in praise of Amtrak

We've really enjoyed our trips on Amtrak trains. They have been on time at beginning and end, have pleasant, helpful staff, are clean and comfortable and most importantly - you can sit back and relax because someone else is doing the driving. 

The waiting room at Salt Lake City was a bit creepy because it was so late at night but they got better culminating with Union Station Los Angeles:

Pretty good! There is a grand piano there if you care to play it; unfortunately nobody did while we were there. 

Today we rode gently back to LA from San Diego, wheeled off our cases straight to the Flyaway Bus stop and were at the airport within an hour. Checked in our luggage (mine is 4 kg heavier than when I came - how did that happen?) and are waiting for boarding call. 

the planes of San Diego

We went to Stone Brewery for our last dinner. 

It's great to be able to sit outside in October - but - because it's fairly close to the airport the noise every 3 minutes is incredible. A plane flies over just after take-off with a deafening roar and you can't hear anyone talking. The same happens at Ocean Beach where we are staying, starting at 6 am on the dot. Fortunately they stop at 10 pm. 

A tour guide told us that when outdoor theatre is playing they stop dead in mid-sentence while a plane passes: "Oklahoma where the wind" - everyone freezes till the plane has gone - "comes sweeping down the plain". So Carol and I have taken to singing "Oklahoma" at each plane. And it's a lot of planes.  

Final morning: Carol and Jim left quietly at 4 am in order to return the hire car and board a plane for Virginia. We heard their plane: it was one of 24 that took off between 6.30 and 7.

last day in San Diego

David and Jim did the SS Midway this morning, said to be the second-best museum in the US, only beaten by the Smithsonian. It is a Navy aircraft carrier and they had a wonderful time climbing up and down ladders. When we called them they were too busy touring the bridge to stop for lunch.  

Carol and I pottered around Sea Port shopping centre: never have I seen such a collection of tourist stuff, but somehow there were a few things to buy - have to be small as my suitcase is full. Below is a shop called Magnuts selling only magnets, minimum price seems to be around $7. Carol checked them out the found the same thing next door for $2.99. Plus tax - there's always tax in California 

After lunch on the pier we went to Old Town, the first white settlement on the west coast, about 1840.  I was intrigued by the prevalence of skeletons dressed in colourful clothes:

                    Gruesome!!!???

It's nothing to do with Halloween or Thanksgiving - I waylaid a tour guide to find out. It's a Mexican tradition "The Day of the Dead"  on 1st November when the dead come back to visit their descendants and check out the grandchildren so they are welcomed with bright colourful clothes. 

stormy seas at Ocean Beach

There were unusually high seas this morning and a crowd of locals on the cliffs in front of our house to watch. No surfers, not surprisingly. 

            Jim watching the waves

They closed the pier because waves were breaking over it as you can see in the photo above. There is a restaurant out along the pier so I guess they didn't get many customers for breakfast. 

We drove to Mission Beach and La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) and saw the same  big waves. 

Carol and Jim went off to their wedding, dropping us at San Diego Zoo. First surprise: $50 is the cheapest ticket (I guess we don't get out much...) Second surprise: so many people! A combination of perfect weather, Saturday and children free in October meant there were thousands of adults and tens of thousands of children. I've never seen such vicious-looking strollers used as battering rams. And a large preponderance of twins. 

We started with the bus ride to get an overall view - 20 minute wait - so it was half an hour before we saw the first animal, then another 10 minutes to see the next. After the bus we walked 7,644 steps (measured on my iPhone) and I came to the conclusion that it was primarily a nice walk along pleasant green paths; only occasionally did you see an animal or part of one. 

David remembered the Pygmy hippo from our visit in 1979 so was pleased to see it still in residence:

       Pygmy hippo with monkey above. 

I could find only one otter, a pacing tiger, some striking zebras, beautiful giraffes - an excellent breeding programme - pandas you have to pay extra to visit. 

I was shocked at a sign saying if you can't see the aye-aye, go on-line for it. 

Liked  the aviaries the best. Lots of birds and very clean. 

We saved the best till last and crossed the zoo on the skyway:

The guide on the bus cheerfully informed us that they make LOTS of profit which goes into research and conservation - so we have done our bit to save endangered species. They say koalas are endangered: wouldn't have thought so. The koalas are in an area called "Koalifornia" poor dears. Every possible way to squeeze money out of the punters is tried like in-your-face photographers, extra for pandas, theatres, fast food, cotton candy; it becomes tiresome. 

Balbao Park

It's wonderful having Jim and his GPS doing the driving because the system of highways and freeways is baffling to us country folk. He drove us to Balbao Park which is 1200 acres of parks and museums run by the San Diego City and includes the Zoo. What a beautiful place! There are 15 gardens and the famous Lath House which is perfectly manicured:

Jim and David are outside the Lath House, admiring a very tall but crooked Canary Island pine. 

