UMTravels

Lazy morning of reading the papers before my chariot (in the form of Kennan) comes to sweep me (and my bags) off the the airport with a stop at Michelle’s place to visit with her, mother, and brother.

Before I know it tamales are appearing out of the kitchen, along with a couple of bottles of wine. Welcome to Albuquerque! Had a nice hour visit before Michelle ran me to the airport, leaving the dishes for her brother.

As usual — two hours early — and not so usual, two checked bags. One of those bags is that damn box of booze.

It turns out that the airport (ABQ, also known as Sun Port) has free wireless (at least for me — the guy next to me isn’t able to get it) so no need to use the slower EVDO card.

So far, everything is running on time — and the only delays according to the FAA are Salt Lake City and Newark. Not bad for a busy post-Christmas travel day.

In other news, looks like I’m headed to Tampa the second week of January — and have Dan committed to getting two days away from the shop, hopefully with Lisa this time. Destination is Daytona Beach in a two-bedroom penthouse. Let’s hope the penthouse actually has a hot tub — at least I know that it faces the ocean.

Stay tuned for the Denver International Airport update.

DIA Update: Amazingly, flights on time, and I actually got snack mix on the last one. Seattle flight prior to mine was cancelled — guessing there won’t be a seat free on this one!

Time for the slow return to Seattle. Cab to the RailRunner, RailRunner to Albuquerque, Southwest Chief to Los Angeles, Coast Starlight to Seattle.

A little time with Mom, then on the road at noon even though the RailRunner doesn’t leave until 1… Mr. Early as usual.

The RailRunner:

My “office” on the RailRunner:

A selfie (love the blurry background):

A little after two thirty got to Albuquerque to meet the Southwest Chief that leaves at 4:40 – and Michelle (my sis-in-law’s law school buddy with whom I’ve shared a few antics over the years) is back from Columbia and comes to hang with me at the train station – and a treat as well since the train arrives early so we don’t have to hang out in the Amtrak/Greyhound station but can hang out in Room 4 of Car 0411:

It was great to hang out with her for an hour (even though she parked in the 30 minute zone).

Once Michelle is gone, it’s time to set up my Southwest Chief “Office”:

And bar. Unfortunately on the Southwest Chief you don’t get free domestic champagne (or Martinellis if you don’t drink alcohol), nor an amenity kit:

While I was still in cell range I did something I should have done days (if not months) ago – upped my cellphone plan to turn my phone into a wi-fi cellular hotspot. $10 a month extra but more than twice the amount of data (and then when you exceed that they just throttle back your connection). Woohoo – I’m in love with the internet again. Why didn’t I do this when I was at Moms where there is a strong 4G signal!

Had the steak for dinner – medium rare, which of course came out medium which is about the best you can ask for when the damn thing is only ½” thick. Got my dessert to go – cheesecake with strawberries – means a few more trinkets for Dwight for his XMess present next week (Amtrak bowl and spoon).

Got to bed late (as is becoming the norm – 5am wakeup call, and George (my car attendant) is going to bring me my breakfast at 5:30 since the kitchen closes at 6 as we arrive in LA at 8:15am.

[? ? ?] And who knows with the mashed potatoes I had with the steak.

How’s this for a money shot:

Greetings from the WorldMark Big Bear Resort. Rich shot this pic of me at my Big Bear Office — scotch in hand, cell phone to ear, table littered with booze, speakerphone to the right for tomorrow’s conference call (and new pre-paid calling card from ATT — BILLABLE), swim trunks (Speedo style), hat, TV remote. Hell — I could move in here for more than the two nights we are staying here.

Today’s journey was a long and winding road. Literally. The map looked like a cartographer with Parkinsons. Conflicting WorldMark and Microsoft Streets and Trips directions will ultimately give us a round the lake trip.

The place is new to me, and looking good, but apparently they are undergoing a “refresh” as Palm Springs is as well. The pool is still open — in theory it closes on Saturday, but according to the staff the weather is good enough that it will remain open for another week.

