Sacramento Biking

This week: Your Passport to Modern Amusements
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Food/Wine: Truckin' Tuesdays St. Rose of Lima Park Ongoing-Sept 24 Tuesdays 11am-2pm Enjoy lunch from Sacramento's favorite mobile food vendors, while sitting on bistro tables in the park. Each week features three different trucks!

Special Events: Yelp's Passport to East Sacramento Various East Sacramento locations May 14-May 16 & May 18 Tues/Thurs/Sat 7pm-9pm; Wed 6pm-8pm It's no secret: East Sac is loaded with an array of fantastic locally-owned businesses. Explore this historic and beautiful part of our glorious city with events galore!

Special Events: Mad Hatter Meets Mad Men Masonic Temple May 16 Thurs 5pm-8pm Fairytale Town mixes the zaniness of the Mad Hatter with the allure of the series Mad Men in its first ever offsite fundraising event.

Art: Art Ball Sacramento State May 17 Fri 5pm-8pm Paintings, sculpture, ceramics, drawings, electronic art, and more-much more-highlight Sacramento State's annual Art Ball.

Special Events: Mid-Century Modern Home Tour Sacramento Executive Airport May 18 Sat 9:30am-4pm Get an exciting peek into some of the best mid-century modern architecture, plus vintage transportation displays, exhibits, goodies, and more.

Music: 102.5 Live Discovery Park May 18 Sat 10am-5pm 102.5 Live features performances by T-I, E-40, Far East Movement, Baby Bash, Drop City Yacht Club, and Royalty. Also enjoy: beer and margaritas, photo booths, food, and vendors.

Festivals: Scooter's Clean Air Fun Fest and Bike Expo Fremont Park May 18 Sat 11am-3pm This family-friendly event features bike-centric exhibits and live entertainment.

Festivals: West Coast Brew Fest Miller Park May 18 Sat 1pm-5pm *VIP at Noon Enjoy unlimited microbrew tasting of 140+ beers from 70+ breweries, along with live music, great food, and awesome people.

Festivals: A Day on the Farm Soil Born Farms American River Ranch May 19 Sun 10am-4pm Come out for a day of learning, eating, celebrating, and exploring the natural world. There will be classes, kids' activities, live music, food, and more!

Festivals: Pacific Rim Street Fest Old Sacramento & Downtown Plaza May 19 Sun 10am-5pm Stop by and taste the food at one of the many food booths, watch and listen to the variety of entertainers, and experience the richness and diversity of many Pacific Rim cultures.

Get your TixFix: Color Me Rad 5K $50 value! Find out how to enter>

Featured Local Artist of the Month: Markos Egure Learn more about muralist and creative painter Markos Egure in his Featured Artist Profile.

There are always lots of things to do in Sacramento California. Find these events and many more on Sacramento365.com - the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Do you have an event coming up? Make sure it's on Sacramento365.com, the Sacramento calendar of events.

This week: Sacramento Celebrates All Sorts of Cycles
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Special Events: Aha Moment Tour 11th & K Streets May 6-May 8 Mon-Wed 10am-4pm This features a one-of-a-kind mobile TV studio in a 34' Airstream trailer designed to capture & share Americans' aha moments.

Festivals: Capitol BikeFest California State Capitol - West Steps May 9 Thurs 11am-1pm Come out on your lunch hour to this festival celebrating all things cycling! There will be vendors, display booths, music, and more.

Food/Wine: Food-Cycle Celebration Fremont Park May 9 Thurs 5pm-8pm Celebrate the local food-cycle and composting with the restaurants, farms, schools, and residents that complete the "food loop-farm to table, table to farm" in Sacramento.

Film: Wild & Scenic Film Festival Crest Theatre May 10 Fri 5pm-9:30pm See a customized selection of 17 films covering a variety of topics, including: wildlife, nature, energy, water, and more. This year's festival also features content from the Sacramento region!

Comedy: Wanda Sykes Community Center Theater May 10 Fri 8pm Wanda Sykes has been called "one of the funniest stand-up comics" by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America.

Special Events: East Sacramento Garden Tour Begins from David Lubin Elementary May 11-May 12 Sat & Sun 10am-4pm Stroll along the tree-lined streets and take in a variety of lush, creative gardens amid the gorgeous architecture of this older Sacramento neighborhood.

