So the plan was I was supposed to take the Surfliner 785 to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles on January 11th evening. Then I was to transfer to a bus from there to Emeryville to meet the California Zephyr. But the day before I was to leave I got a text and email saying that the train was canceled. It was due to the heavy rains along the coast of California. So I scrambled to get a another way to get to Emeryville. I called Amtrak guest rewards and was on hold for over 2 and 1/2 hours. I never did get through. Meanwhile, after about 2 hours I called Amtrak directly I was put on hold for maybe 10 minutes at most. They were able to change my ticket so that I took the 9:15 AM bus from LA to Bakersfield and then the train from there to Emeryville. Next I'd take a bus across the bay to San Francisco. But that meant getting to La by 9:00 AM instead of getting to LA by 7:00 PM the following day. So I got up early and took the 6:00 AM Metrolink from Perris to downtown LA, arriving approximately at 8:00 AM. After I arrived, I went to the Amtrak ticket area and asked where I would meet the bus going to Bakersfield. I was told that it was in front of the Metropolitan Water District building, right next door. So I went out the doors of Union station and went over in front of that building. There was a security guard there and I asked her if this was the right place. She said no, the buses have been picking people up on the other side of the station. So I walked over there and sure enough there was a bus that arrived as I walked over there and we lined up to get on the bus. The bus was pretty much full. The seats weren't uncomfortable for the 2 hour ride to Bakersfield but at that point I was glad I wasn't going to be on it for 8 hours as originally planned. When I made my reservation to go by train and then an 8 hour bus ride I was thinking that 8 hours would not be too bad on a bus. Granted I had not been on a bus for a long distance in 40 years. I had no trouble in my early twenties sleeping on a bus but the bus that I rode from LA to Bakersfield would have been a little bit hard to sleep on. I'm sure I could have slept but it was not the most comfortable for an 8 hour ride. We arrived in Emeryville a few minutes late. I took the bus across the bay and I spent the night at my sister's in San Francisco. I met my daughter and son in law there who were to accompany me on the rest of the trip to New York City.
The following morning we took the bus back to Emeryville. Our train started about 40 minutes late because there was some problem with the dining room door closing. I was supposed to be across the hall from my daughter and son-in-law. That was what the AGR agent told me when I got the ticket back in November. I had the agent the information about my daughter's car and room at that time. When we got on I could see that we were not across the hall from each other but more Kitty corner. My daughter went to the car attendant, Stefan, and he was able to rearrange the room so we were across from each other. The sleeper was not full but probably about 75% of the roomettes were occupied in our car. I might add that Stefan was very cheerful and helpful throughout the entire trip. So we got a little bit of a late start and ventured through the Sierras for some lovely views. We saw some deer and also saw a mountain lion track. Several people saw that and we all found that pretty neat. We continued on the next day and as we went along the Colorado River. I could see that in some places it was completely frozen over. Most places there was ice of varying amounts but there were several places where it was completely frozen over. We saw some elk by the river and some elk cross the river, walking across the ice and snow to the other side. When we stopped in Winter Park it was rather nippy in the low 20s I believe. I was going to get out but when I saw how much snow there was I thought it's too cold and I didn't want to slip on it. We continued on running about 2 hours late much of the time but arriving in Chicago 1 hour late. We had a five hour layover which I spent mostly in the Metropolitan lounge. I did venture around the station a little bit outside and went to Giordano's for dinner, which was very good.
When we got on the Lake Shore limited our rooms were next to each other, not across from each other. My daughter asked that car attendant if there was any way that we could be rearranged so we are across from each other and she was emphatically told no. It was a bit odd because some trains missed their connection that day and in our car we probably had three or four roomettes filled out of a dozen or so. We compared the response to what Stefan was able to do for us with a train.. We were invited to visit the dining car for some kind of snack or dessert. The dining car staff and car attendant discussed how they didn't like some of the public and other things that they probably shouldn't have discussed so close to where the public could hear what they were saying. I didn't care for flex dining much. The food wasn't terrible but it was a big step down from the food we had on the California Zephyr. Also, just the way the food is brought to the table was not at all appetizing. It reminded me of TV dinners when I was a child. We arrived at Penn station in New York on time and I went to my daughter's apartment where I stayed for close to a week.