Dinner was a tri-tip roast over a bed of baby yellow fins (no, not those youngsters from Finland), with a salad and some seriously marked down wine from Vons (Safeway of California) — half off the Chateau Ste. Michelle 2003 Indian Wells Merlot — it wasn’t until blogging I realized the age — but I should have noticed from the amount of sediment it was throwing. We bought two bottles —- we may have to get more.

Plans are afoot for the morning. Hash from the leftovers, tanning for an hour, my conference call at 11, BBQ down the road, then a 1.5 hour boat tour of Big Bear Lake, nap, movie, dinner, movie, collapse.

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Honest — the rental car is still in one piece.

In other weird news, today I bought a skateboard — a collapsible skateboard made from aircraft grade aluminum. I got the one in red — Stupidiotic was finally open.

Maybe it’s a second childhood coming on.

Curt is cooking dinner tonight for 6 or 7 with cocktails at 6 and dinner at 7. Steaks off the grill (I think that I single handedly support the entire beef industry), oven roasted potatoes, salad, and lots of the 2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Merlot (or whatever wine Curt bought). We picked up 5 more bottles today on the way out of Big Bear.

Review Number One.  Review Number Two.

So, everyone gets their post early since it will be tons of company later.

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As a result of the various blog and FaceBook posts, friends and relatives have been asking me about my thoughts about long-distance train travel….

This year I will have done 50,000+ flight miles, mostly on Alaska Airlines…. But yet, this will be the 3^rd or 4^th (maybe 5^th) train trip, though certainly the longest of the year.

While not cheap — $550 from Santa Fe to Seattle (booked well in advance)… what would that be, a one way ticket, two nights in a hotel, and all my meals provided… as my sis-in-law pointed out, not that bad a deal (though, knowing me, I would have stayed with friends rather than in a hotel).

From Boston I’ve done the Acela to NYC in their First Class cabin…. Which is nice because of the well-appointed lounges on both ends of the trip… and the Empire Builder between Seattle and Chicago, the Southwest Chief between Santa Fe and LA and the Coast Starlight between LA and Seattle. Well, I’ve done more US trains, I’m just mentioning the recent years rather than my youth in coach.

There is something different about travelling long distance trains in the states – meals are included, but you are put four to a table whether you want to or not… or you can take your meals in your room, but then most of the time you don’t get any condiments to go with your meal, but you also avoid conversations with strangers at your table which can be good, or bad. Or just downright weird… like dinner the other night, got talking about the Magnolia neighborhood and it turns out this couple was friends with the family that sold their house to my friend Darcie.

One of the attractions for me is that in the sleeping cars you are allowed to imbibe alcohol that you’ve brought with you. This most times extends into the dining room where you can bring a bottle of wine (which I usually offer to share with other folks at the table.

I’ve sort of envisioned my next trip – and it will require a bunch of preplanning and the cooperation of many of my friends – it would be a series of portraits of embrace and love staged at stops along the train route. Parents in Santa Fe, Michelle in Albuquerque, Kyle in Flagstaff, Craig in LA, Chris in San Jose, Mark and Onyx in Emeryville, Michael and Mudd in Chico, Bro and sis-in-law in Eugene, nephew in Portland, Dwight in Olympia, and then a greeting committee in Seattle – or, maybe I’m just a narcissist! Come to think about it, I could fill in some other cities as well. You get the idea.

If you can only do one couple of day trip – the Seattle/LA or reverse would be the one to do – they have a separate lounge car for the sleeping car passengers, in theory wi-fi for your laptop (my cell phone tethered works better), and some really stunning scenery.

That’s probably more than you wanted to know, but I’ll probably recycle some of the text into tomorrow’s blog entry.

Breakfast was at 7:30… after having been stopped for a while near the California/Oregon border… seems there was a passenger that had to be put off the train. Oddly enough, mental issues rather than having too much to drink. Or according to another person later in the day – a domestic abuse thing with his wife on the train. How fun to get met by the state patrol and hauled off the train. I can’t say that the breakfast is anything to write home about, but free is free.

Lunch was at 12:45 and I opted for the bacon cheeseburger minus the bacon since they had used it all at lunch. Finally, after lunch we were back within cell phone range. There was a brief bit of coverage at Chemult and Klamath Falls, but not enough time for data to kick in.

