Riding the rails on the California Zephyr

     Day 1 of our epic tale of riding the rails has moved into the evening hours, and so far it has exceeded our expectations.

At 9:10 AM, the California Zephyr eased out of the Amtrak Station at Emeryville, right on schedule.  We had about a 30 minute wait at the station before boarding, but the station personnel gave us a briefing before the arrival, and we were all set and ready to go when she arrived.

      It was going to be a full train, 548 passengers, but it was going to take a couple of stops to get all the cars filled up.  Our steward met us on the platform and directed us to our berthing area in car 361.  And shortly after we pulled out, he came through and explained all the switches in the room.  Tonight while we're at dinner, (we have a 6:45 dining call) our beds should be all pulled down and ready to go.  My immediate impression of the bedroom was that it was a little cramped, but after putting everything in its place, it will be just fine.

 The room has a complete bathroom including a shower, a couch that folds down into a bunk style bed, and another bunk that folds down from the ceiling. After settling in, we headed 2 cars forward to the car holding the observation deck and the downstairs lounge.

     We settled down into some open seats, and soon the conversation was flowing from both sides as fellow passengers talked about their expectations and their experiences on this train. Everyone is completely friendly, and more than willing to share their stories.  Most everyone is starting their holiday travel, but some younger passengers are enjoying a few weeks vacation.  But everyone agrees, its an easy and restful way to see America.  As we pulled out of Sacramento, we headed to the dining car for lunch.

      All meals are included in the package when you book a room.  All tables seat 4, so the conversations don't slow down over lunch.  Debbie and I both had an Angus cheeseburger, and it was quite tasty!  Amtrak seems to have it down to a science, but there was no rushing.  We would have like to visit some more, but the train was moving up through the Sierra Nevada's and the views were spectacular.  There was a little snow on the ground along the tracks and on some of the mountain tops, which made for some great picture taking.  I didn't notice the 2 deer in this photo until after I uploaded it to my computer.

     Today's journey took us through Donner Pass and into Truckee, CA.  We made quite a switchback coming into Truckee, but the single engine didn't appear to have any difficulty getting us up the mountain or down.

 Tomorrow we're going through Salt Lake City and then over the Rockies to Denver.  Should be an awesome day.  Gotta get everything charged up, so I'll close this out.  Hope you enjoy the pics.

North to San Francisco & Amtrak to NY

     On Wednesday we buttoned Big Red up at the Santee Lakes Preserve, and started out on a new adventure. Bright and early we headed north from San Diego on I-5 with a final destination of Emeryville, CA, a suburb of Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco.  Pretty big step for us, because unless you have experienced it, there's nothing that compares to California freeways around LA.  I will tell you now.  If you don't have a specific reason to travel south of Los Angeles.....don't. Traffic is always bad around LA and San Diego highways start shutting down about 2 PM.  Now, don't take this as a complete negative.  San Diego is fun with lots of things to do.  But you have to do them between the hours of 10 AM & 2 PM.  Of course, as I mentioned in my previous blog, there's always the trolley option.
     At 9 AM traffic was at a standstill as we worked our way west toward I-805 & I-5.  On I-5 traffic was moving pretty well, but we were approaching that magical 10 AM hour, when all the traffic seems to just disappear.  North of San Clemente we started getting a little congested, and when we jumped over to I-405 south of LA we discovered the HOV lane.  If you're traveling with a buddy, you get your own special lane, and amazingly, the traffic seemed to honor the 2-person rule.  We had very little trouble cruising past stopped traffic at about 55 mph, as Debbie commented to each driver, "Should have found a buddy!"  We cruised up U.S. 101, El Camino Real,  and as we traveled further and further from SoCal, the terrain got prettier and prettier.
     U.S. 101, also known as El Camino Real, the Royal Road or the King's Highway, is actually 1600 mile highway that joins California's 21 Missions, starting at Mission San Diego de Alcala in the south, and Mission San Francisco in the north.

 Our first stop on today's journey took us to the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.  This mission was the fifth mission founded by Father Junipero Serra, in 1772.  Visible in the picture are 3 bells along the front facade of the Mission.  To the right, there's a wall with 2 additional bells.  The bells are named for the patron saint of the first five Missions, and are tuned to a  specific note.  The ringing of the bells is a tradition started by Father Serra in 1772.  There is a very nice museum at the Mission which contains numerous items showing the history of the Mission, and admission is simply a donation.


