Check in to hotel, register for the program, wine social, dinner, orientation, get-acquainted

Arrive To: Check in after 4 p.m. and register for program.

Dinner: Dinner at a nearby restaurant within walking distance.

Evening: Orientation/get-acquainted program in the hotel meeting room.

Lodging: Hyatt Regency Sacramento

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: Expanded continental breakfast with hot and cold cereal, muffins, toast, waffles, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, juice, tea and coffee.

Morning: Board the motor coach for a field trip to the Capitol building with our local on-board instructor. The building was constructed in the neoclassical style between 1861 and 1874 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of 1973, view Sutter's Fort and visit historic Old Town.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant..

Afternoon: Visit the California State Railroad Museum.The transcontinental and Sacramento Valley railroads began in Old Sacramento. The 100,000-square-foot museum is the finest and most visited of its kind in North America, displaying 21 restored locomotives and cars, 1,000 fantastic toy trains, all-new exhibits highlighting the human face of the railroad and the "Lost Spike."

Dinner: We enjoy dinner at an Old Town Sacramento restaurant.

Evening: Our evening program is presented by a special speaker.

Lodging: Hyatt Regency Sacramento

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Board the train to travel across the Sierra to Reno, lunch on the train, docent narration

Breakfast: Enjoy the hotel's expanded continental breakfast.

Morning: Morning class on Sacramento history. We head for the Amtrak Depot a few blocks from the hotel to board the California Zephyr for our train adventure to Reno. Welcome Aboard! You're traveling on board Amtrak's Superliner train --- the California Zephyr. While on board, you'll be experiencing the utmost in train travel, along with some of California's most spectacular scenery..

Lunch: Eat lunch on the train with your choice of the dining car or snack bar.

Afternoon: We arrive in Reno at the newly renovated train depot across from our hotel. As early as the 1850s a few pioneers settled in the Truckee Meadows, a relatively fertile valley through which the Truckee River made its way from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. In addition to subsistence farming, these early residents could pick up a bit of business from travellers along the California Trail, which followed the Truckee westward, before branching off towards Donner Lake, where the formidable obstacle of the Sierras began. Reno is home to a variety of recreation activities both seasonal and year-round. In the summer, Reno locals can boat, fish, water ski and swim in one of the three major bodies of water: Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River, and Pyramid Lake. Winter brings opportunities for skiing-both downhill and cross country, snowboarding and snowshoeing.

Dinner: We enjoy a buffet dinner at Harrah's.

Evening: Free time to relax after a busy day.

Lodging: Harrah's

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Field trip to Carson City, Nevada's capital, visit Nevada State Museum, continue to Virginia City, evening class on the Donner Party

Breakfast: We have a full breakfast buffet in hotel cafe.

Morning: We board our motor coach for field trip to Carson City where we visit the Nevada State Capitol Building. For many years after its 1870 construction, Nevada's capitol building stood a lonely vigil in the center of Carson City. Grounds for the capitol complex had been set aside by town father Abe Curry, but Nevada started out small, and the need for big government had not developed. Now, more than 130 years later, the building is still used, standing as a testament to the foresight of Nevada's founding fathers The Nevada State Museum was originally erected in 1870 as the U.S. Mint, which coined more than $49,000,000 until 1893. The museum hosts about 250,000 visitors each year and has become famous for exhibits such as The Chinese Experience, the Dat So La Lee Washoe Indian baskets and Coin Press No. 1. Nevada's wildlife is also featured, namely the ubiquitous coyote, elusive mountain lion, majestic golden eagle, bothersome badger and the mischievous black bear. The silver dining service from the USS Nevada battleship, fashioned with silver from the Tonopah mine and gold from Goldfield, is also on display.

Lunch: We eat a delicious lunch at nearby restaurant.

Afternoon: Our motor coach heads for historic Virginia City. Virginia City was the most important city in the western United States, a place where you could still find fortune and glory. Gold and silver buried in the mountain at one time attracted people from the world over. Follow in the footsteps of the Bonanza Kings, the mine owners who played an important role in shaping America’s economy. Step back in time on a guided visit of the 4th Ward School an authentically preserved 1876 Victorian school building. Sit in the same wooden desks as the children and teachers did from 1876 to 1936 and learn about the unique features of this educational institution. Re-live great moments in theatre in a guided exploration of Piper's Opera House and discover the place where Mark Twain took his pen name and began his writing career.

Dinner: We are served a delicious banquet dinner in the hotel meeting room.

Evening: Our evening speaker tells the fascinating story of the Donner Party.

Lodging: Harrah's

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Motor coach returns to Sacramento with lunch stop at Lake Tahoe and visit to Donner State Park Museum, dinner on the Delta King

Breakfast: A full breakfast in the hotel cafe.

Morning: Board our motor coach for the return trip to Sacramento. We travel to the north shore of incredible Lake Tahoe-an Alpine lake with clear, azure-blue waters-the second deepest in North America. It was originally named “Dao w a ga” by a Washoe tribe of Native Americans. Pioneers who arrived later mispronounced the name as “Da ow,” which eventually evolved into Tahoe. “Dao w a ga” originally meant Edge of Lake. Throughout history, Lake Tahoe has been called by many names, including Lake Bigler after the California governor, Bonpland after a French botanist and Mountain Lake, until 1945, when Lake Tahoe became its official name.

Lunch: Time for a delightful lunch at a restaurant on the shores of the lake with a great view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Afternoon: Back on board our motor coach we head for Donner Memorial State Park for a visit to the museum to learn more about the heroic story of the Donner Party, then follow the old highway over Donner Summit to imagine ourselves as pioneers crossing this formidable Sierra pass. To reach California from the East, pioneer emigrants had to get their wagons over the Sierra. In 1844, the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party followed the Truckee River up into the mountains. At the head of what is now called Donner Lake, they found a low notch in the mountains and thus became the first overland emigrants to use the pass. The pass received its name, however, from another group of California-bound emigrants. In early November 1846, the Donner Party found the route blocked by snow and was forced to spend the winter on the eastern side of the mountains. Of the 81 emigrants, only 45 survived to reach California; some of them resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Dinner: We return to our Sacramento Inn and relax before dinner. Then we're off to the Delta King for a delicious dinner. The historic Delta King riverboat is a completely renovated, historic 1920’s riverboat that plied the Sacramento River between Sacramento and San Francisco from 1927 to 1940. The Delta King and her sister ship the Delta Queen were the finest paddle wheelers of the day; offering charm, grace, elegance, fine dining and live entertainment. Today, the icon of Sacramento is permanently moored in downtown Old Sacramento.

Lodging: Hyatt Regency Sacramento

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Depart From: Program ends. Check out of hotel by noon.

Breakfast: Our final full continental breakfast in the hotel breakfast room.

Morning: Program wrap-up and farewells.

Meals Included: Breakfast