A quick trip back east

Last weekend, The Wife had plans to meet up with a friend in Davis, a fairly decent-sized¹66K college town about 70 miles northeast of us. It’s also pretty close to Sacramento, which is only about 15-20 minutes further down the road. The Daughter and I didn’t really have anything else to do, so we²Along with The Dog II and The Dog III decided to tag along and make a quick little 24-hour road trip out of it.

I’ve driven past both Davis and Sacramento on the highway plenty of times, but hadn’t actually set foot in either one during my first 11+ years³Yeah, it’s been that long since I moved here. Crazy. as a Californian. We also hadn’t taken an overnight trip with The Dog III yet, so this seemed like a good opportunity to see how she does in hotels and cross yet another capitol building off our collective bingo cards.⁴We do not actually have capitol building bingo cards, but that would be cool.⁵Well, not cool per se, but I would enjoy it.

Smooth sailing

I’m happy to report that The Dog III (D3) handles car trips like a pro. In fact, she may even be a better little traveler than her sister.

The Dog II (D2) has always been pretty good in the car, but she does get restless from time to time. She likes to be able to see out the window and gets cranky if her beanbag isn’t positioned properly. She also has moments where she absolutely has to sit in someone’s lap, come hell or high water. Outside of those peccadilloes, though, she’s a silent and happy tiny co-pilot.

D3, however, takes traveling zen to whole other level. She is, much like Ron Popeil’s Showtime Rotisserie oven, a truly “set it and forget it” traveling companion.⁶She is not, however, as useful as a fishin’ magician. D3 was perfectly content to stay exactly where she was put and I don’t think she made a single peep the entire trip.

Her chill approach to automotive travel came in really handy because we ended up spending nearly the entire second day in the car due to the weather. After we dropped The Wife off to visit her friend, there wasn’t much we could do with two dogs in the middle of a rainstorm, so we just drove around for a few hours.⁷I realize that driving around in a rainstorm isn’t necessarily a good idea either, but our options were slim to none.

First, we drove out to Sacramento International Airport because we wanted to see if it was a legit airport or just some rinky dink two-gate operation.⁸Our skepticism was fueled primarily by the fact that its call letters—SMF—reminded us of the Smurfs. It turns out it actually is a decent mid-sized airport with multiple terminals and all the major domestic carriers. Well done Sacramento!

Then we decided to make a run towards to the mountains to see if we could get high enough for the rain to turn into snow. Alas, we only had enough time to make it to Colfax, where we found some sleet but no real snow. In more exciting news, I found a gas station that was going out of business and was able to get a Coke⁹Actually it was a Pepsi, but the Texan in me still can’t bring myself to say soda. and a candy bar for 63¢.

Smooth snoring

The girls did equally well in the hotel room. In fact, they did better than they usually do at our house—we didn’t have any of the petty little territorial squabbles that sometimes break out and D3 seemed to feel right at home pretty quickly.

I was worried about them barking at noises from other rooms or the hallway, but they didn’t seem bothered by that at all. Likewise, they completely ignored some very loud talkers¹⁰We were on the fourth floor, so they were some loud talkers. in the parking lot. D2 didn’t care for the brief fireworks show after the nearby ballgame concluded, but otherwise they both had an uneventful stay at the West Sacramento Home2Suites.

The Daughter said she didn’t get much sleep because both dogs had to be touching at her at all times throughout the night, but frankly that’s not my problem. I’m going to consider the experiment a success.

Davis: A perfectly cromulent college town

We knew the weather was going to be crappy on Saturday, so we made a brief stop at UC Davis on Friday as part of our daughter’s never-ending tour of college campuses. Like most of the UC campuses we’ve seen, it was nice and filled with ’60s brutalist architecture.¹¹Which personally I love, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

It also had a lot of large modern art installations scattered about, as well as a very vocal flock of turkeys milling around.¹²Sadly, it appears that I somehow managed to not get a photo of the turkeys. The campus was extremely walkable and directly adjacent to the main area of town, which was built entirely around catering to college students and quirky old folks who support them.

It reminded me a lot of College Station when I first moved there in the mid-’90s.¹³Well, not the part about turkeys and modern art, but everything else did. I’m sure The Wife and The Daughter got tired of me saying that, because I must have said it a hundred times in the hour or two that we were there.

Sacramento: A decent demimetropolis

Capitals that aren’t one of the largest cities in their state are always kind of weird. Much like college towns, they seem to be living beyond their means—attracting businesses, cultural events, and general importance that they most certainly wouldn’t enjoy if they hadn’t, at one point, had an abundance of cheap land next to some railroad tracks or a central, politically expedient location that wasn’t too hard to reach on horseback or by steamboat.

If you took away their big state university or moved the seat of government elsewhere, they’d have no real reason to exist on their own and would simply just fade away.¹⁴Like many factory towns have over the years. But they do have those things which bring in people and money, so you end up with situations that seem somewhat incongruous—like the¹⁵Admittedly old and solidly in the “just cashing in” phase of their careers rock band Chicago playing shows in College Station, Texas, or a fairly decent Holiday Inn Express existing in Pierre, South Dakota.¹⁶But the poor people of Montpelier, Vermont still can’t get Happy Meals.

I’m happy for the people in these towns. Heck, I used to be one of them and greatly enjoyed having opportunities to see and do things that I would otherwise have had to travel to the big city for. Nonetheless, it still makes those places feel kind of weird.

