The Beauty and the Not So Beauty

One thing about train travel -- you see it all, from lovely landscapes, farmland and coastline to the bowels of the cities. There are the scrap heaps and the junk yards, and the close look at poverty.

I suppose it is how "wrong side of the tracks" came about.

I am real close to home now and this will most likely be my final post for this trip. Any of my friends and family who have visited my blog, thanks for coming along with me. I loved my trip and visit with Sheri and Alexis, and now I am ready to be home.

 

Heading Home 4/23-24/2012

Near San Luis Obispo is the Horseshoe curve where, at one point, the front of the train and the rear of the train become directly across from each other. This to avoid a steep climb into the mountains.

At one part of the curve of the horseshoe is the San Luis Obispo Men's Prison.

The trip toward north affords views of the Pacific Ocean that we were not able to enjoy in the dark when headed south. The upright paddle surfers enjoy the waves, and there are a few nice ocean views, but looking at the expanse of nothing but the sea recalls to me why I am not interested in going on an ocean cruise. I know there are highlights of the cruise, but waiting to get to an interesting port while driving upon the vast sea does not call to me.

I have seen very few oil fields, and even fewer working oil fields. Chevron oil fields are hard at work.

I tried to get a photo of the morning sunrise over what I think might have been Mount Shasta, but by the time I got my camera ready we were in the trees and this was the best I could do. It was a gorgeous sunrise.

 

Unlike a couple of passengers I talked with, I sleep well on the train. The upper bunk seems to cradle me, and the movement of the train rocks me to sleep. Very nice.

 

It Never Rains in California?

Monday, April 23, 2012

Heading home to Seattle from San Diego in the rain seems fitting! Light rain greeted us as we walked to the car at five a.m. for the trip downtown to the Amtrak station. This leg of my journey home will take me to Los Angeles for the transfer for Seattle, and takes about two and three quarter hours. Now that it is daylight I see lots of fog and what continues to be some rain out there. Sheri and I didn't know how fortunate we were for our bike ride yesterday.

No rain in L.A. at the moment, and the clouds are high with a promise of sun filtering through. Union station is so much nicer than Seattle's. Then again EVERY station we have stopped at, including the smallest of small, has been so much nicer than Seattle's. Seattle has been in the throes of remodel for as long as I can recall, and "under construction" is the best description I can come up with.

At the other end of the station, and near Track 10 where my train will be, is a little spot set up for sleeper guests (I feel so special) with complimentary coffee/tea and juice. That and the snack pack I picked up at Starbucks near Sheri's house (thanks Sheri) did the trick for my mid morning snack.

My train is due to board in a minute or so.

Bike around Mission Bay

My final day in San Diego we rented bikes for an easy flat ride on the trail around Mission Bay. Sheri hasn't ridden her bike in quite a few years now, and though I was a bit concerned about potential (butt) pain or leg tiredness, she did great for this thirteen mile ride and had no aching after effects.

We considered renting true beach cruisers, but absence of multiple gears and using coaster brakes was not feeling attractive to me, so we opted for the more traditional seven speed with hand brakes. Good choice we thought.

A bit misty and foggy at the oceanside again, but that seems to be the norm for these days. It made for very pleasant riding and stopping along the way for snacking and views of sail boats, paddle surfers, swooping pelicans, colorful cactus, and sleeping cats.

A delicious fish and chips lunch on the "boardwalk " rounded out a wonderful day.

In San Diego

Thursday 4/19/12

I did make it to San Diego! Poor Sheri had to pick me up at 4:00 a.m., but that may have been better than the 1:00 a.m. scheduled time.

Later that day (Thursday), after waking, we went out for a late breakfast and then a trip Coronado Island (photo of famous Coronado Hotel) and a walk on the beach. It was a hazy beginning but cleared up a later with tons of sun.

That evening, after Alexis returned home from work, the three of us went out for dinner at a wine shop/restaurant where the tables are settled in amongst the wine crates. As you dine you can choose wine for dinner as well as to take home. Dinner was delightful and delicious.

Early to bed was the order for this evening as I could catch up with the sleep I had lost the night before.

 

Friday 4/20/12

Sheri, as well as Alexis, had to work on Friday, so I was on my own for the day. Sheri and I had researched the trolley info, so that I could use that for the day.

