The Great Basin National Park Ride

My plan was to camp in Great Basin National Park for 4 nights the week of August 10^th 2014.  Due to heavy rains in the mountains, my plans changed. Here is my story. 

I left the house on the Honda Goldwing 1500 on August 10^th, around 6:45 AM on Sunday Morning.  The ride up to the Cajon pass was quiet.  The ride up the Cajon pass was unnaturally without wind, which was delightful for a change.  Once on the Highway 395, I stopped for gas and a quick breakfast. 

The ride from up the 395 was hot, even though it was only 9:00 am in the morning. I continued up and through Bishop, CA. When I got to Bishop it was about 90 degrees. I ate some lunch downtown. I then continued up to Carson City, Nevada. Along the way it started to briefly rain around Mono Lake. 

I arrived in Carson City around 4:00 pm, after riding many miles.   I grabbed some dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and filled the gas tank for the next day.   I stayed at the Hampton Inn, where they let me store the bike under the front overhang in the event of more rain. 

The next day I got some breakfast from the hotel and headed out toward Grand Basin National Park on the 50.  I set my GPS for the city of Baker, that is at the base of the park.  The morning was a little cool but not too bad.  I had taken the heated jacket but I never needed it on the trip. 

I got up to Silver Springs and then the GPS wanted me to go South on the 95.  I though perhaps it was just a small short cut, so I went ahead and went along with the GPS.  The GPS kept on wanting to go south, which made me wonder what was going on with the GPS. I checked the GPS and found out that I was heading for Baker, CA and not Baker, NV; my fat fingers.   I finally ended up getting back on the 95 north to Fallon. All together I probably wasted an hour, but the scenery was good and the riding easy.  

At Fallon, I was able to get back on to the 50.  During the next few hours I went over many passes and entered too many rain storms to count. Some rain was short and brief, and some rain was heavy.  When the rain got heavy I layered on my yellow rain suit.   At one point I also put on my rain boot covers.  

Around lunch time I hit the town of Austin, NV.  This was an interesting town on the side of a hill.  Right after Austin I encountered some heavy rain and at one point was hit by a mud clod with rocks from a passing truck. One chunk hit my boot and the other piece took a nick out of the windshield. The red mud stuck to the bike the rest of the trip. 

I pulled into Baker, NV at about 3:00 PM and went to the Park visitor center. I hit the rest room and got some change for my camp ground. There is not much in Baker. There are a couple of small hotels, a restaurant or two and an unmanned Sinclair gas station.  

I wanted to make camp before it got dark, so I headed up the mountain.  The road up is a two lane road with many twists and turns.  Some of the turns are hair pin turns. My goal was to get a campsite in the Wheeler Peak campground at 10,000 feet, the highest of all the campgrounds. I pulled into the campground about ½ later, at the end of the road and started looking for a campground. I wanted one that was easy to get in and out with the motorcycle, was fairly level and had a good area to setup my tent.  About ½ of the campsites were empty and I was able to find a good site about ¾ of the way around the loop.  The loop was a small one way road that had a number of changes up and down in the road. 

I pulled in to the camp site and immediately starting putting up the tent due to the dark clouds that were gathering in the area. The campsite is in a valley area where you feel as if you are in a bowl.  Wheeler Peak trail, to the peak starts at the beginning of the campground. During my stay clouds were frequently swirling and twirling around the small valley. The clouds normally appeared as they raced over Wheeler Peak toward the camp site.  As I started to setup the tent the campground attendant appeared and asked for my site ticket, which I had purposely deferred the procurement of the ticket until I had setup the tent.  I told him that “I wanted to setup the tent quickly due to the rapidly changing conditions, and I would pay as soon as I finished with the tent”.  He appeared to be somewhat okay with my explanation.   Over the next three days I never saw him again, which I thought was odd. I would walk past his campsite several times a day and his sign would always say “off duty”.  

