Ridin' the Rails

So ... the next leg of our trip involved getting ourselves from SoCal where the Gees live to NorCal where Ms. Gee lives. When I helped move her into her new place last January, I couldn't help but notice that a train ran directly behind her uber hip apartment building. The idea for this Amtrak ride was hatched at that moment and carried to fruition last week. We paid (not a whole lot more) to get a "sleeping berth" even though we weren't spending the night. This was well worth it. We had our own little space, plenty of leg room, free meals in the dining car (where we held our pinkies out as we ate) and were basically treated as royalty. In fact, when we first got on the train, they kept trying to give us our complimentary bottles of champagne, and when we refused the third time, we got a little bitty bottles of Martinellis. When we arrived at Union Station in L.A. (above) we did not have to wait in any lines because the conductor came to us to take our tickets. To us. This may have raised my expectations of travelling to a level I can no longer (or ever did) get while flying.

sigh

For the entire "coastal" leg of the journey, we did not see the sun, but that was not a problem until I saw these grayish pictures. Who cares! It was gorgeous, interesting and engrossing. Neither of us cracked open a single one of the plethora of books/crosswords/electronic game devices that we carried with us. We just stared out the window and soaked up America.

sigh

Thanks Ms. Gee for being a fine travelling companion and for living somewhere that could plant the seed for this trip. Once we were in the Bay Area we hoofed it like professional tourists and continued to enjoy every second. And that, as they say, is ...

... to be continued.