Festivals: Celebrate Sacramento William Land Park May 11 Sat Noon-4pm Celebrate our rich diversity and see all that Sacramento has to offer: from local businesses, to performance groups featured on two separate stages, to fun activities for children including carnival games and bounce houses.

2nd Saturday Activities: -Reflections: A Youth Art Show: Vox Sacramento, 5pm-9pm -Collage for a Cure: E St Gallery & Studios, 5pm-9pm -May at The Temp: The Temp Gallery, 6pm-8pm See more 2nd Sat events>

Sports/Rec: CycloFemme American River Bike Trail May 12 Sun 9am-Noon Come celebrate Mother's Day and ride to encourage women to ride and change the world.

Music: Yo La Tengo Harlow's May 12 Sun 9pm Indie rock band Yo La Tengo is one of the most beloved groups in America & have been together for nearly 30 years. Don't miss them!

Get your TixFix: West Coast Brew Fest $80 value! Find out how to enter>

Take Mom out for Mother's Day! Check our Holiday Events section for ideas.

Featured Local Artist of the Month: Markos Egure Learn more about muralist and creative painter Markos Egure in his Featured Artist Profile.

On the Sac365 Blog Kids and parents alike will love A Little Princess at Sacramento Theatre Company.

There are always lots of things to do in Sacramento California. Find these events and many more on Sacramento365.com - the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Do you have an event coming up? Make sure it's on Sacramento365.com, the Sacramento calendar of events.

This week: Repeat the Cycle: Do Good & Give Back
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Special Events: Arts Day of Giving Various locations April 29 Mon, activity times vary This 24-hour giving challenge for the arts is the perfect time to give, as donations receive a match. More than 20 special events are planned for this day, including a fun-filled Lunch Hour Event!

Sports/Rec: May is Bike Month Various locations May 1-May 31 Dates & times vary All across Sacramento, people are bicycling! Join activities all month long to promote cycling in the Sacramento region.

Fashion/Design: Kaleidoscope Fashion Show American River College May 3 Fri 11am/5pm/7:30pm See 12 designer's work, celebrating the designer's views, silhouettes, and styles.

Music: Friday Night Concerts in the Park Cesar Chavez Plaza May 3-July 26 Fridays 5pm-9pm Kick off the CIP season with Element of Soul, Musical Charis, They Went Ghost, & DJ Epic.

Poetry & Lit: Read-Aloud: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone Fairytale Town May 3 Fri 6pm Relive the epic story that enchanted millions of readers of all ages. Join Fairytale Town for a unique nonstop read-aloud of J.K. Rowling's first tale in the popular Harry Potter series.

Food/Wine: Smoke & Fire: Tri-Tip & Rib Cook-Off Competition 1409 Del Paso Blvd. May 4 Sat Noon-4pm Enjoy delicious food, live music, antique fire trucks, a beer garden, children's activities, and more.

Special Events: May the Fourth Be With You: Star Wars Celebration West Sacramento Community Center May 4 Sat 4pm-9pm This Star Wars-themed mini-convention features vendors, costume characters, art, film, exhibits, games, hands-on activities, fashion show, contests, crafts, live comedy, and more.

Special Events: David Sedaris Crest Theatre May 4 Sat 8pm With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America 's pre-eminent humor writers. See him live at the Crest!

Local Marketplace: GOOD: Street Food + Design Market 1409 Del Paso Blvd. May 5 Sun 11am-4pm Attend Northern California's most dynamic gathering of innovative and artisan food and design!

Nightlife: Cinco de Old Sacto Old Sacramento Bars May 5 Sun 6pm-2am Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Old Sacramento! Participating bars will have food and drink specials as well as live music, comedy, karaoke, and dancing.

Get your TixFix: A Little Princess at Sacramento Theatre Company $92 value! Find out how to enter>

Happy Cinco de Mayo! See ways to celebrate.

Featured Local Artist of the Month: Markos Egure Get a sneak peek at our May Featured Artist & see his mural unveiled on Tuesday.

It's time to bike! Register to record your miles for May is Bike Month & join our Sac365.com team!

There are always lots of things to do in Sacramento California. Find these events and many more on Sacramento365.com - the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Do you have an event coming up? Make sure it's on Sacramento365.com, the Sacramento calendar of events.

Sacramento is a photogenic city, and while we at the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau are always out and about with our cameras, we wanted to know what some of our fans think, so we asked them to submit photos to us of what they love about Sacramento.

