Category Archives: travel

May 31 Maker Faire

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I was up fairly early, adjusting to the timezone still, and having slept on another new bed, this time an air mattress.

I worked on the computer a little, and listened to some podcasts. After a while I joined John, one of his roommates, Rosanna, and her boyfriend Peter, for breakfast. They cooked us a nice breakfast and then we hit the road for San Mateo, venue for the Maker Faire.

By the time we got there, got parked, got a ticket (John had a wrist band and had to work a few hours in the afternoon) and got through the gates it was afternoon. It was a gray foggy day in San Francisco, but by the time we were a little south in San Mateo it was mostly clear and you could tell it was going to be a warm day.

It was definitely not enogh time to absorb all the stuff there. I had a great time checking out the crafts, gadgets, equipment, and fun stuff everywhere.

I stayed after the fair with the Flaming Lotus Girls, who John was working with, as they cleaned up their area and broke down the many propane tanks they had used.

We went across the street (of the back entrance) from the fairgrounds to a pub and stayed long enough to get about the worst service possible.

John and I were giving one of the girls a ride to the BART line so she could get back to the East Bay, and some crazy guy drove past sticking his head out the window and pointing at our truck. Never a good sign.

Indeed, we had a flat that was still leaking its last gasp. We swapped tires with the pathetic donut spare in the back. It wasn’t the same diameter tire, and was problematic. John’s actual car was only a few miles away, he had recently swapped it with his brother’s pick-up. We went there and reswapped.

Of course, we missed a turn because they annouced that Obama was going to announce General Motors was filing bankruptcy in the morning.

We got in the car and made our way back into San Francisco.

May 30 San Francisco

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John D picked me up at the Emoryville station. He had been working at his Berkeley studio. We drove by the party in Oakland, but it seemed quiet, so we went instead to a “mixer” of friends in San Francisco. It being Saturday night, it took us a while to find parking.

We spent a little while mingling but we were both tired so we went back to his place on Mission St.

It’s on a corner on the third floor. First floor is a Hispanic church, the second floor is an aerobics excercise studio, and the third, 35 stairs later, is their apartment, which normally has 4 roommates. They’re currently looking for a 4th.

It has one long hallway front to back, 1 1/4 baths, kitchen at one end, living room at the other.

We planed on leaving early the next morning for the Maker Faire, we didn’t quite manage “early”.

May 30 Coast Starlight

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I woke before my alarm, which actually didn’t sound, and showered and packed up before heading to Los Angeles’ Union Station.

The DASH B bus picks up across the street. I got there and it was marked as out of service. It listed the two closest stops, and I headed for one.

Of course the direction I chose had a brutal hill to be dragging your luggage up. Though I did pass an amazing art work built onto an AT&T building on Grand Street.

I noticed the streets were fairly barren compared to the day before. When I arrived at the stop I was looking for, I noticed it said “Weekday”, which reminded me it was actually Saturday.

So reconsulting my map of the shuttle busses, I now found myself in an abandoned downtown with an hour until my train departure.

There was a subway station several blocks away. I dragged myself there and it arrived without much delay and was only one stop from Union Station.

The metro connected to the train tracks from the back side, so I was closer to the track than Union Station actually was. I had to wait awhile for a seat assignment. It seems we were placed on cars according to destination. Car 11 is mostly empty, and this is the first time I’ve had someone sitting next to me. Car 12 is mostly full.

The guy next to me has been Amtraking for 30 days to Toronto/New York/Chicago/Los Angeles/San Francisco/Seattle. He’s from Korea.

I made a reservation for lunch and ate with two guys from California and Portland. Had good conversation with them.

Three different things about this line (Coast Starlight) vs. the last one (Sunset Limited): no power outlets, no outside alcohol, a parlor car for sleeper passengers. There are actually two power outlets available in the observation car.

Also, I noticed my Flip Mino HD LCD screen is broken. It was fine last night. I put it in my bag with my camera and computer, and when I got to the train, it was broken. It seems to be recording okay.

I discovered the name of the tree that has been in fabulous purple bloom in LA and a bit to the north: Jacunda.

We rode along the coast for a while after lunch. I sat in the observer car and enjoyed the ocean views. It was a bit overcast; the seas were quite calm. There were several small beaches that looked fabulous for camping and RVs.