My tent is what I would call a coffin tent, where you can only slide yourself in and out.  No sitting up in this tent, and when you get all your gear in the tent there is little room for anything other than a small air pocket where you can read.  I had some difficulty this time with the tent. The last time I used the tent was during a wind storm in Death Valley. The winds were so bad on that trip that I had to lash the motorcycle to the park picnic table. The good news is the tent is so low that winds just rush right over it. I really never had any problem with wind while using the tent. This time at Great Basin Park was different, The rains were seeping into the tent from all sides, and it only had one layer and not the rain shield, which then meant that the anytime you touched the walls of the tent then it would rain on the inside. Since I was crammed into the coffin tent, it was inevitable that I was pushing or touching on the sides of the tent all the time. 

After I finished with the tent I walked up the road to the pay station and deposited by $12 dollars in the slot. Even though the station was no more than ¼ mile away it was very difficult breathing due to the altitude. I returned to the camp site, displayed my pay stub properly on the post and relaxed. About 30 minutes later it started to rain. I was just barely able to get my get either under the park bench or in the tent before it really started coming down.  About this time I noticed that I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Then I realized that it was really cold and I was standing out in the rain. I had really not changed my clothes since I was down at the ranger station in Baker. I then put on my cashmere sweater, my down jacket and my full motorcycle rain suit. Even with all this gear I still felt cold in the rain. I got out my flash stove and made a cup of hot tea as I stood in the rain and watched the clouds fly by overhead.    

About an hour later I decided to cook some dinner. I used one of the freeze dried meals I had brought on the trip, followed by ½ of the freeze dried blueberry cheesecake desert.  The rain stopped for a bit and I read until 9:00 pm. Then I went off to sleep. 

I awoke on Tuesday morning to a beautiful day, which by the way was the last time I saw blue skies at the campground.  I ate more freeze dried foods consisting of granola, and then drank more hot tea. While sitting in the campground I was visited by a little squirrel.  The cute little squirrel appeared to be looking for food. That was great until a pack of squirrels arrived at the campsite. It appears that the first squirrel was just a scout. I missed the part where he sent a text message back to the pack saying “I have got a real sucker here at camp site 29, get here quick”.  There was one squirrel that run up my leg several times in an effort to get something to eat. I have never seen squirrels so bold as these. They surrounded the camp site for about 20 minutes and then departed as quickly as they came. They probably received another “sucker” text from the scout. 

At about the same time as the squirrels’ departure I noticed a flock of birds in the field right next to me. There must have been 50 or so checking for food in the field.  What was next?  A den of skunks, or maybe a heard of deer standing in the campsite begging for food. 

Around 10:00 AM I decided to hike to the glaciers via the Wheel Peak trail. The sign showed a total of 5 miles round trip. I was sure I could do this hike, even at altitude. The hike turned out to be really easy, until it got to the loose rock park after I passed the tree line. Then it was just a case of slipping on rock as you went either up or down.  The trail started in the trees, then passed into the top line of Bristol Cone pines and then into the land of no vegetation.   

I got to the point where I thought I was seeing the glacier. I took some pictures and then turned around to head down. As I did there were two guys about 5 minutes apart going up. Each asked if I had gotten to the glacier and I said “No. I think this is enough.”.  After they both passed I thought to myself “What the heck. I will just keep going to the end.  How much farther can it be?”.  It was not much farther being only about ½ of a mile further. The two guys were both standing there saying “this is it?”.  The glacier was covered with dirt and they really did not recognize it as a glacier until I pointed it out to them.  “How disappointing” one said.  “This is not at all like the Sierras”.   I headed back down with them and arrived back at the campsite around 2:00 PM.  I then started thinking “that was not bad, I can do the Wheel Peak hike which is just a 8 mile roundtrip hike on Thursday. By then I will be total used to the altitude. “

I ate lunch at then by 3:00 PM the thunder clouds started to appear around me. It then thundered for the next 6 hours. It rained and then it rained. I laid in the tent for a few hours and read, but I finally got tired of being in the tent.  I put on my rain gear and went out to stand in the thunderstorm. I stood about for some time watching other campers with their fires sitting under their large tarps that they carried up in their cars and trucks.  Later I sat down in the thunderstorm and prepared and ate dinner. I ate two dinners, since I really did not have anything else to do during the storm. Finally, about 9:00 PM I went to sleep. 

I awoke and started thinking about what I was going to do that day.  The sounds of rain I heard where the where the same sounds I heard when I went to sleep.  I made a decision: I did not want to sit in the tent any longer in the rain. I was cold and tired of just sitting in a tent.  I was cutting the trip short and heading out.

I packed up the tent and all the gear and headed down the mountain. Initially, it was rainy, cold and foggy.  As I descended down the mountain it became warner and dry.  I stopped at the ranger station at the bottom of the mountain. Standing there in the heat, it was almost impossible to imagine how cold and wet it was just 30 minutes ago at the top of the mountain. 

I decided to try a different route going home. I took highway 6 going South out of Ely. If you thought highway 50 was the loneliest highway in America, then check out Highway 6.  There is nothing out there!  After about riding about an hour, there was a sign that said something like “no gas for 96 miles.”  Keep in mind that I had already been riding for some time.  Lucky that I filled up back in Ely. I can do about 200 miles on a tank, and this highway was pushing it.  The road was straight, hot and dry.  There were a couple of deserted towns along the way. 

I rolled into Bishop late afternoon. Got a room at the Best Western hotel, had a nice Italian dinner with a little wine, and then relaxed for the evening. 

I got up early the next day and enjoyed the ride along the sierras on Highway 395. The rest of the way back home was very uneventful and dry.

A Stormy Winery Ride

Jeanne and I were on the road at 6:30 AM, Saturday the 6^th of December 2014 on our Honda Goldwing 1500. The plan was to stay in Big Sur the first night, and then Napa followed by Santa Rosa and then onward north to Garberville.  The next day we would take highway 36 from the coast over to Red Bluff and South to Lodi for the night. Then go to Paso Robles for another night and on home to Mission Viejo.  This was to be a big loop from Southern to Northern California, and take 7 nights. 

Saturday. The weather was cool at about 56 degrees, as we left home and headed up the 5 to LA. Just before going into downtown LA, I pulled into a Chevron for a quick break and check with Jeanne to make sure all was secure. As I was pulling into a side parking area and coming to a stop, I put my foot down and unfortunately stepped and slipped on a recently cut flower by the gardeners, who were standing close by. When I slipped I pulled the handlebars to the left which caused the Goldwing to slightly swerve to the left, I countered to the right and then lost control and down we went at zero miles per hour. We were both okay and quickly were able to stand the bike back up with no damage.

We then got through downtown LA with no difficulties, but the traffic was already tight but moving at 7:30 AM on a Saturday. We started up the 101 and stopped in Ventura for a quick second breakfast.

We kept going up the coast and stopped for lunch at the Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill in Cambria.  The sun was out and it was a great day. Good food and fun there as we really glad to have our hats due to the intense sun. 

As we passed Hearst Castle there were a herd of zebras near the fence and many people taking pictures. 

We continued up the coast and picked up gas at Ragged Point, where I think we paid the most for gas on the trip. 

We continued up the Big Sur coast line and stopped at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park to see the waterfall hitting the beach.  The water was running well due to the recent storms the week before.

We then stopped at Nepenthe restaurant where we split a bowl of soup, since we were still both somewhat full from the lunch. We had a front row seat outside and it was a clear day with a little sun poking out. 

We got to our hotel at 4:15 PM, the Fernwood resort which I had stayed at a several occasions.  The Fernwood is good because it is right off the road and you can stop and park your motorcycle easily.  We unloaded, cover the bike and grabbed some light dinner and watched the TV in the restaurant.

As we were coming out of the restaurant and walking to our room across the parking lot a girl was standing in front of the motorcycle and then asked “Is this your motorcycle?”.  She had just backed her car into the front of the motorcycle, because she could not see through her window well.  This was the first time I had used the new Aerostich ultralight motorcycle cover. It comes only in black and is hard to see at night, especially in Big Sur with little or no lights, on a hazy cold night.

I was lucky that there was no damage.  It looks like she backed into the front tire, which I had locked down. She pushed the bike back about 4 inches while it was on the service stand. You could see the next morning the scrapes in the asphalt where the stand had been.  I learned a couple of things from this event: the first thing is it was good to face the motorcycle out while on the stand.  Hitting the bike from the front while on the stand only locked the stand more firm and kept the bike from falling over. If the bike had been on the kick stand then it would have fallen over due to the hit. Second: I learned I better get some reflectors to put on the bike cover. I did later on in the day, but they really only stick for one day. I am still looking for a long term solution. We went to bed after taking the young ladies information and had a great sleep. 

Sunday. We woke and left for Carmel.  The weather was clear.  We stopped in Carmel at the Wagon Wheel Café and had a great breakfast. Only thing was that they only take cash. 

We continued onward up highway 1, then the 101 and then up the 680 where we crossed the bridge and rolled into our hotel in Napa around 3:00 PM.  We took a taxi into town and had the best dinner on the trip at the Celedon restaurant. The taxi ride was $10 each way.

Monday.  We got up and met our winery tour driver Jeff and his sprinter van at 10:30 am. The good news was we were the only people on the tour, so the sprinter van that can hold up to 10 people was ours for the day. Our first stop was at the Duckhorn vineyards. A very nice location and presentation. The wine tasting was $30, so we just did one tasting and also purchased the $8 olive tray. The tables were nicely placed out on the porch. Great location and great service. The wine was excellent.

We then went to the Rombauer vineyards.  No one else at the tasting. Strange to see nobody else there, but it was nice getting anything you wanted.  

We then went to the Sequoia Grove winery.  We tasted and purchased two bottles of wine, of which one was to be used for our lunch that we ate there under the Sequoia trees. We were the only ones in the outdoor area. Jeff brought us a great lunch and we sat for about 10 minutes until it started to rain, and we switch the party to the inside of the sprinter van.

We then went to the Cliff Lede vineyard.  Nice selection of wines and a comfortable sit down area where the cat had his own seat. 

We then finished at the Stags Leap vineyard. They just opened there new facility and it was really nice with a big window to look out. We only had 20 minutes left and we ran in and unfortunately gulped down some of the finest wines on the tour. 

Jeff, then took us back to the hotel around 4 PM, and gave us the bottle of champagne that we were supposed to drink during the tour, but really good not.  That bottle of champagne rode with us the remainder of the trip and we drank it the night we arrived home. 

We ate in the hotel restaurant were we split an order of risotto and finished our bottle of chardonnay from lunch. 

Tuesday.  We left on the bike at about 9:30 am and went to the Nicasio valley cheese company after going down the 101, and then taking the Lucas Valley road, which was a crazy was to go but that is what the GPS suggested. We tasted their cheese selection and it was really good.

We then went to the Marin French Cheese store and purchased a petite Bree, which we consume later that night for dinner. 

We then went to the Epicurean Connection store in downtown Sonoma. Great little store that has cheese and food. We each had a cheese sandwich, mine with marmalade. We purchased some olives and tapenade, which we also consumed that evening for dinner.   Downtown Sonoma was all setup for Christmas. The town square very much reminded us of Santa Fe during Christmas time. 

We then rode over to downtown Napa and the Oxbox public market, where we purchase two organic Italian desserts that we ate for dinner. 

