Taking a train across the country is a great way to travel. #CaliforniaOrBust
Leaving from Denver, it took about 31 hours until our destination (Sacramento). We didn’t pay extra for a sleeper room, so we slept in our seats. But they are much more spacious than an airplane and lean back farther. I love the ability to see the country, walk around, play games, and just relax while someone else drives. 
This was our second time to do this trip. The first was nine years ago when Bree was a baby. It was fun then, but definitely a lot easier now that the girls are older.Â
After we got off the train in Sacramento, Greg misplaced his bag with all his clothes in it. We called the car rental place, thinking it was left in their shuttle, but they said they didn’t have it. So we had to make a trip to Kohl’s to pickup some clothes for Greg to wear.
We had a great time at Sarah and Matt’s wedding in Sonora, CA.
My cousin, Stephanie, had visited California a few weeks before we went and told us about the Reimer’s Ice Cream shop they’d discovered, so of course we had to make it a part of our trip to visit! Their ice cream was delicious. We had to buy one of their mugs just because it had our name on it. 
Sequoia National Park. The sequoias were so majestic and awe-inspiring. I remember seeing photos of them in a National Geographic as a kid and thinking how neat it would be to see them someday.
Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park. Pictures just can’t capture how cool it was!
The hike to Crystal Cave was pretty, too. Though there were some areas where we were warned NOT to stop or go through slowly because of the risk of falling rocks!
We stumbled across another Reimer’s Candies! (Also some other random travel pictures.)
Kings Canyon National Park – more Sequoias and also an amazing scenic drive with striking mountains. It was a wonderful trip! This particular day at Kings Canyon felt so relaxing. We wandered around the sequoias at a leisurely pace and just soaked in all the beauty. Then we did the scenic drive through the mountains there. We didn’t have time to see it all, unfortunately, but what we did see was amazing.
We initially had not planned on heading all the way to the coast, but we made a last -minute decision to go to Muir Woods National Monument. Greg had been there when he was younger and described it as a place you might see a unicorn, so we thought that might be fun to see. It was worth the extra driving. So beautiful.
And a trip to the beach. It was a little foggy at first, and a little cool, but it is always nice to see the ocean.
And then it was time to take the train back home. On a whim, we asked the rental car agency, as we were checking our car back in, one last time if they had found Greg’s bag. And they had! Somehow there was a disconnect and even though I’d left my name and number the first time, we didn’t get a call. I’m so glad we asked before we left Sacramento! So then we had an extra bag to tote home and Greg had several extra outfits!