Among the many museums is a free art gallery where we all liked Lovers in a Park by Boucher. 

               and the orchid display

Then we took the 2-hour trolley ride which takes you through the highlights of the city and over Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island. 

                    (not my photo)

We were held up while the local homecoming parade passed by, the football team looking very cool riding in  a fire truck and candidates for King and Queen looking super-cool in convertibles.

Another great day! 

Los Angeles to San Diego

Our hotel in Los Angeles was downtown, in a rather scarey neighbourhood - but convenient to Union Station. When we walked out in search of Eggslut for breakfast there seemed to be a police car every 100 yards which is good. Eggslut had huge queues for their specialty which is a coddled egg sitting on top of mashed potatoes in a glass jar. 

                   Delicious but small. 

We saw the film Sully and did a little gentle shopping, a needed rest day. 

Thursday morning we were in Union Station waiting for the train to San Diego which was another pleasant train experience, on time at both ends, and there waiting for us were Carol and Jim Burger, who are in San Diego for a friend's wedding. David and Jim were at U of Florida together in the 1970s and love to get together to talk trees. 

We are sharing a beach front apartment at Ocean Beach which has huge waves rolling in and a few surfers battling them.  

Jim drove us down Point Loma to the Cabrillo Monument where there is a marvellous view of San Diego. The road runs through naval installations and that's a big surprise: San Diego has the largest military base in the world, 130,000 service personnel plus 250,000 family and that doesn't include support personnel. The cemetery is huge, neat white tombstones stretching as far as the eye can see. 

Cabrillo was the first white man to set foot on the west coast of America so he has been given a National Park. 

train trip on the Coast Starlight

It's a 6 hour trip but we had a sleeper which gives access to the Parlor Car and wine tasting which we joined in as the train ran through vineyards and a huge expanse of fields of strawberries, lettuce, broccoli, herbs - at one place it was parsley as far as the eye could see. 

Then it ran along the coast, quite undeveloped looking - no condos, just the odd trailer park and occasional surfer. More built up near Santa Barbara as we had dinner and watched the sunset. 

A lovely trip, not long enough. All too soon we were at Los Angeles' Union Station, into a cab and at our downtown hotel. 

current American joke

Man gets to heaven and surrounding the pearly gates are millions of clocks. 

Man says to St Peter: "What are all these clocks for?"

St Peter says: "Every person has a clock and each time he or she tells a lie the hands move. See this one here? It's Mother Teresa's clock and the hands have never moved".

Man: "Where's Donald Trump's clock?"

St Peter: "We're using it for an overhead fan. "

at the Apple Farm Inn

Alison and Christopher loved this place and I did too: David found it a little fancy with its rose wallpaper and plethora of nicknacks. The gift shop contains every gift you never wanted until you see it - like velvet pumpkins, $130 for the large orange one. 

It's away from the rest of town so we had both dinner and breakfast here. I'm fascinated by all the different sorts of Eggs Benedict available in the US, today I chose Californian Eggs Benedict with artichokes, may never have the chance again. It came with a scone (pronounced scohne) which was a flat triangle of shortbread, very crumbly. Odd. David says he knows why Americans go out for breakfast: it's because you never know what you're going to get. 

Joseph the gardener drove us to the train and he asked David what he thought of the decor at the Inn: "Did you find it a little feminine?" David: "Yes".  Then Joseph related how he asked the same question of an airline pilot who answered: "I had a room with rose wallpaper and by morning I'd grown an ovary. "

The Big Sur

Transport today was via a very comfortable Lincoln Town Car: we collected one passenger, Nancy, from the Bay Park Hotel (Alison: the ladies voted it "offal") in our car plus 3 in another  Lincoln and set off in convoy for The Big Sur, a 90-mile stretch of coastline on Route 1. 

        Our car at Hearst Castle

I got what I wished for - a driver who doesn't talk - but some conversation would be good, especially information about what we were seeing; however his knowledge was abysmal. David told him about trees and a barista en route supplied some local tidbits. A fire has been burning around Carmel for 10 weeks which we could sympathise with. 

There was beautiful rugged coastline all the way, reminiscent of our Great Ocean Road. 

We all had tickets for Hearst Castle at 12.10 and it suddenly appeared sitting on top of a hill. It was built on a grandiose scale by William Randolph Hearst between 1930s and 1950s; was bequeathed to the state and is now run efficiently by the State Park Service. 

You are assembled into a bus at the visitor centre and driven to the hill top where the mansion and its attendant guest cottages and buildings sit. 

