Sacramento has very hot summers. By comparison to places that get really cold on the east coast or in the midwest, we don't really get cold winters. But it is quite a bit colder than the bay area, where I lived for years, and as I am apparently a California Weather Wimp, I think it gets really cold.
Yesterday, Ashling and I went to Davis to do the annual "Turkey Trot" a 5K run just before Thanksgiving. We also planned to go to the Causeway Classic, the big football game between traditional local rivals, Sac State (the Hornets) and UC Davis (the Aggies).
For those who don't know the area, Davis is town about 20 miles west of Sacramento, home to UC Davis, a fine institution of learning. You get from Sac to Davis on I-80, and after you cross into Yolo county, the freeway is a causeway over the Yolo flats, hence the term "Causeway Classic" for the big football game. We left on Saturday at about 7 a.m. heading to Davis for the Turkey Trot, and man was it foggy! This Valley fog is way different to bay fog, much thicker and harder to drive in. I was just glad that there was so little traffic on I-80 as the visibility was very poor. In fact, when we crossed the Sacramento River, the fog was at its thickest and the river was not at all visible. But we got to Davis safely. But it was cold! Again, not by real winter standards, but by California wimp standards. I was glad to get running to warm up! And also to be around the crowds - there are about 5000 participants. It's a nice enough course through Davis, the best part being how flat it is. No hills! I clocked a time of about 30 minutes, Ashling, of course, was several minutes ahead of me.
After the race, we headed home so. Crossing the Yolo flats, we saw where the Davis fans had adorned the flats with the a rather large sign stating "Sac Iz Wac". I am guessing that spelling and grammar aren't a top priority for the Aggies. But it was cute, we giggled about it all the way home. Game started at 2:05, we headed over to Hornet stadium a little early and enjoyed the smell of the barbeque at all the tailgate parties on campus. Given that Sac State doesn't have a particularly prestigious football program, the stadium is smaller than, say, Memorial Stadium at Berkeley. However, I would say that Hercy the Hornet is a very cool mascot, partly because he has a stinger and partly because he can ride a unicycle. However, the first half of the game was filled with some of the sloppiest football I have ever seen, and I have sat through a large number of high school football games. That combined with the chilly weather led to us leaving at halftime, which unfortunately means that we missed one of the greatest comebacks in college sports history when the Hornets came back from a 14-3 deficit at halftime to win 31-28 with just 20 seconds to go! That's the price of being a California Weather Wimp and being unable to last a couple of hours in the shade when it's less than 60 degrees!
Gordon & Helen in Crete
