Timothy McVain Lives: July 2014

TWELVE DAYS IN MAY

~PART 5 OF 5~

*PART ONE*

**PART TWO**

***PART THREE***

****PART FOUR****

"THE CAPITOL"

This seemingly never ending journey was coming to an end as my parents dropped me off at a hotel in downtown Sacramento overlooking the trees of Capitol Park.

This was the first time since my Denver detour (read about that here in Part One) that I had time all to myself, to walk around alone with my thoughts. But before walking around the California State Capitol I went to lunch with an old friend I'd not seen since high school.

One of my favorite things about Sacramento besides the State Capitol is the Tower Bridge!

I was so inspired by my visit to Sacramento in 2013 that I drew it! After having drawn the cities most iconic buildings, it was nice to return and see these buildings again.

I walked along Capitol Mall and enjoyed the familiar architecture.

Across the Tower Bridge, I enjoyed relishing in the beauty and complexity of the Ziggurat's construction.

The sun began to set and I arrived back at the hotel as the streetlights started to flicker on.

Back at the hotel I enjoyed Subway for dinner and ordered a fancy dessert while watching Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Here's the dessert I had!

I slept like a baby and woke up, got Starbucks for breakfast, and edited photos while waiting for my eldest Sister to pick me up. She'd flown from Utah so that, for the first time in five years, my parents, all my siblings and I would be in the same place at the same time! Before our family dinner, my older Brother took me to an awesome local used book store called Beatnik Books and a cool record store nearby.

It was a wonderful time with my family and while eating dessert my Dad showed old slides through a projector. Photos of both sets of grandparents and old photos of my elder siblings was fun and brought back lots of great memories which was nice to share with everyone.

I woke up the next morning in the comfortable hotel bed staring at the wall far beyond my feet, seeing the morning light shining around this unfamiliar room, and for a moment completely forgot where I was. What city did I wake to find myself in? Was I in Denver?

Was I in the great Salt Lake City?

Did I wake up in San Francisco?

Perhaps I had woken to find myself back in Oakland lying in my childhood bed in the house I grew up in?

It took a moment to locate myself, to snap out of the disorientation of sleep and excessive travelling. I mentally reviewed my entire trip thus far and after a quick fast food breakfast my Sister, my parents and I went up to Lake Tahoe for lunch.

Another 8 hours of sleep later, I checked out of the hotel and my parents drove me to the Greyhound station where I waited for my first bus home. After the long trip and detour I experienced heading west, I didn't expect a better experience heading back south and east...

...61 hours later I was back home in San Antonio, Texas. To put it simply, I left California on a Tuesday morning and didn't arrive back in San Antonio until the early hours of Friday at around two in the morning...