California Railroad Museum

While I patiently wait to get back onboard a cruise ship, we ventured out with the grands down to the California Railroad Museum in downtown Sacramento. This museum opened in 1976. Admission runs $12 for adults, $6 for kids aged 6-17 and kids 5 and under are free. They also offer train ride excursions. The excursion is on weekends only, a 50 minute ride along the river and you can buy coach/open air class tickets for $15/$8/free (per age groups previously listed) or first class seating for $25/$18/free (per age groups listed previously).

And I won’t lie, it was not easy trying to get pictures of the trains and displays while also trying to get shots of my grands lol.

There are multiple levels to the museum. The ground floor houses multiple restored engines and cars. Most of them are closed for safety (you can’t walk through them), but the mail car you can walk through and you can walk into one of the engines. There are also many displays and informational signs about the railroad and its history. One of the staff mentioned to come back often as there are parts of the displays that get changed out every 2-4 months or so, making there new things to see each time!

These pictures are through the windows of a restored train car, gives you an idea of what it was like to travel by train.

If you like model trains, be sure not to miss the third floor of the building where you can look down on the old trains, but they have display after display of all sorts of model trains or train cars. Some of the displays are interactive, and they do have a setup (behind glass) where they have multiple trains running, of various sizes and colors. The grands loved those! Also on the 3rd floor is a Thomas the Tank Engine play area, seen in the blurry image below (ha).

Sorry this one’s blurry, took it on the run so to speak

And I must give special mention to these two photos. My Grandson is fascinated with my cameras so much so that I had to buy the kids a play camera. Anyway, he took these two photos (with Grandma’s help of course) – and I’ll mention, he’s 2. Not too bad if I do say so myself 😉 !

And the last image I’ll share is my own photo of the engine my Grandson shot.

Alaska – I’m ready to go!

My suitcase has been pulled and packing has begun. I am SO ready to go! It has been far too long since I’ve been onboard a cruise ship and even with the precautions set in place, I’m ready!

Flights have been booked, fortunately I have a short flight so I can fly in the day of the cruise. For those who haven’t cruised, or don’t cruise often, I highly recommend that if you are flying in for a cruise, fly in the day before. This allows peace of mind in case of travel delays or missed flights. The only time I fly in the day of a cruise departure is if my flights are 3 hours or less and I can get an early morning flight. It’s just not worth the stress to fly in same day when you have a long flight.

Excursions are booked. My husband and I went on an Inside Passage cruise a few years back so this time I’m doing different excursions than we did then. Because the cruise lines have received a temporary override and we are able to skip Canada in order to sail (Canada’s borders are still closed at the moment), Princess Cruises added Glacier Bay cruising to the itinerary. In order to accommodate, they changed the order. When we went last time, it was Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria. This time it’s Juneau, Skagway, scenic cruising of Glacier Bay then Ketchikan.

For Juneau, I’ve booked whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. This tour will be with a professional photographer so he’ll be able to give tips/tricks on getting great scenic views of the glacier (this one does not walk on the glacier), and catching great wildlife photos. I love taking photos, even when I travel I haul all my lenses with me so I look forward to this!

Skagway I have booked two excursions. Last time we did the train to the summit and back to town. Great views up the hills, but since we did that, I’m taking a tour that is a ride up the Klondike Summit with view shots. I will be curious to see how the road views differ from those on the train. The second excursion will be an Alaska Nature and Wildlife Expedition. It will include a ferry ride to Haines then a mini bus ride along the river looking for wildlife and then a short hike near Chilkoot Lake. Here’s hoping we luck into some amazing wildlife!

And lastly, Ketchikan, I will be going on a ‘Misty Fjords and Wilderness Explorer Cruise’ which will be all about looking for wildlife such as bald eagles, seals etc.

I am looking forward to heading back to Alaska and seeing new areas on my excursions. Naturally, I’ll post along the way! Follow my page so you don’t miss the excitement of cruising again!

Stay tuned!

Alaska, have you been?

We went a few years ago on a cruise to Alaska but we missed the amazing Glacier Bay.

Well stay tuned, my next trip is booked! If you’ve thought about a cruise, or Alaska, I’m happy to say I’m booked on Princess Cruise’s 3rd cruise back in business in Alaska. So excited to finally be able to get back on a cruise ship, and you can’t go wrong with seeing Alaska!

I’ll be sharing photos and videos as well as any tips and tricks I can think of, both on the beautiful ship, the Majestic Princess, as well as ports and excursions.

More to come!

While you’re here, why not click to follow my blog, thanks!!