A landmark of another kind

Thanks to grandma and grandpa, Diana now has her first "big girl" bed.

I had a wonderful time cleaning Diana's room and setting up her new bed, though I wasn't sure how Diana would feel about being back in her own room. Surprisingly, Diana loved her new bed and was very happy to be back in her own room. I can't say the same for Amelia.

The way Amelia has been acting, you would think that she was simply tolerating having her sister in her bed at night. When Diana climbed into her own bed, in her own room, the other night, Amelia cried. She really missed her little sister. Amelia confided in us that she needed her sister to be close by in case she had bad dreams. I suggested that she bring a stuffed animal to bed so that her stuffed friend could help her feel better in case of bad dreams. Amelia said, "But it's just a toy, I need a real person."

Amelia's doing better, and it was endearing to her how much she was missing her little sister.

Wednesday afternoon the girls and I travelled to Sacramento to visit my brother ("Uncle Chris"). As you might guess, Sacramento has several historical markers, so it wasn't terribly difficult to locate a marker on line that would be fun and interesting for our group to visit. The funny thing is, the marker I chose to visit is one that I have looked for several times before.

You see, according to the Internet, California Historical Marker #780 is in San Joaquin county near Tracy. But I have to tell you, I've looked for it where it was supposed to be, and it just ain't there. Because I felt confused and frustrated by my inability to find this spot I did some more digging and found that the marker was actually in Sacramento. That made me wonder if the location of the western end of the first trans-continental railroad was actually in Tracy, and the marker had been moved to Sacramento, or if the first listing was just plain wrong and the western starting point had been in Sacramento all along.

It seems that the correct answer is "B." And truthfully, it makes a lot more sense to me that the trans-continental railroad reached out from the site where gold was discovered and not from Tracy, California (no disrespect intended).

The railroad museum where Historical Marker #780 was actually located was quite impressive. A large collection of railroad engines are contained within the museum along with informative plaques and life-like figures in period clothing. You can also enter several of the engines which are usually manned by individuals who are familiar with the trains you are visiting.

While the girls liked the full-sized engines, they really loved the toy trains located on the museum's second floor. Upstairs there were very elaborate electronic train sets and two wooden "Thomas the Tank Engine" play sets. This was where the girls spent most of their time at the museum. As for me, I think I might like to return to the museum and spend much more time exploring the real trains and reading about the history of trains in California and in America.

And if I win a million dollars, I think I'll start collecting the china set they're selling at the museum gift shop - but that's neither here nor there.

Lisa