Check our Facebook page every weekend for our fan photos, and submit your own.

Carlos Eliason took this photo at the American River Bike Trail entrance on C Street north of Downtown Sacramento at sunset. Sacramento is a bicycle-friendly city, and the American River Bike Trail can take riders from Downtown and Midtown all the way out to Folsom Lake.

Another fan-submitted photo came from CJ Torres, who shot this photo of the I Street Bridge. The bridge connects Sacramento and West Sacramento, and it turned 100 years old in 2011. At 36 feet long and weighing in at about 7 million pounds, according to Union Pacific, the bridge is balanced and rotates on a central pillar to allow boats to pass down the Sacramento River.

This shot of public art on "The Kay" was taken by John T. Freeman from the Sacramento Convention Center. "The Kay" is the downtown portion of K Street, which has seen a resurgence over the past several years. Once blighted, the district now boasts a host of restaurants and nightlife venues, and two theaters - the Esquire IMAX and the Crest Theatre - have long called the street home.

A quick walk from the convention center is the Capitol, seen in this photo by David Godfrey. Sacramento is the star on California’s map, and the Capitol and Capitol Park are popular attractions. Student groups come here to learn about democracy and California history, and visitors and locals alike wander through Capitol Park, picnicking and checking out the sights.

One off-the-beaten path spot in Sacramento is Southside Park, located at 2115 Sixth St., captured in this photo from Ulysses Goose Simmons. With Downtown Sacramento visible over the treetops, it can still be hard to believe that you’re near the heart of a city when you’re in Southside Park. A leisurely bike ride from the central business district, Southside Park helps Sacramento earn its “City of Trees” honors.

Bridges are popular with visitors and locals alike, and Jacob Gonzalez shot this photo of Sacramento’s iconic Tower Bridge from West Sacramento, just on the other side of the bridge from Old Sacramento, a 28-acre National Historic Landmark District and State Historic Park celebrating the city’s Gold Rush heritage.

This week: Don't be Foolish, Live a Little
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Special Events: April Fools' Sacramento History Central Library April 1 Mon 6pm-7:30pm Attend the illustrated lecture "Incredible Occurrences in Sacramento History." All subjects shall contain wild fabrications, and guests are encouraged to invite friends of a trusting disposition.

Theatre: An Evening with Groucho Three Stages Performing Arts Center April 3 Wed 7:30pm This fast-paced two-act comedy includes some of the best Groucho one-liners, anecdotes, and songs. Show benefits the Sacramento Ballet & discount tickets are available!

Sports/Rec: River Cats Opening Night Raley Field April 4 Thurs 7:05pm The Sacramento River Cats open their 14th season against the Las Vegas 51s. Cling schedules will be given away & it's Miller Lite Thirsty Thursdays so beers are $2!

Special Events: Sacramento Has Talent Crest Theatre April 4 Thurs 7pm-9pm See the best performers, singers, dancers, filmmakers, & musical groups compete for your entertainment and cash prizes.

Festivals: Bockbierfest Sacramento Turn Verein April 5-April 6 Fri 6pm-Midnight; Sat 3pm-Midnight Enjoy lively German music, Bavarian folk dancing, German food, coffee cake, and Bockbier flowing like the Sacramento River.

Sports/Rec: BikeParty! Sacramento - Land Park Ride Riverside & 11th Ave. April 5 Fri 7:30pm-9:30pm This monthly 21+ event features two or three stops at parks or parking lots to dance & party down.

Festivals: Earth Fest Sacramento Zoo April 6 Sat 9am-4pm It's a party for the planet! Learn how to protect and preserve the earth with environmental, wildlife, and conservation organizations.

Festivals: Sacramento Beer & Chili Festival Fremont Park April 6 Sat 1pm-4pm This event features a chili cook off, unlimited beer tastings, live music, kids' zone, and more.

Music: Soul Train Brickhouse Gallery April 6 Sat 8pm Soul Train is an evening of love, peace, and soul starring Garrett Perkins and special guest Lateef. DJ Hustle. '70s era attire is suggested.

Local Marketplace: Sacramento Indie Craft Fair 415 C Street April 7 Sun 11am-5pm The Sacramento Indie Craft fair is a local event thrown every three months to support local artist, bakers, crafters. Shop from over 40 vendors!

