bobnjulie
Lead Service Attendant
We had a great trip! The idea so this trip was a sorry my husband told about an early evening flight he took a on small prop plane down the coast of California during the 4th of July. I thought being on a train might turn out really neat - and with the SF Giants playing in San Diego - my husband was sold on the idea. We took the bus to San Luis Obispo, the Surfliner to San Diego, watched the Padres and Giants and returned home via the Surfliner and the Coast Starlight.
We finally got on road to the station about 30 minutes behind my schedule... which theoretically would give us more than enough time before our bus was scheduled to depart but I was nervous. We had never had to depend on parking at the San Jose Amtrak station and it was a holiday weekend and who knew if there would be any parking. Plan B involved (roughly) parking in the long term lot at San Jose airport since it's just a short cab ride away but that would eat up time. Traffic was holiday light that early in the morning and we got to the station around 45 minutes before the bus would depart. I was actively formulating more of Plan B when I spotted cabs waiting outside the station. I went inside and was given a parking pass and Hurrah! there were about 4 spots left! Plan B disappeared in to vapor and we were able to amble and wait for our bus. Our bus arrived a bit early (again thanks to the light traffic) but we still departed a few minutes late. Our great bus driver - Jessie - gave us a nice long safety speech and set the ground rules - being very easy going but also very clear about what would or would not be acceptable....
We did stop for lunch at a McDonald's in King City and that was a nice break. The ride was pleasant and we arrived perhaps a tick ahead of schedule in San Luis Obispo. I was really looking forward to riding on the 2 level Surfliner so we could get better views so you can imagine my dismay when I saw the Amfleet 1 cars again.... I asked a station volunteer and he said they were used every other week.... just my luck. There was, however, a really cool engine with the 40th anniversary paint scheme on the rear (or front) of the Surfliner. We had a nice enough attendant in business class whose name I never caught. I was a bit worried since there was a family whose children were not using headphones for their games but we headed as far away as we could. Alas and alack - for some reason their mother moved (still not sure why) to a seat right in front of us and her children followed - at times using the seat in front of us as a rocking horse - up and down and up and down. I put in some earplugs but they didn't help. I guess the mother gave up and they all ended up front as a family unit playing games in a mostly quiet manner.
The trip down the coast was - as usual - amazing.... Fog would appear and leave - leaving a spectacular day. One of the nice things about the Surfliner is that is stops at one of my top fave stops - Lompoc. Our attendant had opened the door and no one was exiting. I went to the vestibule to get better pictures since our seat windows were (a) small and (b) had bits or tar??. A young boy followed and was looking that the ocean view when our attendant very kindly opened up the window. The young fellow and I gawked. I looked at him and said "Pretty cool, huh?" and he responded with something like "This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!" and I swear I could see the foam starting to just come out of him
At one point, when I was looking for some dinner, he was in the vestibule making a Youtube video of the train and the views.... while I could never watch it since he seemed to want to capture everything at once, it was such a joy to see that passion just starting to bloom.
Another difference we spotted were the amount of people on the beaches and all the rv's parked alongside the road... a VERY busy 3 day, July 4th weekend. Fun to see people playing and swimming and walking. Someone was towing an older military-style jeep. I also spotted CHP doing what looked like a sobriety test on a someone... and from my point of view, it didn't look like that gentleman's day was going to end as nicely as ours!
One of the tricks of the Surfliner is that the front and right side of the train going south is the front and ocean side of the train UNTIL Los Angeles It pulls in and pulls out the same track so once you depart Los Angeles, the back and left become the right and front. I'd thought I'd heard something like that at some point in time, so after I confirmed it, we had to denest and move our seats and nest to the rear facing left side of the train.
Everything after Los Angeles is brand new to me. We passed by where the Amtrak trains get serviced and my husband made note of it for the return trip. When we arrived in Fullerton, two gentlemen were there to greet our 40th anniversary engine. Cute seeing 2 fans taking pictures of our train. Pulling in to Anaheim, we were surprised to see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I really, REALLY loathe that name) stadium. A game was going on and the place was packed! We could also spot in the parking lot a cleared area with what looked like could be canisters of the fireworks?? for after the game. Pretty cool stuff, at least of us!
It was getting darker and darker and another party kept talking about guessing we might not see the fireworks show... odds were feeling against us. We could see block parties and individual fireworks being shot off - some of the timing in honor of our train? but it was feeling like a bust. It had been an amazing ride and I kept trying to console myself when around 9 pm - when our train was going slow... BAM! Fireworks! At the front of the train, a show was going off and we could tell they were shooting them from the water... and then.... From behind us... 3 or 4 shows started going off at once... amazing. One person (and I can't verify since I don't have a clue about the local geography) mentioned that the farthest might have been Laguna Beach. We watch for a bit before the train turned and we lost our view... more fireworks appeared and may have been San Diego's since they appeared far off in the distance to the right...
