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It is over 100º so we have been hanging out at Panera today. I brought the laptop and my travel notes from our San Francisco vacation and finally transcribed everything. You better go to the restroom first and get an iced tea. This will take a while.
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Sheri and I just got back from a vacation to San Francisco, and we got there and back via an Amtrak sleeper car. We actually spent more time on the train than in San Francisco, but that was the idea; getting there was part of the vacation. Also, because of rumblings from Congress about cutting funding for Amtrak we were worried that if we didn't take the Amtrak trip now we might never be able to.
The big overview of the trip is:
1. A nice relaxing train ride to give us time to decompress and enjoy doing nothing and each other.
2. Stay with friends in San Bruno and see the San Francisco sights.
3. Repeat step one, but in the other direction.
Here is a detailed day-by-day account of our vacation:
Saturday April 30
Our good friend Emily picked us up at home around 11:00 AM and drove us to the local commuter train station. We then took the commuter train to Union Station. Our local station is also an Amtrak station, but we couldn't board there because there is no checked bag service here and we needed to check a big bag. It weighed 47 pounds!
Because we had never ridden Amtrak we wanted to get there on the early side in case there were any unexpected events that might stop us up. As it turned out the check-in process was very smooth and fast. We had our tickets within five minutes of arriving at the Amtrak counter. Therefore we had two hours to kill before boarding.
Traveling in a sleeper car automatically bumps you up to first class status. First class passengers can use the Metropolitan Lounge in Union Station. Very nice. First and foremost you don't have to deal with as many people. The normal waiting room can have lots of screaming kids, unsavory types, etc. The Metropolitan Lounge is carpeted, has dark wood paneling throughout, big comfortable easy chairs and couches, nice clean restrooms not open to the public, free fountain drinks, coffee, tea, and assorted muffins. There were also two plasma sets with CNN on. I was in heaven! We could also check our carry-on bags behind the counter so we were free to walk around and not have to carry our bags everywhere. I went upstairs and got a chardog and fries from Gold Coast Hot Dogs while we were waiting.
Our train was scheduled to depart at 1:50 PM. They lined us up to board at 1:20 PM. We quickly got to our room on the upper level. Most of the rooms are on the upper level. There are two large handicap accessible rooms on the lower level as well as two or three smaller rooms. There are also three extra restrooms on the lower level and the shower stall.
On the upper level there is one restroom. There is also an urn of coffee available 24 hours a day as well as orange, apple, and cranberry juice, bottled water, and ice. This is all complimentary in the sleeper cars. Coach passengers must purchase these in the lounge car.
We had what is called a roomette. It has two large chairs that face each other and collapse into one bunk. The second bunk folds down from the ceiling. Even with the upper bunk in the down position I could still sit upright in the seats below.
We had four carry-on bags. We could shove three of them under the seats and the fourth we hung from a coat hook.
Our first meal on the train was dinner. I had a New York strip steak and Sheri had the lamb shank. Both were pretty good. We ate with a father and his college freshman son that were taking Amtrak around the US for two weeks. They were from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. The dad, Howard, was retired from Michigan Tech, and son, Ryan, was pre-med there. We enjoyed their company.
They were showing The Incredibles in the lounge car at 8:00 PM, but the sound was bad and the picture was full of static so we went to bed a little before 9:00 PM.
Sunday May 1
We woke up early in Denver; I think around 7 AM. We had a one hour stop and I was excited about seeing what I could of the city, so we got dressed and off the train as soon as it stopped. It was snowing which was kind of neat because it was May. The station was right next to Coors Field which was also cool. It looked like we were in a really neat part of the city, kind of like the Short North area in Columbus only a lot bigger and more stuff, but because it was so early and on a Sunday nothing was open. We stood in front of the station for a couple of minutes and then just walked back to the train for breakfast. Oh well.
I had the Tuscan Omelet and Sheri had the Railroad French toast. Chunky stewed tomatoes with oregano made it Tuscan. It also had onions, green peppers and I think mushrooms and cheese. It would have been better with out the Italian flavored tomatoes. Sheri's French toast was room temperature. Very disappointing.