This is the grand mansion above, below is the dining room, billiard room and the indoor swimming pool. 

The outdoor swimming pool is being retiled but there is a dear little statue in a niche there:

Monterey and Carmel-on-Sea

 

Perfect weather today and the perfect driver Randy - skilful driver; talks only when something of interest to say, not afraid of silence and plays the occasional gentle San Francisco song like "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". The 2 and a half hour bus trip to Monterey passed quickly on Route 1 along the coast. 

Sunday in Monterey is buzzing - hot, noisy, crowded and CLEAN. As recommended by Randy we had the clam chowder in a bread bowl at Fish Hopper, lucky enough to get a table overlooking the sea where we could see otters playing amongst the seaweed and the occasional seal. 

White peach sangria was delicious. 

Our cases were dropped off at Monterey Bay Inn but we continued with the bus on the 17-mile drive to Bird Island:

(me at Bird Island which is actually covered in sea lions.)

Pebble Beach and The Lone Cypress,  of great interest to David. 

and then to Carmel. We are now retracing the footsteps of Alison and Christopher in May this year but travelling in the opposite direction. Carmel is fascinating with its acres of upmarket shops - a tea shop called Jane Austen at Home caught my eye - but it was closed. Fog was drifting in around 6 o'clock and the town felt dank so it was a relief to get a cab back to Monterey and let the rest of the bus go on their 2 and a half hour trip back to San Francisco. 

They, poor things, were still on the bus when we were enjoying dinner at The Chart House and marvelling over David's Coconut Shrimp. My salmon looks ordinary although very good:

wineries in the Napa/Sonoma Valleys

Beautiful weather, should have been a great trip but we copped the driver who never shuts up. A nice guy but he talked for the whole 1 hour 20 minutes it took to get to Napa. He was silent for 10 minutes before lunch and it was blissful. 

Winery #1 Madonna Estate NV - good Pinot Noir, sweet Rose

#2 Sutter Home NV - sweet White Zinfandel (but it's pink), good Pinot Grigio, good Zinfandel, 2 very sweet

 wines, wine kitsch by the bushel. 

#3 Sebastiani Sonoma: best for information and lovely cool courtyard. Chardonnay oaked no buttery flavours, Merlot harsh, Cabernet ok too young. 

Australian wine miles better than what we had today, admittedly lower end. 

Memo to self: go upmarket in future. 

Disliked Sonoma - hot, crowded, noisy and dirty. Cheese Factory for lunch - totally disorganised. Couldn't get a proper iced coffee.  Drinks are too sweet. Missing Feelgood iced coffee made with milk and no extra sugar. 

We had a voucher from our tour company for dinner at Via Veneto in Pacific Heights: David consulted with bus driver who dropped us off at Van Ness and Clay. "It's just 9 blocks to your right".  What he didn't add is that 5 of those blocks are practically vertical. We made it and the minute we walked in and smelt that warm garlic smell I knew it would be good - and it was, exquisite Italian food. This was on the wall above our table:

We had crab cakes and calamari then veal and sea bass, no pasta, really good. 

out and about in San Francisco

We had a day of perfect weather in San Francisco for our quick look at the city. The Hop-on Hop-off bus was just what we wanted: first Hop-off at the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Then switch to the green bus for a trip to Sausalito, gorgeous beachside town where we wandered around for a couple of hours, then back to Golden Gate where the first of the day's thrills began - an aerial display over the bay by an F/A-18 Hornet, Tom Cruise's plane in Top Gun. It's what looks like a fly speck in the photo below:

It's Fleet Week this week - not so good in that hotel rooms cost three times usual, but good in that we get to see naval ships and aerial displays. 

As the bus headed back towards Fishetman's Wharf six F/A-18D planes zoomed over us and continued to loop and roll for the next couple of hours. 

David was ecstatic to see them and I was too, such an unexpected pleasure. 

We had to change hotels, now over on Union Square, ready to join our tour tomorrow. 

at Fisherman's Wharf

The Californian Zephyr train arrived in San Francisco around 4.30 and as we were first off managed to get front seats on the Amtrak bus that took us from Emeryville Station to Fisherman's Wharf. Never again! The bus driver talked to us all the way about his lovely wife of 27 years; as we drove across the Bay Bridge in 8 lanes of rush hour traffic he produced his phone to show us pictures of her. It was sweet - but scarey as he kept up his hymn of praise the whole trip. He was a good driver, just somewhat distracted. 

 

We were glad to grab our cases and walk the 2 blocks to our hotel. 

