Happy Halloween Birthday to my 34 year old Son.
You make me proud every day.
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Yes, it's Halloween and this was a display from Knott's Berry Farm in 2023, when we went with our friends from Phoenix.
We have nothing going on today, but we do have candy, in case someone comes over and wants a treat.
Enjoy the holiday.
I brought up my Father yesterday, and before this blog goes much further, I would like to mention how he treated his 4 grandsons.
Every year the Hess Gas Station on the border of Hicksville and Bethpage, would have Hess Trucks for sale.
On the first day of sale, you would find my Father there buying 4 trucks for his grandsons.
I must have at least 10 of them, still in their boxes, in my Son's closet. He spent countless hours playing with them all.
I don't think the company even exists anymore, but someone has the rights to the Hess Trucks, and sells them online.
It brings back many memories to my Son (and I am sure) his cousins.
First off, I would like to acknowledge the fact that my Dad would be 100 years old today.
Happy Birthday in heaven, Dad. Love you, miss you.
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I ran out of things to eat the other night, and so I managed to drag my Husband out to our favorite, Saugus Cafe.
For some reason, we both ended up eating breakfast for dinner.
I had not had their chili in years, and it was as I remember it.
Awesome leftovers, too, the next morning.
We will try to get over there more often then twice a year, moving forward.
My Water Post For Today.
The last thing we do, leaving Vandenberg, is make a hard left turn, and start heading toward Santa Barbara.
Usually, this is one of the most wonderful things to experience, since you normally have no access to this area by car.
Unfortunately, we had fog.
This was one of the few places where it cleared up and we totally enjoyed it.
I hope you do, too.
The World Series Game is about to start, as I write this post.
We came from behind after 10 innings, on Friday night, so at the worst, we go to NY with a 1-1 split.
To say the least, we are totally revved up here in LA, especially after the walk-off grand slam homer, by Freddie Freeman.
Good luck Dodgers, from the angel house.
Kill those Yankees!
Update: We won game 2, with a score of 4-2. The only issue is, Shohei Ohtani injured himself in the 7th inning of the game.
A palate cleanser during a very misinformation laden week, before the election.
I have mentioned before that since we have come home from our vacation, Makenna has been much more needy.
Part of it is the change of seasons, since it is much cooler in the house in the early morning.
I can't complain, though. My electric bill is super low (of course it is one of two climate credit months). If you ignore that, we were not using the air conditioning most of the month, and have not turned on the heater yet. So win!
Every time I sit in on my couch, she comes over and settles herself near me.
Many times it is a problem, but we make due.
Love her so much.
OK, one last post about things I saw on Saturday.
This one is a gourd, that was made to look like a pumpkin.
I love the bats on it and the gold around them, but $20 for a gourd, was just too much money.
Plus, I have no idea if it will make it to 2025, or later.
Instead, it will live on in a photo.
Fernando Valenzuela has died at 63 years old.
Back in those early 80's days, I was a new arrival to Los Angeles.
I had my favorites, all New York teams, so I was not a Dodger fan, per se.
When the Dodgers played the New York Yankees in 1981, I am positive I rooted for the Dodgers, because rooting for the Yankees was, and is, unthinkable.
So, yes, I knew of Fernando, but not well.
I was very glad the Dodgers finally acknowledged his might, especially with their huge Hispanic Fan Base, by retiring his number 34, in 2023.
Earlier this year, he retired from doing Spanish play-by-play, due to some sort of illness.
Unfortunately, it seems he died from whatever that was.
Godspeed to you, Fernando.
Photo Credit, CBS.
Before I leave the Fall Ceramics Show that I just attended, I wanted to highlight some of the awesome creative displays I saw.
The top one was cats and dogs, and I was seriously looking at one of the large cat bowls, but it no longer had a price on it, so I think it was taken.
It was very creative, but probably outside my price point.
The other display that always catches my eye, are the donuts. (I think this is her 3rd show with some).
This is the most creative display yet, with a cart filled with the yummy treats.
Of course they weigh a ton, because they are made out of clay, but they do look great.
I am getting closer to attending a pottery class. Maybe after the New Year.