Get your TixFix: Sacramento Beer & Chili Festival Sacramento Beer & Chili Festival $80 value! Find out how to enter>

Featured Local Artist of the Month: Shawn Aveningo Learn more about poet Shawn Aveningo in her Featured Artist Profile.

April is National Poetry Month Find related events here.

Keep up with Sacramento365.com

Make It A Night: Discover nearby Eats, Sleeps, and Drinks

Learn more>

There are always lots of things to do in Sacramento California. Find these events and many more on Sacramento365.com - the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Do you have an event coming up? Make sure it's on Sacramento365.com, the Sacramento calendar of events.

Visitors from all over the world flock to California each year. Those in search of unique experiences outside of the major gateway cities are taking notice of what’s going in Sacramento. In Sacramento, they are finding an authentic California experience with endless opportunities and a food capital like none other. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why Sacramento is so appealing to the international visitor.

1. Farm to Fork – Sacramento has officially been named America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital. Farms from the Sacramento region supply the world’s best restaurants with fresh ingredients every day, but like listening to Jazz in New Orleans or zipping across the Autobahn in a Porsche, isn’t everything better at the source? Chefs and farmers in Sacramento certainly think so. Visitors can explore the culinary world from the ground up, literally, from farm experiences and food tours to cooking classes and fine Sacramento dining.
    
2. Outdoor Recreation – Sacramento is one of the best cities for outdoor recreation in the entire United States. Cyclists take advantage of our bicycle-friendly Midtown and the miles and miles of paved bike trail along the American River Parkway. Farther up the river there’s whitewater rafting, kayaking and other watersports. For a slightly less physically demanding experience, there are numerous hiking trails and some of the finest wetlands and wildlife refuges for birdwatching and nature exploration.
    
3. Location – Sacramento is in the perfect location for seeing all that Northern California has to offer without having to pack and unpack your suitcase every day. California’s capital city is a great home base for easy day trips to San Francisco, Napa, Lake Tahoe, the Gold Country and more.
    
4. Authenticity – This may come as a surprise, but there is no Disneyland in Sacramento…and we’re fine with that. What Sacramento lacks in huge amusement parks it makes up for in authentic California experiences. If your visitors want to feel like locals, meet real people, eat real food, drink real beer and see how real Californians live, Sacramento is the place for them. Welcoming neighborhood restaurants, pubs and shops encourage visitors to relax and immerse themselves in the authentic California lifestyle.
    
5. The Wild West – The legends of the Wild West are alive and well in Sacramento. After the discovery of gold in 1848 in nearby Coloma, a mass migration west occurred in the United States, and Sacramento was in the center of it all. Today the streets of Old Sacramento and the gold trails of the surrounding foothills are filled with the ghosts, legends and tall tales of the Wild West. Tour a mine, take an underground tour, retrace the steps of the Pony Express and even try your hand at panning for gold.  Click here to read one of our blogs about enjoying an "All-American Experience" in Sacramento.

For more information about selling Sacramento to your international clients, please contact me at nleonti@cityofsacramento.org.

This was a big year for Sacramento, and next year will be even bigger.

2012 saw Sacramento officially named “America’s Farm to Fork Capital” – a title well-earned over the past 200 years. The farms in the Sacramento region supply ingredients to the country’s best restaurants…and, of course, many of those restaurants are right here in California’s capital. And mark your calendars for September 2013 when Sacramento presents the inaugural Farm to Fork Festival.

This year we saw the addition of great restaurants and bars such as Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. with its rustic California décor, inventive menu and – most importantly – Negroni cocktails on tap. Then there’s Oishii  Sushi Bar & Karaoke, where you can order a party platter of Nnigiri and take it to your own private karaoke room.

Or how about Downtown & Vine, which brings the best wineries in California right to downtown Sacramento, with a collection of Napa, Sonoma, California Delta, Gold Country and Foothill wines offering tastings right there. And just down K Street from there you’ll find the new KBar overflowing with folks enjoying late-night bites and great happy hour deals.

Let’s not forget the new Firestone Public House, which also opened to much fanfare in 2012 as it properly completed the vision of restoring the old Firestone Tire Shop into a vibrant downtown Sacramento dining and nightlife location.

And that’s just a handful of the new spots in town.