Dinner was at the Eagle Cafe where we shared the obligatory Dungeness Crab dripping in garlic butter and very delicious. David's pocket knife is there to show the size of the crab. 

train from SLC to SFO

I was sorry to leave Salt Lake City: Jenny and I had a nice shopping expedition to City Creek Mall - 5 stars on TripAdvisor for being very CLEAN but with signage so discreet it was hard to find anything. I bought a handbag in Macy's, 50% off then another 30% for  today: checkout girl asked "are you a stranger?" Me: "yes"; she "well I'll see what I can do" which was an additional 10% off. Nearly gave it to me. 

We had dinner at the Bombay Hut - very good Indian - then watched a movie filmed around Park City until it was time to leave for the train. SLC is less salubrious around the railway station, people sleeping rough on the sidewalks and others drifting around outside the waiting room but the train was on time and we boarded last because we had tiny sleepers. I quickly chose the bottom bunk leaving David to battle with climbing up to his narrow hard shelf above. Not a great sleep though the quiet steady movement of the train is soothing. 

After breakfast (included on our ticket and ok not great) we found seats in the observation car and for the next 6 hours watched the most amazing scenery. 

David was in seventh heaven identifying all the trees: in the drier parts, as above, dominated by ponderosa pine then in the mountains around Donner Pass it was spruce, fir and Douglas Fir. 

Plus maple and oak at Donner Lake. 

It was a mesmerising trip and no way could we read until out of the mountains. 

. 

Jenny's Australian birthday

Jenny can have two birthdays too - and a breakfast out. Eggs in the City this time, another popular spot and another delicious breakfast. None of these breakfasts has been very early - more like brunch really. 

Next stop was Temple Square where the Mormon Temple, the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall are set in beautiful gardens. Non-Mormons are not allowed in the Temple, and Mormons have to earn the right as was explained to us by Sister Chu, a young girl from Taiwan, who was on duty to talk to tourists. 

Below is the Temple:

And above is the Tabernacle. As you can see it is round with amazing acoustics. 

The Tabernacle is of course where the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs but only on Sundays. However there is an organ recital daily at 12 noon which Jenny knew and in we went. It was fantastic! LOVED IT!

The largest pipes on the organ are made from pine (another of Rory's bits of local knowledge and of interest to David).

The organist demonstrated the acoustics by dropping 3 pins and a nail - all heard perfectly - then launched into a half hour recital. There was some Mormon music, some Bach, a piece where he seemed to tap dance on the pedals and a rousing finale of Ride of the Valkyries which was thrilling! The lights behind the organ change with the music. Wonderful - wish I could go again. 

Helen's Australian birthday

It was my birthday in Australia and we started celebrations with breakfast "up the canyon" at Ruth's Diner. Jenny and I are united in admiration for American diner breakfasts and plan to have as many as possible. Ruth is no longer - she looks rather a tough nut - but her legacy lives on in her signature "Mile-High Biscuits" which are a slab of fluffy scones, butter hiding underneath to soften, which are plonked on the table as you sit down. 

Then we set off into the mountains heading for Park City via Guardsmans Pass. It was the most magical day with warm sun, clear cold air and snow icing the limbs of the spruce trees interspersed with clumps of yellow trembling aspens. At the top of Guardsmans Pass we stopped for a selfie where you can only see the top of Jenny's head. That's why we are all laughing. 

It's 9700 feet above sea level and very cold but a brisk invigorating cold. Next to us were a group of cyclists about to ride down the hill - you couldn't ride up. Next stretch of road is unsealed but quite wide and not a problem to Australians. 

Rory had a surprise planned - something he saw last week and hoped would still be there and it was! At a place called Strawberry (fabulous name!) 3 year-old Kokanee salmon come to lay their eggs (females) and fertilise them (males) then die. There they were in their dozens, waving in the stream, bright red, doing what nature planned and then they die. At night wild animals like bears, cougar, skunks come and eat the carcasses which go white - all very tidy. A ranger explained it to us; quite informal, no entrance fee, no coffee shop, just a stream flowing into a lake where they live. Each female lays 12,000 eggs of which 2 fish will survive. So interesting and we were thrilled to see the fish. The strongest get upstream where the eggs are harvested and all 12,000 survive to be put back into the lake. 

We returned via Heber City and ice creams at the Dairy Keen where electric trains whirr around the cafe above your head - more of Rory's local knowledge which he is accumulating at a great rate. 

I was allowed to choose the place for dinner in Park City and after wandering up and down Main Steet reading menus (so many art galleries!) chose Chimayo which specialises in South-Western food with a twist. Great choice: we all enjoyed our meals. Jenny and I shared a rib crown roast which was brilliant; David joined us in an Oregon Pinot Gris while Rory had a - no kidding - Polygamy Porter, a beer. So the locals can poke gentle fun at themselves. Chimayo was decorated for Halloween which is coming soon: