Airbnb (Downtown Urban Industrial Studio) - Salinas, CA

 

Slept in a real bed, Ahh!  A quick walk to the Farmer’s Market.  Our son wanted “Pain au Chocolate” and Deb was all in for that.  Not a chocolate lover (especially at breakfast), I went for the Rhubarb/Strawberry Tart.  

The whole trip evolved around delivering a ship model. I had made a shipping container for it that probably would not make it past TSA, so it was hand carried by Deb’s Delivery Service the full 3,000 miles.  We had the big reveal yesterday, and it made it unscathed.  Wahoo!  

In the afternoon, we went to Carmel Valley,  which is a tiny town with about 30 wineries with tasting rooms, interspersed with a dozen restaurants, art shops and, of course, an Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar store.  Sampling olive oil in a little cup is interesting and somewhat off putting.  Sampling the balsamic vinegar was more straightforward.  We are having some shipped home.

After two wine tastings, and purchasing a red and a white wine for our next visit (see how we plan ahead!), we returned to Salinas for an Italian dinner.  The restaurant that we have been to was closed, so we went to Patria (just down the street).  Best Italian food we have eaten in years.

Tomorrow, we start our trip home.  We’ll spend the night at the SFO Hyatt before flying out.  

Airbnb - Salinas

 

We woke up early, because, since the train was arriving in Los Angeles at 8:00, they were only serving breakfast between 5:00 and 6:00.  There are only a few things to do on the train, and meals pretty much tops the list.  We are up at 4:30, so as not to miss breakfast.  The train is, ALAS, no longer on time.  It’s now running late by an hour.  But that’s still okay, we have two hour to make the transfer.

Breakfast must be completed by the time we reach San Bernardino, or so we are told multiple times over the trains PA system.  And for some magical Amtrak reason, we are back on schedule, and going to arrive early in Los Angeles.

One of the advantages of riding in a sleeper is access, besides getting to sleep and included meals, is access to the Amtrak Lounge.  Nice, not luxurious, but nice.  

We made our connection with ease.  Got to Salina’s only 15 mi minutes late, not bad by Amtrak standards.  Met our son, had a nice dinner , and crashed for the night.

Southwest Chief - Albuquerque to Los Angeles

 

It’s our last day in Albuquerque.  There is no place to store our bags but, we have been graciously given till noon to check-out.  I tried for another half hour, no go!  There is a trail by the Rio Grande where can stretch our legs.  The plan is to walk, get an early lunch, checkout, and go the train station.  The fatal flaw in this plan is the time crunch for checking out.  Deb is never, ever, never ever late!  By 10:30, she is checking the time, convinced that we will late, she makes her final offer - McDonalds. Quick!  For me it’s beyond the pale!  Fortunately for me, she acquiesces and we find a place that will make a quick quesadilla.  We made it back to the room by 11:38.

Orchid

The train appears to be on time, until it isn’t.  Our next hurdle is catching the train from Los Angeles to Salinas at 10:00 tomorrow morning.  We have a scheduled two hour layover.  By the time we go to bed, we have been delayed over an hour.

Stay tuned…

Casa de Suenos - Albuquerque

 

We scheduled an extra day in Albuquerque because neither of us have really been here (I used to stop for gas at about 2:00AM on my cross country trips).  We have focused our visit on Old Town, which is a little touristy (said dripping with sarcasm).  But this morning, we visited the Botanical Gardens.  Impressive, immaculate, comprehensive.  There are two huge greenhouses: one humid and foggy and one dry and hot.

Around noon, the train that we will catch tomorrow, left Chicago Union Station.  It was on time!  Lunch at the Sawmill Market.  One of those places that has dozens of small food vendors to choose from.  Deb chose a Taco place.  She got one little tiny taco and a tiny cup of rice.  I went with a plate of Spicy Tuna Rolls and a bowl of miso soup.  Deb just looked at me in disgust, “Sushi in New Mexico? Seriously!”  

On the way back, we stopped in Old Town for a little wine tasting.  All New Mexico vineyards.  We sat on the patio, and watched a local walking his pet iguana. (A sentence, I never thought I would write).  Back to the inn for a New Mexico Siesta.  The train is still on time!  

Dinner at the Church Street Cafe.  You walk into the Coffee Shop, duck through the back-room and your in a huge empty dining room, keep walking and a few turns later you are on a bustling patio.  Food was very New Mexico, not a sushi roll in sight.

Back to the inn and off to bed…the train is still on time!