At this time it became apparent that the weather was significantly changing. We were to go North the next day to Garberville, but the weather showed it was to get 2-3 inches of heavy rain and winds up to 65 miles per hour along with local flooding. This did not sound too good so we decide to modify the trip to instead go East to Lodi and ride the storm out for 2 days. Initially, we were to stay in Lodi for one night. We were hoping that the weather would improve on Friday so we could continue on with the original plan. 

Wednesday. We left the hotel around 9:30 am for Lodi. Initially it was about 56 degrees and clear with overcast. 20 miles down highway 12 and it got foggy and colder. Then further up the 12, the fog cleared but then it drizzled.  The 12 had many trucks and appears to be under much construction. There were many marinas in the lake areas and a number of duck blinds for rent. I had no idea that there was so much water activities in this part of the state. 

We rolled into Lodi around noon, and had a hot drink at Panera.  Afterwards we went to Enterprise Car rental and rented a car for two days so we could get around during the storm. We checked into our room at the Wine and Roses resort.  Very interesting and beautiful room with a fireplace and large outdoor patio area. 

We then went to a sushi restaurant and had a late lunch. Then we went to the Lodi Vitners where we were the only ones tasting. Great wine and had a good time next to the train track. 

We then continued on to the Woodbridge winery. I read that the Woodbridge line was not the same as we see in the stores. This was proven to be true as they served us a number of wines that were only 200-300 case selections. I very much liked the wines at Woodbridge and recommend this to anyone. 

We then stopped at the Davis Winery, where they serve the “seven deadly zins” zinfandel. Good wine off the 12 highway. 

Lodi is known for their Zinfandel wines. Many of the vines are 100 years old.  I also liked the Cab wines, which are soft wines due to the area. 

That night I put the cover on the bike and hoped that the storm was not going to be as bad as they said. The weather was saying that the winds at 5:00 am would be up to 65 miles per hour. I got up early, and the winds were strong but not that bad.  No rain was to occur until noon on Thursday.

Thursday.  I was walking around the grounds early in the day and I asked the gardener if he knew of anyplace I could store the bike during the upcoming on slot of rain. Jesse told me that I could store the bike in the maintenance area between two storage containers under a plastic room that Jesse had himself built. I quickly move the bike down before the rains came. 

We went to breakfast, and during the serving of my eggs Florentine it started to rain outside at about 10:00 am. It then continued to rain into the night without stop. After breakfast we made a dash to a vineyard before the roads flooded. We selected the Oak Vineyards on the outskirts of town. We pulled up and saw no one. I ran up to the new facility and found the door open. Inside the owner was doing paperwork and was somewhat surprised to see someone come out in the rain for tasting. I went back to the car and got Jeanne and he pour and wine. His wine was excelled. Highly recommend this vineyard for the wine and the new facilities. 

We then tried another winery, but found it closed due to the weather. We then went to the Woodbridge Inn steakhouse for lunch, because the parking lot was full; must be good to eat at. As we entered we were told that it was a private party, but they would serve us at the bar. We split a vegetable soup and pasta, along with some very nice wine. It was all very good. 

We drove back to the resort, where Jeanne was scheduled for a 2:00 PM for a mannypettie.  I had also booked at massage at 3:15 pm. We finished up and later had dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was excellent. 

In the restaurant bar there as a piano.  Gene, at the piano had no one to play to but us. Gene appeared to be very knowledgeable on music from 1930 to 1960s. He could play any song that you asked, along with telling you the composer and the year. Later on, Kim came in and played. She was different, but excellent in her own right.  She liked to play Chopin.  

Friday.  The rain had stopped. We left around 8:45 am and took back the rental car. We then took the 99 down to Stockton and over to the 5.  You could still see the storm to the South as we rode. We continued on the 5 until we got off at 152 and continued on until Hollister. 

At Hollister, we stopped at the Corbin motorcycle seat factory. I wanted them to see if they could make some adjustments to my seat.  We also ate lunch at their Wizards café. We had a quick bite to eat and then left on the 25 heading south.  At this point I noticed that we had not seen another motorcycle on the road since we left Napa a few days before. In fact, the next time we would see a motorcycle was Saturday afternoon in Ojai. As we started down the 25 it started to rain. The rain would continue until we were just outside of Paso Robles, about 4 hours later. 