Tours in Sacramento have also seen a boom. Local Roots Food Tours and Grange Restaurant’s “Follow the Chef” program showcase Sacramento’s “farm-to-fork” prowess. Or if you prefer to see the city by bike, there’s always a casual historic city tour from Fast Eddie Bike Tours. For the more adventurous, Giro d’Oro Cycling will even guide you through all 30+ miles of the American River Parkway Bike Trail or on a cycling escape through the foothills.

Of course, not everything in Sacramento was new in 2012, the classics also stood their ground. Old Sacramento, our venerable waterfront district, is better than ever. In the Fall, Old Sacramento welcomed the National Tour Association’s Tourism Cares volunteer program to town as over 250 travel and tourism professionals picked up paintbrushes, hammers, shovels and saws to restore, repair and beautify the historic district. If you haven’t seen Old Sacramento for a while, you’ll want to get out there and reconnect with California’s Wild West past.

Speaking of Sacramento’s past, the city is on its way to recapturing its rightful place as the beer capital of the west. Prior to prohibition Sacramento was known as the “Milwaukee of the West” for its impressive collection of breweries. With plenty of water from two major rivers, the best land for growing hops and the post-Gold Rush influx of German immigrants with beer-making knowledge, 1800s Sacramento was the perfect place to make beer. Of course, prohibition put a damper on all that. But now, Sacramento is regaining its beer-making reputation as the city is home to numerous craft brewers such as Ruhstaller, River City Brewing, Track 7, American River Brewing, Rubicon, Hoppy Brewing and more. There’s even Two Rivers Cider which produces some of the finest hard cider available anywhere. So come on by for a beer or two.

2012 was also a great year for festivals in Sacramento: Gold Rush Days, Grape Escape, Beer Week, Restaurant Week, California Capital Airshow, the Launch Art & Design Festival, the Sacramento Music Festival and more kept us busy all year long.

In short, 2012 was a year filled with great food, locally produced beer, fine wines, some awesome bike rides, a lot of festivals and some Wild West fun. Not too shabby.

If you are interested in bringing setting up a group tour to Sacramento, email us at tourism@discovergold.org.

See you in 2013!

Today’s travelers are more connected than ever. Friends, work and information of all kinds are never further away than the tap of a touchscreen. And while smart phones, iPads and other technologies have made travelling easier and more enjoyable in many ways, sometimes you just want to disconnect and enjoy your surroundings. 

Sacramento offers travelers many opportunities to separate themselves from their everyday lives and electronic devices so they can enjoy all the great attractions Northern California has to offer.  From Sacramento recreation to wineries, you can put down the smartphone and enjoy yourself on your Northern California vacation.

The American River Parkway in Sacramento is one of the area’s finest way to get away from it all. With over 30 miles of paved trail that weaves through riparian forests and wetlands alongside its namesake river, riders on the bike trail won’t even feel like they’re in the city. Bike rentals are available at several shops in town and some Sacramento hotels even have rental bikes right in their lobbies. 

The American River also offers adventure seekers  great whitewater rafting opportunities. From a quick 3-hour trip to multi-day camping and rafting excursions, there are whitewater experiences for all skill levels. Many of these guided trips start in the Gold Country near the Gold Rush town of Coloma where you’d be lucky to get mobile service at all.  But you wouldn’t want to have your phone with you on the river anyhow. Rafting trips through rapids with names like Troublemaker, Satan’s Cesspool and Meat Grinder will leave you soaked and are not exactly phone-friendly.

For those looking to disconnect in a slightly more relaxed manner, there are over 200 wineries in the Sacramento region. Turn off the phone and enjoy the small wineries that dot the foothills of the Gold Country. After a few glasses of wine, you probably shouldn’t be responding to work emails anyhow. Wine tours and limo rentals are available from downtown Sacramento so you won’t even need your GPS.

Of course, after enjoying a day disconnected from your smartphone and enjoying these great Sacramento tourist attractions, you can return to all the modern day comforts and wi-fi capabilities of your Sacramento hotel. 

Click here to email us for more information about arranging your "disconnected" group tour.  