This recipe came from my Son. He made it on Friday and we finally managed to make it on Sunday. What a great treat!
Many thanks to iHEARTeating, for a knock-out recipe.
Chocolate Marble Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Batter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Batter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease and flour two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, whisk oil and sugar together. Mixture will look like wet sand.
Whisk in eggs until well-combined.
Add the pumpkin puree and whisk until well-combined.
Whisk in the flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Overmixing the bread will cause it to be tough.
Remove 1 ½ cups of pumpkin batter to a separate medium bowl.
Stir in cocoa powder and milk until combined.
Pour 1/4 cup of the plain batter into the first prepared pan.
Top the batter with 2 tablespoons chocolate batter.
Repeat with the second pan.
Continue alternating batters on top of each other in both pans until you’ve used up both batters.
Give each pan a couple of gentle taps but don’t stir.
Bake for 40-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes:
Vegetable oil: You can use canola oil, vegetable oil, or even a light olive oil in this recipe.
Pumpkin puree: Be sure to buy pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix.
Flour: To properly measure the flour, stir to break it up, lightly spoon into measuring cup, and then level.
Pumpkin pie spice: It can be difficult or expensive (or both) to purchase pumpkin pie spice. You can make your own
with this recipe. (3 TBL Cinnamon, 1 TBL Nutmeg, 1TBL Ginger, and 1 TBL All Spice).
Greasing the pan: I like to use a cooking spray with flour in it like Baker’s Joy.
Cocoa powder: I use regular, unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. I have not tested this recipe with Dutch processed cocoa powder.
Milk: You can use anything from skim milk to whole milk in this recipe. You can also use a non-dairy milk, like almond milk, in this recipe.
My Water Post For Today.
I have mentioned this body of water before: Donner Lake.
It sits in the high Sierra's, just past Truckee.
It is a clear water lake, north of Lake Tahoe.
Very beautiful to see in person.
I missed the pottery show in the spring, since I was back in New England, at the time.
I definitely wanted to make sure I got to their Fall Pottery Show.
So much stuff! I swear, you could spend a fortune.
It was windy, also, so I was glad I got their early, because 2 pieces fell in the wind, and broke.
Thankfully not one of the ones I was thinking of buying.
So the newest member of my tiny Fall display, is a 2 part piece, that you place a candle in. It was only $25, and I felt it was well worth the price.
I also got a small tray for $12, and a small round dish for $5)
I try very hard not to buy too much.
Last month, I was preparing to go on an 8 day trip by train.
I am reading The Power Broker, which weighs a ton, so I figured I would bring my iPad with me, loaded with books.
I open it up and it wants me to log in, with my email and password.
I tried to do so, multiple times, with no luck.
I plugged it in and recharged it, but it is still not connecting, and wants my email and password.
It finally decided to tell me, that I am locked and must contact Apple to get back in.
I gave up, and brought The Power Broker with me. Sigh...
Yesterday, I signed in via my computer, since I was locked out of the iPad, and sent a request to get back into my account.
They said it would take upwards of 24 hours to unlock the account, if they felt I was the correct person.
Thankfully, I passed, and they gave me control over my iTunes Connect account, and thus, my iPad.
What a royal pain.
Should You Buy Trip Interruption Insurance?
You have decided to book your trip via Amtrak.
One of the things that come up in the booking process, is whether you would like to purchase trip interruption insurance from Allianz. As seniors, we default to this purchase, because you just never know how your health is going to be, several months in the future. For the rest of you, I want to go through our recent experience with Allianz Claims.
We are waiting for our second claim, but one of the two claims we submitted after our 3 train trips, has been received already.
We put in a refund for an Uber ride from Van Nuys Station, to Burbank Airport, where our car was. It cost us $32.91, plus a 20% tip, which we did not claim on the Allianz refund request.
When the check was deposited directly into my account, it was for $250. They explained that each passenger received $125 each, for not only the charge we paid, but for the inconvenience we experienced. Without even having our original 12-hour delay claim paid to us, yet, we are already serious money ahead.
It took them around a week or so to process it. They mention that they are running behind due to the two hurricane claims (Helene and Milton) coming through their office right now.