The 25 goes for about 65 miles, and was about the best motorcycle road we were on during the trip. There was just not much out there but green hills and cows. We would pass cars about every 20 – 30 minutes. The 25 dead ends into the 198, which we took west until it hit the 101. We then snaked our way over to the G14 and rode into Paso Robles.We stayed at the Hampton Inn, and ate at the hotel next door. Once again, great food and wine. We then watched TV and hit the sack. 

Saturday.  We left the hotel at 9:20 am in a medium fog.  I decided to take the scenic route back home. As we got further down La Panza rd, the fog got thicker. We then continued East on the 58 as the fog got thicker and thicker. Suddenly, the fog ended just as if a vale had been lifted. We were then in very bright sunlight.  We went through winding hills and eventually into a desert area where there were many tumbleweeds. We then went East on the 33 through an area that looked like West Texas and the oil patch. We stopped at Taft and got gas. The temperature had dropped through the ride. It was now 48 degrees. 

We then progressed on the 33 South and into the Los Padres National forest. I had never been on this part of the road and had no idea of what was ahead. The road started twisting up and over the mountain. At one point we were at 5600 feet and there was snow on the side of the road. Shortly after, I had to stop and put on my heated gear because my hands were getting cold. This was the only time on the trip where I had to use the heated gear. 

We finally got to Ojai around 1:30 PM and stopped for lunch at the Deer Lodge restaurant. The food was really good as we sat by the fire. We continued on the 33 until we hit the 101 in Ventura.

I was really tired by this time and I was hoping we could take it easy on the 101, but that was not to be. Immediately, the traffic was stop and go in Ventura. The stop and go continued until we got half way through Orange County. There were a few times were the road opened up, but they were far and few between. I ended up splitting lanes most of the way. If I had not then we would have got home hours later or worse yet, been in an accident due to the stop and go. 

It took 4 hours for us to get home from Ventura.  We arrived home at 6:20 PM, which means this was a 9 hour ride. Saturday, was the most challenging since it was 9 hours with about everything under the sun, except rain. We had fog, cold, snow, deserts, mountains, slow twisties, long straight-aways, no traffic and stop and go traffic. 

Altogether, we did 1,375 miles.  A really good and fun vacation.

The Adventures of the Southwest Chief

I am wound tighter than a tick preparing for my Los Angeles to Chicago train trip abort the Amtrak southwest chief. I have not spent as much time preparing for the trip as other trips in the past. The night before I threw a few things together in the spare bedroom and now I am smashing clothes into my Rimowa black suitcase. A few more phone calls and emails and I should be ready to roll out the door when Sara gets home from school; Jeanne has volunteered Sara to take me to the Metro train station.

Sara slams into the house about 3:05 pm and asks if I am ready to go. “Yes”, I tell her, “we will leave in about 15 minutes so I can catch the metro train into union station”. Sara grabs a mac and cheese microwave cup, zaps it and plops herself down at the dinner table for a fast cram of a meal. “Now I am ready to go” I say to Sara after a few minutes. “ I want you to stay at the train station until the train comes just in case something happens and we need to drive to LA so I can catch the Amtrak train at union station”. “what? “ chokes Sara. “what can go wrong with a train?”. I respond “All kinds of things can go wrong, like it might breakdown or something, but I cannot miss the LA train to Chicago.”. “What, trains do not break down, I have places to go after I drop you at the train station” pouts Sara. “Right” I say in defeat.

Sara is the driver and flies down the street at a speed that has me digging my fingernails into the seat. “Slow down” I tell her. “Stop screaming at me.” she yells back. Now I know how my dad felt when I used to drive and he told me to slow down. “You are going too fast, someone might jump out from a car or something. You need to expect the unexpected” I tell her. Sara says “I know about the unexpected”. “how can you know the unexpected” I respond. I give it up and just close my eyes until we get to the train station.

