9/20/2017 - Arriving Grass Valley

Wednesday - Today is the day we've been waiting for, our arrival at the Draft Horse Classic.  We got up early, ran up to McDonalds, came back and got the RV ready, then fueled and hooked up, and were on the road about 8:50.  We only had a 32-mile drive, but it took about 45 minutes by the time we actually got to the fairgrounds.  We really got lucky, they had one cancellation last night for a spot with water and electric, so we got it, we didn't have to go to dry camping.  And since the propane tank was right by the check-in booth, Joe decided to get our propane filled up too, so we should be good on that until we get home.  We were met by a small flock of geese sauntering across the road, and a nice wooden elk.

While we were getting propane, the cinnamon roll trailer arrived -- things are looking up!!

This campground, which is at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, is quite nice, with lots of shade.  Had we had to stay in dry camping, we would have been able to find a good spot because there were not many campers here yet and there is lots of shade trees.  It was a chilly 64 this morning, cloudy, and we had rain starting about 2:00 so heat was not a factor today.

The camp sites are not clearly marked, so we found our spot but had a little trouble figuring out exactly how to line it up.  Joe moved it around a little, and we may have to move over a little more when our neighbor arrives, depending on the size of that camper.  But once we got set up, we headed over to the administration office to get our tickets.  The grandstand was open, so Joe checked out our seats.  We are almost in the middle, only 7 rows up, so we should have a great view of everything.

Our first barn was Clydesdales (not the Budweiser ones, though).  All of these horses are so beautiful, and gentle even though they are massive.  We just love them.  When we moved to Arizona in 1985, we stopped at the Petrified Forest, and John, who was 9, thought he had to pick up every single piece of petrified wood.  I'm that way with these horses -- I think I have to pet every one of them.

We watched them unload these next ones, which I think are Shires, from a farm in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

While we watched this, there was a little girl at the barn behind us, jumping up to pet one of the horses, I would guess she was 3-4.  Thumb in mouth, she kept jumping up to reach this one.  Then the horse leaned his head down so she could reach it.  So cute!!
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Our next encounter was with Max, this was a Finnish Clydesdale.  He was getting a mani-pedi, with a palm sander.  Max didn't seem to mind.

Our next group we think were white mules, but we didn't get to ask. 

 These two posed very nicely for me.

We saw buggies and carts scattered all around the barns.  I'm sure we will see these in the events.

One of this crew was doing a little touch-up paint on this buggy, making sure everything looked the best it could.

Then Joe found his -- the dappled grays.  Can't remember the breed but these were gorgeous too.  Joe said his favorites have always been these dappled grays.

 We went nose-to-nose.

There was also some equipment and tractors here.  We don't know if they demonstrate any of this but we will see.  We will get our program tomorrow so we can see the schedule.

Then I found my favorite -- Angel and her sister, also Clydesdale but I've never seen ones this color.  The owner called them "pink" but I guess they are actually roan and white, but they were absolutely beautiful.

I was ready to load her up in the RV and head to Arizona.

We spent a couple hours walking the barns and meeting the horses -- great fun.  We worked our way back to the camper, had lunch, took a little nap, then it started to rain.  I watched a neighbor come in and try to figure out where and how to park.  It was two ladies, and they made two laps around our camper, parked once, then undid everything, pulled up and turned around, and reparked.  So we were not the only ones having trouble figuring out where to park.

We drove into town for dinner, it had quit raining but was quite chilly -- 58.  We turned the furnace on when we got back.  We are really looking forward to seeing these gorgeous animals in action tomorrow.  We don't know what to expect, but we are READY.

These horse people were friendly and welcoming.  They love their horses and are happy to let us love them too.  Max's owner said this Grass Valley Classic is the best draft horse show west of Denver, so we are thrilled to be here.  We've never gotten to be this close to draft horses like this, so we really enjoyed it.  It was a good day!

9/19/2017 - Finishing Up Loomis

Tuesday - Not much on our agenda today.  We did a little shopping, and I finally found the bear I need!  This was at Pottery World.

We also went into Camping World again, and a couple thrift shores but we didn't buy anything.  We came back to the RV and got our chores taken care of (Joe washed windows, dumped the tanks, checked fluids and generator fuel, and I did one load of laundry, washed dishes and vacuumed).  Then we got our showers, and went to the movies.  We saw "Hitman's  Bodyguard," not one I would recommend, but it was entertaining.  The first theatre we went to, which is right at the intersection by the campground, we were going to see Wind River, but the only two seats together were in the first two rows.  The ticket girl had a seating chart and you select your seats when you buy your tickets.  That was different.  The theatre we ended up at was about 5 miles away, and it was discount night, so our tickets were $5 each.  Such a deal (the popcorn and soda were $9.00).  It was open seating, and there were only about 3 other couples in that one.

We are ready to move on to Grass Valley.  The temperature was perfect today, so we hope that continues throughout the horse show.  We heard from the Brundiges today -- they are in Arizona and will probably arrive home tomorrow.  We will be at least a week behind them, hopefully not much more than that. 

9/18/2017 - Sacramento

Monday - After our relaxing weekend, we decided to head into Sacramento today and see what it had to offer.  We didn't have a lot of information about things to see and do, so we decided to go to Capitol Park, where the state capitol building is located.  We found street parking, so we set it up for 2 hours, then decided we might as well tour the capitol since we were right there.

We encountered their state animal, the bear, right away.  We found out there was a tour in 5 minutes, which we joined, starting right at the Ronald Reagan statue.

The Senate office was closed for renovation, as of  last Friday, but we did get to see the Assembly, although they are also done until next year.

The color scheme in the Assembly was green, we were told the Senate was red.

We didn't really get to see very much of this building, and our tour guide was more about California history than the building itself, although he was very interesting.  We did see the rotunda, and the hallway with the county displays which was unique.  Each county had a "window" representing the county, either the crops grown there, or the redwoods, or the ocean -- whatever it had to offer.

We intended to walk the grounds, which is 40 acres of lawns, flower gardens and memorials, but by the time we finished the tour, our parking meter was about to run out.  We came out a different door than we went in, so we did walk 1/4 of the grounds.  A lot of the trees were identified, which included Coast Redwoods, Magnolia, and Tulip trees. 

From there, we drove over to Historic Old Sacramento, which dates back to 1848 when gold was discovered.  Old Sacramento was the last stop on the Pony Express route, and they have a statue there representing that.  The Pony Express route started in St. Joseph, Missouri.

"By utilizing a short route and using mounted riders rather than traditional coaches,... [the pony express was] to establish a fast mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with letters delivered in 10 days, a duration many said was impossible. The initial price was set at $5 per ¹⁄₂ ounce, then $2.50, and by July 1861 to $1. The founders of the Pony Express hoped to win an exclusive government mail contract, but that did not come about. ... The approximately 1,900-mile-long route roughly followed the Oregon and California Trails to Fort Bridger in Wyoming, and then the Mormon Trail (known as the Hastings Cutoff) to Salt Lake City, Utah. From there it followed the Central Nevada Route to Carson City, Nevada before passing over the Sierra into Sacramento, California."

Old Sacramento had board sidewalks, lots of eateries and gift shops, a few museums, horse and carriage rides.  It's right on the Sacramento River, and there was a paddle wheeler docked there that is a restaurant.

We had lunch on the balcony at La Terraza Mexican Restaurant,

walked in and out of some of the gift shops, walked down to the river, saw street musicians,

and stepped in the Wells Fargo museum.  This was not a bustling area, although there were a few tourists around, and the horse-drawn carriages seemed to stay busy.  We finished up here, and headed back to our campground, which is about 30 miles away.  We had a pretty low-key day, will try to get ourselves ready tomorrow to get an early start on Wednesday.  We only have 32 miles to go to Grass Valley, but although we have reservations, we are in dry camping, on a first come-first serve basis so we want to get there pretty early to try to get a shady spot.  But the weather is supposed to cooperate, a cool spell is forecast for the rest of the week so we should be fine.  And we are really looking forward to the Draft Horse Classic.

9/17/2017 - Day Two in Loomis, CA

Sunday - Another fairly uneventful day.  Joe found a Farmers Market/Flea Market in Roseville that we decided to find, but it was so huge, and traffic getting in was so backed up we both decided we didn't want to walk it that bad.  We continued on to Costco, then drove up to a casino.  That was our day.  We did venture out for dinner and another stop at Walmart about 6:00, but we got some rest this afternoon when we got back from the casino (Joe won a little, I lost a little more).

I think we will head down to Sacramento tomorrow and see what we find there.  The weather is really good here, mornings cool, and it got up to 92 for a little while this afternoon but cooled off pretty quickly.  We are enjoying the weather and the slow pace.  I think we are getting tired of traveling, must be time to head home, which we will after next weekend.

9/16/2017 - Day One in Loomis, CA

Saturday - A rare day for us, no sightseeing and no travel.  We took the day off.  We made our run to Camping World and Joe got his exhaust pipe for the generator and, surprise surprise, they had the part for our steps in stock.  We left there about $260 broker, but they had what we needed, and that was why we came to Loomis, so that was all good.  We made a stop at Walmart, then back to the RV.

Well, I took the day off.  Joe did maintenance.  He put together the exhaust pipe and installed it, even though we don't need it here.  But he tested it out, it worked, then he took it back down and put it away, ready for Grass Valley. 

Then he started on the step.  That took a little longer, but he got it done too.  That took an hour or so, and a lot of laying on the ground.

But we are back in business with our step now.  The air conditioner, well it's still limping along.  It starts better in hot weather than in cold, so we should be good on that until we get home.  It squeals some but it does work.

My chore was laundry, so I got that caught up again.  The laundry here has 8 washers and 8 dryers, a nice amount, since one each was out of order (that is usually the case).  So we both had a productive day.

We needed a day like this.  It got up to about 85 degrees, but cooled off nicely in the evening.  We ran out to Panda Express for dinner, then sat outside until it got dark.  I suggested going to the casino, but he "forgot" about that. 

We have no big plans for tomorrow, maybe another day like today.  That would be alright.  Hope we can find the Cardinals football game, but that's a long shot.