Reminiscent of the trolley that Susan and I used when we were in Nice. I bought my day pass, hopped the "green line" to Old Town, easily transferred to the ""blue line" that took me to downtown. I took myself for a delightful breakfast at a cafe that Sheri had suggested, and on the way I met Hamilton.

K,

 

I had tentatively planned to rent a bike for the day, but I ended up walking many miles instead. I have biked a lot around the area when Susan and I were here last year, and I wasn't sure where I would want to ride on my own, so I opted for feet instead of wheels.

I first walked to South Park in search of the tea shop that the guy at the cafe had told me about -- he actually printed out a googled map for me with directions of how to get there. When I got there, after about a three mile walk, I found that it did not open for another hour! I walked back to town and it was time for lunch.

After a light and brief lunch, I hopped on the trolley and got off at the Sante Fe stop for a walk to and around the harbor for a little time. Lovely, quiet walkway from the trolley for a couple of blocks before heading down to the waterfront. No photos from there as I have so many from our past trip here when Susan and I biked along the the paths and bikeways.

 

Saturday 4/21/12 -- Happy Birthday to Sarah!

This afternoon Sheri and I will be attending a show downtown called "Respect", a musical celebration of women (for girls (& guys) who just wanna have fun). Some of the favorite songs from the 20th Century, like "I Will Follow Him", "These boots Are Made For Walkin' ", and I Will Survive" among others. Should be fun. Alexis has to work so she will not be going with us, so she joined us for a morning walk on the beach at Del Mar with their two dogs. Another foggy morning, which has cleared up into a sunny later morning by now.

There were quite a few people, many with their dogs, walking the beach on this Saturday morning. I took this photo of the d.y fisherman for Susan! Now we will take a rest before getting ready to go out to the show.

 

Four hours later

We are almost on our way! Creeping along and stopping every few hundred feet to have the train repair inspected (welders were here working).

Here is the scoop I got from my room porter, George. A dad and his two year old son were in the car. The dad was killed and the two year old has injuries -- do not know the extent. George later talked with me some more and says this incident is being deemed a suicide and attempted murder. The driver drove himself onto the train track with intent to kill himself and his son (thus the murder). George says this happens a lot, and the "suicidee" has no thought of how this affects anyone and everyone else, it is simply a fast and painless death. And in fact, I learned that a similar accident happened last week on the northbound route -- in a different place. I did not learn if that was deemed an accident or suicide.

We seem to be rolling along now -- it is 8:30 p.m., and the incident happened at about 4:15 p.m. by my best guesstimate. We were already running about half an hour behind schedule, so my guess is that we will arrive on L.A. between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. instead of the scheduled 9:00 p.m. arrival. Then they will need to get me to San Diego which had an original arrival scheduled for 12:50 a.m. It is anybody's guess when I will get there. That will depend on how and when they transport each of us to our destination.

Oh, and we got a new engineer.

Catastrophic Happening

We are just south of San Luis Obispo and just before 4:30 our train hit a car!!! We have no news, but those outside tending to the injured (don't know the gender or numbers) just called in for a crew member to bring the defibrillator out to them. We know what that means. I have no idea how long this will tie us up or what will happen for those of us who have connections to make. We have been told that Amtrak will get us to our connections as they are guaranteed. I am imagining bus rides. We are at the moment stopped in what appears out my window to be farm fields of some crop, and trees ahead and on the pther side, as you can see in the photos. I don't know that a bus could get us from here. I feel bad for everyone concerned, and we will ride it out.

A couple of hours ago, at one of our brief stops, an aid car was waiting and took a passenger off the car inert of mine on a stretcher. It looked mild, and talk is that it may have been chest pains or some sign of hert stuff. This trip has not been uneventful!

Will let everyone know what happens. What a way to start a vacation.

Misinformed -- only one car dropped

Not all the private cars were dropped in Oakland -- only one. So in sunny, blue and delightfully warm San Jose, where I could get out for at least a brief walk, I was able to get a photo of the cars and of the conductor of those cars.

