UMTravels

The annual tradition continues – the multiple week Birthday Ramble. This year week one is in Cabo San Lucas. Total of three of us.

Salamander and I are travelling together with Roxy taking an earlier flight, but arriving in Cabo at the same time. Roxy misses out on The Board Room with his earlier flight, but with the size of Salamander’s machine-made pancake, maybe he isn’t missing anything:

That’s a lot of butter for that mini-pancake.

UncleMarkie’s breakfast on the other hand…(with Salamander’s in the background):

I got us upgrades on the way down, so we are comfortably in 1A (Salamander) and 1C (UncleMarkie):

And it doesn’t take Salamander long to look like this:

Maybe it was the cocktail – but he did wake up for breakfast number two:

A little too much starch and sugar in the encrusted waffle (maybe I shouldn’t have applied the corn syrup packet), but tasty.

Turns out we have a stop in San Diego, where there is no duty free shopping – good thing I put a “handle” of Evan Williams in my checked bag!

Back on the plane after the security pass – I had to snap this pic just before the door closed. Had we been in the back we would have had a TON of seats to ourselves:

And soon it was time for lunch…

Ah, the joys of travelling up front!

Roxy met us after immigration (quick) at baggage claim – he’s flying with just carry on, and we are out the front to find our driver – and before you know it, on the road with a pretty full van of other people headed to Coral Baja:

After a hellishly long check in process (made better my free watered down margaritas) we are off to the 3-bedroom penthouse, our home for the next two nights:

And then, there is the view… this doesn’t suck!

Dinner night one was room service from the on-site restaurant – we were all beat up from the early morning.

Did I mention that we had our own private hot tub…

And that you can order a full moon from room service?

The night hot tub view!

Terrible admission – there were no groceries in the unit so we headed out to the former MegaMart, now a LaComer after the hurricane a couple of years ago – but I was hungry – hungry for hot red head!

But shop we did…

Mixers, booze, refrigerator (we passed on that), eggs, fresh tortillas…. And next to the sex shop next to the market, a wine shop!

I did stop in, but I’m running with a cocktail crowd this week.

Hopefully we won’t end up like El Gordo (the fat one), who died between the store and the condo:

To be honest, it was 90+ degrees out and we had the A/C cranked, and were mostly running around in robes. Me, I have my Bernie doo on.

I’d been hoping to find the TackyT-ShirtPrincess a shirt from the market on the highway outside the condo:

This place used to have a ton of stuff – a deli, fresh pico de gaia, the works, since the hurricane, it’s now lame, though I did buy some Mexican Brandy the last night of the trip as we’d exhausted all booze in the condo. I was hoping to find a t-shirt in a women’s medium for her to match the one I bought years ago and had to dig up and take a photo of:

Alas – nothing close to it, and the shirts they had were $20USD. Sigh.

After two nights, we “downgraded” to the 2-bedroom penthouse, which I found larger and I loved the rooftop hot tub and tanning deck area – see what you think.

And then the spiral stairs to our private roof top deck:

If you want the walking tour of the place, here it is:

Did I mention the brand new looks like never used BBQ?

And we used it!

Rib eyes and onions on the grill!

And now just some random photos of how we spent our week doing nothing, I say NOTHING:

OK – we did a little more than lay around! There is drinking and tanning to do.

Why leave to penthouse when you can watch them releasing baby sea turtles into the high surf:

And eavesdropping on a wedding!

And there was eating as well….pupu platter…

Scratch-made chicken tortilla soup:

And because you need things you didn’t bring, you improvise. Hot chili sauce made from four packets of ketchup from the first nights room service, combined with the red chili flakes and some garlic powder in the spice rack:

Need breading for fried fish? Crunch up the crackers that came with my octopus ceviché afternoon snack (yes, we did eat out twice in the week):

Crumble those crackers! And no, we aren’t talking about the upcoming election.

Whip an egg, batter the fish, and fry!

I could blame it on the heat, but we didn’t do ANYTHING tourist related. No walk into San José del Cabo, no bus ride to check out Cabo San Lucas, we only did grocery store runs for more supplies – and in the end we were taking the cab (100 pesos, basically $5 USD each way) to the store.

I barely finished a book, Roxy only got one more chapter done in the book he started when we were at Whistler two summers ago. Yep, slugs.

Sunday we headed home on different shuttles – Salamander and I early, Roxy later.

Did spot the cool American Airlines Piedmont Airlines livery at the Cabo San Lucas airport – sorry the shot isn’t better:

Salamander and I managed (after a Wi-Fi call to the US – got to LOVE T-Mobile!) to get upgraded to First on the Cabo to Los Angeles leg, which included a chicken (never found it) and rice lunch:

No upgrade on the LAX-SEA leg, but we had lounge access for more free food and drink:

And before we knew it, Salamander had his bag and headed for Light Rail, I was waiting to see if my hard-side came out on the regular belt or the “oversize” (because it looks like an OtterCase filled with expensive equipment).

Stay tuned for Part Two of the Birthday Ramble, but first I have to work a couple of days.

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Back on the train to the reason for this whole ramble, The Wedding. Off I go way too early in the day from the Emeryville Amtrak station (chauffeured by Lunetta).

And they are still serving breakfast!

Followed by a nap (do you see a pattern here?), followed by a late lunch:

With some scenery thrown in. Just FYI – I booked at bedroom:

The last photo is of the train station at San Luis Obispo.

Called Budget to snag a ride to the rental car office and signed out a car that had seen better days (like the driver’s side mirror had tap wrapped around it that had been there awhile and was yellowed). But soon enough I was checked into the Best Western Casa Grande in Arroyo Grande. I splurged on a suite:

Which has a VERY NICE lobby area:

And my suite wasn’t too bad either:

Went to the store for some dinner and drinking supplies….

OK – so, the four on the right came down with me, the two unboxed flasks are for me at the wedding – the six boxed (and filled) flasks are for some of the wedding party.

Spent the morning of the wedding tasting wine in downtown Arroyo Grande…

Visited Timbre first, then down the street to a winery that was closing, Phantom Rivers, where everything was 50% off. Here is the haul:

Great – I thought I was going to make the final leg WITHOUT the box in tow. Oh well.

Jameson and Carolynn (the wedding couple) arranged for shuttles to run from the hotel to the wedding venues. The ceremony was at Carolynn’s parent’s house (where she grew up):

It was good to see Julian (Jameson’s brother who I visit in Japan):

Nice that they were serving Gruett Rose bubbles (from New Mexico) before the service.

Then down to the clubhouse for the reception…

And I was on wine duty to pour the 5-liter bottles of Bonny Doon that I brought down a couple of weeks ago.

And the first dance….

The “after party” ended up in my suite – wish I remember more of it. Woke up to popcorn scattered everywhere!

Needless to say, I slept in really late. Fortunately, I don’t head south until Monday, which left time for an intimate dinner with the wedding couple and two others at Hapy Bistro which is half wine shop, half restaurant, with cigars thrown in…but the food was stunning.

It was an early night for me since I have a VERY early train in the morning, AND I have to get the rental car returned.

Tomorrow, the adventure continues!

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For more blog posts, click here.

Nothing like flying in, working for two days, and then leaving again. Hit town Sunday night, did a trade tasting Monday, followed by a private event at the shop Monday night (and baking bread in the afternoon for said event), and boxing wine club Tuesday before heading to Blaine for Tuesday night.

Seaside Boy flaked out, but Rache was in tow, and Surf Betty came up from Bellingham for dinner in the 3-bedroom, 3-bath Penthouse at the WorldMark Birch Bay.

Not a bad unit – and then there is the sunset!

And it comes with presents!

Oddly, no photos of dinner or Surf Betty – who slept over but was gone before dawn headed to Seattle for a work week.

In the morning we were off for CanadaLand, with not much of a wait at the border after hitting Duty Free – and we had a reservation, so no worries:

And it’s a comfortable 90-minute run to Swartz Bay…

With lots of WONDERFUL scenery along the way – this is one of the nicest ferry runs in the Northwest:

We were an hour early for check-in – but the place was ready, though being on the ground floor by the pool was a bit confined:

Especially with the new balcony furniture – the old stuff was better sized:

I had to chuck one of the chairs past the BBQ to be able to cook! But the views are great:

Made a run to the grocery store for dinner for four – all of my usual Victoria dining buddies couldn’t make it (dissertation, cabaret, on a plane to NYC) but one of them sent emissaries!

