Roadfool
Train Attendant
Finally, I get to do one of these!
I'd been wanting to do the POS-EMY loophole and needed to head down to Santa Ana for a doctor's appointment anyway, so I figured I'd combine the two and run around SoCal for a couple days collecting AGR points before heading east on the Texas Eagle. Instead of riding the Thruway from BFD to LAX over the Grapevine (a drive I've made at least 50 times by car), I decided to take the Thruway from Hanford to San Luis Obispo and spend the night before catching a Surfliner to LAX.
Here's my planned itinerary:
March 3: FNO-SLO
March 4: SLO - LAX (2 hr layover so I can try a famous Philippe's french dip) - SNA - OSD - SAN
March 5: SAN - SNC - FUL - LAX - POS
March 5 through 10: POS - EMY loophole
March 11: AGR points run in NorCal (haven't decided where yet) and SJ home to FNO
The ride on the SJ from FNO to HNF was uneventful, as always. Although, I'm always impressed by the number of people who use the SJ as pure transportation from point A to point B. The train was over half full, which isn't bad at 11:35 on a Wednesday morning. Whoever says "nobody rides trains" hasn't spent much time on Amtrak California.
The Thruway bus from HNF to SLO was also mostly uneventful, except for one weird dude who kept nagging the bus driver because he was running late for a doctor's appointment. I overheard the driver telling one of the other pax that this guy had tried to bribe him with $20 before the ride to get us there faster. We were only about 20 minutes late getting into SLO, but I guess the dude hadn't left much room for error when he scheduled his appt.
I spent the night at Hostel Obispo, which is conveniently located just a block from the train station. The hostel was nice and the employees were friendly. I think there were only 2 other guests at the hostel, but it was hard to tell because the employees were also sleeping there. My only complaint would be that it was way too cold, but I'm also a big wuss about cold and I can totally understand the hostel wanting to keep heating costs down. I will definitely be staying there again and would recommend it to anyone who needs a cheap place to crash in the middle of California.
Barely made the 6:45 am Surfliner today 'cause I'm not a morning person and getting dressed in a frigid hostel wasn't helping me move any faster (thank God the train station was so close or there's no way I would've made it). I decided to splurge and pay the extra $17 for business class on this segment because it was going to be over 5 hours and I wanted to see what it's like. My first impression is that I am way too short (5'2") for business class. There must be ton of legroom for taller people because I can barely even reach the footrest in front of me! Even the tray table is so far away that I have to lean forward to grab my (free) coffee. I remember seeing a question about BC amenities on the forum. Today's offerings were unlimited coffee, apple-grape juice boxes, an assortment of muffins, and USA Today and local SLO newspapers.
More to come later...right now I'm almost in Ventura and enjoying my massive BC seat.
(Pics to come later too after I weed out the bad ones and upload the decent shots to Picasa).
I'd been wanting to do the POS-EMY loophole and needed to head down to Santa Ana for a doctor's appointment anyway, so I figured I'd combine the two and run around SoCal for a couple days collecting AGR points before heading east on the Texas Eagle. Instead of riding the Thruway from BFD to LAX over the Grapevine (a drive I've made at least 50 times by car), I decided to take the Thruway from Hanford to San Luis Obispo and spend the night before catching a Surfliner to LAX.
Here's my planned itinerary:
March 3: FNO-SLO
March 4: SLO - LAX (2 hr layover so I can try a famous Philippe's french dip) - SNA - OSD - SAN
March 5: SAN - SNC - FUL - LAX - POS
March 5 through 10: POS - EMY loophole
March 11: AGR points run in NorCal (haven't decided where yet) and SJ home to FNO
The ride on the SJ from FNO to HNF was uneventful, as always. Although, I'm always impressed by the number of people who use the SJ as pure transportation from point A to point B. The train was over half full, which isn't bad at 11:35 on a Wednesday morning. Whoever says "nobody rides trains" hasn't spent much time on Amtrak California.
The Thruway bus from HNF to SLO was also mostly uneventful, except for one weird dude who kept nagging the bus driver because he was running late for a doctor's appointment. I overheard the driver telling one of the other pax that this guy had tried to bribe him with $20 before the ride to get us there faster. We were only about 20 minutes late getting into SLO, but I guess the dude hadn't left much room for error when he scheduled his appt.
I spent the night at Hostel Obispo, which is conveniently located just a block from the train station. The hostel was nice and the employees were friendly. I think there were only 2 other guests at the hostel, but it was hard to tell because the employees were also sleeping there. My only complaint would be that it was way too cold, but I'm also a big wuss about cold and I can totally understand the hostel wanting to keep heating costs down. I will definitely be staying there again and would recommend it to anyone who needs a cheap place to crash in the middle of California.
Barely made the 6:45 am Surfliner today 'cause I'm not a morning person and getting dressed in a frigid hostel wasn't helping me move any faster (thank God the train station was so close or there's no way I would've made it). I decided to splurge and pay the extra $17 for business class on this segment because it was going to be over 5 hours and I wanted to see what it's like. My first impression is that I am way too short (5'2") for business class. There must be ton of legroom for taller people because I can barely even reach the footrest in front of me! Even the tray table is so far away that I have to lean forward to grab my (free) coffee. I remember seeing a question about BC amenities on the forum. Today's offerings were unlimited coffee, apple-grape juice boxes, an assortment of muffins, and USA Today and local SLO newspapers.
More to come later...right now I'm almost in Ventura and enjoying my massive BC seat.
(Pics to come later too after I weed out the bad ones and upload the decent shots to Picasa).
Last edited by a moderator: