Saturday in Sacramento.  We had another delicious breakfast cooked by the beautiful Maria!  Her  frittata was out of this world.  She also made bacon and prepared a fruit salad.  David and I wanted to meet Hal and Maria’s daughter, Kim, so Maria invited her over and we had such a fun visit!  What a smart and beautiful woman she is.  We wished she could have stayed longer but she was helping her best friend with a project and had to leave.

Hal said he would take us out to the areas surrounding Sacramento and we jumped at the chance.  We really love the city.  The first place he took us to was to the Auto Museum he took David to last time we were here — new murals were painted on the side of the building.  They are very cool!

Next up, the yellow bridge!  Actually, it’s gold.  Apparently the city held a contest to pick the color of paint and this is what the majority voted for.  It was not Maria and Hal’s choice . . . and it wouldn’t have been ours either.

Hal told David the Blue Diamond almond company was in Sacramento and we were very interested in visiting the gift shop.  It was so nice and had every flavor almond you could imagine available to purchase.  About $40.00 later we left.  We have a nice selection of road treats including coconut almonds, rosemary and garlic almonds, and maybe a few chocolate covered almonds thrown in for good measure!  You never know when you will be stranded and have to survive on almonds.

He also took us to the Old Sugar Mill which is a group of old mill buildings that have been divided into small tasting rooms for wine tasting.  What a great idea!  You can taste probably 10 or 12 different brands of wine there.  There were also a couple of food trucks and live music.  Maria said they hold weddings there too.  It was the perfect day for this outing.

I love this picture of Hal and Maria.  What a handsome couple.

Our final stop on the tour was a little town called Locke.  It is an unincorporated community built by Chinese Immigrants in the early 20th Century.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.  Now all but 10 of the residents are White Americans.  A few buildings remain on the main drag but most are vacant and dilapidated which is too bad.  The restaurant (picture below) remains open and very popular.  Maria said they have the best steak sandwiches.  We were surprised that the pc police haven’t made them change the name of the restaurant.

I love these posters where you stick your head in and have your picture taken!  No one would do it but me.  I especially think I look like Mona Lisa.

We made a short stop at their home to rest and clean up and then we went to dinner at the Rios Cafe which is right on the river in Sacramento.  We sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the great food.

Spending time with Hal and Maria and their adorable puppies Missy and Eddie was SO much fun but tomorrow we have to move on.  I wonder if Eddie would fit in my suitcase???