And we feasted well!

What a WONDERFUL way to turn the BIG 60 – old friend, new friends!

Birthday Ramble Part Two is just three single overnights – so we are one the road again in the morning – but first breakfast:

With a ManMosa (so they call it):

We tried to have a cocktail at the Bengal Lounge at The Empress – but alas, since my last trip, it’s no longer a bar, but a banquet facility. Bad Empress, no links!:

For the pictures of when it was actually a bar, with a WONDERFUL Chinese bartender, CLICK HERE. It’s a LONG post, one that Rache found VERY amusing for so how my nerves where frayed that visit. I miss the that lounge – even with the Curry Buffet that wafted through the space.

We opted to put the car in the ferry line and get a MUCH cheaper cocktail at the Days Inn across from the ferry terminal:

When we hit the lot to load – there was a SERIOULSY cool Land Cruiser-like vehicle – turns out it’s a Bandeirante – a Brazilian manufactured Toyota Land Cruiser.

 

Nice views from the harbor (harbour if you are Canadian):

And of our boat coming in:

We loaded, had some snacks, didn’t take any pictures and suddenly we are off the boat, through immigration, and checked into our final night on Discovery Bay – in a2-bedroom loft – spread across FIVE split-level floors with the master on the lowest floor with a Jacuzzi IN THE BEDROOM.https://www.worldmarkbywyndham.com/resorts/db/

It was nice:

And the views were good:

And we had a nice steak dinner off the grill:

Only a small hiccup on the way home – the Hood Canal Bridge was open and we were 1.5 miles in a backup. Towards the bridge:

Behind us:

And a pretty day for a boat ride….

Home safe and sound.

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Welcome to the Port of San Francisco’s NEW cruise terminal – it opened last Thursday (and today is Saturday):

Other than a long line customs/immigration was easy – and finding the Princess Airport Transfer bus as well. I was a tad concerned because I never got a printed voucher for the bus, but they didn’t ask for one, so who knows/who cares.

I’m excited to check out the new lounge Alaska is contracting with in the International Terminal where they relocated while their old terminal is being renovated… the lounge belongs to Cathy Pacific and I’m guessing the quality is going to be well above that of a standard Alaska Board Room which is above the standards for Delta’s Sky Club and American’s Admiral’s Lounges.

They did not disappoint:

Seems I was the second one in the lounge for the day as Cathay’s Hong Kong flight doesn’t leave until 1:45PM – so the lounge was VERY empty:

They offered a full pour-it-yourself bar, lots of snacks, and between 11 and 1 a selection of custom cooked noodle dishes:

Like a said, a notch up from the Alaska Board Room – unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the “hot dish” table.

The meal in First Class on the way home was interesting – a kale and bacon dish which didn’t sound appetizing, but turns out it was:

Of course, that wasn’t enough to fill me up for the rest of the evening, so for dinner it was a pork, green pepper, and onion stir-fry since I was out of lettuce and needed some sort of vegetable…

And with that, we end the “Birthday Ramble“.

Night all.

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I sometimes feels like I’ll be on the road all the month of September (and October and November). This installment if from the California Zephyr between Denver and Chicago. What I learned is that two people in a Roomette is a tight squeeze.

As you can see by how close our knees are!

Bring lots of booze and mixers, it’s OK according to Amtrak if you are in a sleeper – and they will even uncork your personal wine in the dining car (leave a GOOD tip!). Dwight taught me to give some of the tip up front for better service with the room attendants.

Boarded the Zephyr in time for dinner, went for the short ribs in red wine demi glaze…with a nice bottle of wine we packed with us. Only once have I had them refuse to open a provided bottle – usually all it takes is, “Ours is better, and we tip well.” As usual, I took my dessert “to go” while Dan ate his ice cream at the table. I should point out that there were no salads with our dinner as they had a refrigerator issue and FROZE all the lettuce.

And before you know it, it’s time for bed:

View from the end of the train, which oddly, the sleepers are at. Normally the sleepers are at the front of the train. Because of this:

Everyone’s phone went off at 7AM with flash flood warnings, luckily not for the railway. Almost as good as an alarm clock to get up and have the scrambled eggs – they were out of the omelet, but still had the Railroad French Toast (think Denny’s with the same corn syrup dressing).

Along the way be pass all sorts of stations in all architectural styles… here is the Creston, Iowa station:

But actually, THIS is the Amtrak station in Creston, Iowa:

Or the box that is Ottumwa, Iowa’s station. Extra points for the fictional television character from Ottumwa.

Answer: Radar O’Reilly from the TV series MASH.

It was at Ottumwa, Dan needed to do a little trackside yoga to combat the tight quarters – next time a Bedroom rather than a Roomette:

And here is our lovely room attendant who kept us well stock in ice:

Just after leaving Burlington, Iowa (on the border with Illinois) two hours late, we passed this lovely suspension bridge that I’d actually driven across a couple of years ago when I was visiting Galena, Illinois with Lisa and Joe (stayed at the WorldMark Galena). Galena is mostly known as the home of Ulysses S. Grant.

As you can see, the weather is clearing up. Just in time for lunch – bacon cheeseburgers for the both of us, oddly they’d acquired some iceberg lettuce for the burgers to go with the tomato and onion. And sure enough, the sun is out showing off the corn fields:

And better late than never, we finally arrive in lovely Chicago, a little over two hours late. Here is a shot of the old station which rumor has it they are bringing back to life:

And a GREAT shot of Chicago that looks like Seattle because:

• There are draw bridges
• There is a Boeing logo on their headquarters
• There is a Starbucks

Time for a little food – even though they say we are getting dinner on board, I’m skeptical…off we go after trying to reach his CDW rep he deals with…Dan does the logical thing – he goes on Yelp and looks for happy hour specials within 3 blocks. We ended up at Blackies, with half of Chicago hanging out in the sun:

Buffalo Wings and Manhattans – that’s a happy hour!

Dan is looking happy.

As we were leaving Blackies – Dan gets the call – so we are off for MORE cocktails with his CDW rep at the sports bar in the train station!

I love this photo – and before you know it, we are on the train headed to New Orleans. They were serious about the meal – they loaded us 45 minutes before The City of New Orleans was scheduled to leave. No rocking for dinner! Stay tuned for the next post.

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Got to the condo around 10AM – and check-in as at 4PM.Been there, done that. Left my name and number at the desk, went down the hall to the lounge, gathered a couple of pillows and took a 3-hour nap.

The nap done, it was off to find some lunch…and a coupon from WorldMark to make it cheaper. The choice? Relish, a European Gastropub just around the corner. The deal? 15% off food.

Got there to find the house wine, a Naked Shiraz on offer for $4 a glass, VERY cheap by Canadian standards and not a bad glass pour. I paired it with the Duck Confit tacos ($11) for a wonderful little lunch:

That put me back at the WorldMark around 2PM – room still not ready, so it’s off to the IGA Marketplace with a 10% off coupon to get the rest of the stuff we need for dinner.

Tonight’s dinner guests are Solus+ and Helene. The dinner menu is:

• Fish that Helene is bringing
• Sourdough bread
• Caesar salad
• Red and White wine
• Croatian cookies for dessert

But before that can happen, I have to get checked in, which turns out to be around 2:30 – after declining to have them fix a broken light in the kitchen. I think I can suffer.

And oh how I suffer at The Canadian…

Helene arrived around 5, Solus+ around six…alas, none of the dinner picture turned out…might have been the wine…

A late night, and a late morning of sleeping in…did a 3-egg fish scramble with cheese for my breakfast this morning, before settling into getting caught up on the blog… and by 3 it was time for another run to Relish for their oyster happy hour from 3-6PM with oysters at a “buck-a-shuck” – paired nicely with a Beefeater slightly dirty martini in honor of Pucci:

I ended up having a dozen of those “buck-a-shucks”.

Back to the IGA for a little more fish – Helene brought more than enough, but not quite enough for two meals – more salad and a little more for the pupu platter that BamBam always devours….

Croatian chocolate cookies on the left, sliced up heirloom sweet peppers that were on sale at the IGA for .99 a pound.

The boys (Hummingbird and BamBam) got there a little after 6, and with no word from Epick since I emailed him yesterday, finally a text response that he wasn’t coming….would have been nice to know, might not have bought more fish.

But a good dinner it was:

With leftovers for the boys to take home.

Their big news is that they finally, after seven years, have settled with the insurance company over their house fire. The money is in the bank, and they’ve found a place that they want to put an offer on in the city, in a neighborhood that I really like (as does Helene), so I’m wishing them the best of luck.

Another relaxing morning capped with another 3-egg omelet (no fish this time – sent it home with the boys for the cats). Checked out a little after 10:30AM, waited a few minutes trying to flag down a cab and finally just decided to save the $10+ and walk back down the hill to the cruise terminal – at least it wasn’t raining!

This is one of my favorite oddities on Hornby – it’s actually the bottom floor of what is now the Vancouver Art Gallery, but obviously in the past it was a police station…

Showing up at 11am seems to be the thing to do…unless you are on the Holland America boat that isn’t boarding until 1PM since they had a little norovirus outbreak. The downside of the Vancouver Cruise Terminal is that everyone, no matter how many boats are in dock, are all shoved through the same security line….meaning to Elite Line. At least past security – where they always notice my bottle of wine and direct me to the registration table – which I’ve started ignoring since no one seems to notice – there were dedicated lines for Preferred Passengers.

And a waiting area with coffee and pastries — too bad my Cruise Card is still showing Platinum (Silver) rather than Elite (Black) …I hate to start my cruise by bitching someone out, but I want my free mini-bar setup and I’ve got shirts that need laundered and starched.

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Oh gentle readers – the morning started with a bit of a disappointment….no Princess Black Elite boarding card waiting for me a check-in.

What good is chasing privileges if the computer systems can’t keep up?

After waiting a half-an-hour or so we started boarding – and it seems that everyone else was headed for the aft portion of the ship and even though I was in the fourth row of chairs I was the first one to security on the boat, eschewing the photographer only to be confronted with a ding rather than a beef (or was it the other way around).

Off to the side I stand while they call it in…new card comes down from passenger service and low-and-behold, it is black as coal.

And this time, this is MY view – opting for the balcony cabin on my Vancouver-Victoria-San Francisco cruise. For those who care about these things, since I’m a single, it’s double the fare so it’s $558.00 plus $96.02 in taxes, fees, port charges. For this:

Dropped my bags and scampered down to the Bordeaux Dining Room (6^th Floor, Center) for lunch:

A light lunch – no fries. And as the guy on the last boat said, “Sometimes you just want something simple rather than something fancy.” Even if you are eating it in a fancy restaurant.

When I got back to the room, it was time to send some shirts to be washed and pressed – a Black Elite benefit (which they said due to the volume, don’t expect until 72 hours, not good for same-day service):

Then the safety drill – seats this time, in the Princess Theatre and with that out of the way it’s time to call room service and swap out this:

For this:

And this:

For this:

Yep, took the mixed selection and my Serbian Room Service boy (well, technically he’s 21 and has only been out of Serbia for 45 days) and switched it for all VSOP and Diet – the only whiskey they had was Dewar’s Scotch and the CourvoisierVSOP was the same price – go figure.

That taken are of it’s off to the LGBT meet-up (or is that hook-up) which they have POORLY planned for the Grill Bar, one level up on the open deck from where the “Sail-Away” party is booming. When will these people learn…Wheelhouse Bar! And try not to make it during the Elite Cocktail party for Elites, Platinums, Suite passengers with free nibbles and reduced priced drinks — tonight was fresh guacamole, chips, and $5.00 el Major Margaritas – which were WAY too sweet until I cut it half with ginger ale, but I digress.

Let’s see, where was I – right, LGBT get together. Our poor (but cute) host had a cute little home-made flag the size of a sheet of paper (don’t they give these people a props budget?) sitting forlornly at the table when I finally noticed him. Well, that’s two of us. I sent him over to the bar side of the partial deck having spotted what I thought were a couple of bears drinking – and I grabbed two guys that I’d been on other short cruises with (also from Seattle) and by the time it was happening we’d collected a good dozen people including the host’s bi-sexual sister who was on the cruise too.

Our Princess “Host” is in the blue shirt (and starched white shorts) at the end of the table, his sister is standing to his left. If you can’t find him, here is a close-up:

Wait, here are better pictures of the group, including half of a Sydney, Australia couple sailing all the way to Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal…

Dale would be to the right of Stephen (isn’t that a lovely name…wait, it’s my middle name, and even with the correct spelling!) our host. And that would be a Manhattan in a tacky plastic glass. Stephens comment to a couple who had been together for 22 years… “I’m 22, so I guess I would have been in the womb.” You go girl.

Some random shots from around the ship….

And this one I especially like…it’s like a “ghost ship“:

Eight of the gay boys got to dinner the first night in the Bordeaux Dining Room – what a handsome group:

And many of stayed up wayyyyy too late….gambling….not me, but one of the boys put $300 in a penny slot machine – the Aussie was the smartest of the lot, playing poker, where you actually have a chance to beat the house.

Woke up in Victoria to gloom and doom and drizzle…luckily I’d ordered coffee and an eggy-muffin thing the night before:

If you look closely you can see the top of the WorldMark Victoria just to the right of the tallest structure in the picture below – my original plan was to walk over and say hello to Nicola who works the front desk – but the drizzle got the better of me.

Another day, another LGBT gathering – this time in the Wheelhouse at pretty much the correct time, 5:30 (so I could go snag Rob Roys at $5.00 [plus 15%] from the Elite party which also had steak tartare and cheeses). But before I did that I swing by the Explorer Lounge for a couple of $3.99 (plus 15%) Bloody Marys in commemorative glasses (hence, needing to get two of them), drink one, split the other one into two glasses (for breakfast) and pop it in the fridge, and then pop by and get a picture of Stephen calling the trivia contest…

The steak tartare…and I know Melba Toast (what it was supposed to come with), and that isn’t Melba, it’s just toast points.

And the aforementioned Roy Roys – or what was left of them…

That was before I went for two more… and some pictures of the boys at the cocktail party and at dinner for ten which followed:

I’ve actually been on other cruises with the two on the right, one from SF and the other from DC – a long-distance couple.

These two are actually on their honeymoon, while these two have a fascination with Bang Bang, one of the servers upstairs:

With the drinks from the LGBT cocktail party and the wine with dinner, we were probably annoying all those around us, luckily we didn’t sit down until 8:30PM:

And let’s not forget the tin-foil swan for a little take-home dessert…

So another night goes – out too late hanging around the casino, and yes, I’m $30 lighter – luckily all my cash short of the $50 bill secreted away. But I did see part of the “Down on the Bayou” show…didn’t realize there were that many white people in the Bayou, but I’ll go any place that has an accordion player as part of the band.

Got back to the room to find my shirts are back from the laundry:

So much for my request to have them folded and boxed – I guess you get what you pay for, in this case, nothing since it’s one of the perks.

As for my last full day at sea, Bloody Marys await the coffee and muffin thing:

Though they were delivered at 9AM, I went back to bed until 11. Uncle needs his beauty rest. And the weather outside is frightful (or at least dreary).

The ship was rocking and pitching most of the night so the extra hours in the morning calm helped.

Spent the day doing this and that. Missed a sit-down lunch in the dining room and had to settle for the slop line (oh, I mean the buffet). Did my duty-free booze shopping (liter of Jim Beam for $17.99 minus 10% for being Elite Black), and bought a couple of watches at $10 each ($9 after discount) since I’ve been wearing my dual time-zone watch for the last couple of months since all my other watches have dead batteries.

Not that I’ll be wearing both at the same time.

