Conclusion of our train trip

After rolling through Nevada we had a long stop in Sacramento before boarding the Coast Starlight for our final destination in Portland. Fortunately there is plenty to do around that train station within walking distance. In that area is the Sacramento Convention Center where we saw several sculptures like the one above. It is by Steven Kaltenibach and titled "Time to Cast Away Stones". It looked like classical pieces of Greek art all broken up.  A more humorous sculpture was found in the next picture which I have here- it is called "Walking the Dog".

While in Sacramento we also saw a movie, City Island, and,walking around old Sacramento, we found an outdoor concert located in a park under the highway called "Freeway Gardens". Late that evening we boarded the Coastal Starlight train for the last leg of our journey. The next morning we were in Klamatt Falls Oregon. Going through Oregon we saw a large flowering iris field, as well as a filbert orchard and vineyards covered with white blossoms. It is certainly still spring! Before I close out here on our train trip I want to mention a couple other people whom I met on the train. One lady with whom I had some interesting conversations was Jan, a dwarf. She is a middle school teacher from California. She commented that her husband and all three of their children are dwarfs. I was absolutely amazed by her positive engaging personality. She was a perfect example of someone for whom personality trumps physical appearance! I often forgot that she only came up to my waist. I also met a woman on the train who wore a button on her blouse which had the picture of Mumia Abu Jamal. She was surprised that I had not heard of him as he is a well known Black Panther on death row in Pennsylvania. According to her many people feel that he should not be executed. That lady is also a community organizer. I enjoyed sharing with her stories of  my sister's work in Omaha with OTOC (Omaha Together One Community). While in Omaha I had tagged along with Gloria while she did a door to door survey of  residents who might be interested in rehabbing or improving weatherization of their homes. John and I certainly had an event-filled past two weeks, we even attended a Civil war re-enactment in Spotsylvania Virginia. I am glad I had that experience but would not like to see another one.There was only one day in Omaha when we did nothing and pretty much slept the day away!