Short blog today. I PROMISE!  Trying to get to bed on time.  Slept in today until almost 8:00 a.m.  WOW!  It felt so good.  Rebecca and I had our own adventure today.  I learned that I am not the only one that can get lost.  However, I won’t say any more on that subject.

We took off for the Old Sacramento and actually found it.  It was a very authentic looking old town of the mid 1800’s.  It looks authentic because the building of old are all still standing, boardwalks and all.  I took photos, but again forgot to do them on my IPHONE.  You’ll just have to take my word for how charming it was.  After I spent too much we headed to the Capitol building a short ways away.  By the time we found it it was quite a ways  away, only in miles driven, not in actual distance.  It is a beautiful building.  I remembered it being quite different than it actually is.  I remembered it being larger but when I walked inside I realized the rotunda was much smaller and less height than the one in Madison Wisconsin.  Truly it is beautiful but I must be a true Wisconsinite now because I thought Wisconsin’s capitol more beautiful by far.  I’ve included a few pics below.

After the capitol tour we drove to Placerville about 45 min to 1 hour away.  Had lunch, went to Rebecca’s son’s home so I could see him, (Adam) and then meet up with his other son’s (Ben) family and went house searching with a realtor.  Ben and Sarah are shopping for their first house.  It was fun to see the properties in the area.  Placerville is known for being the county seat at the time of the gold rush.  I am inserting one interesting story about the history of Placerville below.  This is what it is most know for:

Excerpt from internet:

“Placerville was also known as “Hangtown” in its’ early days. Although many stories exist on how this name was acquired, the most famous story involved a colorful event that occurred in January of 1849. A gambler named Lopez gained a lot of attention for his big winnings at a local saloon. After he retired for the evening, several men tried to overpower him. Lopez fought back, and with the help of others, the robbers were captured. During their “flogging”, three of the robbers were also accused of being wanted for a murder and robbery.

With no more evidence than that, a short 30 minute trial took place and a unanimous “guilty” verdict was given. The crowd demanded that the men be sentenced to “death by hanging” and the rest was history. The famous hanging tree once stood in Elstner’s Hay Yard, next to the Jackass Inn. Today, the original stump from the old tree remains in the cellar of “The Hangman’s Tree” tavern on Historic Main Street.”

When I lived in California before moving to Wisconsin 30 years ago we often visited Placerville as we had some friends who lived there.  Then it was a beautiful, quiet little tourist town at the halfway point between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe with a highway going through the rugged quiet hills.  Now it is overcrowded, over built with wide freeways and lots of noise.  Now the property values are even higher than those of Sacramento.  Actually, between Sacramento and Placerville the scenery was wide  open spaces of country.  That all gone now.  There are still some beautiful fields of natural grasses but they are few and far between.  We didn’t go as far as Lake Tahoe.  We are thinking we might go there tomorrow.

The house hunting ended and we took off for “home”.  It so feels like home when I get back to wherever I am staying.  I ate about half of the half that was left from lunch and now trying to get my blog finished before 9:00 p.m.  So no reminiscing or long inner dialogue.  I did meet two lovely ladies who worked in a oil and vinegar shop in old town.  They touched my heart.  Thank you ladies (if you read this) for sharing with me and allowing me  to pray with you.  I hope I hear from you.

Good night.  It is 8:58 p.m. (But I’m not in bed yet)