Headed to the wine tasting (also a freebie for the Elites, $9.50 [plus, I’m sure, the 15%] for non-elites) – I headed back to the room when I encountered this line:

Not worth in considering the boring wines they were sampling. Finishing the last pages of my book and taking a nap was a much better use of my time.

Tonight’s LGBT Hoe Down had about 10 people show up at the Wheel House Lounge on Deck 7 (directly, and conveniently directly below my stateroom 5 levels). I’ll try to not bore you with too many photos since it seems to be the same people every night…

And then some silliness at the dinner table – I brought my birthday balloons to dinner:

Speaking of dinner, some of the highlights….

Snails in butter!

Both pretty and tasty.

Another late night…woke up at 3AM still in my clothes and still unpacked. Nothing like packing at 3AM.

Uneventful morning – up at 7:30AM, out the cabin door by the mandatory 8AM exit time…even though my disembarkation isn’t until 9:30. But a lovely sunrise over the Bay Bridge…

And the view from my breakfast table on the Lido Deck…

Now it’s just the waiting game to get off the boat and onto the bus for the airport – a final “footie” for you.

[? ? ?] I hate to think what the number will be after a week of cruise boats and dinners.

It sounded like a good idea at the time – a 6:55am departure from San Luis Obispo. In reality, I had to get up at 4:30, check-out, return the rental car with gas in it, and catch an Uber to the train station.

A light rain as I waited for the train – the first run of the morning with direct service to Anaheim (didn’t want to transfer in LA). And this is a very pretty chunk of Amtrak trackage:

I was greeted onboard with coffee, muffins, orange juice which held me over until we hit Los Angeles…a perk of Business Class.

After LA I only had two stops to go, but they managed to get me a snack box and a split of questionable red wine (as photographed in the condo later):

Here is a shot of the Surfliner leaving Anaheim:

Grabbed an Uber to the condo where my room wasn’t ready, so I checked out to common areas:

And the rooftop deck with hot tubs…

Rather than eat the Amtrak snack box, I headed out to see what I could scrounge at the nearby “Garden Walk” which is part of “Downtown Disney”. Being off season, lots of things were labelled “Open Summer 2019”. I ended up at Fire and Ice which is a Mongolian Wok kinda place. I opted for an appetizer and a Manhattan while I waited for my room to be ready:

Nice lunch – and as usual I spent more on the booze than I did on the food.

Random photo from “the mall”:

Might have to use that as a dating site profile photo!

Finished checking in to discover what this Two-Bedroom Presidential at the WorldMark Anaheim was all about….

And even a laundry room…

Yes, it is slightly larger than my small house.

Even numbered units have a view of the nightly fireworks at Disneyland. I can see Space Mountain and the Matterhorn from the deck.

Every night at 9:30, it’s a 10-minute show. Nice perk to watch fireworks with a cocktail in your hand just wearing a robe.

My Tuesday “major activity” was Uberring to Vons for a supply run – company is a coming. Grabbed a rotisserie chicken, mixer, bourbon, salad, a pork loin, potatoes – got company coming Wednesday!

Salad and chicken tonight:

If you zoom in, you can see Space Mountain and The Matterhorn.

I needed a couple of more things from the grocery, and I’d noticed this mini-mart a block or so away:

I LOVE places like this – the immigrant run convenience stores that stock a little of everything. I went for Ranch Dressing, pasta, and some more mixer. I ended up with than, a bandana, a pint Jameson glass (for Jameson), and most oddly, alcoholic sperm filled with a German cream liquor. Three cheers for The Magicland Market:

Which brings us to the lovely Wednesday dinner with friends…honored guest is Dr. David, who I met at Courtney’s Wednesday Night Supper in Seattle.

Also joining us is my buddy, Craig, who has met up with me at a number of WorldMark properties:

I had my phone set to go off at 9:26pm – to remind me of the fireworks. Sadly, on Wednesday, no fireworks. Guessing technical failure. Still, the company was great!

It was a full house Wednesday with Craig in one bedroom and Dr. David on the couch, so no one had to drive. Speaking of driving, they are both SAINTS for making the hour plus trek to come visit me. Craig is headed to San Diego tomorrow (making him already half way there), and Dr. Craig has an appointment half way back home, so it’s working out.

And my final night – guess what happened at 9:30:

Apparently, having company scares off fireworks.

It wasn’t the visit that I’d planned with a couple of friends who would have been there for the entire week – but lemonade out of lemons.

Friday found me at the airport headed home, via the Admirals Club lounge at Orange County Airport:

And soon onto the plane, fortunately in the pointy end:

And a little hot snack on the plane…

The end comes to my longest domestic trip in years.

[? ? ?]

For more blog posts, click here.

It’s rare that I take a weekend off that I’m not out of the country. By mutual agreement with my business partner, I limit my weekends off during the year to three, maybe four. This is the very rare domestic trip, and since I have to take the weekend off for the wedding (more on that later), I might as well fill in the days before and after with adventure.

The adventure started over the weekend before my departure with a massive sinus headache and low-grade nausea. A fun way to spend a weekend at work. Fortunately, my Monday travel was by train, in a roomette, where I could hole up…with most of the massive amount of stuff I was lugging, stored below:

And set up my life for the next 24 hours:

And have the car attendant bring me food, in case what I have is contagious:

Got on the train. Napped. Looked at the view of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. This route will be rerouted soon – once positive train control is implemented and tested on the bypass. They ran the route for one partial run before the train derailed, killing several people (click here for details):

Had him bring me lunch. Napped. Stretched my legs in Eugene:

Napped. Had him bring me dinner, the surf and turf with mashed potatoes (option of baked or rice) that would have been $39 if it weren’t included in my train fare:

While looking at the snow in the mountains:

Stepped out in Klamath Falls for some air:

And then when to bed still not feeling well…until it was time to order breakfast at 6:30am…

I had them hold the potatoes, forgot to have them hold the croissant. Think that would have been $12.50 if I were paying.

Saint Lunetta was at the Emeryville Amtrak Station to drag my sorry ass to his place – where I went to bed. For hours. I was definitely a “quiet” guest.

By Wednesday I had started to recover, and actually take some food pictures of the amazing food coming out of their kitchen. The first night was meatballs over gnocchi which I ate half and covered the remaining for my brunch the next day.

Next up was shrimp in a cream sauce over lobster ravioli, with asparagus with hollandaise…I am truly spoiled.

Starting to look better!

And the final meal was a beef stew over fettuccine with roasted brussels sprouts:

Man, these guys treat me great – including service back to the train station on Friday morning (equally as early as my arrival – 8:30am). Including seeing me off.

The story will continue as I go south…stay tuned.

[? ? ?]

For more blog posts, click here.

All good things come to an end, hopefully in first class – which I’d prearranged with a coupon and a few extra dollars. They give me 4-6 a year, unfortunately they no longer work on the cheapest fares, but if I have to travel at the last minute (or month), they are handy since I’m already paying a premium.

New Orleans is trying to upgrade its facilities, but it suffers the same problem as Kansas City’s airport – it was designed BEFORE (or during, in which case it’s too late) hijacking, 911, radical security. The plan in those days was 50 yards from the gate (in Kansas City’s case) in concentric rings. The problem with New Orleans’s airport is it goes out like fingers with security at each beginning of the finger – with no way to get between terminals behind security (LAX also suffers from this problem). If you happen to be connecting from one airline to another – you are shit out of luck and need to exit and go back through security – or in my case, wanting to hang out with Dan in Terminal B, when I’m in Terminal C, and the airline club I have free access to is in Terminal D (I have no idea what is in Terminal A in New Orleans).

The problem with most airport designs is that they aren’t “blank slate” designs – they are cobbled together over years. In the case of the Kansas City airport, they had a “blank slate”, but as they were building it, the world changed. Here is their original plan – one that they are thinking about rebuilding at the other end of the runway and tearing down the current one. In each of the rings there are four+ small screening things for each 4 gates, so that’s four screening areas PER ring – forget TSApre (and forget any services POST security – you’ll be lucky to get a bathroom or a vending machine):

It was a great plan – before security concerns. Time to tear it down. But I digress….