We sat with a couple that just loves train rides. He carried a scanner with him all over the train listening to anything the engineer and conductor were saying. He had it with him at the breakfast table too. They have taken a three-week train vacation every year for the last several years. They start in Florida where they are from and just criss-cross the country. We thought they were both very dorky and just made for each other.
David our car steward picked up Sunday papers in Denver and we spent the rest of our Sunday morning reading the Denver Post in the lounge car watching the scenery rolling by. Very relaxing.
The landscape on the east side of the Moffat Tunnel is the most amazing I have ever seen. It had just snowed so all of the huge pine trees were covered in thick snow. The cliffs, both above us and below us were almost vertical. It was so beautiful it didn't look real; like we were actually riding in someone's model railroad that went a little overboard with the decorations.
Because it was so curvy I don't think we went faster than 10 mph the whole hour before we approached the tunnel. The ledge that the track was on was not much wider than the train itself. Maybe 30 feet. There were trip wires along this entire portion of the route to detect landslides. If a bolder breaks through a trip wire, a warning is instantly sent to the main dispatch office so they can stop all traffic in the area and get a crew out there to clear debris and fix the tracks.
The Moffat tunnel is over six miles long and took about 10 minutes to go through. Pitch black inside; no lights. The announced before we entered the tunnel not to go from car to car in order to keep the diesel exhaust from entering the cars.
For lunch I had a black angus steak burger and Sheri had a prime rib sandwich. The hamburger was just average. Sheri's prime rib was a thin slice of prime rib on a hard roll. The prime rib was far from being rare, and little salty, but because it was so thin it was not too overpowering. It was OK too. We ate with a father and son again from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The son was on spring break and this was their first long train trip. They were going to make stops in cities along the way. Spend a few days, and then continue on. Howard, the dad, was an administrator at a college, and I think he said he was partially retired, although he looked to young to be retired. The son was going to the same school his dad works or worked and is pre-med. We really enjoyed their company. Really nice people.
After lunch I decided to take my first shower on-board. It was a little difficult because the train is always moving and you are trying to keep your balance and keep from crashing into the sides of the shower. It felt really good though and I was very refreshed afterwards. A nice Sunday so far.
For dinner we ate with an older woman named Harriet that was riding in coach. She was returning from visiting her daughter in Iowa. She was very nice. I think she lived in a small town in Utah. I had turkey medallions for dinner and Sheri had roast turkey. The turkey was good, but Sheri's chicken was on the dry side.
Monday May 2
We woke up and had breakfast though Nevada. We ate with an older couple from St. Louis. At first I thought they would be really annoying. It turned out that they were not annoying, but I wouldn't want to spend too much time with them. Not sure what it was. Maybe a little shallow. We each had two eggs and grits. Good hearty breakfast. The steward picked up the USA Today newspaper in Reno for us. Sheri took a shower after breakfast in anticipation of seeing Addy that afternoon.
We ate lunch while riding through the Sierra Nevada's with Homer and his daughter Polly. Homer was a chaplain in World War 2. He was very old and frail but seemed pretty sharp. He was in the process of writing a book about his life, experiences, lessons, etc. for the main purpose of something to pass on to his grandchildren. He said a blessing before we ate. He told us some stories from the war. Very enjoyable. Polly was a little hard to read. I thought I heard one of them mention that she was in education, and because Homer was doing all of the talking I asked what she did for a living. She just pointed to Homer. I kind of made a "What do you mean face." She said that since Homer's wife died all she does is take care of Homer. We weren't sure, but we think she kind of resented it, and was maybe a little tired of hearing Homer tell everyone his stories. They were taking a three week or longer train trip around the country too.
The Sierra Nevada's were just stunning. We had to go very slow because of all the twists and turns. I've never seen anything like it.
I took another shower so I would be fresh for the afternoon. We arrived at our destination Emeryville, CA that afternoon eight minutes ahead of schedule. Amazing.
Addy was there waiting for us. We were walking around the campus of U.C. Berkeley within 15 minutes of getting into Addy's car! The first thing we did was go to the campus bookstore so I could get a UCB t-shirt. Then we had an apple-and-cheddar crepe at Crepe-A-Go-Go. Crepe places are all over the place in California. It was very good. The crepes out there are more similar to tortillas that what I am used to. We ate it like an ice cream cone.