The amount charged to each leg of our trip was a very affordable amount of money, around $25. In our case, this was money well spent, and I would do it again, in a heartbeat.
Thank you Allianz for the peace of mind you give your travelers.
Update: we received the second check, and it is for $200. Not bad at all, for a 12 hour delay, and an expense of $64.40.
We filled out our ballot on Monday.
On Tuesday we brought them to the Post Office, to get sent to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, to be counted.
As usual, it was a hard thing to deal with, because of all the State, and County Measures, but we got through it as best we could.
Now we sit back and wait for Election Day.
Sigh...
Update: the ballot got counted!
Yesterday, was Wave of Light Day, which they used to call Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day. I missed it again, but I did light these candles at exactly 7PM for my lost baby.
It has been 34 years, but you do not forget.
Maybe someday we will meet in the great beyond.
Love you, unknown child of mine.
It's Abandoned Art Week, and so my Facebook feed is swamped with ceramic pieces that are abandoned around Santa Clarita.
Just before I had an errand to run, I saw three pieces that were abandoned right in my area of the world.
This is highly unusual, most end up further away from me.
So after I went to the pharmacy, I rode to the furthest location and checked for the piece.
No luck, so I went to the second location, and again no luck.
I was right by my house and almost stopped searching, but then I figured, what the heck, and rode over to the third location, and amazingly, it was still there.
I finally found one.
It weighs a ton, and I am not exactly sure what it is, but it is now mine.
My Water Post For Today.
We left Galesburg, Illinois in the late afternoon. Next stop on the Zephyr is Burlington, Iowa.
We got there just before sunset, and so the bridge looks particularly beautiful in the evening sun, which I like.
The Mississippi River is calm, which perfectly shows off the reflection of the bridge in the water.
All is right in the world, and I hope you enjoy.
This is just leaving Arvarda, Colorado. It is right after the Big 10 Curve (outside Denver).
I spend quite a bit of time watching trains on that camera, so getting photos of the area directly to the west of the curve, made me happy.
A former train employee, lives up above the curve, so that is why Virtual Railfan has a camera there.
The weather was perfect, as was the entire trip on the California Zephyr.
Still so glad we did it.
Once again, I had plans for High Holy Days.
I bought a Tri-tip Roast to prepare, but we were out of town for several days, so it did not get made.
I knew that today was Yom Kipper, so I had a few thoughts for the holiday.
One that I did not plan to do, but did, was Matzo Ball Soup last night.
I managed it just fine, and we had it with a few other things like gefilte fish, stewed prunes in orange juice and cinnamon, (which my Mother-In-Law loved to make) and some olives.
It was not a big deal, but it made us feel like we did something "Holiday" like.
The beautiful San Joaquin Valley of Central California.
Being our train rode through the west side of the valley, we saw some crops that were planted.
On the Hwy 99 side, you mostly see almond trees, pistachio trees (Wonderful Pstachios), and citrus trees (Wonderful Halos), so watching crops grow was a different experience.
They also had pumpkin farms, but we did not manage to get a photograph of them.
The salad bowl of America, is still here in California.
For the past 5 days, since we returned from our 8 day trip, this is what I have to deal with.
The cat sleeping wherever I am.
It gets annoying, since it is still very warm out here in Southern California.
After about an hour, I usually kick her out, and go pee, or get dessert or something.
Makenna, I love you, but a little less love would be appreciated.
Your Mommy.
I was extremely sorry to see that LA Fitness has been sued.
"The Justice Department today sued Fitness International LLC, also called LA Fitness, for discriminating against people with disabilities at its gym and fitness clubs. LA Fitness is the largest chain of owner-operated gym and fitness clubs in the United States, with nearly 700 locations across the country.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges LA Fitness violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits public accommodations, including gym and fitness clubs, from discriminating against people with disabilities. The ADA requires LA Fitness to give people with disabilities equal access to LA Fitness’ services and facilities, remove architectural barriers to make its facilities accessible to people with disabilities and maintain accessible features. The ADA also prohibits LA Fitness from charging extra fees to people with disabilities."