The train passes through Vandenberg Airforce Base. Though you can see many of the impresively sized launch stations, much of the base is in its natural state, grassy mountainous terrain.

The train pulls away from the coast and passes through some farmland and near some dunes until arriving at San Luis Obispo.

When the train leaves San Luis Obispo, it immediately climbs into the mountains, and passes through several tunnels before emerging into more hilly farmland.

All the farms here are heavily irrigated, unlike in southeast Texas. It really gives you an appreciation for the fact that a farm job is an engineering job.

I had dinner with a lady originally from northern Louisiana who now lives in Long Beach. She’s heading to Takoma, then driving with her son to Michigan before he ships out to Afghanastan.

I then watched the sun setting against the mountains as we approached San Jose. I called my old roommate, John DeVenezia, and left a message that we were running on time. He’s supposed to pick me up in Emoryville at 10pm, and if things are still hopping at the fund raiser party he’s attending in Oakland, head back there. Since he’s hanging with the artist crowd these days, I suspect it will still be going.

May 28 29 Sunset Limited

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I noticed that I was placed on the link of the train that had several small children, and unfortunately the two closest to me were ill behaved.

I had several flashbacks to the final M*A*S*H episode where someone strangled a small crying baby. My sleep deprivation due to them enforced this.

The last third of the trip was even worse, with a woman who reeked of port-a-let rolled in baby powder. She also spoke loudly from 2-6am. When you get on a train full of sleeping people in the dark, STFU!

The one bright spot of the trip was the British couple I ate dinner with. I forgot to get their names. They were bussing and training America. They were impressed by Houston even though they missed so much of it.

They were mostly staying in Hostels, though had a hotel in Houston. They took a sleeper car on the train out of Houston and didn’t feel it was worth it (noisy and small). Next stop for them was San Diego. They had no plans in particular.

I arrived in Los Angeles in the morning, took the 25¢ DASH B to the Millennium Biltmore and was checked in by 10:00a.

I cleaned up and the DASH A took me to Japan Town, where I had a nice sushi lunch from a grocer/deli. Then a few block walk to the Wurstküche, a relatively new sausage and beer bar. Upscale on both accounts. The beer selection on tap was fabulous. It’s in the art district and has a German industrial vibe. They looked set up for evening DJs, which could perhaps get annoying if it’s overplayed.

I took the DASH A, back to the hotel, scoping out a nearby bar: Library. I never made it out, enjoying the comfort of the hotel room instead.

May 27 28 El Paso

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Bret and I spent most of two days just hanging out. He had his hip replaced for the second time the Friday before I arrived.

His parents were staying with him and he and they were a little stir crazy.

Bret commented when they picked me up that he’d never picked up any friend at a train station… in the US.

We went to Jaxon’s brew pub several times, Brew sports pub (which doesn’t brew), the Sunset Brewery (which is a pizzeria, not a brewery), and King’s X (which had only recently reopened).

They dropped me again at the train station on Thusday evening. The train had arrived a little early, but left a little late. I was soon headed west again.

May 26 Marfa – Alpine – El Paso

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I gathered all my stuff, packing my bag that already seems tighter, and taking a shower at Padre’s. David gave me a ride to Alpine and we grabbed lunch at Talgar’s, just across the tracks from the train station. A nice Azteca Soup and fish tacos.

I hauled my stuff to the waiting room after lunch. David hung out for a little while, then took off on his daily errands. Not too much later cowboy Ty showed up in the waiting room, there to pick someone up. The train rolled into the station just about on time. I was not surprised to see a very attractive girl in cowboy hat hop off the train and greet Ty.

I wasn’t assigned a seat, so I just got on the train and found some empty seats and claimed them. I tried to nap, still being tired. I noticed i still tasted of cigar.

I must have dozed off because it wasn’t long until we were there. Bret and his parents were there to pick me up. Bret on crutched, 5 days post-op from his second hip replacement. He said this one was much smoother than the last. Bret commented that this was the first time he’d met a friend at a train station in the US.

We stopped for a beer at Jaxon’s brew pub, then to Avila’s for a Mexican dinner and home to lounge about.