This Week: Creative & Interesting Activities Abound
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		Food & Wine: Sacramento Regional Restaurant Week Various locations Ongoing-Oct 14 Daily, hours vary Restaurants in the region offer 3-course meals at 3 price points: $15/$30/$40 a person.
		Food & Wine: 8th Annual Sake Fest Sheraton Grand Hotel Oct 10 Wed 6pm-9pm Prepare yourself for a great evening of the best sake from Japan, food from local restaurants, a live tuna-cutting display, dozens of vendors' booths, and of course, many new sakes that will be introduced!
		Festivals: Architecture Festival Various locations Oct 12-Oct 28 Daily, times vary This is a two-week celebration of architecture in the Central Valley region with movie screenings, bike tours (including this Sat's Art & Architecture Bike Tour), presentations, art openings, activities, and more!
		Music: SAMMIES Music Awards Ace of Spades Oct 12 Fri 6pm See performances by great local bands, plus the 2012 SAMMIES winners revealed!
		Festivals: Sacramento Horror Film Festival Colonial Theatre Oct 12-Oct 14 Fri 7pm-Midnight; Sat 2pm-Midnight; Sun 1pm-Midnight This year's festival is a horror buffet of theatrical performances, live music, and a collection of the most bizarre, frightening, elegantly dark horror shorts & features.
		Visual Arts: The Blue Trees Artist Talk 13th Street between J & K Streets Oct 13 Sat 10am This October, 20 trees will be painted blue. The temporary public artwork by Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos is titled The Blue Trees. Come see the artist talk about his work!
		Festivals: Sacramento Aloha Festival Cal Expo Oct 13 Sat 10am-6pm Featuring arts & crafts, exhibits, presentations, great food, entertainment, & more, this event is fun for the entire family.
		Festivals: Truckin' on the River American River Parkway - William Pond Recreation Area Oct 13 Sat 11am-5pm Bring your lawn chairs & blankets & spend the day listening to local live music while enjoying delicious food from over 15 local & Bay Area food trucks. Proceeds benefit the American River Parkway Foundation.
		2nd Saturday Activities: -The Altar Show: Brickhouse Gallery, Noon-9pm -2nd Sat Costumed Scavenger Hunt: MARRS Building, 4pm-6pm -Best of Geeky Sac Art Show: The Urban Hive, 4pm-9pm See more 2nd Sat events>
		Sports & Rec: Princess Promenade Bike Festival Discovery Park Oct 14 Sun 7am Enjoy this fun ride with your mom, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, or that reluctant friend who won't realize this is exercise!

Get your TixFix: Truckin' on the River

Find out how to enter>

Featured Local Artist of the Month: Jeff Knorr

Read his Featured Artist Profile.

Keep up with Sacramento365.com

There are always lots of things to do in Sacramento California. Find these events and many more on Sacramento365.com - the year-round source for Sacramento events.

Do you have an event coming up? Make sure it's on Sacramento365.com, the Sacramento calendar of events.

On a beautiful Friday morning, we decided to go horseback riding along the American River.

The Shadow Glen Family Stables are nestled off of Sunset Avenue in Fair Oaks, just a short drive from downtown Sacramento.  It is easy to drive past the entrance and not even notice their sign.  But it is a huge complex that houses 60 horses: 20 riding horses and 40 horses are boarded there.  They also have some goats and chickens and cats and dogs.  It is practically a petting zoo.

We signed up for the experience package.  Our guide, Emily, showed us how to groom and care for a horse before riding.  The horse we groomed was Beau, and it was nice to see that he enjoyed the experience.  We brushed his coat, combed his mane and cleaned out his hoofs.  Emily asked if I wanted to put the saddle on the horse.  I was supposed to lift it up over my head and fling it on Beau.  Well, it weighed about 40 pounds.  Emily had to step up and help me.  Note to self - spend more time at gym lifting weights.

I made sure that everyone who worked at the stables knew I was a “city girl” from Chicago.  “Don't assume I know anything.  Watch out for me so I don't hurt myself, please.”  I've been riding once or twice before, but it's been several years.  Both Janet and Cindy had more experience with horse riding and were very comfortable around the horses.

We finally climbed on our horses (using the platform of course).  And we were on our way.  The trail begins in a meadow where there are remnants of the gold rush mining.  Emily let us try out trotting for a short distance.  Back down to a walk, we crossed the bike path and rode along the river.  You can see the Hazel Avenue Bridge and Lake Natoma.  Then the trail goes up through oak covered hills and returns to the stables.  It is very scenic.  The horses are well behaved and responsive to any direction we gave them with the reins.   They followed Emily's lead.  It was a beautiful peaceful ride.

This was a wonderful Sacramento outdoor activity.  Everyone at Shadow Glen was very friendly and helpful.  We definitely plan to ride again.

For more information about Sacramento recreation, outdoor activities and other attractions, click here.