Your mom and I were trying to decide what to do with our weekend, when we suddenly heard a knock on our door. It was our neighbor Nate wanting to know if we wanted to see a free concert. Thus began a weekend accompanied by Nate where he showed us around some of his favorite places in Sacramento and then, the next day, in Chico.
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| Nate started by showing us to his favorite taco stand in downtown Sacramento. |
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| It was the 21st anniversary of this annual free concert in Cesar Chavez park near the Capitol. Nate is soon moving out of our area and down to Los Angeles. We'll miss him and these few adventures he pulled us into. |
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| The kids were playing in the fountain in the park, something I'm sure would be very taboo if this event hadn't been occurring around it. It looked like fun! |
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| This little girl was really getting into the rock music, flashing the horns and all! |
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| Oleander is a local favorite in Sacramento. Their stuff from the late '90s was easily recognized by Nate and me. It's probably been years since I heard these guys, but it was awesome to hear them rockin' out. After the show, we sneaked behind the stage looking for a way out of the park. The lead singer ended up greeting us and holding the makeshift fence down so we could escape. Good guy! |
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| Then Nate showed us around some of the cool night life spots in town, like The Shady Lady, where a live jazz trio entertained a loud crowd and we enjoyed some drinks, met some very interesting folks who chipped in showing us some other cool spots in town. It was a long and interesting evening. |
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| The next morning, we took off for Chico with Nate and his really sweet German Shepherd, Norma, riding with us. |
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| On the road to Chico, we went through a lot of rice fields, and this one was being dusted by this daring cropduster pilot. |
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| Nate showed us through Bidwell Park in Chico and to Bear Hole, a natural volcanic rock river you could swim. |
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| Your mom had no problem managing the rapids at some part of the rivers. She had a few bruises to show for it, but it was a blast. |
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| Norma was a trooper, too. Here she's drying off after a long swim through the river. |
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| One of the highlights for me, of course, was seeing the big brewery and home of Sierra Nevada. They essentially cut the path for craft beer in this country, and I'd been wanting to visit this place for a while. |
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| I missed the tour, but I got to sneak around anyway along their observation deck before trying some neat limited supply stuff in their tap house. |
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| Afterwards, we walked a bit around downtown Chico and had a coffee before hitting the road home. Norma really is a fun dog to have around, and her and Nate are obviously very closely bonded. |