You can read the entire article, HERE.
Our pool has been attacked by a disabled person, for the past few months. I do not know if he is the one who brought the suit, or if he is part of a bigger group who are disrupting our classes, but it had gotten pretty bad for us and mostly for the instructors.
He has deliberately tried to join our aquafit class, which has a tendency to attract 40 or more swimmers. Almost all of us, senior citizens.
He never has any help with him, and that is a problem, because he expects us to help him, if he has trouble.
Excuse me? I don't lift people at my age and I bet most of the others don't either.
I once saw him fall between the chair lift (that works) and his wheel chair. The young employee who was helping him, almost couldn't get him back up and into the chair.
I can see the club having a pool time for disabled persons, but having them disrupt our class, is not the answer.
My husband and I watch trains on YouTube every evening. One of the locations we watch is Fort Madison, Iowa. It is on the Southern Transcon, so 80 or so trains a day, pass by. We heard that they have a River and Rail Weekend at the station, and since we had no plans for vacation this year, this was attractive to us.
I began by trying to book the trip on Amtrak. The Southwest Chief was easy and I booked us the Roomette. We then wanted to link up with the California Zephyr in Galesburg, Illinois, which is about one hour north of Fort Madison, so since there were no rental cars in Fort Madison, I booked the rental car in Galesburg. It seemed easy for us and we would be back in the afternoon, after our train got into the station, in time for the Hawaiian Luau and arrival of SWC #3 which gets into the station at around 6:30PM. I booked a local Quality Inn, a bit outside the immediate area, but with the rental car, this seemed fine for us. We intended to spend 3 nights there.
I then tried to book the California Zephyr, and found out that when all information was placed into the website, it would say that there were no Roomettes available for purchase. I then called Amtrak, and they found out the same thing I did. They said I would have to book coach. I then did that online, and it cost me about $200 for the two of us. We knew we would have to rough-it, by eating our own food, and sleeping on a chair, but for 2 days we figured we would manage. Galesburg to Emeryville, California (outside San Francisco).
I then tried to book the Coast Starlight for the final leg of the journey, to get us to Los Angeles. The Amtrak site informed me that I had enough points in my account to purchase a Roomette for the journey, so we did. After 2 days in Coach, we thought it would be a good change for us. I booked a hotel, Hyatt House, right outside the station, for showers and a real bed, to sleep on.
We left our car at Burbank Airport, and took the Metrolink train into Union Station, all was well. At the time we were supposed to leave, we were informed there was going to be a 30-minute delay, due to a mechanical issue. Eventually, they brought us up onto the platform and we waited…and waited. After an hour, they took us back to the Metropolitan Lounge, and we waited some more. The total wait ended up being 3 ½ hours late out of Union Station.
During the middle of the night, I felt the train stop. Not unusual, but it went on and on. 4 hours later, they got a new crew to drive the train, and off we went again. Now over 7 hours late. It was daytime, so we kept losing time, as many freight trains delayed us more and more. By the time we got to Fort Madison, it was over 11 hours late and 10:30PM at night. No Luau, no rental car, but we had a hotel, so we called a taxi, and they drove us over to the Quality Inn. In the morning, we decided we would take the train up to Galesburg, and get our rental car. We get back to the station and spend some time talking to other railfans, taking photos, and all around having a nice time…except our train was 2 hours late, and thus, too late for our rental car company (which closes at 12PM on Saturday). This delay meant we did not get onto the train, and we canceled the rental car. We were now in taxi land. They had a food truck at the station, so we got a bbq sandwich that we split, for lunch. We had a river cruise scheduled at 2PM, and we walked from the station to the marina. Made it in plenty of time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Highly recommend this, if you ever decide to go to the River and Rail event. The marina is right next to the Turnwater restaurant, and we went to dinner there. Bar food basically, but we enjoyed watching the boats and trains as we ate. The drinks were good. Back at the hotel, we had a late dessert at the restaurant across the parking lot. The desserts were huge, but very good. That boded well for the next night’s dinner.
