johnny.menhennet
Conductor
I am writing this little trip report from Sunday, February 5th.
Here is a general timeline of the day:
6:34A: scientist (Craig) and Golden grrl (Anne) get off of the SWC at Fullerton. They purchase their tickets in the station and hurry to the far platform
6:44: aforementioned members get on the southbound PacSurf
7:26: arrive at San Juan Capistrano
7:26-9:28: drop off stuff at hotel, get a cup of coffee, other things I'm not quite sure of
8:40: johnny.menhennet (ME!) gets on PacSurf 567 in SOL
9:30: I arrive 4 minutes late into SJC, meet up with Anne and Craig
9:45: after walking around the periphery of the mission, we enter the compound (thank you Craig for covering my admission!)
P.S. the mission is, IMHO, the very best of the 22 missions California has to offer
until 12:30: We tour the mission. Whether it be the remains of a church built in 1791, a cemetary with up to 2,000 native americans, the chapel (gold-plated altar, extremely beautiful), or the lush native gardens, it is all very fascinating and it never fails to be impressive.
12:10: We have someone take a picture of the three of us at one of the many stone fountains, hopefully Craig will post it soon; I'm not sure if their x-country loop is done yet.
12:40: Leaving the mission, we go to an outdoor Mexican restaurant. The food is all great and cheap; I had fish tacos, which were exceptionally good.
1:25: We walk to the other side of the tracks just to see what is there, but it turns out that there really isn't anything other than a petting zoo I used to go to when I was little.
1:35: Retracing our steps, we walk up past the mission again to see the "first post-modern" building, which is the San Juan Cap library.
1:45: We went down to a park, found a picnic table, and I was shown some slide shows of past trips just for fun.
comment: Now this is where the schedule changes from January affected me. It would have been nice to get on the train that left LA at 2:00P but it was cancelled entirely and now there is a 2:35 minute gap in service. Grrrrr...
2:15: We head to a Starbucks, where we all get fruit smoothies and lounge in the AC'ed spot (the temp outside is perfect though. It was probably around 73 degrees all day).
2:45: Strolling around town, just checking out all of the buildings, architecture, etc. and talking about trains.
3:15: We meander back to the opposite side of the tracks, and just sit in the shade and talk. Catching up with everything new since April and reminiscing about past trips, past AU threads, and everything is relaxing.
3:50: We go to the platform to await my 4:14 train to SOL. I'm glad I ended up staying this long. Continuing to chat while awaiting my train, I'm super glad I was able to see Anne and Craig again. They really are great people. Something that really surprises all of us are the people on the tracks. There were multiple people running across the tracks (not at the crosswalk) and walking up and down them right in front of the station, and they did not even get off that fast when the gates went down.
4:30: My train comes in almost 20 minutes late, and I board in BC. I used the one-class upgrade coupon that boxcar817 (Tracy) was kind enough to send to me. A station agent in Solana Beach (I do not remember the name) had that morning given me the upgrade for the short 45 minute ride for the roundtrip.
5:25: I arrive almost half an hour late into SOL. We are being pulled by the big boxy engine (I do not recall the exact type) in the same consist that pulled me up there. I was surprised with the train rides overall. The car was the most quiet train car I had ever ridden in, and the ride was exceedingly smooth. However, I felt that the engine might have had some restrictions. We not once went faster than the cars on the 5 through Camp Pendleton, which we usually exceed by 10-15 mph.
Overall, I had an incredible day with my friends, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We barely missed Davy Crockett, who was in Southern California from Virginia just like Anne and Craig, but opted to visit SOL!!!!! and instead had a great day there, which I do not fault him for
I know that Golden grrl referenced it somewhere else in AU in the last couple of days, but we were talking about possibly getting together in New Jersey in April, when I will be there. They will (If they can find time) ride up to have a lunch or something similar on Friday the 13th or probably Saturday the 14th, if I can get my dad to agree to let me spend time to see them. I will be staying in South Orange with my best friend in the world, who moved out there just a year or so ago. If anybody else can get something possibly organized, I will see what I can do to attend any mini-gathering or just meal with other members. Thanks for taking the time to read about our 3-person micro-gathering!!!