So, arrived on The City of New Orleans, leaving on Alaska Airlines. After killing some time in the airport, which to be generous, is a pit. The problem with the “finger” layout is that most terminals don’t have a “sit-down” restaurant. In my terminal there was some “buffet” food, and a “bar” with a walk up window and plastic glasses – not what one would expect from the Food Capital of the South. I got a dog here – though they were down to one model (again, not good):

Like I said, I wasn’t that Lucky – no Cajun Dogs left at 3 in the afternoon. Luckily, this was a “tide me over” snack before the flight where there was real food (I know, I just said that about airline food).

It was worth the extra couple of bucks for the guaranteed upgrade rather than sweating it out an upgrade at 72 hours, then 48 hours, then 24 hours, then at the gate. It much nicer to be greeted with this:

The starter (HOT nuts, Jack & Diet, DigiPlayer):

The mezzo (bun, prosciutto, potato salad with mascarpone and truffle oil and a random tomato):

The main (herb roasted Mahi Mahi, lemon fennel rice with white bean, tomato and caper ragu):

The dessert I shouldn’t have eaten (chocolate chip cream filled cake):

THIS, on a three hour flight. And this is why I love long flight up front.

Luckily I had someone (Thank you, Kurt!) picking me up at the airport!

[? ? ?] The next day I got on the scale after 9 days on the road and was SHOCKED – I didn’t gain any weight. There is no god. Or I was walking multiple times more than usual.

One of my traditions on the first night arriving in New Orleans is to wander down the street and go to Houstons. Yes, it’s a chain, albeit a small one, but I know there will be live jazz and that I can grab a spot in the bar and just eat good food and listen to good jazz. Isn’t that what New Orleans is about? Even better when you don’t have to fight the crowds in the French Quarter. Oddly enough, I pulled the dinner menu for the Kansas City branch (since I’ll be there in November) and I wasn’t as impressed – the New Orleans menu is much better.

This visit I took Dan along on my tradition. No Colonels as they were a bit under the weather.

That would be the band over our shoulders and Manhattans in front of our shoulders. And the food!

    

    

Clockwise from upper-left-hand: Hand-cut Fries, Oysters St. Charles, Skillet Cornbread, Gulf Coast Style Fish Sandwich. Not a dog in the lot. Yep, wees in nawlins.

If this blog post doesn’t make you hungry I pray for your soul.

Sightseeing for the first full day both The Colonels and I have the same idea, The Southern Food & Beverage Museum which was closed for relocation the last time I was in NOLA. But first, a visit to their on-site restaurant, Purloo (which is a traditional dish made with whatever meat happened to be leftover). The food did not disappoint (nor the atmosphere):

The bar (and the cute hipster bar tender) above, and The Colonels below:

And even though it’s only noon, I had to try their Old Fashioned which warrants a full-size photo AND the recipe: Bourbon or Rye with Demerara Syrup, El Guapo Chicory Pecan Bitters and Citrus Peel. I went for the Rye (and I remember a little mint in there as well).

And the food – not sure where the last photo is! Pretty sure Mr. Colonel had with Fried Chicken with Tasso Mac & Cheese and pickled Okra. Mrs. Colonel had the marinated flank steak over Thai noodles:

Dan had the fried catfish with stone ground grits and collard greens with a smoked tomato gravy…

And I went for a fairly light dish, the Crab Beignets:

Starting to worry about getting on the scales when I return home!

Well nourished, it was time for the Southern Food and Beverage Museum ($10 regular, $8 if you ate at Purloo, $5 Military) which also includes the The Museum of the American Cocktail and the La Galerie d’Absinthe. What’s NOT to love about this place!

And the cocktail section:

With the world’s largest cocktail shaker – 4 at a time!

And for my friend Joe (of Lisa), a collection of Tiki items (he has a Tiki bar in the basement in Indianapolis):

And we close with the pig:

As The Colonels age they are less and less up for going out to dinner, preferring some light appetizers inside, which is what we had before Dan and I headed out to dinner. The thought was The Blind Pelican half a dozen blocks away – but as it turns out it was “Friday Night Fight Night” (Military with ID get in free).

Yep, the blocked off the street and put up a covered fence. Second choice was VooDoo BBQ, which wasn’t as good as I remembered it, and with no bartender (on a Friday night no less), no Manhattan – I had to settle for an alcoholic slushy of some sort (which at least they refilled on the way out). We spilt one of the larger dinners:

And the funky interior hallway…

Saturday we made our way to La Place, Louisiana, home to some of the finest andouille sausage makers in the world, but first, lunch at The Cajun Invasion, this odd mix of Cajun and Vietnamese (which considering the number of Vietnamese shrimpers in Louisiana isn’t all that surprising):

Clockwise from upper left: Mrs. Colonel’s crawfish fried rice, Dan’s fried oyster po’boy, and my jambalaya and meat pie (was supposed to be crawfish, oh well). All surprisingly good for a strip mall restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

But the main reason for the trip was andouille sausage – The Colonels favor Jacobs (and they have it shipped), but reviews differ between first and second place for Baileys – and they are almost on top of each other. For me it was a contest of who had the surliest counter people.

Dan ended up with 1 pound of chicken, 1 pound of pork andouille from Baileys, and the same from Jacobs who smokes theirs for 20 minutes longer (according to local lore). Mrs. Colonel just got stuff from Jacobs.

Tonight we finally got to try the Blind Pelican, and boy did we try it!

Got a table outside with a view of the shrimp boiler:

But we weren’t here for the shrimp, we were her for the oysters! 5 dozen to be exact – three dozen raw, and two dozen charbroiled and topped off with a rack of ribs and coleslaw. During happy hour (4-8pm) oysters on the half shell are $3 a dozen (I kid you not) and $7.50 a dozen for the charbroiled – but you have to buy an “adult” beverage for every dozen you order. With Dan and I this wasn’t a problem.

It takes 4 line guys to shuck that many oysters for a full house:

And my aren’t they pretty:

They are VERY strict in their rules around happy hour oysters:

Sunday was a rainy inside day so we stuck close to home – we’d been making breakfast in the room with eggs, bacon, leftovers, and for lunch we went next door to Igor’s Bar, Grill, Laundromat, Library & Pool Hall. It was so weird to be in there with no one smoking, though 50 years of nicotine was still on the walls. Dan got the burger, I got the sausage sandwich:

Dinner tonight was at Basin on Magazine – a little too far to walk, so it was Uber time again! More oysters on the half shell:

Followed by the corn and crab bisque and seafood gumbo:

And the crispy pulled pork creation (half way through) that wasn’t that crispy:

Birthday breakfast at The Trolley Stop Café – a whopping $3.50!

Packed up the bags, stored them at the desk, and hung around the hotel reading and sitting in the sun – killing time until lunch, and then killing time until the airport.

Lunch was at Pho Orchid, also on the same block as the WorldMark New Orleans. Bun (meat over noodles with broth) for Dan, Korean Beef “tacos” for me.

And then it was time to Uber off to the airport – makes like our 5^th
Uber trip in NOLA. Alas, we are in different terminals (Dan going out Southwest, me going out Alaska), and even the airport lounge I have access i to is in yet a third terminal. We say goodbye at the curb.

[? ? ?]

After dinner with Dan’s work buddy, back to the Metropolitan Lounge we go – to pillage some of their snacks to bring along on the train – like we aren’t getting enough food. They have us show up for boarding at 7:10, and we do, in fact, board shortly after. Seems they board sleeping car passengers before the 8pm dinner cut-off so we can all have a real dinner.

Dinner on the train – steak. Not worth the $22 that it is on the menu, but since it was included – damn fine. At least for breakfast they had all the options, though Dan compared the “Railroad French Toast” to Denny’s right down to the Maple Flavored Syrup.

Lunch I went healthy – after yesterday’s no greens – NEEDED GREENS – and not the kind cooked in ham hocks, although those are mighty fine as well:

Dan went for the Turkey Meatballs with pasta – the meatballs were good (he let me have half a one) but it’s in a tomato sauce that would give me heartburn.