On the way to San Jose (sounds like the makings of a good song), we passed these sea salt mounds and the plant that processes the salt.

we also passed what was once a town (hard to believe by looking at this marshy area) that the Federal Government took over and said leave the buildings to self decay.

These two photos may be a bit put of focus as I was on the moving train. (no excuse for others that may be out of focus ;'-)).

I learned about Private Rail Cars

I have been totally uninformed about private rail cars and am enjoying learning about them. At our long stop in Sacramento I talked with the "Conductor" (at least that's what the lettering on the badge of his hat said) of the private cars we picked up in Portland. He runs a business of setting up train trips for pricate car owners, which can be a day or days long. Some cars are owned by one person, some by a group, and they pay a rental fee to "park" on some track in some rail yard. Then they request (and pay a fee) to hook up with Amtrak on a line that is going where they would like to go. There is, of course, a club for these folks, and a magazine called "Private Vintage", named for the cars that were once made of (highly polished) wood.

To use Amgrak, the cars must be kept up to "code" for electric, water, etc. by standards set by Amtrak. Once up to standards there is the maintenance and repairs of old rail cars to keep up with. The first car on our train has, by request of the owner, been transformed from a pullman sleeper car to a party car with bandstand, live music, bar and dance floor.

Unfortunately I could not get a photo of the cars. My walk in Sacramento took me by them in the dark, and they were dropped off in the yard at Oakland before we could get off for a walk.

 

Tea and Shower

Many of you know of my dilemmas with tea (none available, tiny cups with minimal fill, tepid rather than hot water, etc.). I have learned to bring my thermos and some tea bags, and have the kitchen fill me up with hot water (several times a day). ;'-) Turns out I could have brought a bigger thermos...

 

And I have had my battles with the showers of my travels (no not water, no water at all, water stopping in the midst of my shower, not the correct coins/tokens, to name a few). I had success this morning, but only by the skin of my teeth! I was most likely the first passenger up out of bed this morning. You can see the strap that would allegedly keep me from falling out in a misdirected turn-over.

Up early meant I could walk downstairs to the shower room undetected in my jammies. I had a great, hot, full time shower and by the time I was dressed and back in my roomette, I found we had stopped. We had just pulled into Sacramento and would be here for an hour. When we are stopped (I learned on my last trip), there is no shower. Skin of my teeth!

I took advantage of our long stop and walked to the station and then along the trainside and got an up close look at the private cars -- more about that later, as it is now time for breakfast.

Settling into Train mode

I am sitting in the seat across from the one in the picture. With two it might seem a little crowded although most of them fo have two guests occupying them. I'm just spoiled into having one all to myself.

 

It is raining on Portland, Oregon. We had an hour stop there rather than the 20 minutes we were told. The delay was due to attaching five private cars, and as one of the attendants said, they are millionaires so we will wait as long as they need us to...

I had my lunch in the Parlour Car (less selection and less formal),

and I will have dinner in the Dining Car (more selections and a tiny bit more formal feeling).

 

We had an afternoon wine and cheese tasting in the Parlour Car and observation car (they are basicallyy joined),

And ........... Yes, I did taste. Now I know I am not missing anything.

 

 

Settling into Train mode

I am sitting in the seat across from the one in the picture. With two it might seem a little crowded although most of them fo have two guests occupying them. I'm just spoiled into having one all to myself.

 

It is raining on Portland, Oregon. We had an hour stop there rather than the 20 minutes we were told. The delay was due to attaching five private cars, and as one of the attendants said, they are millionaires so we will wait as long as they need us to...

I had my lunch in the Parlour Car (less selection and less formal),

and I will have dinner in the Dining Car (more selections and a tiny bit more formal feeling).

 

We had an afternoon wine and cheese tasting in the Parlour Car and observation car (they are basicallyy joined),

And ........... Yes, I did taste. Now I know I am not missing anything.

 

One leg at a time... California bound

I am on my way to San Diego for a visit with Sheri. I am traveling by Amtrak there and back, my second ever trip by train. I loved it the first time, we shall see what this time is like.

First thing is to take the brief trip by Community Transit bus from home...

 

to the commuter train...

 

to the King Street Station where I will catch the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles.

Here, I am waiting for my train.

 

Then there will be a transfer to the commuter train to San Diego where Sheri will fetch me.