Traveling by Train Part 3

April 11:  Mary and Gregg drove us back to Spokane to pick up the train from there to Portland.  The first leg of our trip down to San Diego.    .
 
11:24 a.m.:  We have been following the Columbia River for quite a long time now.  We took off from Spokane right on time at 2:45 a.m.  We went just a little way into the countryside and stopped.  Come to find out, a freight train ahead of us had trouble and we sat there on a siding for a couple of hours  We moved ahead slowly and then stopped again for another couple of hours.  The long story short is that instead of having a four hour layover in Portland, we are not sure we will reach our Starlight Express down to L.A. in time.  Can't worry about it, their problem not ours.  Just passed a container barge in the middle of the river.  Not sure it's moving.   Looks like those we saw in Alaska that supplies that State everything.     
9:00 p.m.:  They held the Portland to LA train for twenty minutes until we got there.  They told us to get on the porter's cart and go.  We were concerned how we were going to spend our layover in Portland and we never made it inside the train station.  One train to another.
Neither of us got much sleep last night, we couldn't figure out how to work the upper berth.    We have traveled through some beautiful country today.  Down the Columbia River Basin and saw a whole raft of waterfalls - Vern always loved that drive, it's almost as spectacular by train.  We climbed into the Cascades where we trained among snow covered steep hills - pretty close to the edge - and snow covered pines.  Just beautiful.  We have gone through almost thirty tunnels today.  There was a huge lake - Upper Klamath.  Some of this grandeur is almost indescribable.  But we also went through some bleak landscape in West Central Washington as well.  Desolate but still very interesting.
   This afternoon, Judy asked Lorna, our attendant, if there were any roomettes available, she would pay extra to have a decent bed.  Lorna said she would ask the conductor if there was anything available.  She came back about a half hour later and said the conductor told her to prepare roomette #9 for Judy at no cost.  So she just left to go down there.  How cool is that?    Just took a sleeping pill, so hopefully it will be a quiet night.

April 13.  6:07 p.m:.  We just came  from Henesseys, a great bar in Vista.  A glass of Smithwichs and fish and chips.  Life is good.! Lissa ordered an Irish Car bomb - 4 oz of Guinness, a shot of Jamesons with a shot of Baileys on top.  I didn't like it much, but I guess several of them can be pretty potent.
      We arrived here a little after midnight.  We changed trains at L.A. to a commuter train to Oceanside.  The Los Angeles train station is unique and people watching was great.  An interesting group of characters.       Yesterday just seemed long.  We were really tired and both were asleep within minutes.

      As we traveled south we saw beautiful orchards in bloom, pink and white.  Lots of fields growing vegetables and then major forests.  People say California is the home of fruit and nuts and it really is.  I don't think people realize how much of our fruit and vegetables are grown there.
       Just past San Luis Obispo, we saw the ocean for miles.  Always like to see the ocean.
     

     This was Judy's first trip to San Diego and her first long train ride.  I love traveling by train mostly because it's a leisurely way to travel.  Sister Judith Ann likes to get from here to there in the shortest time possible.  I believe she liked the experience but it's certainly not high on her bucket list to do again.