There are some very lovely gardens, and Debbie pointed out the Hydrangea's blooming in the garden, and was amazed of the color.

     Day 2 we traveled up California State Route 1, along the magnificent California coastline.  This was the portion of California we were waiting to see. We had journeyed up here previously, about 30 years ago, and visited Hearst Castle, but today we were out to enjoy the coastline.  And we weren't disappointed.  The morning marine layer was still visible, and caused some of the pictures to seem dull, but overall, the views were awesome. The portion between San Luis Obispo and Carmel is an official National Scenic Highway, and once you travel it, you will understand why.

Approximately 4 miles north of Hearst Castle, we saw a sign for Scenic Vista, so we pulled in.  What we had stumbled on to is known as a rookery here at Piedras Blancas (White Rocks), and is a beach dominated by elephant seals. The seals have only been coming to Piedras Blancas since 1990.  One pup was born in 1992, and 5300 were born in 2014.

They were heavily hunted in the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries, and there numbers dwindled to less than 50.  Today their population has grown to over 200,000, with the largest rookery up near Santa Barbara.  Today we watched the return of juveniles and yearlings.  We watched in awe as the young males jousted with each other in the water and on the beach.  But most just seemed to be enjoying the sunshine and catching up on some sleep.

     After having a great dinner at the Black Bear Diner  just across the street from the Hyatt House Emeryville, we are settled in making final preparations for our Journey Across America via Amtrak tomorrow.  The Amtrak Station at Emeryville, where the California Zephyr  begins it's 4 day journey, is located right behind the hotel.  The hotel is letting us leave our car parked out back for 2 weeks, and hopefully everything will work out fine.  

      Check back often, as I'm going to try and keep this running through the entire train trip.  See ya on the rails!

San Diego Mission & Trolley

     Today, Debbie and I headed downtown for a visit to the San Diego Mission, located in the area of the old Jack Murphy Stadium.  I guess it's now called Qualcom Stadium, and is the home of the San Diego Chargers....at least for now.  The word around town is that the Chargers are headed for LA because SD taxpayers are balking at building the millionaire owners of the Chargers, and the millionaires associated with the NFL, a new stadium.  Don't really understand why the taxpayers should be on the hook for the construction costs, but that's how it works.  Maybe if the Chargers could win a game it might encourage some investment, but not right now.  San Diego has a beautiful baseball park, Petco Park, in the middle of downtown, which is made much more convenient with the Trolley Center right next door.
      Speaking of the San Diego Trolley, we drove over to the

Santee Trolley Center in downtown Santee, and for $5 each, we jumped aboard the Green Line and headed for San Diego.  Debbie has figured out this trolley system, and the first thing to remember is to hang on to your Compass Card, which you purchase for $5 each, on your first visit.

Each trolley stop has a vending machine which is where you either "tap" your card so the fee is subtracted from your balance, purchase a Compass Card, or if you remember to hang on to your card, recharge it with the necessary fees.       I'm sure occasional users may throw their card away after they use it up, but if you file it away, as Debbie does, it saves you $5 on your next trip. They never expire.  Love saving a few bucks whenever we can.

The San Diego Trolley cars are nice and shiny, and not crowded at all.  At least not out here in the East County.  But I do remember them being pretty packed when we jumped on the southbound trolley after a game at Petco Park last year.  But I guess that's to be expected.  The Padres were playing the Dodgers!
     After a very pleasant and relaxing ride down past the SDSU Campus, we exited the Trolley at the Mission stop, and had just a short 10 minute walk to the San Diego Mission.

     From the bottom of the hill, we first noticed the Campanario, or Bell Tower, shining white in the day's sun, overlooking the entrance to the Mission.  The Campanario is 46 feet tall, and holds 5 bells.

     The bell in the lower right weighs 805 lbs and is named Ave Maria Purisima- Immaculate Mary, and was cast in 1802 in Barcelona, Spain.  The bell in the lower left is named Mater Dolorosa-Our Lady of Sorrow.  It weighs 1200 lbs, and was cast in San Diego in 1895 from bell fragments found in the vicinity of the Mission.
     Mission San Diego de Alcala, California's first mission, was founded in 1769 by Junipero Serra, a Franciscan Monk.  Mission San Diego de Alcala was the first of 21 Missions created along the California coastline.

