The second attempt at getting to tour the Nevada Capitol building met with another surprise. The streets surrounding the capitol were blocked off with uniformed officers directing traffic. The mounted police, fire trucks, and bomb squad were visible from the public parking structure. I quickly searched the web to find out what all the commotion was about I was sure the news would provide me with some answers. I found that the Nevada Governor was to be inaugurated this afternoon at 12:30. No problem, it was 10:30 we could go in another entrance to tour the Capitol. The police guards said that the capitol would be open at 11:00 so we took the kids to the bathroom and hung out at the state library where it was warm. At 11:00 we wondered out. They had a line of important looking people at the east entrance that was moving slowly we stood in it for a while but the people weren’t going inside they were walking around the outside of the building so we figured we must be in the wrong place. We then walked around to the main entrance that was all set up with banners for the inaugural speech. The sun was shining so even though the kids were finding plenty of snow to stomp in we were warm. We walked up and down the street thinking maybe we could stick around for the speech and take advantage of the learning opportunity that was being presented. We didn’t make it that long. I wonder if it was the right decision to leave but we did. It was still cool to see the set up for it and all the news crews there even if we didn’t get to tour the Capitol or see the inauguration.
After the Capitol we met my cousin Jon and his wife Shawna and little Kadence at McDonalds for lunch. It was good to visit with them for a while.
After checking all the road advisor sites we decided to take the road we had been warned not to take by Boyd. It was sunny and warm and all the snow appeared to be on the sides of the road not on it. It was winding up with no shoulder so it was easy to see why it was not advisable in inclement weather. The scenery was AWESOME and I was quite sentimental as we drove the rim of Lake Tahoe and even past the hotel we stayed in when Suzanne and I rode in the America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride century in 2011. Some how climbing the eight miles in the car was not nearly as tear inducing as it was on our bikes.
We made it to Sacramento for dinner with another cousin, William, and his two kids Trystan and Trinity. We may not see a lot of historical sites or National Parks here in CA, but being able to visit with our family has been priceless.
Owens Endeavors 