Then we went to Bongo Burger and had some of the best falafel I have ever had, and a Persian burger. We found these places in one of the tour books that Sheri brought along on the train. Sheri hadn't had an iced coffee in a few days so we stopped and took care of her fix at a little coffee shop. I could have spent a lot more time walking around there. I loved the vibe the place and the people had. I can't explain it. Just very cool.
I was really excited about driving through San Francisco. We had to drive over the Bay Bridge. The Bay Bridge goes over Treasure Island which used to be a military base. People live on there now. We were heading back to Addy and Jeff's house during rush hour. I think the traffic was similar to Chicago's freeway rush hour traffic. Fast and heavy.
We spent the rest of the evening just sitting with them in their living room catching up and playing with their two adorable pugs. I was covered in pug hair at the end of the night from all of the pug love I got.
Tuesday May 3
Jeff and Addy both took off work Tuesday to show us around. Addy works for Oracle and Jeff works for Comcast. Jeff drove us all into the city. We started at Castro which is the main gay area. For breakfast Sheri and I split a chili rellano and a tamale. It was OK. I've had better. A little bit later we stopped at Tom's Peasant Pies, a place that Sheri read about in a tour book. It was WONDERFUL. We split a spinach, feta, cheddar pie.
We got back in the car and drove to the Mission which is the big Mexican area. We stopped at a Mexican bakery and got some cookies and things. Went to a taquira and got a very good pork taco and chips and salsa. Then we walked one block over to Valencia Street. We just walked up and down looking at a lot of neat little shops.
Got back in the car and drove to Haight-Ashbury. That is the hippy place where the Grateful Dead hung out. Very cool. Went into a lot of head shops. I was looking for the five Grateful Dead teddy bears marching on a white t-shirt and nothing else. I couldn't find it though. Everything was tie died or had a lot of extra graphics that I didn't like.
For dinner we were going to meet up with a couple of their good friends at a sushi place called Toyko A-Go-Go. We got there early and sat at the bar for a couple hours and talked and relaxed until their friends got there.
For dessert we walked to a place that they said was supposed to have the best crepes evar. They were pretty good. Sheri and I split a banana and Nutella crepe.
Wednesday May 4
Today was our 9 year anniversary! Jeff and Addy both had to work so we were on our own. Addy dropped us off at the BART station before she went to work and we rode the train into the city.
We got downtown and walked just a couple blocks to the Powell Street cable car stop. I didn't really think much about the cable cars before I got there other than it is something we have to do just because that's what you have to do when you visit there. It was the highlight of the day if not the trip. It is so cool. It is a great way to see the city. It is scary going up and down the hills though. It is amazing how steep they are. It just seems like it is going to go out of control down the hill. It can't stop on a hill to let people on and off; it has to be flat. The hills only flatten out at intersections, so the cable cars stop right in the middle of intersections to let people on and off. That felt really weird. It is probably a 20 minute ride from Powell Street to Fisherman's Wharf and you really get to see a lot of the city. We went by Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. We snaked through their China Town. I think we went through their financial district. I don't think it goes faster than maybe 20 mph, so it is very relaxing. We sat up front facing out. Our feet almost dangling in traffic. If you sit in the back you are enclosed by glass. Don't site there.
When we got to Fisherman's Wharf it was lightly misting, so the first thing we did was stop and get me a baseball cap. I hate it when my glasses get rain-spattered and my vision is obscured. Then we stopped at the famous Boudin's bakery for breakfast. We each had a sourdough roll with butter and I had a Diet Coke.
Then we walked over and got our tickets to go to Alcatraz. Make sure you get your tickets early because it sells out fast. After we got our tickets we walked to the famous Pier 39. We split a spinach and cheese crepe. After that Sheri got an iced coffee. We walked over to the famous sunbathing sea lions and watched them for probably 20 minutes. We went to the Candy Barron and got an assortment of salt water taffy to snack on while at Alcatraz.
We walked back over to the boat docks to get in line for our scheduled boat trip. They don't tell you this when you buy your tickets, but when the boat drops you off on Alcatraz you have to walk up a long curving road that has a 130 foot rise. That is like walking up a 13 story building.
The first thing we did after walking up the big grade was stop in the theater. They had a 15 minute film loop that gave a lot of neat background history. They also had one of the inmates there that wrote a book about his experience. His name was Darwin Coon.