     In 1775, just one year after the completion of the adobe church, it was attacked by Indians, and completely burned. Padre Luis Jayme was killed in the attack, becoming the first Christian martyr in California.  He is buried in the Mission Sanctuary.  

     Behind the Campanario, we found a small garden which is also the first cemetery in California.  It is dedicated to the Indians who lived with the Missionaries and several rough crosses can be seen in the garden, made from material from the original dwellings.  

 There is a small museum behind the Chapel which documents some of the history of the Mission.  Also in the Chapel, which was built in 1977, we found a small Sanctuary and Altar, and the room was lined with very ornately crafted choir stalls.  Everything in the Chapel came from a Carmelite monastery in Plasencia, Spain, dating back to the 1300's.  

The choir stalls were grooved and fit so that no nails were used to hold them together.  The floor of the Chapel came from Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City.



                                                                                   

     The present mission church was named a Minor Basilica by Pope Pail VI in 1976.  Today is serves as an active parish for the Catholic community.  Sunday Masses are conducted in both English and Spanish.
     After completing our self-guided tour of the compound, we returned through the gift shop for 1 last question.  One of the ladies suggested a nice cup of tea and a sandwich in a shop down the street.  Then she added, "If you'd like a little whiskey, there's a nice Irish Pub there too!"  Needles to say, we ended up at McGregors Grill and Ale House  and had a very refreshing pint....maybe two, and a wonderful pork sandwich.  Debbie enjoyed the special, Fish and Chips, and seemed quite satisfied.

      A quick walk back to the Trolley stop and we were headed back to Santee.  We dropped in to say hello to Liam and Jamo...... and Ben and Joanne,  before heading back to the "trailer park."   Day after tomorrow we begin our trip up along California's coast to San Francisco.  And then we're riding the rails east to spend Thanksgiving with Princess.

CA Thanksgiving

     As one has come to anticipate, Debbie is going to celebrate the Holidays with her kids, and even though there is 3000 miles of separation, it's still going to happen.  So earlier this week, the coordination of activities began as we developed plans for Thanksgiving dinner at Ben and Joanne's. This of course in no way interferes with the Thanksgiving dinner planned at MAE's house in NY on the real Thanksgiving.  As usual, I'm going to be the winner with 2 turkey dinners.  One is going to be a smoked turkey at Ben's with all the trimmings.  The second is looking like it's going to be a fried turkey with all the trimmings in NY.  Sounds good to me!
   

The plan to smoke a turkey at Ben's resulted from the successful smoking of a rack of baby back ribs at our campsite the previous week.  Debbie and I had stopped previously at the local ribs joint here in Santee, but I was a little disappointed in the quality of the product.  I'm not a big connoisseur of smoked ribs, but I was pretty confident that I could to some ribs on the Davey Crockett grill we purchased just before leaving on this trip.  Since these turned out so well, It was time to get Ben going and do a turkey on his Daniel Boone Grill.
      Now a turkey takes a little more preparation than a rack of baby backs, but that's the fun part smoking in  a grill.  Ben wimped out on the first critical part, pulling the "I have to go to work" card from the deck.  So Joanne, Liam and Jamo had to step up as we prepared the brine for the first step of preparation.  We picked up a nice Butterball, just about 10 pounds, and dropped it off at Ben's a few days prior with instructions on defrosting it and having it ready to go for Thursday evening. Thursday evening arrived and Ben had been successful in defrosting the little gobbler.  I mixed up a batch of magic brine and we put the turkey back in the refrigerator for an overnight soaking.

     Friday morning Ben was left with instructions to wash the bird to rinse all the salt off, and dry it in preparation for the application of the rub.  Liam stepped up to the plate and got his father up about 6:00 A.M. for breakfast, and everything was set when I arrived about 9:30. After a quick rubdown with my secret rub recipe, the bird was ready to meet Daniel Boone who was all warmed up and ready to go.  Set to temperature to 240, make sure it's full of pellets, and put her in.

 Nothing to it!   Now the critical part began.  Cracking a cold beer and watching the temperature gauge.  Only 6 hours to go!

     Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Debbie was busy getting all the fixins ready and keeping me out of the pumpkin pie sitting on the counter.  I'm not sure if that gin bottle was a necessary ingredient or there just for moral support??  Either way, everything came together perfectly with input from everyone involved and we sat down to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  And it's absolutely amazing to watch Jamo making sure he get in the picture also.  He just loves to get his picture taken.