Johnny Menhennet
Here is a general timeline of the day:
6:34A: scientist (Craig) and Golden grrl (Anne) get off of the SWC at Fullerton. They purchase their tickets in the station and hurry to the far platform
6:44: aforementioned members get on the southbound PacSurf
7:26: arrive at San Juan Capistrano
7:26-9:28: drop off stuff at hotel, get a cup of coffee, other things I'm not quite sure of
8:40: johnny.menhennet (ME!) gets on PacSurf 567 in SOL
9:30: I arrive 4 minutes late into SJC, meet up with Anne and Craig
9:45: after walking around the periphery of the mission, we enter the compound (thank you Craig for covering my admission!)
P.S. the mission is, IMHO, the very best of the 22 missions California has to offer
until 12:30: We tour the mission. Whether it be the remains of a church built in 1791, a cemetary with up to 2,000 native americans, the chapel (gold-plated altar, extremely beautiful), or the lush native gardens, it is all very fascinating and it never fails to be impressive.
12:10: We have someone take a picture of the three of us at one of the many stone fountains, hopefully Craig will post it soon; I'm not sure if their x-country loop is done yet.
12:40: Leaving the mission, we go to an outdoor Mexican restaurant. The food is all great and cheap; I had fish tacos, which were exceptionally good.
1:25: We walk to the other side of the tracks just to see what is there, but it turns out that there really isn't anything other than a petting zoo I used to go to when I was little.
1:35: Retracing our steps, we walk up past the mission again to see the "first post-modern" building, which is the San Juan Cap library.
1:45: We went down to a park, found a picnic table, and I was shown some slide shows of past trips just for fun.
comment: Now this is where the schedule changes from January affected me. It would have been nice to get on the train that left LA at 2:00P but it was cancelled entirely and now there is a 2:35 minute gap in service. Grrrrr...
2:15: We head to a Starbucks, where we all get fruit smoothies and lounge in the AC'ed spot (the temp outside is perfect though. It was probably around 73 degrees all day).
2:45: Strolling around town, just checking out all of the buildings, architecture, etc. and talking about trains.
3:15: We meander back to the opposite side of the tracks, and just sit in the shade and talk. Catching up with everything new since April and reminiscing about past trips, past AU threads, and everything is relaxing.
3:50: We go to the platform to await my 4:14 train to SOL. I'm glad I ended up staying this long. Continuing to chat while awaiting my train, I'm super glad I was able to see Anne and Craig again. They really are great people. Something that really surprises all of us are the people on the tracks. There were multiple people running across the tracks (not at the crosswalk) and walking up and down them right in front of the station, and they did not even get off that fast when the gates went down.
4:30: My train comes in almost 20 minutes late, and I board in BC. I used the one-class upgrade coupon that boxcar817 (Tracy) was kind enough to send to me. A station agent in Solana Beach (I do not remember the name) had that morning given me the upgrade for the short 45 minute ride for the roundtrip.
5:25: I arrive almost half an hour late into SOL. We are being pulled by the big boxy engine (I do not recall the exact type) in the same consist that pulled me up there. I was surprised with the train rides overall. The car was the most quiet train car I had ever ridden in, and the ride was exceedingly smooth. However, I felt that the engine might have had some restrictions. We not once went faster than the cars on the 5 through Camp Pendleton, which we usually exceed by 10-15 mph.
Overall, I had an incredible day with my friends, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We barely missed Davy Crockett, who was in Southern California from Virginia just like Anne and Craig, but opted to visit SOL!!!!! and instead had a great day there, which I do not fault him for
I know that Golden grrl referenced it somewhere else in AU in the last couple of days, but we were talking about possibly getting together in New Jersey in April, when I will be there. They will (If they can find time) ride up to have a lunch or something similar on Friday the 13th or probably Saturday the 14th, if I can get my dad to agree to let me spend time to see them. I will be staying in South Orange with my best friend in the world, who moved out there just a year or so ago. If anybody else can get something possibly organized, I will see what I can do to attend any mini-gathering or just meal with other members. Thanks for taking the time to read about our 3-person micro-gathering!!!
Johnny Menhennet