A great memory... one of my coolest July 4ths!
We arrived in San Diego about 15 - 20 minutes late. I had called our hotel and they said it was about 8 blocks and since I'd been sitting all day, I figured I was up to the challenge. What I did not realize was how hot and humid it was - even at 10:40 at night. It was also jammed packed.. and looking back... the Giants and Padres game may have been shortly finished since there were a TON of Giants fans around. People were every where. It was a nice walk and I was not nervous at all walking around.
I had wanted to stay in the city and nearish to the station but most hotel prices were what I consider in the NYC - Boston range. I did find a gem in Little Italy - La Pensione. Beautiful hotel, great views, AMAZING location a shared balcony off our room and with the thinnest windows ever.... every noise was heard. Not great sleep... enough to get by on but falling asleep after one when the street noise quieted down and up at 6 am with a garbage truck does not a night of sleep equate too. Who cares? Around 7ish, I gave up, went out on the balcony and peeped out at the Farmers Market setting up! I finally left the room and dove in to the sauna that was San Diego - 80's and HUMID.... Since I knew that the wine and cheese tasting had been stopped, I was determined to carry on that tradition, even if it was just for my husband and I and 2 glasses of wine. I procured some really yummy cheese that did not require regeneration, along with other tidbits. It is an amazing sight...TONS of people later but I did the pre-shopping and it was nice and maneuverable for me.
My husband's cousin and husband picked up us and took us to La Jolla. Beautiful and very crowded. Must try and snorkel on my next visit... the orange fish looked just spectacular.
We made it back to the hotel for a quick cold shower and 15 minute rest before we ventured forth to Petco Park. We caught the trolled at County Center/Little Italy... the green line. It was a bit confusing and the trolley was pulling up and we hadn't purchased our tickets. Someone said they hadn't checked so we did hop on board. We were clueless as to how to proceed but I chatted up with a lovely girl wearing Padres gear and she was nice enough to be our local adviser. A few stops later and we arrived at Gaslamp Quarter station, where we stopped at the machine and bought our daily pass tickets! Actually, we couldn't figure out how it worked but a station worker helped us! $5 for the daily pass and $2 for the card but a bargain for a great system.
Petco Park is a bit of a walk in the heat but not far at all for people who can actually walk. It is a stunningly beautiful park... fitting in perfectly with its surroundings... including using an older building as part of it! The fans were just terrific but I swear it was a 50/50 split between Padres/Giants. We were impolite enough to win and make a big cheer for a 2 run home run in a back and forth game but since the Padres swept us in our park, I guess it all evens out. Actually, one thing did make me giggle... they gave safety directions in case of an emergency... If you are sitting in this section, blah , blah, blah... every section had the exact same direction except for the park people so just in case you ever get to Petco and there is an emergency... just use the stairs and go to the Concourse....
I have never been more pleased by how quickly we were able to leave the park. The joys of staying in the city and taking local transport but these folks have it DOWN! I was nervous walking with all the people but I just kept getting out of the way but the trolleys just kept on coming! We walked back to the trolley station and we just got on a trolley and away we went! Not jammed pack.... nice crowded with a very polite crowd. We'd do it again in a heart beat!
We left our hotel at 5:15 and walked the 8 blocks to the train station - again without any safety concerns or worries - to catch our 6:05 train to connect to the Coast Starlight. Finally the true Surfliner! A beautiful ride with lots of coast viewing and surfing!
We arrived in to Los Angeles about 15 minutes late and I was disheartened to see a train in the station without the Pacific Parlour car... but our great redcap, James, took us to the Metropolitan waiting room where we checked in, took some pictures and waited perhaps 10 minutes before James reappeared to whisked us to the tracks... where our train wasn't there!!!! We waited and shortly she came slowly reversing in to the station... with a Parlour Car!!! Julio was our car attendant and was very sweet. The only glitch... it appears that our roomette #7 was the only one that the plug didn't work in. We didn't care since we were only going to be on a short time. He also mentioned that the wine and cheese event was on which made me very happy!
The one ironic point is that I don't really like roomette #2 since its so busy but it had the ocean. Not really a big deal for us since we'd just been down. By the time the Dining Car lead got to us for reservations, the Parlour Car had been sold out. I grumped but she told us to talk to the attendant for other reservations so we got the 1 pm for lunch in the Dining Car and the 6 pm in the Parlour Car. It was a lovely, quiet trip with us coaching a couple of rookies on the small stuff of train travel and a really fun wine and cheese tasting. I brought out my cheeses and, after Nanette had sold hers, shared my cheeses with fellow passengers.
A picture perfect trip.... with a link to our pictures...
