Thursday, August 12, 2010

It A Gril!

She's here! The latest edition, Kramer 9.0 is here!

Deo gratias!

God bless you, Kramers, and especially you, young lady. We have waited our entire lives to meet you, and cannot wait until we do so.


Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sacramento, And A Return To The Central Coast By Train

Had to take my friend's car to Sacramento in the middle of the week. So I went to work for a few hours, and then took off for the second time to Sacramento in the month of July.

This place always puzzled us when we would go up to Sacramento. Near as we can tell, it is Government Document Incineration Center. They also probably have remains of UFO's for all we know.

One of the giant Windmills near Altamont Pass.

Dropped off the car at my friends, ate lunch, and then he dropped me off at the State Capitol. A view from the East looking toward the West.

Governor's Office, with CHP Officer standing guard. Missed the Governor by 10 minutes!

The Cupola of the Capitol Building.

What's this? A valid elevator permit? I don't think I have ever seen one. Everyone I had ever seen was always out of date.

Budget problems are not new to California. See how the granite changes colours? When the Capital building was going up, funding ran out, and it was built only to about the 2 to 3 foot level. More money came in, and the rest of the building was finished, but the original granite was unavailable, and a different quarry was used.



A couple of blocks to the north stands the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The plaza in front was renamed Bishop Gallegos Square. Bishop Gallegos was an Augustinian who became Axillary Bishop of Sacramento. he was tragically killed when struck by an automobile in 1991. He has been declared a Servant of God who cause is under Vatican investigation for Canonization. He was a gentle man, full of Faith.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Altar of the Cathedral, with the Tabernacle behind it, as it should be.

While walking from the Cathedral to the Train Station, walked through McKinley Park and in front of the Federal Courthouse. As soon as I crossed the street to the Train Station, a Sacramento County Sheriff stops in front of me, asking if everything was alright. I had gotten some funny looks from people, but thought nothing out of the ordinary. Turns out that the Black Hat I was wearing is also the colour of a gang that is trying to take control of this part of Sacramento. I had never heard of it. I guess I have the look of a hard-core gang member!
Anyways, here is my train going from Sacramento to San Jose.
A view of San Pablo Bay form near the town of Rodeo, I think.
A view of the car I was in as we arrived in San Jose. It was a very nice ride, with different views that I have not seen in a while. Took a bit long though, and I still needed a ride from San Jose to the Central Coast. Would take it again though. Would like to see other places by train, like the East Coast, Washington Dc, New York and Boston. That would be neat!

July Vehicles Driven By The Mendozas

Again, thank you everybody who lent us your vehicles while we were out of a van (It is back, but more on that later).

Here are a couple of the vehicles that we borrowed over the course of a couple of weeks.

The first one that we borrowed was the little purple car on the right. It belongs to a Seminary brother, Pedro, from Sacramento. the first day we had it we went to a birthday party, but we also had somebody's van. Some kids that we know were not aware that we had both a van and this little car, and thought we all came in this little car since we were all gathered around it getting something from the back. It immediately got called the "Clown Car," and the name stuck for the rest of the time we had it.

The vehicle in front is a big old Ford F-150. The cab is large enough to fit 6 people! We liked this one too, and it immediately got nicknamed "Truckzilla."

What's that in the background?

It's a 1973 VW Bus in the Wild Westerner scheme! Perhaps more on that in future postings. It's a pretty neat Bus.