Sacramento - Field Trip Day!

My grade level headed to Sacramento today for our field trip.  It was a long day.  We left at 8:30 am and then promptly got into traffic.  What should have been a 1 1/2 hour drive turned into almost 2 1/2 hours.  I hope that the people involved in the car accident are okay though.  Our bus driver was a trooper.  She headed off the freeway onto side streets, and navigated the bus to our first stop, Sutter's Fort.  At Sutter's Fort it happened to be an exploration day.  There were other children that were going to spend the night there tonight.  They were living and breathing the 1850's.  We watched these other students make bread, churn butter, use tools to work with wood, and then we also got to experience all the details that Sutter's Fort holds.  Our visit was a short one, but there was a lot to see and do.  

After being inside Sutter's Fort we headed outside to the park and had lunch.  During lunch the noon cannon went off, which made all the children (and adults) jump.  After lunch we headed to the California History Museum.  Our reservations were at 12:30, and we only had an hour to cram in everything to see and do.  While last year's field trip had perfect timing, this year was rushed - mainly due to all the traffic.  I think next year we need to have at least 1 1/2 hours at the museum.  Just need to make a mental note about that.    

The California History Museum was an interesting place to visit.  There were some exhibits to see, and lots of information to walk through, but mainly the kids were more interested in the gift shop.  It was a chore to get everyone out of there in time to head back to school.  

Our busses had to park in front of the Capitol (the only space available to park), so we took the short walk down the street and ended up with a perfect class picture on the Capitol steps.  Of course I can't post it because of the students in the picture (hence a class picture), but just imagine a perfect blue sky, with a gorgeous Capitol building (like above), and then add faces of tired students sitting neatly in a row on the steps.

What a day!  I would like to thank Reserve America, the travel company that booked the trip for us.  They got us a deal!  I would also like to thank my colleagues, they kept the long drive bearable.  Because of the long drive, each of our classes had to have their own charter bus.  I have decided that I prefer charter busses over school busses any day.  Air conditioning, comfortable seats, and a DVD player to stick in a movie.  We watched Monsters Inc. on the way there, and Curious George on the way home.  Some kids took a nap on the way back, some just visited with their friends.  All in all, everyone should sleep good tonight.  

Hope you had a good day too!

Sincerely,