So not as great as The Corn to the Coast but hope you enjoy and it sparks ideas for you!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97163322@N02/sets/72157645544541442/
Hope the link works otherwise...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97163322@N02/sets/ and it's the July 4th album!
We finally got on road to the station about 30 minutes behind my schedule... which theoretically would give us more than enough time before our bus was scheduled to depart but I was nervous. We had never had to depend on parking at the San Jose Amtrak station and it was a holiday weekend and who knew if there would be any parking. Plan B involved (roughly) parking in the long term lot at San Jose airport since it's just a short cab ride away but that would eat up time. Traffic was holiday light that early in the morning and we got to the station around 45 minutes before the bus would depart. I was actively formulating more of Plan B when I spotted cabs waiting outside the station. I went inside and was given a parking pass and Hurrah! there were about 4 spots left! Plan B disappeared in to vapor and we were able to amble and wait for our bus. Our bus arrived a bit early (again thanks to the light traffic) but we still departed a few minutes late. Our great bus driver - Jessie - gave us a nice long safety speech and set the ground rules - being very easy going but also very clear about what would or would not be acceptable....
We did stop for lunch at a McDonald's in King City and that was a nice break. The ride was pleasant and we arrived perhaps a tick ahead of schedule in San Luis Obispo. I was really looking forward to riding on the 2 level Surfliner so we could get better views so you can imagine my dismay when I saw the Amfleet 1 cars again.... I asked a station volunteer and he said they were used every other week.... just my luck. There was, however, a really cool engine with the 40th anniversary paint scheme on the rear (or front) of the Surfliner. We had a nice enough attendant in business class whose name I never caught. I was a bit worried since there was a family whose children were not using headphones for their games but we headed as far away as we could. Alas and alack - for some reason their mother moved (still not sure why) to a seat right in front of us and her children followed - at times using the seat in front of us as a rocking horse - up and down and up and down. I put in some earplugs but they didn't help. I guess the mother gave up and they all ended up front as a family unit playing games in a mostly quiet manner.
The trip down the coast was - as usual - amazing.... Fog would appear and leave - leaving a spectacular day. One of the nice things about the Surfliner is that is stops at one of my top fave stops - Lompoc. Our attendant had opened the door and no one was exiting. I went to the vestibule to get better pictures since our seat windows were (a) small and (b) had bits or tar??. A young boy followed and was looking that the ocean view when our attendant very kindly opened up the window. The young fellow and I gawked. I looked at him and said "Pretty cool, huh?" and he responded with something like "This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!" and I swear I could see the foam starting to just come out of him
At one point, when I was looking for some dinner, he was in the vestibule making a Youtube video of the train and the views.... while I could never watch it since he seemed to want to capture everything at once, it was such a joy to see that passion just starting to bloom.Another difference we spotted were the amount of people on the beaches and all the rv's parked alongside the road... a VERY busy 3 day, July 4th weekend. Fun to see people playing and swimming and walking. Someone was towing an older military-style jeep. I also spotted CHP doing what looked like a sobriety test on a someone... and from my point of view, it didn't look like that gentleman's day was going to end as nicely as ours!
One of the tricks of the Surfliner is that the front and right side of the train going south is the front and ocean side of the train UNTIL Los Angeles It pulls in and pulls out the same track so once you depart Los Angeles, the back and left become the right and front. I'd thought I'd heard something like that at some point in time, so after I confirmed it, we had to denest and move our seats and nest to the rear facing left side of the train.
Everything after Los Angeles is brand new to me. We passed by where the Amtrak trains get serviced and my husband made note of it for the return trip. When we arrived in Fullerton, two gentlemen were there to greet our 40th anniversary engine. Cute seeing 2 fans taking pictures of our train. Pulling in to Anaheim, we were surprised to see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (I really, REALLY loathe that name) stadium. A game was going on and the place was packed! We could also spot in the parking lot a cleared area with what looked like could be canisters of the fireworks?? for after the game. Pretty cool stuff, at least of us!
It was getting darker and darker and another party kept talking about guessing we might not see the fireworks show... odds were feeling against us. We could see block parties and individual fireworks being shot off - some of the timing in honor of our train?
but it was feeling like a bust. It had been an amazing ride and I kept trying to console myself when around 9 pm - when our train was going slow... BAM! Fireworks! At the front of the train, a show was going off and we could tell they were shooting them from the water... and then.... From behind us... 3 or 4 shows started going off at once... amazing. One person (and I can't verify since I don't have a clue about the local geography) mentioned that the farthest might have been Laguna Beach. We watch for a bit before the train turned and we lost our view... more fireworks appeared and may have been San Diego's since they appeared far off in the distance to the right...A great memory... one of my coolest July 4ths!