We fly into the train station and I leave Sara in the car and tell her to wait until 4:10 pm for the train to arrive. I get out and start programming the ticket machine. I say programing because if you have ever worked one of these metro machines you push enough buttons that you get the feeling that you are programming the system. While I am punching my way through the system two guys stop and get out of a car leaving it running in the road. They both run to the machine and grab a schedule. “We can get on here or get on in Irvine” says one. “Yes, this all looks really good” says the other. I am thinking “Shopping around for the best train ride in the county?” I eventually get a ticket and then take off to platform number one. I look over my shoulder and the two guys are still there intensely staring at and working the schedule over with the car still idling in the road.

The train comes on schedule. I send a text to Sara and tell her “you can go now”. I find a table seat and do the thing where you lay you head on the table and look like a hobo. I take up 4 seats and hope nobody wants to join me. I am tired and I want to be left alone. Who wants to sit with a hobo sprawled all over the table?

We run about 5 minutes behind as we pass Fullerton but somehow catch up on time and hit Union station right on time at 5:30 pm. I know just where the line up will be for the Amtrak Southwest Chief because it must be right where the last lineup was for the Coastal Starlight. I push pass the crowds and get to the spot. Oh, great! Nobody here. This must not be the right place. So much for my perfect plan.

I run to the Amtrak information counter and ask the lady where the line is for the southwest sleeper. She says “Just sit down and there will be an announcement at 5:45 pm." I grab a quick bagel and then return. I see an Amtrak guy with a little mustache running around the floor with a bullhorn making some reference to the “southwest chief”. I chase after him. “Excuse me sir, where do I go for the southwest sleeper?” I say. “oh, just stand here and wait for a red cab” he says as he is pointing to a spot on the floor 3 feet away.

I stand on the specified spot and notice 4 Mennonites; two men and two women standing about 3 feet from me mostly dressed in black. A moment later a golf cart pulls up and the guy with the little mustache and bullhorn tells the driver “take them” pointing to the Mennonite troupe “and this guy”; pointing to me. We all load into the golf cart with me sitting in front with the driver and off we go down the hall doing the “beep beep” horn thing to about every person walking in the main corridor at union station. Here we are driving through union station in a golf cart; Mennonite guys in their Stuckies pizza hats with ZZ top beards and girls in their house on the prairie bonnets bouncing from wall to wall avoiding people walking to their trains by doing the zig zag. As people hear the golf cart horn they stop, turn and and stare that “what the heck?” stare as we speed on by to our train. I have visions of beards and bonnets streaming behind us in the wind.

The golf cart driver gets me to me train car and I am greeted by a short stout porter women with slicked backed dark hair and the traditional Amtrak blue uniform; she checks my ticket, makes a check mark on her clipboard and then turns quickly away. I then chase after the porter and ask to her back “Which way to my room?”. She turns around and abruptly says “left and up” pointing to the door on the car; then turns and heads off in yet another direction. I go into the car and find my room on the second floor. The room is across from the porter’s room and right next to the restroom and refreshment station.

It is 6:00 pm and the night has fully enveloped the station and train. I collapse into my seat in room number 2 but still feel anxious from the days events. The porter arrives on the floor and starts to bang and clang items at the refreshment stand. Soon I hear the porter talking to to someone in a frantic voice “The coffee pot is not working!”. “Try clicking this button and have you tried it somewhere else?” says the other person. “Yes, I have clicked the buttons back and forth but I do not hear the noise that happens when it starts” says the panicking porter. Soon another Blond haired woman Amtrak employee comes by and the porter tells her the same thing. More discussions and banging ensure regarding the coffee pot. Then, yet another Amtrak station employee arrives to provide technical support on the coffee pot crisis. More heated conversations about coffee pot buttons occur. The male employee says in a authoritative voice “look, you are leaving in two and a half minutes. Your coffee pot is fine I just tested it”; then more banging. Later on I check the refreshment station and the coffee pot has vanished.

Without notice the train slowly and quietly starts to creep down the track. There is nothing but silence. The cars were manufactured around 1970 and feel like behemoth battle ships departing home port as they glide through the train yards right outside the station. As we head Southbound back to Fullerton the porter continues banging and clanging things at the refreshment station. The crescendo of noise and the anxiety of the day is getting to me so I close my room door, get out of my pack the over the ear headphones, turn off the room lights, grab my two pillows for my head, and turn on my iPhone to Aaron Neville singing Cole Porters “In the Still of the Night” . As we slowly and smoothly pass the distribution facilities in the night, dark looming trees and eyes of commuters in the stopped cars watch our departure; my relaxation technique is now working; I start to feel a warm calm feeling slipping into my body; I enjoy the passing of a world outside that I know too well and will soon leave behind to the deserts of the Southwest.

We in the train are a long and sublime movie screen and the people that stop and stare at the train as it passes are the audience watching the movie. What a strange and wickedly splendid feeling I get as my train performance unfolds to the audience and then we depart as quickly as we arrive without so much as a bow or curtsy. How many people go home and tell their spouse that they saw a snapshot of a life which they will probably never see again, viewed for but only a moment as they sit in their gas guzzling movie seats?

Things are now going my way as I look out the window. I hear a noise and turn my head to look at my door and through the glass is someone's butt in jeans pressed up against my window. This is just too much. I think “Just stop it! Come on. Everybody needs to take a seat and relax.” I close the drapes on the door window and close my eyes to make it all stop.

After a bit it is time for dinner. I head to the dinning car where I am seated with two year old Nathan and his grandmother. Nathan is going to live with his grandmother for a month in Albuquerque while Nathan’s dad moves from San Diego to Bremmerton Washington. Nathans dad is in the Navy and will soon ship out for a 9 month stint aboard a Navy ship heading for the war. Grandma says that Nathan’s mother is not involved with Nathan anymore because her son divorced her. Nathan’s mother started sleeping around and using drugs. Grandma says “During the divorce court the Judge ordered a drug test on Nathan’s mother right there on the spot in the court room. When the judge came back after the test they found she had been doing meth and the Judge ordered a deputy to immediately pickup Nathan and bring him to his father at the court room. My son was granted full custody of Nathan.” Grandma then laughs and says “When I picked up Nathan in California my son started to tell me that Nathan has meal time at this time and then has nap time at that time.” Grandma rolls her eyes and says “I told my son that I have done this before, remember? It is not like I have never had a child”.

We pass through the city and on to the open spaces of the high desert while Dean Martin sings “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” in my headphones. Meanwhile inside the moving movie theater the porter is just a whirlwind of activity in the corridor. I catch glimpses of her as she runs back and forth down the hall doing who knows what. At 8:30 she sees me come out to go to the restroom and confronts me with “You want your bed turned down?”. Kind of early in the night even for me so I tell her “No, I think I will wait until 9:30 “. She thinks for a moment and appears to be annoyed at my response; she then states “I am going to bed at 10:00” and then backs off a bit and says “I guess 9:30 will be fine”. I can see the porter and I are not walking on the same planet. I later see her running around at 9:00; I think maybe now would be a good time and ask her to turn the bed down. She about knocks me out of the way as he heads to the bed to turn it down.

I dress for bed, lay down under two warm blankets and start to read my book. Soon I hear a knock on my door. I push aside the door curtains and there is the porter with her faced pushed up against the door window with her hands cupped on both sides of her face like she is peering at a city skyline from the top floor of the Empire State building. “What?” I mouth at her from inside the room. “You doing Okay?” she rapidly asks. “Yes, I am doing just fine. Thanks.” I tell her with a sigh. She departs and a couple of minutes later I hear banging and clanging coming from the refreshment station.