When I was in new York, I took the train to Washington DC for a day. You might look at the other post to see how that trip started. Regional 183
The original train was canceled after we got on it and we boarded another train. I was in business class and almost missed the train because I didn't know to get on the first possible car rather than get on the correct car, which happened to be the last car on the train. The trip to Washington was fine and the return trip went well too.
I took the Lake Shore limited back to Chicago. I was a bit surprised to see the same dining car person that had talked about the public on this train. I should mention that I spent a little bit of time in the Metropolitan lounge in New York Penn station and it was wonderful. The food was very good and there were lots of choices on what to eat. The train ride to Chicago was uneventful, arriving on time. I walked around a bit when I got Chicago. It was in the 30s or so: not too awful cold. I took the Southwest Chief back to Riverside. My car attendant was Brandon who was very good and very helpful. The dining car person named Lisa was very good as well. The trip back wasn't quite as much fun because I was all by myself instead of traveling with my daughter and son-in-law. But it was an enjoyable trip nevertheless.
The following morning we took the bus back to Emeryville. Our train started about 40 minutes late because there was some problem with the dining room door closing. I was supposed to be across the hall from my daughter and son-in-law. That was what the AGR agent told me when I got the ticket back in November. I had the agent the information about my daughter's car and room at that time. When we got on I could see that we were not across the hall from each other but more Kitty corner. My daughter went to the car attendant, Stefan, and he was able to rearrange the room so we were across from each other. The sleeper was not full but probably about 75% of the roomettes were occupied in our car. I might add that Stefan was very cheerful and helpful throughout the entire trip. So we got a little bit of a late start and ventured through the Sierras for some lovely views. We saw some deer and also saw a mountain lion track. Several people saw that and we all found that pretty neat. We continued on the next day and as we went along the Colorado River. I could see that in some places it was completely frozen over. Most places there was ice of varying amounts but there were several places where it was completely frozen over. We saw some elk by the river and some elk cross the river, walking across the ice and snow to the other side. When we stopped in Winter Park it was rather nippy in the low 20s I believe. I was going to get out but when I saw how much snow there was I thought it's too cold and I didn't want to slip on it. We continued on running about 2 hours late much of the time but arriving in Chicago 1 hour late. We had a five hour layover which I spent mostly in the Metropolitan lounge. I did venture around the station a little bit outside and went to Giordano's for dinner, which was very good.
When we got on the Lake Shore limited our rooms were next to each other, not across from each other. My daughter asked that car attendant if there was any way that we could be rearranged so we are across from each other and she was emphatically told no. It was a bit odd because some trains missed their connection that day and in our car we probably had three or four roomettes filled out of a dozen or so. We compared the response to what Stefan was able to do for us with a train.. We were invited to visit the dining car for some kind of snack or dessert. The dining car staff and car attendant discussed how they didn't like some of the public and other things that they probably shouldn't have discussed so close to where the public could hear what they were saying. I didn't care for flex dining much. The food wasn't terrible but it was a big step down from the food we had on the California Zephyr. Also, just the way the food is brought to the table was not at all appetizing. It reminded me of TV dinners when I was a child. We arrived at Penn station in New York on time and I went to my daughter's apartment where I stayed for close to a week.
When I was in new York, I took the train to Washington DC for a day. You might look at the other post to see how that trip started. Regional 183
The original train was canceled after we got on it and we boarded another train. I was in business class and almost missed the train because I didn't know to get on the first possible car rather than get on the correct car, which happened to be the last car on the train. The trip to Washington was fine and the return trip went well too.
I took the Lake Shore limited back to Chicago. I was a bit surprised to see the same dining car person that had talked about the public on this train. I should mention that I spent a little bit of time in the Metropolitan lounge in New York Penn station and it was wonderful. The food was very good and there were lots of choices on what to eat. The train ride to Chicago was uneventful, arriving on time. I walked around a bit when I got Chicago. It was in the 30s or so: not too awful cold. I took the Southwest Chief back to Riverside. My car attendant was Brandon who was very good and very helpful. The dining car person named Lisa was very good as well. The trip back wasn't quite as much fun because I was all by myself instead of traveling with my daughter and son-in-law. But it was an enjoyable trip nevertheless.