Golden Barrel

Casa de Suenos - Albuquerque

 

Deb has been insisting that she is agile (Yoga proud) and that I am older and more decrepit.  Therefore, she should take the top bunk and I should take the lower.  Her more diplomatic take on it is that I stay up later and can leave the lower bunk configured as a chair until I am ready for bed.  Probably, reality lies somewhere between.

The trip through the southwest was planned three months ago with the idea of seeing all the flowers blossoming in the spring.  However, since there has been a widespread drought, we got to see very dry grasslands instead.  Even so, this is beautiful country.  

The train climbed, albeit slowly, over the Raton Pass. It’s the highest point that Amtrak goes at 7,600ft elevation.  From our sleeper car, we can go through the dining car to the observation car.  It is, of course, packed.  (the entire train is two stories but can only go between cars on the second floor).  The first floor had a snack bar, and was less crowded.

Our train is running a little over 2 hours late.  They keep revising the schedule, laced with optimism, showing the train getting back on schedule within the next couple of stops.  But alas, it just kept getting later and later.

Finally, in Albuquerque, we uber to Casa de Suenos Inn, an eclectic piece of old New Mexico. Drop our bags and head out for a New Mexican dinner, complimented with a Blackberry margarita and a hazy IPA.

Tomorrow, we explore… 

Southwest Chief - Chicago to Albuquerque

 

The weather forecast for Chicago called for rain most of the day.  So no boat ride.  The Chicago History Museum is closed on Mondays, so no museum.  So the obvious choice is to go to top of the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower, but nobody calls it that).  It was once the tallest building in America, but now it’s not.  So they added the TILT, where you stand at the window while it tilts out leaving you with nothing but 95 floors of air.  Unfortunately, the TILT didn’t open till 3:00 and we had a train to catch, otherwise…well actually, no, never, not in a life time!  Instead, we risked a coffee and a tea, as we watched the clouds rolling in to obscure the view.

By noon, we were back at the hotel for a quick lunch before heading to Union station for the next leg of our trip.  For some reason, Amtrak likes to keep the track number of the departing train a secret until five minutes before the train leaves.  We did find a mole that revealed the track number fifteen minutes early.  All the sleeper cars have arbitrary numbers assigned to them.  Ours was 330, but of course, that number was also a secret, and we walked right by it.  

Although I knew the Superliner rooms were smaller than the Viewliner rooms.  I wasn’t prepared for how much smaller.  Also the Superliners were put into service in the late 1970’s, so the single plug in the room is for your razor only (it says so on the plug), there is no wifi, and the lighting predates LED’s.  

The dining room has tables for four, so we share.  Deb is determined to make conversation with our table mates.  Dinner was with two Amish construction workers from Erie, PA.  They excelled at one word responses.  They eventually opened up, a little.  Breakfast was with an amateur plein-aire painter from Iowa who vacationed alone because her husband liked Star Trek convention (not her thing).

We are currently running about an hour late

London House - Chicago

We woke up, or more correctly, arose from a mostly sleepless night in Toledo, OH.  I couldn’t tell you when because I was on the top bunk and my phone was somewhere in the deep void below me!  There is a small fold-up sink in the room (it drains when you close it…a little awkward if you brush your teeth and shave). We had breakfast in Indiana, before arriving, 30 minutes early in Chicago.  

We dropped off our bags at the hotel, and went to see Cloud Gate.  Yes, that is the actual name of the sculpture we all call, “the bean.”  We both thought it was a serious one and done kind of thing, but we spent quite a long time, mostly trying to find our own reflection (not as easy as you would think).

Even though it is almost May, it’s a little cold, and the wind doesn’t help.  But we are New Englanders and we have tough skin, or enough layers of clothes, so we walked the Riverwalk along the Chicago River.  All up and down the river are Architecture Tours.  This is a city of “one-upmanship.”  Every building in the district is distinctive with new buildings mixed with old. And, of course, “my building’s taller than yours”.

By11:30 we were ready for lunch.  Trip Advisor suggested The Purple Pig for lunch. Obviously, Trip Advisor is not concerned about his expenses.  The cheapest item on the lunch menu was about $40, but since we are old, we shared.  We had the Winter Salad, and a Pork Ribeye.  Honestly, the best meal I have had in years.  By noon, there were no seats left.

By 2:30, we got our room, and took a little nap, then up to the rooftop bar (with no windows) for a drink before dinner.

Tomorrow, it’s suppose to rain before we get back on the train to Albuquerque.