On the way home from the Victorian Christmas celebration, we drove over to Dovewood Court in Orangevale, which is another of the many spots listed on the Sacramento Bee’s Holiday Light Map, and joined the long line of cars trying to get in to see the display. We found a parking spot a few blocks away and then joined the throng of walkers trying to get in to see the display. Walking got us into the court much faster than driving, definitely! Dovewood Court has been putting on an extravagant light display for many years now and they use the occasion to collect canned food for the Food for Families charity. This is such a big deal for this neighborhood, that when you buy a house on the court, you have to sign an agreement that you agree to participate, now that’s a commitment to the holiday spirit. A new addition is one of those synchronized displays to the music. I took a video of the display that was synchronized to music from the Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Wizard in Winter, but I think the one the designer took is much better (and nobody walked in front of him while filming), so here’s his video of it. Merry Christmas!
Lori and I headed up to Nevada City for their Victorian Christmas celebration. It was raining lightly with occasional downpours that lasted a few minutes, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s fun. The vendors lined the streets and Christmas music played by children filled the air. We enjoyed some excellent crepes from Calla Lily Crepes for lunch and then watched tap dancers perform in the rain (videos of them below). I also just found out that Hallmark filmed the 2006 movie “The Christmas Card” right here in Nevada City and if you’ve seen the movie, while I only saw the trailer, that is really what the town looks like. One last big downpour of rain and we head home after riding it out under one of the musician’s umbrella. Christmas is in the air!
Lori and I headed out to see the holiday light displays. Our first stop was at 53rd and S Streets, which is one of the many spots listed on the Sacramento Bee’s Holiday Light Map. We practiced our night photography skills and did a little “light painting” were you move the camera to make the lights streak and paint pictures… just silly fun. We then drove through the Fabulous Forties section of town and enjoyed their bounty of lights too. We may just go back and photograph them one night. Enjoy the Christmas cheer of the lights!
Back to Bonfante Gilroy Gardens we went (gotta make that tax-deductible season pass pay for itself!). Tersha and I, along with Brianna, went back to experience their Nights of Fire laser lights and fireworks show. In December, the park opens on weekend night to show off how they’ve decorated the park with millions of lights. We left a few hours early because we wanted to explore the San Luis Reservoir and Pacheco State Park areas that we had seen on the way up last time. We saw a couple of deer and a stray house cat hiding amongst the tall dried grass surrounding the very blue lakes. As the sun set, we headed to the gardens and then spend some pleasant hours wandering around enjoying all the many lights. We rode the train ride again and this time we also rode the balloon ride and even the roller coaster, just the things to do when it’s cold and dark… you trying doing a roller coaster scream with your teeth chattering…LOL! Off to find a spot at Coyote Lake for the laser show and fireworks display. It was a very short show of maybe 10 minutes, so that was a tad disappointing, but it was still a very fun and pretty evening and I enjoyed it.
The 2 sidebars have been placed within an element so that you can enter information here at the bottom or up at the top that exists outside the 2 sidebars.