Here's a few more action shots of the afternoon's activities.  Again, Jamo loves to get his picture taken!  Liam Benjamin (Jeter) has his Thanksgiving outfit on, helping us celebrate.  He really is a nice quiet baby.  You don't hear a peep out of him till he gets hungry.  He's perfectly content to sit with Grammie or Gramps, although Jamo tends to have a little problem when he's sitting with Grammie.  But Grammie makes up the time, and takes him outback to play.  

     After dinner, Ben made a fire and we enjoyed a quiet time telling stories of camping in the ADK's  We talked about everybody, so no one felt left out.  We strictly adhere to the policy of: if you're not here to defend yourself or correct the story, our version must be correct!  

       Next stop is Plattsburgh, NY and turkey at MAE's!  Of course there will be a little adventure before our arrival.  On Wednesday we'll close everything up here at the "trailer park" and make our way up to San Francisco.  Friday morning we jump on the California Zephyr for a 4 day journey by rail, across the U.S.  Can't see America at 35000 feet!  We're heading out of CA via Donner Pass and Reno, and the views should be magnificent.  We'll keep you posted.

Liam's Baptism, Halloween, and Hangin out Around San Diego

      While up at Three Rivers finishing up our chores and visiting with neighbors on Thursday evening, I chanced to check my mail one more time before calling it a night.  What did I find but a message from Ben, "Call me!"  Now I don't know if I mentioned that there is very limited cell service in Three Rivers unless you're on the AT&T network, which means Verizon doesn't work worth a damn.  The park had pretty good wi fi, so we sent him a note.  Seems that they had lucked out and made arrangements for a baptism while both sets of grand-parents were in town.  Only 1 problem....we weren't in town.  But the bus has wheels, and since we were planning on leaving the following day, it didn't inconvenience us at all.  Debbie had Ben's Baptismal outfit from Aunt Char in Akron, and we were ready to roll.

      Saturday morning arrived and we all met at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lakeside, met with a wonderful Irish Deacon named  Dennis O'Neill, and with the help of Fred and Melissa Aguon, who dropped everything and drove back from LA, stepping in as Acting God-Parents, Baptized Liam.  He only screamed once, and I am sure it was the devil leaving!
The parents did fine, and both sets of grandparents seemed to be real proud of everyone,  I think Ben was Baptized at least 4 times before the "official" event, but as far as I can tell, this was Liam's first time.

     Not sure if David and MaryAnne still have to complete their Baptism classes before this is official, but it probably wouldn't hurt MAE to complete the class.  I'm not going to say anything!  We bid farewell to Mike right after the ceremony as he had to catch a flight back home.  Jeanne was able to squeeze a few more days into her visit, and I'm sure Joanne enjoyed the time they had together.
     Meanwhile our vacation continues in San Diego.  We get over to Lakeside to visit, but with Ben back on mid-nights, we're careful about disturbing his sleep.

Debbie and I went for a ride down to SD to check out the new RV's at Qualcom Stadium.   This is something we like to do every year.  Haven't seen anything we like better than Big Red, but we enjoy getting the sales people excited.  We were able to squeeze a free lunch out of LaMesa RV, so that makes everything worthwhile.  After the show, we headed down to Mission Beach to check out the water and some boats.  Then over to Sunset Cliffs where lots of weird people hang out.  The surf was up and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.  

      Joanne surprised us with a visit over to the trailer park, as we like to call it.  She was out getting Jamo some exercise, and invited Debbie along.  I was involved in monthly paperwork so I passed, but they were able to stick around for a while.  Jamo was on his best behavior, even though he wanted desperately to go meet the little girls next door.  Liam enjoyed the sights and sounds all around him, and snuggled down after Grammie got us a nice warm blanket.  We've been experiencing a cooling trend along with some showers, which puts these locals into orbit.  Rain showers are a major event with local tv stations dispatching their roving reporters to find rain!  

 Jamo got a nice drink from my rain bucket that I use to water the shrubbery.  Liam got bored with all of us and did his own thing.

We got through Halloween and Superman, and now we're into Standard Time, which means just a few hours of sunshine.  It's getting dark around 5 PM, so they days are pretty short.  Guess it won't straighten up till Spring.