing to give that a high five!
Our next stop was the train museum. Ethan was so excited to see even more trains! He loved every minute of it, although I think his favorite part was when we got upstairs and they had a section of Thomas trains that kids could play with. He spent probably 30 minutes there, before we had to pry him away. He also enjoyed watching all the model trains go around their tracks.
By the time we left, it was well past lunch time, so we stocked up on salt water taffy, bought Ethan a milk, and headed to Elk Grove for lunch at Noodles and Co. I have been craving their whole grain Tuscan Pasta since our road trip last summer. (Side note. . . Fresno totally needs one of them. . . I think they would do exceptionally well!).
Our trip home was amazingly smooth, with the exception of lots of rain. We had wanted to fit in a quick trip to the capitol, but the weather was quite wet and windy, so we opted to head home.
It was a fun and exciting trip!
