Got up at 6 am, out of the hotel by 7. We filled up the rental car with gas and took it to the Thrifty depot. Amazingly, we were able to carry all the 4 bags and 9 carry-ons by ourselves to the rental check-out. They told us they had no access to taxis and to go to the airport.
We didn't want to go that route, but got on the LAX shuttle. That's when we met our 2nd angel: a pilot on the shuttle who scolded the driver for not dropping us off a block up at a hotel where there were plenty of taxis. (He said, "C'mon, they're OLD!") The pilot even got off and helped us take our stuff over there.
We got a much smaller taxi than the one we got at the train station before. It was a "keystone cops", 20 gorillas in the car, Mr. Toad's wild ride experience. We had Tim, Miranda and me in the back seat with 7 bags. I had Batman, med chest and the food bag (about 55 pounds) all on my lap and hanging on for dear life as the window was wide open. I was a bit nauseated and kept my nose to the food bag with eyes shut.
At Union Station/Amtrak we checked our luggage at Ticketing and sat down for a long wait (better early than late). A man with a big pack struck up a conversation and asked me for $. I gave him a dollar. There was a moment of panic at Ticketing when I couldn't find my driver's license (I finally found it - had consolidated it with a few other cards for Dizzy; it was a terrible feeling).
Megan rented a $4 cart and we walked to track 10. We got train "14", car number "14" (Phantom shuttle x 2 - a bad sign?). We took four seats at the back - everything was good: leg room, bag room, finally a bathroom break (before the restrooms got too dirty). Our seats #6 & 7 weren't together, but we sat together, hoping they wouldn't evict us. (They didn't)
Noisy Japanese shared the car with us. Everyone wanted ginger, it was so shaky. The conductor (a little like Patrick Warburton) said Miranda looked like trouble (jokingly). I wrote up the highlights of everything that happened on this vacation.
We saw the front of the train as we went around a curve.
In San Luis Obispo. Megan and I got out to stretch our legs in the heat. The 30+ people in the Japanese group got off; I bowed to one of the elders; he smiled, bowed back, and thanked me.
I napped for quite a while comfortably enough. At 7 pm, we went to the dining car for dinner. Megan had a horrible lap-band episode, and we all had to exit post-haste. It was cold in our little room. Miranda read to us until we reach San Jose and new people (Samoans) filled our car.
It was another nightmare night - kept getting waked up by people moving around, the sliding door, neck and back pains (could only sleep in the "bus position" {head hanging forward} and it got painful after a while). Also had "hot feet" and "restless leg" tickles. Hard to get water from the cooler, etc.
Megan, Miranda and Tim were up and down to the lounge car all night playing cards and games. My tooth started hurting pretty much in the "bus position" - I think the nerve is dying. at about 6 am Tim came in, opened my curtain to let light in and started talking. After that I couldn't go back to sleep. It took a long time but I got my water bottle filled.
My comments:
We ended up leaving the hotel much earlier than we needed to because Miranda was paranoid that we might miss the train. I have to admit that I was really disappointed with the Thrifty car rental people. They could have phoned for a taxi for us, but they insisted we had to take the Thrifty shuttle to the airport to get a taxi there OR we could walk the block down to a hotel that had taxis. However, physically we weren't up to lugging our stuff that far.
Then we got into an argument with the stubborn shuttle driver. He wanted to know which airline we were flying on, and didn't seem to understand that we weren't planning on flying. There were a few pilots for Alaska airlines on the shuttle, and one of them suggested that the shuttle guy drop us off at the hotel - which the shuttle guy flat out refused to do. The pilot got quite heated in his argument with them (that's where the "Come on - they're old" comment was made). Finally he just said he'd help us, and he DID - carried a lot of the luggage over to the hotel. Such a nice guy.
I enjoyed the taxi ride, but I was sitting up front next to the driver. He was Middle Eastern and we had a nice conversation about all kinds of things. Much to my surprise, he was NOT pro-Obama. Cost another $60 though. I think I'll have to plan things out differently next time.
While waiting for the train, I made a couple of trips to the little convenience store. I needed to buy feminine supplies for Miranda, and I picked up a couple of snacks as well. Renting the little cart to pile all our luggage on was a stroke of genius. We were all so tired by then.
The first day of the train trip went pretty much as Bill described it. When we got out at San Luis Obispo I spoke briefly with a scar-faced lady with a dog. She warned me away from the dog, as apparently he is a 'guard dog'. She was polite enough, but obviously didn't really want to talk to anybody. I think she got off in Oakland.
Other than that, it was a typical boring, not-very-comfortable ride, although I did enjoy looking at the scenery. Didn't get much sleep (as usual), and could hardly wait to get home!
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