Capital Letterboxing and Visiting

So I am in Sacramento, CA tonight - alone. Thomas was suppose to be here as well but something came up. Over a month ago Thomas told me he had to attend a meeting in Sacramento and asked if I wanted to go with him. I said "yes" mainly because Sacramento is California's Capital and I love visiting State Capitol Buildings. So the original plan was for us to fly in this morning and do a few things during the day and then Thomas had a dinner meeting tonight and an all day meeting tomorrow. Then we would spend the weekend in the area and fly home on Monday. Then on Monday of this week Thomas came home from work and told me he had to go to a meeting in Washington, DC. So the plans changed. He left Santa Fe yesterday and flew to DC with a coworker. Last night he had a meeting and then this morning another one. He left his meeting around 3:30pm to get to the airport to fly out to Sacramento. Things started out fine but soon after they boarded the plane they were told they would be delayed - first because of mechanical problems and then because of weather in Chicago. He texted me that they had been on the tarmac for over two hours. Then about 40 minutes after that I got another text that they were taking off. Needless to say he missed his connecting flight. So Southwest rebooked him on this crazy cross country adventure. He eventually left Chicago and flew to Kansas City. When he landed and got off the plane he called me. It was almost midnight in Kansas City and his next flight isn't until 5:30am. When he takes that flight he will go to Las Vegas and then get to Sacramento at 9:00am tomorrow. At this point he doesn't know where his checked bag is and he will probably not make his meeting tomorrow since he probably isn't getting too much sleep tonight. So I am in the hotel by myself just hanging out. But I did get to see some of Sacramento today since I kept our original flight and arrived in California at 10:00am.

Once I landed and got my luggage I took a shuttle to the rental car place. When I had my car I made my way to Old Sacramento. Finding a parking spot proved challenging but eventually I found one and once I parked I headed to the Visitor Center. I wanted to pick up a map and some information but there is also a letterbox there. So I got my brochures and the letterbox (Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Gypsy) and while I stamped in the gentleman working there told me some history, gave me some restaurant recommendations and some ideas of what to do while we are in town. I left the Visitor Center and spent about 45 minutes walking around the area and stopped into a few stores and then headed back to the car. I thought I might go and look for other boxes but instead I decided to head to the Capitol for a tour. When I arrived in downtown I was confronted with an even greater parking problem. I tried two parking garages and both were full. Then I drove around for over 30 minutes hoping to find metered parking but didn't have any luck. Finally I made a decision to head to the hotel which is almost directly across from the Capitol. I wasn't sure if I would be able to check in since it was only 1:00pm. Luckily it wasn't a problem. I parked in the parking garage for the hotel and   went up to the room and got settled. Then I grabbed my camera and my Capitol Collection book and headed across the street. I decided to head inside and tour the building first and then I would wander around the park surrounding the building. I went to the tour information room and picked up some information and got my Capitol Collection stamp and joined a tour that had just started. The tour lasted an hour and the guide was extremely knowledgable and I learned a lot. After the tour I decided to walk around a little more and then went to the gift shop for some post cards. After that I walked around the entire outside of the building taking pictures and then walked around the park. After another hour I decided I needed something to eat. I found an Irish Pub - De Vere's - just down the street from the hotel. So I had a salad, some Irish stew and a Guinness. By this time I was tired and decided to come back to the hotel and take a shower. It got pretty warm today (around 83°) and it was a little humid (and I don't do well with humidity) and that combined with having left Santa Fe at 4:00am for my flight left me drained.

Once I was refreshed I relaxed and did some things on the computer and finally Thomas called to let me know what is going on. So we have new plans but we didn't actually finalize them. I will pick him up at the airport in the morning and we will decide what to do then. He will probably be pretty tired and may want to rest. So for now I am just relaxing and hoping he is okay.