First Train Ride!
This was supposed to have been posted last night, but I've not had time to do so until now. It's my thoughts while I was on the Amtrak heading to Oakland.
I am writing this from the Amtrak train I am on, enjoying the very first ride on a train in my life! Woohoo, a new adventure. I have no access to the net right now, so this will have to do until I get some sort of web access.
I am taking this trip to Oakland, which was not my first choice. I was hoping for a short trip to Stockton, to be picked up there for tomorrow's workshop on Henrician/Tudor stuff with the GBACG/West Kingdom. But my hostess is working in the City by the Bay until late tonight, so she and her hubby are meeting me at the Oakland station, which is at the far end of the route I am on (San Joaquin).
I wish I had brought a blanket with me, or took the sweatshirt out of the suitcase before I got that stowed in luggage. As usual I am getting cold in the a/c.
The ride so far has been fun, if a bit boring. Lots of shaking going on, which makes reading hard on me since I get car sick. Doesn't help that I ended up sitting backwards. But I was able to get a little hand sewing done on one of the hoods I brought with me, which finished it except for the pearls that will go on it. I am listening to a mix of music on Rob's handy mp3 player, a Sanyo that he usually enjoys.
I also knew I should have brought a dvd to watch, but I didn't grab anything. I didn't know that trains have a nifty little power plug near each section to plug stuff into. On my travel down the train to the food car, I saw a family sitting around two tables, enjoying a movie on a portable dvd unit. When we take the kids, we must do the same to keep them happy.
It really is amazing how quickly most of the stops are going. About a minute or so, to let people on and off, then off we go again. It has also been oddly fascinating watching the freight trains as we pass each other on the tracks, quite closely. And then watching the landscape, while I had some sunlight to enjoy the experience of cows and farmland and suburban backyards and old industrial buildings. I am sure those who take trains on a frequent basis might find this amusing, but for once, I am actually enjoying this experience like a child does, since like most children, this is my first time on a TRAIN!!! Yeah, I iz a kid now.
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Time has passed, and I am heading to Richmond, having past Martinez. It is dark, but lights from across the bay? light up the water below us. Well, not really below, but it looks like it. I wish I could take a photo of it, but there would be too much inner light bounce. I don't often get to be this close to the water in the Bay, or whatever body of water I am really near. My understanding of North Bay is rather minimal. Passing the C&H Cane Sugar plant, which is lit up, as is the nearby bridge. Someday I want to watch this trip during the daylight hours, and with a definite blanket and pillow. My hands have gotten cold, so I am haivng a bit of a time writing this properly.
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Still numb hands, but I've been keeping my mind busy with a game of Bejeweled. Good thing, too... as we are now stopped at a red light, because of some "police action" going on nearby. No idea what, or when we will get moving again. Btw, our engineer, the guy on the overhead com, is a man with a sense of humor, considering the special names every city on the route has been given. Martinez, the city where they invented martinis. Now I wanna look up the origin of martinis. Ah, we are moving along again. It was about a 5 minute delay, so hopefully the police action wasn't too bad. Ah, next is "riveting, rip-roaring Richmond!" Yah, gotta love a guy who makes his daily travel into something a little more than mundane.
Well, since it will be coming up to Oakland soonish, I am going to shut this down, and put things away for the last stop, Oakland.
I am writing this from the Amtrak train I am on, enjoying the very first ride on a train in my life! Woohoo, a new adventure. I have no access to the net right now, so this will have to do until I get some sort of web access.
I am taking this trip to Oakland, which was not my first choice. I was hoping for a short trip to Stockton, to be picked up there for tomorrow's workshop on Henrician/Tudor stuff with the GBACG/West Kingdom. But my hostess is working in the City by the Bay until late tonight, so she and her hubby are meeting me at the Oakland station, which is at the far end of the route I am on (San Joaquin).
I wish I had brought a blanket with me, or took the sweatshirt out of the suitcase before I got that stowed in luggage. As usual I am getting cold in the a/c.
The ride so far has been fun, if a bit boring. Lots of shaking going on, which makes reading hard on me since I get car sick. Doesn't help that I ended up sitting backwards. But I was able to get a little hand sewing done on one of the hoods I brought with me, which finished it except for the pearls that will go on it. I am listening to a mix of music on Rob's handy mp3 player, a Sanyo that he usually enjoys.
I also knew I should have brought a dvd to watch, but I didn't grab anything. I didn't know that trains have a nifty little power plug near each section to plug stuff into. On my travel down the train to the food car, I saw a family sitting around two tables, enjoying a movie on a portable dvd unit. When we take the kids, we must do the same to keep them happy.
It really is amazing how quickly most of the stops are going. About a minute or so, to let people on and off, then off we go again. It has also been oddly fascinating watching the freight trains as we pass each other on the tracks, quite closely. And then watching the landscape, while I had some sunlight to enjoy the experience of cows and farmland and suburban backyards and old industrial buildings. I am sure those who take trains on a frequent basis might find this amusing, but for once, I am actually enjoying this experience like a child does, since like most children, this is my first time on a TRAIN!!! Yeah, I iz a kid now.
-----
Time has passed, and I am heading to Richmond, having past Martinez. It is dark, but lights from across the bay? light up the water below us. Well, not really below, but it looks like it. I wish I could take a photo of it, but there would be too much inner light bounce. I don't often get to be this close to the water in the Bay, or whatever body of water I am really near. My understanding of North Bay is rather minimal. Passing the C&H Cane Sugar plant, which is lit up, as is the nearby bridge. Someday I want to watch this trip during the daylight hours, and with a definite blanket and pillow. My hands have gotten cold, so I am haivng a bit of a time writing this properly.
-----
Still numb hands, but I've been keeping my mind busy with a game of Bejeweled. Good thing, too... as we are now stopped at a red light, because of some "police action" going on nearby. No idea what, or when we will get moving again. Btw, our engineer, the guy on the overhead com, is a man with a sense of humor, considering the special names every city on the route has been given. Martinez, the city where they invented martinis. Now I wanna look up the origin of martinis. Ah, we are moving along again. It was about a 5 minute delay, so hopefully the police action wasn't too bad. Ah, next is "riveting, rip-roaring Richmond!" Yah, gotta love a guy who makes his daily travel into something a little more than mundane.
Well, since it will be coming up to Oakland soonish, I am going to shut this down, and put things away for the last stop, Oakland.