When I was a kid, Austin still fell into that category of minor cities that were punching above their weight. Over the past few decades, it has definitely grown and diversified its employer mix, and I feel like it’s now solidly in the pantheon of major American cities. Sacramento, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like it’s made that transition yet.

This is not a knock on Sacramento. We admittedly didn’t spend a lot of time there or see much beyond the historic district and central downtown area, but I liked what I saw. I would definitely like to go back and spend more time there.

The California State Capitol is beautiful and there’s a very fun-looking touristy historical district¹⁷Every other storefront seemed to be an “old-time frontier candy shop.” I’m pretty sure candy shops were not nearly so ubiquitous in the actual Old West. near the river. It has an enormous train museum (which unfortunately I didn’t get to see on this trip) and a Triple-A baseball team.¹⁸And will soon host a second minor league team. We found a brewery/winery tasting room that had a small brass band (with a random sax thrown in) playing Nirvana.¹⁹“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” specifically. They also have a neat bridge, which is always a big bonus in my book.

At the same time, however, it was impossible to ignore the fact that downtown Sacramento has a very Rock Ridge-like quality to it. There’s a smattering of taller buildings, but not enough to make it feel like you’re actually in a center of meaningful business activity. The city core just isn’t dense enough; it felt more like an overbuilt suburb than a legitimate ‘urb.²⁰This usage should totally be a thing. I was definitely getting some faint Waco vibes.²¹That is a knock on Waco, which is truly a terrible, terrible place which no one should ever visit for any reason. If you live in Waco, please know that I hope you manage to escape soon.

I’m still not as well versed in California history as I’d like, but I get the general sense that Sacramento’s development was stunted by the meteoric rise of San Francisco after statehood was granted. Or to put it another way for my Texan readers, Sacramento is essentially California’s Galveston—at one point, it looked like it was going to be the next big thing, but it was quickly overshadowed by a neighboring city that sapped all its mojo. No major natural disaster was involved, but the result is the same: a city that feels a little empty and a little disappointed in itself for not being the major metropolis that it was once certain it would become.

Overall though, I feel like Sacramento is probably a pretty good place to live. I do really want to go back some time and explore it further. And visit that big train museum.²²Once men reach a certain age, train museums are basically catnip.

Last night at the ballpark

The Giants returned to Oracle Park following a so-so week in Florida and played their best home game of the year so far. Also, I had a churro, so it was a pretty magical evening all the way around.

It didn’t start off very well—the very first two Arizona batters made it on base with a pair of solid hits. After that though, Logan Webb and the bullpen shut down the Dbacks’ bats completely, only allowing only one more hit (a bloop infield single) for the remainder of the game. The Giants also backed that pitching up with some solid defense, both in the outfield and up the middle.

In the 8th inning, the Giants faced their greatest challenge. A leadoff double, an error, and a walk loaded the bases with no outs—a scenario which has been the Giants’ kryptonite both last year and so far this season.²³I don’t know if anyone is tracking it, but they have to lead the league in NOBLETIGERs since the beginning of the 2023 season. After a grounder resulted in a force play at home for the first out, everyone in the stadium figured this would be yet another ignominious flameout for the Giants’ offense.

But then a pinch-hitting Wilmer Flores slapped a ball into the left field corner, scoring two runs. And after an intentional walk load the bases once again, Mike Yastrzemski poked one into right field to bring in two more runs. It was easily the most competent they’ve looked while holding a bat all year.

They’ve got three more games against the Diamondbacks, so hopefully that competence will stick around through the weekend. It would be great to make some hay against a division opponent.

• 1
  66K
• 2
  Along with The Dog II and The Dog III
• 3
  Yeah, it’s been that long since I moved here. Crazy.
• 4
  We do not actually have capitol building bingo cards, but that would be cool.
• 5
  Well, not cool per se, but I would enjoy it.
• 6
  She is not, however, as useful as a fishin’ magician.
• 7
  I realize that driving around in a rainstorm isn’t necessarily a good idea either, but our options were slim to none.
• 8
  Our skepticism was fueled primarily by the fact that its call letters—SMF—reminded us of the Smurfs.
• 9
  Actually it was a Pepsi, but the Texan in me still can’t bring myself to say soda.
• 10
  We were on the fourth floor, so they were some loud talkers.
• 11
  Which personally I love, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
• 12
  Sadly, it appears that I somehow managed to not get a photo of the turkeys.
• 13
  Well, not the part about turkeys and modern art, but everything else did.
• 14
  Like many factory towns have over the years.
• 15
  Admittedly old and solidly in the “just cashing in” phase of their careers
• 16
  But the poor people of Montpelier, Vermont still can’t get Happy Meals.
• 17
  Every other storefront seemed to be an “old-time frontier candy shop.” I’m pretty sure candy shops were not nearly so ubiquitous in the actual Old West.
• 18
  And will soon host a second minor league team.
• 19
  “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” specifically.
• 20
  This usage should totally be a thing.
• 21
  That is a knock on Waco, which is truly a terrible, terrible place which no one should ever visit for any reason. If you live in Waco, please know that I hope you manage to escape soon.
• 22
  Once men reach a certain age, train museums are basically catnip.
• 23
  I don’t know if anyone is tracking it, but they have to lead the league in NOBLETIGERs since the beginning of the 2023 season.