Sacramento California Temple
I wasn’t sure I was going to make this trip across the country to visit four temples, including the Sacramento California Temple. After finishing Monday’s work load, taking a quick shower, and dashing off to BWI airport, I made the Spirit Airlines flight with about 30 minutes to spare. But once you’re at the gate, you’re at the gate and it’s off on another temple trip adventure!
They stuck me in a middle seat on row 23 which I endured until we were at a cruising altitude of 36,000 feet. Then the pilot turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and I moved up to a vacant row eight. Nothing better than having a fresh salad and the entire row to yourself!
What? The Oakland Temple is Closed?
The first thing you do when planning a temple trip outside of your own city is to make sure the temple will be open when you get there. I’m honestly not sure how this one happened, but when I arrived at the Las Vegas airport and checked the temple schedules I saw that the Oakland California Temple is CLOSED for the next two weeks. That really bummed me out, but it’s only one of the four temples I planned to visit so I figured three out of four ain’t bad.
At this point I also think I was still flying high from the M&M’s and the Cranapple juice on the plane, which were great!
Sacramento California Temple
You simply have to marvel at the beauty of the landscape of the earth. Here’s a shot from somewhere over Arizona (I think.)
I arrived in Las Vegas at about midnight. I found a quiet place behind a Southwest Airlines ticket counter. The place was narrow and dark so I could sleep. I slept there until about 5:30 AM.
By 6 o’clock I was at the rental car counter and had to wait 45 minutes for them to open. Shortly after that I rented this hot little number and started my trip towards Sacramento.
A Beautiful Temple
I drove about 130 miles from Oakland to Sacramento. I loved this sign when I pulled onto the temple grounds. It’s the first sign of this type that I’ve seen in over 60 temples visited. Congrats to the people in Sacramento!
I’m always impressed with the landscaping around our temples too. The flowers are particularly beautiful.
When I walked in the front door one of the men behind the recommend desk told me the Sacramento California Temple has the most acreage of any of our temples – – 46 acres. When he found out I was from Washington DC he asked me if that temple has more? I didn’t know but I doubted it.
This temple has gorgeous murals inside and a spectacular celestial room. I also loved the fountain outside which was beautiful.
An Added Bonus
This is the 63rd temple I’ve visited since January of 2017. It is the first temple I visited that had wild turkeys strolling around the grounds. Put me down for a re-visit sometime around Thanksgiving.