After the “incident” of the morning, we were running about 45 minutes to an hour behind…. So the stop in Portland was brief, limited to me walking the length of the platform, into the station, back out the door to the Metropolitan Lounge to grab two mini-Diet Pepsi’s and three newspapers. I was a good boy and asked permission for the paper pilferage – since it’s the last train of the days use that lounge, it wasn’t a problem. Score: today’s New Your Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Oregonian. I might even have time to finish them all, unlike the stack of magazine I brought with me, which didn’t get finished (or the now THREE books I packed).

Dinner was at a little after 6 – the last seating for dinner since they tend to run early on the last part of the run and they want time to put away the kitchen. When the schedule changes temporarily after the first of the years (trains depart two hours later each way until April), I’m sure the dinner time for the north bound train will be more rational for dinner. Tonight I had the steak. Oddly enough the last three ribs and the éclair are packed in my bag, leftovers from last night.

Gotta post quick – my cabin steward (or is it stewardess since she’s female) wants to see my impressions of the trip.

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A pleasant surprise today when Swanda asked me over for dinner — it had been too long, but with each other’s travel schedule, not all that surprising.

A lovely meal of Copper River Salmon (the first of the season for me), baked potatoes, chive flower challah, and a nice green salad washed down with a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay.

And another surprise at the apartment, three letters from the Department of State (no, I’m not a spy):

• My new 2011 Passport
• My new 2011 Passport Card
• My old cancelled 2001 Passport

Why they couldn’t put them all in one envelope I know not why.

Here is a rundown of my passports, amusing to look at the old photos of me:

And now the new “Passport Card”

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At least once a year or so I take this trip – a couple of days with the remaining relatives (and now The Colonels) in Santa Fe, and then the long ride home on the train. Fly in, train home.

As I was saying goodbye and hugging my sis-in-law (my eldest brother’s widow), to paraphrase, she basically said, “It just seems weird that Eileen isn’t here.” It’s been a year and a half since she passed, and I’ve been back to Santa Fe a couple of times since, but YES, it is weird that neither of my parents are around for my visits to Santa Fe. My parents moved back to New Mexico, settling in Santa Fe after I graduated from high school – so my entire adulthood Santa Fe has equaled parents.

I’m hoping what her (my sis-in-law) husband said about me, “He’ll outlive us all.” About ME! Geez, I hope not. I’m hoping it’s just worry over their recent health issues. But enough about family – I’m on an adventure starting this afternoon!

Before I get on the train, time to have lunch with Michelle – sis-in-law’s best friend, law school buddy…

Oddly, at Pueblo Harvest Café, we both had the same thing – the Chicken Nambe Relleno with Christmas sauce (both red and green chili) and the Calabacitas (mixed vegetables). Not used to the zucchini being so large in the mix, but not overcooked.

Got the car returned after lunch…

And Uber’d to the train station. I could have (in theory) taken the shuttle back to the airport, then taken the shuttle to the train station – it seemed easier to just pay Uber $9.01. Nice day – no need for the hoody:

I had a little time to kill at the station, but soon enough, the train (The Southwest Chief) was here:

And my sleeping car:

Didn’t take long to settle in, and get a bucket of ice for the room, and relax:

The nice thing about the train (even with a transfer in LA to The Coast Starlight with Lounge access) you can just stare out at the changing landscape of light and beauty…

And the occasion Vandenberg Air Force Base with soldiers on patrol:

Nice thing about the sleepers is that you have places to hang stuff:

And places to shower:

And, for the last 6-months, WI-FI! Granted, it’s cell phone-based…

Sadly, they don’t block streaming services such as NetFlix. A woman in my car complained that her movies would cease up. Duh, you are on a wireless connection, shared with other people.

Platform shot Santa Barbara:

At Eugene:

The new Amtrak is even trying to convince younger folk to travel – with this poster in my car:

I’d share a cabin with him….but before I know it, I’m back in Seattle, 2.5 days later, Uber’d home, and on my couch with a cocktail:

Home for a week or so…

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