They have an excellent audio tour that costs a few dollars extra, but if you don't get it you won't know what you are looking at. Very good. Highly recommended. People that didn't have the audio tour looked kind of confused stumbling around.
After we were done with the audio tour we sat outside on a bench for half an hour just watching the Bay and San Francisco and listened to a park ranger talking about the lighthouse that was next to us. It was misting off and on.
We made our way back across the bay and it was lunch time. One thing that all of the tour books talk about is a walking crab cocktail. There must be 30 little booths and restaurants where for $5 you can get a little cup of freshly steamed Dungeness crab with a little cocktail sauce. I was all ready to gorge myself silly on crab. The only problem was that Dungeness crab doesn't have much flavor. It is nothing like snow crab or king crab. Oh well, I tried it.
One thing we wanted to try in California was an In-N-Out burger. We had heard of a lot of celebrities talking about In-N-Out so we had to see what the fuss was about. There happened to be one near Fisherman's Wharf so we went and tried one. They were good, but not as good as a Fat Burger. We thought it was similar to a Frisch's Big Boy only a lot better, if that makes any sense. We were tired and my back hurt so we sat there for a while.
After that we just wandered around the Fisherman's Wharf area holding hands. Nice. After a while we needed a snack so we stopped back at Boudin's. We had another couple of sour dough rolls and butter. Sheri had a chocolate muffin and I had an oatmeal cookie. While we were sitting in their outside patio eating our snack it started to rain pretty hard. We were under an awning so it was really nice. When it started to let up we picked up a couple of sourdough baguettes for dinner and headed back to the cable car.
There was a long line for the cable cars, and a car left the station only every 20 minutes or so. Then it started to rain hard again, and there was nothing to stand under, so we just stood there for over an hour and got soaked. Sheri did a pretty good job of keeping the bread dry under her windbreaker.
We finally got on the cable car for a nice relaxing ride back in the rain. At one point we picked up a 40+ year old guy and his mom. There were no seats so they just stood on the running board. The mom was standing between my legs. She was really fun. She said she always wanted to do that and to yell "Yahoo!" as the car crested a hill, so I said do it, and she did.
Jeff and Addy picked us up back at the BART station and then we stopped at the grocery store to get some steaks and corn on the cob for dinner.
That night we just ate dinner, watched TV, and gave the pugs a bath with some coal tar shampoo. They were really itchy and we told them that coal tar shampoo was the only thing that helped Goliath's sensitive skin, so they picked some up and gave it a try. It worked for them.
Thursday May 5
Jeff and Addy took another day off from work again. The first thing we did was drive to Pacifica. We got some coffee on a pier and walked along the beach for a bit looking at the ocean.
Then we drove to a BART station and took the train into the city again. We went to the Ferry Building. This is kind of like a huge North Market in Columbus but more upscale. We went to a really nice Mexican restaurant. Sheri and I split a pork taco and a masa quesadilla, and a flan for dessert. Excellent.
Then Jeff and I split a 7 caviar sampler at a caviar restaurant. The best I ever had. The Jeff and I split an oyster sampler at an oyster bar. There were three different kinds and they were the most delicious flavorful sweet amazing oysters I have ever had. Then Sheri and I split a gelato. We got one scoop of coffee and one scoop of caramel. Again, delicious.
We washed that down with a cup of coffee from Peet's Coffee. There was a chocolate store that had the biggest chocolate samples I have ever seen. From the couple that I had and the couple that Sheri gave me I probably ate $3 in chocolate.
From the Ferry Building we walked through downtown San Francisco. We ended up in Union Square just sitting and watching people go by for a while.
We walked into a huge fancy mall and that is where I bought my Faber Castell mechanical pencil, and then had a snack from a pizza place.
We took BART back to the Mission and had iced tea at a sidewalk café. Then we went to a nice restaurant called Luna Park and Sheri and I split an amazing order of mushroom ravioli. The tastes were unbelievable.
We went to a poetry reading that a friend of Sheri's was in. Interesting. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Then we got home late and packed for our return trip to Chicago.