We get out at Jackson, Mississippi where a buddy of mine lives – but they don’t let non-ticketed folks onto the platform like many other cites – so I have yet to meet Ed in person. Ed is an old LRYer that grew up with many of the same people I did – and we share some interests – letterpress for one. He has a working linotype that he uses set the smaller lead type that my eyes are too old for. He also has a dozen jukeboxes that he services with vintage and new 45’s. Did I mention that he also has a (well, several) 35mm projector that he hauls out in the summer for movie nights to show his collection of “B” movies in their original format. Someday I’ll have to book a ticket where I can stop and sit a spell (as they say in the south).

As we leave Jackson, Mississippi, I shot this odd little scene from the front sleeper car hooked up in its normal configuration – closest to the engine after the baggage car (and transition sleeper for those two-night trains).

Not sure why I took this shot – other than it shows the beautiful clouds and trees of the south:

We while away the hours (the train, is, of course, running late) hanging out in the cabin making cocktails….

And eating jerky since my salad has long passed through my system:

And just watching the scenery roll by:

Before you know it, New Orleans is upon us – the view from the lot of the Amtrak station:

Not a bad view from our one-bedroom unit at the WorldMark Avenue Plaza…

Had a brief visit with The Colonels – they had to cancel picking us up at the train station due to some digestive problems on the part of Mrs. Colonel. They are staying at the Avenue Plaza but in one of the Wyndham units. Luckily Uber started up in New Orleans four months ago. Click on the Uber link and get a free ride (up to $20) and I get one too!

New Orleans here we are!

[118.8]

Not that I haven’t been rambling enough this September, but this one actually includes my birthday.

Step 1: Get to Denver – snagged an upgrade to First Class, though no pictures this time. For the meal, refer to the last two posts of the pan fried gnocchi with a thick Bolognese topping. Yes, more heartburn on the way. Dan snagged me at the airport, but it was 11 by the time we got home. Just enough time to make a cocktail and set up my computer station for the night.

Nice that it swings over the bed.

Step 2: Enjoy the suburbs of Denver by running errands.

• Liquor Store for trip provisions
• Comcast, to exchange a cable box – that transaction took less than 5 minutes, barely giving me time to click a photo of the “museum” in their lobby, cable boxes through the ages.

• Lunch at the Iron Rail Tavern, which was stunning – we split the burger and fries with a side salad and they brought it all already split – with no extra charge!

• Pick up some meat from a meat co-op whose slogan is “Meat Is Murder – Tasty Tasty Murder”…

When I’d planned this trip months ago I didn’t know that this would be a holiday for Dan just before he gets his chest cracked up to repair a leaking aorta – at least he’ll have been of work for a week or so and all relaxed. He even had our evening planned months ago – attending this thing called, “The Moth“, but first, dinner at Curry n Kabob (Indian Food) where I had the goat chops:

Followed by a lovely sunset…

The show was at the old Boulder Theatre…

The best way to explain “The Moth” is storytelling done as standup. Three pieces in the first act, two (plus a story by the host) in the second. The last one brought me to tears, literally, as well as Randall, who had just lost his grandmother yesterday, and his girlfriend got the call during dinner that she had lost hers. Man did I need a drink after we got home.

Step 3: Get yea to the train.

Dan’s father George gave as a lift to the station, but we were hours early – at least it’s a nice station to be early at (see separate report on the Denver’s Union Station). Time for some happy hour action. First stop is a place I’d eaten at the last time I was through, Stoic & Genuine:

Oysters on the half shell (4 each of three kinds followed by a repeat 4 of our favorite – the Little Shemogues from New Brunswick) at $2 each with a glass of Muscadet ($3):

Round Two of our happy hour sampling was next door at The Kitchen Next Door Community Pub.

Where we had the salt/pepper calamari, fried pickles, and a couple of Mules.

Alas the waiter was better than the food. The waiter was damn fine.

Time to catch our train…and get a full steak dinner aboard. One of the conductors played us a few tunes while we waited – we wasn’t bad and could play anything that folks called out (though only the first verse):

Time to say goodbye to Denver.

[? ? ?]

I didn’t put in a time call for a cab – something I usually do, especially if I have an early flight. With a cruise where I have until 3PM to get my ass on the boat, I could wait a few minutes for a cab.

Assuming I could get them to pick up the phone. Yellow Cab … “please stay on the line for the next available agent”….5 minutes later, Orange Cab, “please stay on the line for the next available agent”… 5 minutes later. Uber. Car is ten minutes away. I’d never used Uber before but I had it on my phone with a $30 credit towards the first ride. If you aren’t already signed up for Uber – use promo code 7eo06 and get your own $30 credit (and I get a free ride too!).

Honestly is was closer to fifteen minutes, but only because the computer said I was 2 blocks further up Rose Street – but the driver has your number so it was soon fixed. When you can’t even get a taxi company to ANSWER THE PHONE no wonder Uber, Lyft and all the other services are eating cabs lunch and dinner. Cost for my ride in a private car with a former Metro Access driver?

FARE BREAKDOWN

Base Fare                     1.35

Distance                     12.98

Time                         4.90

Subtotal                    $19.23

Safe Rides Fee (?)                 $1.00

City of Seattle accessibility and admin fee     $0.20

Free trip up to $30 from James             -$20.43

CHARGED

Personal •••• 2459                 $0.00

Yes, I left money on the table, but the ease of setting this up was AMAZING. And I got to the terminal in time to have lunch in the dining room (rather than the buffet) which was off limits to most other travelers if they were preferred early boarders or showed up after 12:30. Many of my Princess SeaMen (a group of gay frequent cruisers on Princess) were turned away. Of course they got there later because they’d been on the cruise the day before, on the same route, and caught a shuttle back from Vancouver to catch this one.

Boarding was the SMOOTHEST that I’ve ever had…maybe showing up a little after 11AM is a good plan. Preferred Lines for security and check-in, and almost instant boarding of the Golden Princess. I’m on this cruise to get my Elite Status on Princess. Since I’m going solo, I actually get 2 cruise credits for this trip – meaning my 14^th and 15^th cruise by their bookkeeping (not counting the 3 that I added that weren’t in their records). Dancing Bear (DB) completed his 14^th and 15^th on yesterday’s cruise so we’ll have to see how quick they are at getting status levels updated. This is, of course, a concern to me because my 16^th cruise where more benefits kick in is this coming Wednesday after a couple of days in Vancouver.

Since it is just an overnight cruise, I opted for an interior cabin ($173.00 total — $118 for the cruise, $55 for taxes/fees/port expenses) rather than my usual balcony cabin – DB got upgraded from inside to balcony on his, lucky bugger.

Good food at lunch, though with my 10AM breakfast I was less than hungry which didn’t stop me from the Shrimp Salad (so awesome, no photo, got eaten too quickly) and the beef tenderloin followed by a sherry trifle:

I’m not sure I’d really call a Jello-based dessert a “trifle“. Others at the table had the Salmon and the Burger:

Even the appetizers were tasty and beautiful:

Speaking of DB, met up with him after lunch….

And a tour of his cabin…nice view:

I even grabbed some little desserty things from the International Café in the atrium:

And a cocktail for myself from the minis I’d brought on board in the toiletries….DB is on the all drinks included for $49 (+15%) a day plan. They wouldn’t make a dime if Swanda were on this boat, but he does tip well.

At 3:30 was the mandatory lifeboat drill – and a twist is that you no longer have to bring your life vest if you’ve done the drill before – gone is the sea of orange vest wearing people. As for me, I brought a cocktail instead of the life jacket – and plopped on the floor rather than stood:

Sail away at 5, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgender) Meet-up at 5:30 in the Wheelhouse Lounge. It used to be called the “Friends of Dorothy“, think Wizard of Oz, sort of like the “Friends of Bill W.” for the folks in recovery. I miss the name, but the younger generation is sort of clueless about the FOD term.

A crowd of 20+ showed up. Men, Women, mostly around my age, mostly white. A couple of out-layers, older black gentleman, youngest Eastern European boy (Anthony).

After hanging out for a couple of hours, the consensus with crowd that I’d been on other cruises with was that it was time for a swim in the Lotus Spa pool (with adjoining wet and dry saunas), followed by an 8:30 dinner. With free drink coupons and refilling from the room which now had a full bottle of Maker’s Mark in it from duty-free (a perk of being on a one-day cruise is you get your liquor the minute you purchase it), luckily there are no pictures from dinner – where I added a bottle of wine to the meal since I have a $50 room credit I need to use up and Mick picked up the cost of the Maker’s (for which I still owe him). Shared the wine with one of the others at our 9 person table. And a noisy table it was.

Lovely sunset off the railing….

One of the joys of cruising….

Up until 2AM,and need to be out of the cabin at 8AM, then breakfast on the Lido Deck, and then taking a nap until my 9:30 disembarkation time….

Customs was a snap…hand them the form…and then the hell of two 5,000 person boats being in dock at the same time. This was the cab line:

That’s about ten switchbacks – I gave up after five minutes and decided to walk the 12-15 blocks to the WorldMark at The Canadian – even in the drizzle I got there in 20 minutes at which point I would have only been a third of the way thru the cab line.

Next up, two days in Vancouver, BC.

[? ? ?]

Skipped breakfast – or shall I say, I had coffee and the cheesecake left over from yesterday’s lunch. It felt better to sleep than eat a heavy breakfast.

I’m here to report that at least when we are in cell phone range, the wi-fi in the Parlour Car seems to be keeping up with everyone. Occasionally I can get a couple of bars in our downstairs room one car back.

Here is a little scenery from said Parlour Car:

And from the wine tasting that oddly enough started during our half hour layover in Portland…

Though as you can tell, we were moving again by the time I took this shot. Speaking of the Portland station – I’ve never had to walk so far to get to the Metropolitan Lounge (for sleeping car passengers) as I did this time – we were on the second to the last tracks away from the station so had to walk the length of the train to cross over:

We were about a half an hour early into Seattle, meaning that by 9PM I was home after catching a cab to Mags house where my car was parked.

Gone for a week? Look at the mail:

And what went into the recycle bin:

Had to make a taco truck run as the early dinner on the train was fading fast.

[? ? ?] we will see how much I’ve gained after 6 days of being fed three squares

Too much puttering around that with nasty traffic I was over half an hour behind schedule.

And more ugly traffic trying to get to the Cruise Ship terminal. Oh well, we don’t sail until 3:30.

Magnatrious clocked our time getting through the check-in process to actually getting on-board – 1.5 hours. Maybe I should start skipping getting on-board in time for an appropriately-time lunch. No crowds getting on the boat at 2pm.

A quick burger for lunch – it was the shortest line, then the it was the 3:15 safety drill with the wonderful Benjamin – a shy member of the orchestra:

Never did find out what instrument. Then we were back to the cabin for some relaxing:

Until the deck got too hot and I had to strip down to the Speedos for cocktail time:

An early dinner at 6 as the LGBT Gathering is in the Wheelhouse Lounge at 7:

Prime rib for me, peppercorn medallions for Mags.

And off to the Wheel House we go – no time for dessert. Wow – a one night cruise and 40 guys in the bar – and apparently another 20 missing.

Too cold for Movies Under The Stars – even with the provided blankets – I don’t like Star Trek THAT much.

I can’t believe later we both ordered room service (Club and a Croque Menou) AND did a brief drive by of the buffet before bed.

This will be the last day of that sort of behavior for me.

{203.1]

3:45 am comes early when you go to bed at 11pm.

The alarm went off, Oneil called, I got my self showered and shaved and my butt on the bus by 4:30am.

Was actually at the airport and through immigration and security a few minutes after 5.

Begin American Airlines rant/ramble:

• Website says Panama City club open at 5:15am, sign on club says 5:30
• No English language papers – even yesterdays
• American redid my schedule so that instead of a 2.5 hour layouver in Miami (plenty of time for checked bags and duty free) I had 1.5 hours – and the flight was 15 minutes late getting out of the gat when they broke a tow bar
• Came in at the far end of one terminal – had to walk to the center of the airport for customs, and then get back out to the far end – after going BACK through security to get to my gate… needless to say they were boarding by the time I got there
• Positive: lines at immigration were short, which is good since I couldn’t find the “trusted traveler” machines
• Flight 2: I drank them out of Glen Livet after one drink (two minis). Lots of Dewars, little Livet
• Chicago (ORD) lounge – huge, beautiful, but you could spend a fortune in here: $3.95 for a cappuccino, sandwiches starting at $8, internet access for people with day passes, business class tickets and Alaska Boardroom members, $8. There is an interesting concept – have an expensive private club where everything costs more.
• And every rag needs a ramble… what if American orders the Boeing 787… it’s a composite body and all their planes are buffed aluminum (saves 1,000 pounds of weight from the paint)… what will they do, paint them light gray?
• The seats on my last leg were WONDERFUL… they were a new style that the butt slides forward so the back can go further back – that and outlets for laptops that use standard plugs
• And a question – why does a new jet have cigarette ashtrays on either side of the bathroom doors? You haven’t been able to smoke on flights in twenty years and I assume both the bathroom design and the bathroom itself is newer than that.

Met a pretty young Italian guy in the airport in Chicago, gave him my card if he needs a home-cooked meal, he’s coming to Seattle for 5 years to study biology. Met a couple of pretty Miamians on their way to Everett to hang out and play tourist for 10-days. Didn’t give them a card, but told them when to get off Light Rail – same stop as me. Picked up a package and a New Yorker at the apartment before heading home and straight to bed (after opening the mail).

Good to be home.

[? ? ?]

Yesterday was another “train day” – not on the train but dealing with Amtrak.

As it turn out, the routing that I proposed in my earlier post, while a valid “routing”, isn’t a valid “redemption”. Seems that ALL LEGS of the journey must be within a single zone.

The route in question was Denver to New Orleans (for my birthday ramble this year) via Chicago (California Zephyr) and Washington, DC (Capital Limited connecting to The Crescent):

After a longer than usual chat with a couple of Guest Rewards folks (who, in turn, had to check with their supervisors) the above routing would be a two zone (three nights) ticket. To get from Denver to New Orleans using only one zone, the trip would look like this and only be for two nights using the California Zephyr and The City of New Orleans:

That said, if you really wanted to maximize a two-zone (four nights), this, believe it or not, is a legal routing:

But there are other legal routings that would work:

The green line at the top would be the Empire Builder, the blue in the middle would be the California Zephyr and the purple at the bottom would be the Sunset Limited.

Bottom line – my September Birthday Ramble will be two nights in Denver, two nights on the train, five nights in New Orleans.

In other train news – realized that it was Double Points time (they do one in the shoulder season of fall as well). That promotion is good until May 16^th – AND I have a $75 Coupon I need to use for Amtrak travel before October 11, 2015. The coupon is from the snarky letter I wrote about being forced out of my sleeper and onto a bus between Portland and Eugene on my way to Denver last fall. You can see that blog post here:

• Part One (with the bounced part of the trip)
• Part Two
• Part Three

The bottom line was I got a $75 Guest Certificate for the hassle of have to pack up my room, get on a bus, and then set the room up again a couple of hours later. Not terribly happy at the time, but feeling better about it now that I just booked a trip using $74.80 of the $75.00 – the station agent (stopped in when I took Solus+ to catch the train yesterday) asked, “Do you mind eating the 20 cents?” It might have been amusing to get a 20 cent certificate, but I said I was happy just eating it. And the seats are in Business Class (free newspapers and a $3.00 off coupon for some food/booze).

The trip? Olympia to Portland (I’m in Olympia the previous night for an Evergreen event), spend a couple of hours at Powell’s Books or eating oysters at Jakes, then back on the train to Olympia to grab the car and go back to Roxy’s for another sleepover. Nothing like a free trip! AND 300 Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

Well, that’s my Amtrak news for today. Next post will be the much delayed Spring Break Three post.

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Hitting the water at noon on the Star Princess (balcony cabin) for my birthday ramble with Magnatrosious. This was originally booked for CaddyDaddy and I – may he rest in peace.

Tomorrow is Vancouver for a night at the WorldMark at The Canadian.

Monday we board the Golden Princess (mini-suite) for Los Angeles.

