San Diego and Getting There

After our stay in the Bay Area, we took an Amtrak train to Santa Barbara. Driving from San Francisco to Santa Barbara takes about 5 hours, but Amtrak takes at least 9 hours, and often more due to delays. Since it was such a long ride, we decided to upgrade to a 2 person room. The room consisted of two easy chairs facing each other with a small fold out table in the middle. The chairs can slide out to form a twin-sized bed, and above that another bed can fold down from the ceiling. Most importantly, upgrading to the suite meant we had access to all meals being served in the dining car (yay free food!). Since trains are often delayed, they couldn’t say for sure which meals we would get. We were supposed to get breakfast and lunch, but due to an hour delay, got lunch and dinner instead.

I spent the first few hours of the ride sleeping off the effects of the previous night’s baseball game and then it was time for lunch. Space is at a premium on the train so we were seated with another couple. This arrangement was actually really nice because everyone was very nice and it was fun to hear other people’s stories. For lunch we sat with a retired couple from Oklahoma who were taking trains literally all over the US. When we told them we were from Chicago, the husband told us he didn’t like Chicago. I asked why, and he said because it has a lot of low-clearance roads (he used to be a truck driver). He also asked Dan and me how long we’d been married, and we told him we weren’t. He said that if we liked, he could marry us right on the train!

That afternoon there was a wine and cheese tasting in the parlour car (lounge only accessible to people who had a reserved room). The things we tasted weren’t that exciting, but it was fun chatting with more people, and watching the train curve around the countryside.

The last few hours of the trip were the most scenic, with most of the tracks on a cliff overlooking untouched beaches. Before we knew it, we were in Santa Barbara. Train travel is very relaxing and if you have the time and are okay with delays that may double the length of the trip, I highly recommend it.

We had one day in Santa Barbara to hang out with my parents and take care of a couple things. Sadly my camera lens stopped functioning towards the end of the train ride, but miraculously, I had bought my camera exactly 355 days before it broke so the one year warranty was still good! Even more miraculously, with all the chaos of leaving Chicago, I just happened to put my camera warranty and receipt in a box we shipped to Santa Barbara (I had originally put it in a bag for the car ride to Groton, MA but remember incorrectly thinking that the warranty was up, so I may as well ship the instructions/warranty/etc to SB since there is no way I’d need it before getting back from South America). The camera was successfully fixed (yay for Panasonic for holding true on their warranty) and is currently being shipped back to Groton, MA.

The next morning we were back on an Amtrak train headed for San Diego. This was only a 5 hour ride (driving is about 3 hours). We took the 7 am train, so it was pretty empty and I could lounge out and take a nap. Around LA I woke up because the train started filling up with LA-types. However, I passed the time by making friends with a little inch worm we found crawling on the window. I put him in my leftover carrot bag, intending to let him out when we got to San Diego. However, I put him in my purse and forgot about him until a few days later. Fortunately, there had been a few droplets of water in the bag, so he managed to survive, and I found him a new home a safe distance away from Dave and Brodie’s house.

I had intended to write about our San Diego trip in this post, but I got a little carried away with Amtrak tales. I guess I’ll have to save San Diego for my next post.

The Trip Begins!

We just left Chicago yesterday, and already are trip has been full of adventures! We had so much stuff to bring with us, we had to fill every inch of the car, including a cooler on the passenger's lap! Our noon departure time turned into a 4pm departure, but fortunately traffic wasn't too bad. It was pouring rain in Indiana, but we taped the left side of the car shut and things stayed pretty dry. A few days before our trip we noticed that the dashboard lights were not functioning so as it got dark, we periodically used a flashlight to check our speed, car temperature, and gasoline level.

The craziest part of our drive to New York happened while passing through Ohio. We had heard that Ohio cops were strict (especially towards cars with IL plates) so Dan was very careful to stay under 70 in the 65 zone. However, despite our efforts, the first cop we passed pulled us over! He asked us how fast we were going, and Dan very nicely told him that we couldn't have been going much over 65 because he had set the cruise control. The cop laughed and said he actually had no idea how fast we were going, but that he had pulled us over only because our back lights were out! He said it was probably just a broken fuse because both lights were out and the break lights worked fine. He suspected we were speeding because Dan had slammed on the breaks when he saw him. Dan joked that doesn't everyone do that when they see the police, and the cop was amused. He advised that we pull into a rest stop and try and fix the lights, but that if we couldn't get them back on, we should drive with our emergency flashers to the nearest hotel and wait to continue our trip during daylight. Fortunately, we managed to figure out the fuses and even found the right size replacement fuse in one of the spare slots! Fixing the taillights also fixed the dashboard lights.

We were back on the road in about 45 minutes, and managed to make it to Hanford Bay shortly after 2 am. Since then we've been enjoying the company of Dan's aunt and uncle and soaking in the beauty and relaxing atmosphere of Hanford Bay.