Keeping It Simple

Continuing on with our CA history theme, we visited the railroad museum.  History aside, trains just really are awesome.  All these toy trains (above) come from one private collection. Very impressive. This young man that James was playing next to was being given a hard time by what appeared to be his grandma (who thought he was too old to play with trains). After she commented a few times about this, I had to say (very nicely- I promise) that I don't think you're ever too old to play with trains- she smiled and agreed, and the boys played peacefully for quite a while. The making of the Transcontinental Railroad  was fraught with all the politics and drama that one might expect in taking on such a monumental project. Our tour guide did a great job explaining the players in this episode in our country's history- I am afraid I would not do it justice, but this link goes to the museum's site and gives lots of great info

After a long day at the Gold Rush Live  on Saturday, we settled down at a friend's campsite for dinner. They were staying right on the American River, so we got our first up close look at it! After a hot day being on our feet it felt so good to soak them in the cool water.  The next day we were off to Old Town Sacramento. Fortunately, we got lost and ended up at Sutter's Fort ! We had visited years ago, but our boys had never seen it. They were anxious to get to the train museum (our destination), but we could not pass up an opportunity to look around. It was a perfect tie-in to the gold rush weekend we were having. I love the contrast of old and new. 

Part I  First stop-- a real gold mine!  On to the stamp mill (replica). An actual machine,  which we later saw, is much larger and louder.  Part II The next day was the "Gold Rush Live" living history days. In a word- amazing !! Each and every volunteer was tireless on this long hot day in presenting the history of the gold rush, and demonstrating and presenting their particular topic.   This gentleman gave us the "overview".  The history of discovery of gold in a nutshell.   The saw mill replica.   This was by far the favorite demonstration- the 1800's toy table!   The ring race- not sure that is the name, but kids loved it!  Catch the ring on the stick- surprisingly hard!  Those are our boys (my nephew and my son) sawing that log!   We were given a full demonstration on how to load and shoot this canon-...