Friday May 6
We left the house at 6:30 AM. We stopped at Walgreen's first to pick up a few things:
Newspaper
Time magazine
Mouthwash
Safety pins (the curtains in our cabin on the way out wouldn't stay closed)
Shampoo
Tablet of paper so I could write these notes down
We got to the station at 7 AM, but our train didn’t leave until 9:15 AM. Sheri said she saw a Starbucks on the way there and she wanted to go get some iced coffee. It turned out that it was 8 blocks away. I was starting to get really nervous because it was taking her so long. We each had an iced coffee and split some banana walnut coffee cake and some blueberry coffee cake.
One we got on the train I started writing my trip notes in my tablet with my new pencil.
For lunch I had a pot roast pot pie and Sheri had cheese quiche. Both were really good. We split a piece of apple pie with ice cream for dessert. We ate with a San Francisco couple that was going to Reno to visit family. She worked for the San Francisco Park Department in charge of the 5 gardeners for the 20 parks.
After lunch we went back to our cabin where I got my trip notes caught up.
The bathroom on our car this time had a window. Our car going west did not have a window. Every time I went in there someone kept closing the curtains tight even though we are going through desolate countryside and desert. I liked watching the scenery roll by while I was in there.
We got to Reno at 4 PM and had a crew change. The cabin stewards stay with us the whole trip, but the engineers swap out.
We had 7:15 PM dinner reservations. We ate with a New Zealand couple that were heading to Boulder, Colorado. He was a rowing coach and somehow got a 6 month job at the university there coaching their rowing team. I had two pork shanks and Sheri had the chicken marsala. They had catfish on the menu and the Kiwis made a big fuss about how awful that would be to eat and they definitely wouldn't be trying that. I told them about how we have catfish farms in the US and they are fed a diet of corn, and they are not wild-caught muck eating catfish, and how catfish is extremely mild and sweet. I eventually talked them into it and they really really liked it.
After dinner Sheri watched a movie in the lounge car with four kids that adopted her. Their ages were 4, 5, 7, and 9. Three brother and one sister. They were riding from Reno to their new home in Nebraska.
I went back to our compartment and read my book "The Devil in the White City."
Saturday May 7
We skipped breakfast. We read the "Desert News" newspaper from Salt Lake City.
For lunch we ate with two old ladies from Colorado. I had the grilled chicken sandwich and Sheri had a turkey and Swiss sandwich.
I took a shower at 3:30 PM.
We had 6 PM dinner reservations. We ate with a software trainer from San Francisco that was going to Manhattan to train some people on his company's product. He said their product is similar to Crystal Reports. He said he doesn't fly anymore. Hates it. Loves taking the train and he can get a lot of work done. I had country fried steak and Sheri had the pasta primavera.
At 7 PM we arrived in Denver. I got out and stretched my legs for a half hour.
There was a guy in the compartment next to ours that was watching movies on his laptop. He had the volume up too loud and I couldn't concentrate on my book or take naps. I finally asked him if he could please turn it down. A little bit later when I was somewhere else on the train he stopped by to say he was sorry again. Turns out he was a gay guy that just broke up with his boyfriend and just needed to get away, so he was taking the train to Chicago for a while. He and Sheri hit it off and did a lot of talking the rest of the trip.
Sunday May 8 (Mother's Day)
Sheri got up early and showered. I had the Mediterranean omelet. Sheri had eggs and grits.
For most of the trip we didn't have cell phone reception. We had to wait until we pulled into a decent sized city before we had cell phone reception. We kept looking to see how many bars we had on my phone when we pulled in so we could call our moms for Mother's day.
We arrived back in Union Station about 2 PM. We took the commuter train from there back to our city where Sheri's friend picked us up. It was good to be home.
Miscellaneous
For snacks we packed:
Beef jerky
Almond, cashew, and cranberry trail mix
Pistachios
These little red and black chewy raspberry candies with a light floral taste we like.
Luna bars
Peanut butter filled pretzels
Gum
I wore slippers around the train most of the time.
The trains top speed was 79 mph
The train had in this order:
2 engines
1 baggage car
3 sleepers
1 dining car
1 lounge car
2-3 coach class cars
The dining portion of the dining car was on the upper level and the galley was on the lower level. There is a dumb waiter to move meals and dirty dishes between the two levels.
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