I HEAR THE TRAIN A COMIN'

We are always looking for fun activities or places to see & there seems to be an abundance of little adventures just waiting for us to discover in our part of the country. Usually Lou is the one who comes up with things to do but this one was my idea for a change.

A couple of weeks ago we started researching taking the train for an overnight trip to Reno. Amtrak’s California Zephyr leaves Roseville (about 6 miles from our house) at 11:30 AM & arrives in Reno at 4:00 PM. Harrah’s Resort & Casino in the heart of Reno is literally across the street from the train station. There were great midweek rates for both the train & the hotel, so, of course, we booked it! We left yesterday & returned today.

Roseville Train Station - there were only about 12 people waiting for the train & it offers free overnight parking. What a deal!

That's me in the light green boarding the California Zephyr for Reno.

The train takes about twice as long as driving, 4-1/2 hours as opposed to a little over 2, but since there is nothing to do except enjoy the scenery, relax or read, it was nice to just kick back & ride the rails. Sure, we could eat & sleep, too, but we tried to keep that to a minimum.

Lou checking out Donner Lake from the observation car.

The Truckee River taken from the train.

One of the ways to pass the time is to experiment with artsy photos. :-)

The main street in downtown Truckee that Lou took when the train made a quick stop.

After checking into Harrah’s we wandered around a little only to discover that Reno is pretty much dead & deserted now, especially midweek. We surmised that the plentiful Indian casinos in California have really hurt the gambling business in Nevada. The entertainment choices are really limited, too.

Our hotel - Harrah's Resort & Casino on Center Street in Reno.

These "poker chips" were 2 - 3 feet across & stacked on the sidewalk as outdoor artwork.

This is a new outdoor rock climbing wall on Virginia Street which they claim is the tallest in the world at 164 feet. There is a climber a little over halfway up the narrow part of the route on the right.

The famous "Reno - The Biggest Little City in the World" sign. You can see the 16 story climbing wall behind the sign.

The gigantic Rim Fire burning near Yosemite is causing smoke all over Northern California & Nevada. This photo shows the blanket of smoke on the Reno horizon.

The only drawback was that the return train left Reno this morning at 8:30 AM. Since neither of us are big gamblers or late night party-ers that really wasn’t any big deal. We were back in the room by about 9:00 PM after a walk around town to digest our 2 for 1 buffet dinner. But the primary reason for this getaway was the train ride anyway.    

The night time view from our 17th floor room at Harrah's.

THE PLACER COUNTY HERITAGE TRAIL

My son, daughter-in-law & granddaughter live about 30 miles east of us in a tiny town that is just a few miles past Auburn, an historic gold rush town in the Sierra foothills. We have visited Auburn many times but it seems that we always stumble onto something new to explore.

Lou learned about an attraction in Auburn that railroad aficionados consider a must see, the Bloomer Cut. My daughter-in-law, Allison, told me about the Bernhard Museum, an old home open for tours, also in Auburn. This morning we headed out after breakfast to visit these two places expecting to spend a couple hours & be home for lunch.

After a short hike, we located the Bloomer Cut, a trench that was cut 63 feet deep & 800 feet long through solid rock. It was blasted out foot by foot by Chinese workers so the Transcontinental Railroad could be built.

The Bloomer Cut - these tracks are still used by Union Pacific & Amtrak.

While Lou hiked down to the tracks I occupied myself with photos of whatever was around. The background of this pine cone was pretty cool with all the colors.

At the Bernhard Mansion we discovered that this weekend is The Heritage Trail Museum Tour. There are 19 museums in Placer County from Roseville to Tahoe that are all open with free admission. There were special activities, a map to guide us & lots of places that are not normally open to the public. We decided to check out several of the museums then have lunch in Old Town Auburn.

The Bernhard Museum home in Auburn. We sampled hand-churned ice cream that was delicious!

The home is decorated with donated Victorian era furnishings even though this was a farmhouse.

Their state of the art "washing machine" - I'll keep my trusty Whirlpool washer & dryer, thank you very much!

Apparently there was a working winery on the farm.

Several of the museums were an easy walk from the courthouse in Old Town Auburn. We visited the Auburn Joss House Chinese Museum, the Gold Country Medical History Museum & the Benton Welty School Room.

This colorful altar inside the Joss House Chinese Museum dates back to the 1880s.

The Gold Country Medical Museum is located in the first hospital in Placer County. 

The Benton Welty School Room located in what is now Auburn's City Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The domed courthouse, perched above the town, houses the Placer County Museum.

There is a historical marker sign off of Interstate 80 for Griffith Quarry that we have seen numerous times. It turns out that Griffith Quarry Museum was one of the 19 museums open today so we stopped there on our drive home.

The office of Griffith Griffith (yes, that was his name) founder of the Griffith Quarry in Penryn, California.

Some of the granite rocks in the old 23-acre Griffith Quarry.