Thursday morning we transfer to Union Station to catch the Coast Starlight (family bedroom) to return to Seattle.

Will update this later with how the day went.

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An occasional feature of UMTravels are tips and tricks for maximizing your award potential. Today’s topic: Amtrak and their Guest Rewards Program.

The basics of the program are: Earn 2 points per $1 spent on your Amtrak travel. Unless you travel a lot on Amtrak it’s going to take you a long time to even get a coach ticket (one-way) on the Amtrak Cascades (1,500 points, 2,000 points for a Business Class seat).

But as we all know with any Frequent Traveler program, it’s hotels (Choice, Hilton, Wyndham Brands, La Quinta, Starwood), cars (Budget, Enterprise, Hertz), and a handful of oddball partners.

And then there is the credit card tie-in, which at the moment Amtrak Guest Rewards doesn’t have. The DID have a MasterCard (from Chase) with a 12,000 sign up bonus if you spent $500 in three months – a small sign-up bonus, but a TINY spend compared so some cards I’ve had ($5000 in three months). I did query Guest Rewards about what happened to their credit card and received this response (in under 48 hours which for Amtrak Customer Service is pretty good):

Dear Mark Souder,

Thank you for contacting the Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center.

We apologize, however we are no longer accepting applications for the Amtrak Guest Rewards MasterCard credit card from Chase at this time. More information regarding the Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card will be shared in the near future.

We hope this information is of assistance and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sincerely,

Ashley
Amtrak Guest Rewards Service Center

So, it sounds like there is something coming down the pike – and I will most likely sign up for it assuming the enrollment bonus/spend is decent.

There is one credit card that does offer a way to get Amtrak Guest Rewards points – the Chase Ink card offers a 1-1 transfer with 40,000-60,000 miles sign up bonuses (also 1-1 transfer with United and some hotel chains). When I signed up for this card I got 60,000 Chase Points (after the aforementioned $5,000 spend in three months).

Another way to get big chunks of Amtrak Guest Rewards point – you can purchase them outright for $0.0275 apiece ($275 for 10,000 – the yearly [calendar] maximum), but wait for sales where you get up to a 30$ bonus bringing the cost down to $0.021.

WHY would you want all these points? – well, it you like to travel by train in either Roomettes or Bedrooms, you know how expensive those rooms can be. A NOLA-CHI-LAX-SEA two-zone trip (20,000 point) that I took last summer would have been about $1445 six months out (value = $0.0723 per point), $1748 two months out (value = $0.0874), or $2092 (value = $0.1046) a month out. What I didn’t realize when I booked these first couple of trips is that the rewards are for TWO people (and all their meals). The point values that I’ve used are for ONE PERSON. Add several hundred dollars for the second persons rail ticket (sleeper is the same no matter how many people), so the saving are even bigger if you want to travel with someone else. A good example would be that NOLA-CHI-LAX-SEA Two-Zone trip which for two people six months out would be around $1700. Another nice thing about Amtrak is that they have VERY liberal change/cancel policies — as long as its 48 hours before the trip, you can change the days or just get a refund.

Having done trips with two people in a Roomette….it’s tight. A Bedroom unit is a better choice, but be prepared to have the majority of your luggage on the luggage racks by the boarding door.

As an added bonus, sleeping car passengers are allowed by bring their own alcohol (the porter will provide you with a bucket of ice – just remember to tip at the end of the trip, though my buddy Dwight always tips at the beginning for guaranteed service) and on many routes they will open wine you brought in the dining car as well – though that varies.

This is the rewards table for sleepers (I should ask if they have a Family Room redemption code):

The sweet spots that I see on the reward chart are the 1-Zone Bedroom at 25,000 and the 2-Zone Roomette at 20,000, especially if you are trying to maximize the distance/days of your trip.

To give you an idea of the sort of routings you can get within or between zones, here is the Amtrak Zone Chart:

Redemption Travel by Zone

• A travel itinerary for a single redemption must follow a published route between the initial origin and final destination. A published route is an itinerary automatically generated by Amtrak’s reservation system.
• A single zone entry or zone exit comprises usage of one zone in the redemption, irrespective of prior or future travel in that zone as part of the same itinerary.
• Where a desired itinerary does not exist as a single published route, the trip must be constructed as a series of published routes using multiple redemptions.
• Circle trips are not permitted using a single redemption. A circle trip is a travel itinerary comprised of a series of segments that exit, and later re-enter, the same zone.
• An Amtrak station located on a zone boundary may be considered part of either bordering zone, if it is the initial origin or final destination for the redemption.
• Where a published route requires a connection between two segments, a later connecting service may be chosen as long as it departs on the same date as the connection originally offered.
• Where a published route contains a valid connection of 23 hours, 30 minutes or less, an overnight stay in the connecting city is permitted at the passenger’s own expense. (Example: one-way travel from New York to El Paso, where the published route requires an overnight connection in New Orleans, would be permitted on the same redemption.)
  • Where sleeping car service is not offered for the entire published route, and where an alternate direct routing exists with sleeping car service on all segments, the alternate routing is allowed. (Example: Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA on Trains 5 and 11)

And there are a few Blackout dates around Christmas, Thanksgiving and other longs weekends, but it’s not that bad.

One-Zone routes in a Roomette that would work are (with a June departure):

• ABQ-SEA via LAX (3 hour layover with lounge access) Retail $1100 [.073 value]
  Includes: Dinner, Early Breakfast (to LAX) , Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch, Early Dinner (to SEA)
• ATL-DEN via WAS (6 hour layover with lounge access) and CHI (5 hour layover with lounge access) Retail $1300 (for two) [.087 value]
  Includes: Breakfast (to WAS), Dinner, Breakfast (to CHI), Dinner, Breakfast (to DEN)
• NOLA-DEN via CHI (5 hour layover with lounge access), Retail $1100 [.073 value]

$1900 Retail ABQ-SEA Bedroom (and 25,000 points) [.076 value]

$2000 Retail ATL-DEN Bedroom (and 25,000 points) [.08 value]

And interesting concept is that two people buy the maximum amount of miles (2 @ $275) and then split the cost of transferring one set of miles to the other (1 @ $130 for a total of 26,000 miles, which is enough for either a 1-zone Bedroom, or a 2-Zone Roomette for $680 (for the two people) which is MUCH cheaper than retail. Of course, you can only do this once a year (up to 10,000 miles plus whatever bonus they offer), which is calendar year.

If you were to think a 2-Zone reward (20,000 points in a Roomette, 40,000 points in a Bedroom), you could do the 5-day long trip I did last year…

• NOLA–CHI (City of New Orleans)
• CHI-LAX (Southwest Chief)
• LAX-SEA (Coast Starlight)

Rack rate (retail) is $2377 in the Roomette or $3543 in a bedroom. You could do NOLA-CHI-SEA (Empire Builder), but I was trying to maximize train time for the same number of points. I did it in a Roomette and got a value of .11885 from points I purchased for .021 — now THAT is a return on investment assuming you want to spend five days on the train having someone feed you and make your bed.

Or another would be Fort Lauderdale to Denver (I’m only thinking of Alaska Airlines cities), that comes in between $1100 and $1600 depending on whether you transit via NYC or DC.

All the retail numbers are for trips in late June, assuming there are rooms, the closer you are to travel dates means an even bigger savings.

Every time I look at the map I come up with new ones, like Fort Lauderdale to Albuquerque (Two-Zone) – that would be fun…

Here are some photos of what Roomettes and Bedrooms look like. Roomette first…

And with the bed down (or you could sleep in the top bunk):

Or the Bedroom units:

Well, that’s it for my tips and tricks on Amtrak Guest Rewards earning and redeeming. Stay tuned for an update once they bring out a new credit card offer.

All this pondering has me considering my Birthday Ramble this year…maybe DEN-CHI on the California Zephyr, then the Cardinal to Charlottesville, WV, then the Crescent to New Orleans—four days on the train, in a Roomette. Retail for two: $2706 (or $0.1082 per credit). That would be a two-zone ticket. Then stay a couple of nights at the WorldMark New Orleans. Now to convince Lisa to let me borrow Dan for a week.

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