We arrived in San Diego about 15 - 20 minutes late. I had called our hotel and they said it was about 8 blocks and since I'd been sitting all day, I figured I was up to the challenge. What I did not realize was how hot and humid it was - even at 10:40 at night. It was also jammed packed.. and looking back... the Giants and Padres game may have been shortly finished since there were a TON of Giants fans around. People were every where. It was a nice walk and I was not nervous at all walking around.
I had wanted to stay in the city and nearish to the station but most hotel prices were what I consider in the NYC - Boston range. I did find a gem in Little Italy - La Pensione. Beautiful hotel, great views, AMAZING location a shared balcony off our room and with the thinnest windows ever.... every noise was heard. Not great sleep... enough to get by on but falling asleep after one when the street noise quieted down and up at 6 am with a garbage truck does not a night of sleep equate too. Who cares? Around 7ish, I gave up, went out on the balcony and peeped out at the Farmers Market setting up! I finally left the room and dove in to the sauna that was San Diego - 80's and HUMID.... Since I knew that the wine and cheese tasting had been stopped, I was determined to carry on that tradition, even if it was just for my husband and I and 2 glasses of wine. I procured some really yummy cheese that did not require regeneration, along with other tidbits. It is an amazing sight...TONS of people later but I did the pre-shopping and it was nice and maneuverable for me.
My husband's cousin and husband picked up us and took us to La Jolla. Beautiful and very crowded. Must try and snorkel on my next visit... the orange fish looked just spectacular.
We made it back to the hotel for a quick cold shower and 15 minute rest before we ventured forth to Petco Park. We caught the trolled at County Center/Little Italy... the green line. It was a bit confusing and the trolley was pulling up and we hadn't purchased our tickets. Someone said they hadn't checked so we did hop on board. We were clueless as to how to proceed but I chatted up with a lovely girl wearing Padres gear and she was nice enough to be our local adviser. A few stops later and we arrived at Gaslamp Quarter station, where we stopped at the machine and bought our daily pass tickets! Actually, we couldn't figure out how it worked but a station worker helped us! $5 for the daily pass and $2 for the card but a bargain for a great system.
Petco Park is a bit of a walk in the heat but not far at all for people who can actually walk. It is a stunningly beautiful park... fitting in perfectly with its surroundings... including using an older building as part of it! The fans were just terrific but I swear it was a 50/50 split between Padres/Giants. We were impolite enough to win and make a big cheer for a 2 run home run in a back and forth game but since the Padres swept us in our park, I guess it all evens out. Actually, one thing did make me giggle... they gave safety directions in case of an emergency... If you are sitting in this section, blah , blah, blah... every section had the exact same direction except for the park people so just in case you ever get to Petco and there is an emergency... just use the stairs and go to the Concourse....
I have never been more pleased by how quickly we were able to leave the park. The joys of staying in the city and taking local transport but these folks have it DOWN! I was nervous walking with all the people but I just kept getting out of the way but the trolleys just kept on coming! We walked back to the trolley station and we just got on a trolley and away we went! Not jammed pack.... nice crowded with a very polite crowd. We'd do it again in a heart beat!
We left our hotel at 5:15 and walked the 8 blocks to the train station - again without any safety concerns or worries - to catch our 6:05 train to connect to the Coast Starlight. Finally the true Surfliner! A beautiful ride with lots of coast viewing and surfing!
We arrived in to Los Angeles about 15 minutes late and I was disheartened to see a train in the station without the Pacific Parlour car... but our great redcap, James, took us to the Metropolitan waiting room where we checked in, took some pictures and waited perhaps 10 minutes before James reappeared to whisked us to the tracks... where our train wasn't there!!!! We waited and shortly she came slowly reversing in to the station... with a Parlour Car!!! Julio was our car attendant and was very sweet. The only glitch... it appears that our roomette #7 was the only one that the plug didn't work in. We didn't care since we were only going to be on a short time. He also mentioned that the wine and cheese event was on which made me very happy!
The one ironic point is that I don't really like roomette #2 since its so busy but it had the ocean. Not really a big deal for us since we'd just been down. By the time the Dining Car lead got to us for reservations, the Parlour Car had been sold out. I grumped but she told us to talk to the attendant for other reservations so we got the 1 pm for lunch in the Dining Car and the 6 pm in the Parlour Car. It was a lovely, quiet trip with us coaching a couple of rookies
on the small stuff of train travel and a really fun wine and cheese tasting. I brought out my cheeses and, after Nanette had sold hers, shared my cheeses with fellow passengers.A picture perfect trip.... with a link to our pictures...
So not as great as The Corn to the Coast but hope you enjoy and it sparks ideas for you!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97163322@N02/sets/72157645544541442/
Hope the link works otherwise...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97163322@N02/sets/ and it's the July 4th album!