Sunday we did our laundry, and used the free breakfast to also give us a free bagel lunch. We were carrying food with us, so we added chips and dessert to lunch. For dinner we walked across the parking lot to the Buffalo61 restaurant for dinner. The burgers were OK, but I had onion rings and they were just fine. Unfortunately, we did not go anywhere that day. So, no River and Rail events.
Monday morning, we rode the train up to Galesburg. We brought another bagel lunch with us and sat at the station watching trains and resting. When dinner time was coming I ended up walking to a restaurant called Landmark Café and Creperie. Excellent food (a turkey sandwich on sourdough), which we augmented with our chips and their strawberries. I would love to return to this restaurant someday. The crepes look excellent. At 4:45PM our train came, and off we went. Our lower-level coach car was filled, though several people left almost immediately at the next station, so we ended up in the final seats at the end of the car. Not perfect, but the best we would get. Nighttime came and we slept OK, but not great.
Tuesday arrived and there was Denver, Colorado. This begins the most wonderful part of the journey, the Rocky Mountains. We found out that they have to give out passes for passengers who want to spend time in the Sightseer Lounge. We decided to go with the view we had, and after going to the Café Car part of the lounge, I was glad I did. It was packed with people trying to get photos of the Colorado River. Thankfully for us, the train crosses over it about half way through the journey, so both sides of the train get views of the river. Sometimes you can see river rafts going through the rapids, and other times, wildlife enjoying their lives. We spent most of the day in Colorado, and then off to Utah, and bed. The chair was even worse the second night, but we survived and woke up in Nevada, by morning.
Wednesday is basically the Donner Pass area of California. Again, it is a must-see part of the journey, with a totally different look to it, then what we passed in Colorado. We had our final lunch at the Café Car, a Nathan’s Hot Dog and a drink. We congratulated ourselves on making it through the 2 days of the Coach Car, and got ready to detrain in Emeryville, California. The hotel worked out just fine, but the food in the bar was bar food. Let the buyer beware. About a half block down from the hotel, is a food court called Public Market. We believe we would have had a better meal, if we had made the effort to walk over to it. Otherwise, showers, and an early bedtime, were a welcome comfort.
Thursday we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel, though we could have had something on the train (so they said). Our train was on-time, and off we went to Los Angeles. Once again we were treated like royalty, but we had to sit with other passengers for meals, which I hate to do. The first couple were OK, the second couple were not OK. Sigh… We finally got to Van Nuys, and the next station stop (early) was ours, Burbank. We got down to the lower level, and got our luggage together. We were ready, when the train stopped. We were told it was police activity on the tracks, and it went on and on. Finally, after an hour or so, they backed the train up to Van Nuys, and we decided to Uber our way to the Burbank airport parking lot.
Thus, ended our journey. Not totally good, but not totally bad, either.
Photo is of the ocean, just past Point Conception. The sun broke through for a few minutes.
My Water Post For Today.
I have many photos of the Colorado River, as we traversed through Colorado, but I think this one is the best.
I love the mountain's reflection in the water, which is not something I got in the photo, often.
Note, that since this is the west side of the mountains, you do not see the yellow aspens on the hills.
Still, it is a beautiful photograph of an interesting area of our Country.
Most of our journey was in areas that have not yet seen Fall.
The aspens in Colorado do not fail in that regard.
On the east side of the Rocky Mountains, they were out in spades.
Bright yellow, and oh so pretty.
Once we got to the west side of the Rocky Mountains, that was no longer the case.
I was so glad to see them.
This is a condensed version of the end of our journey. It was originally posted on Facebook.
So, we made it home Thursday night.
We have no idea what the police action was, that blocked our train between Van Nuys and Burbank.
All we knew was that they backed the train up, to allow passengers to get off and arrange other transportation at Van Nuys station, and we got off and used Uber for the first time in our lives.
Got home at 11:30 PM. What a trip.
Makenna is so glad to see us.
A few photos from our journey, the Fort Madison leg, to begin with.
After our riverboat journey, we went to the restaurant at the marina, The Turnwater.
I had a margarita, with 3 tacos. Shrimp, Chicken, and Beef.
They were OK, though I am sure LA has better.
The other place we ate at, was Buffalo61, right outside our hotel.
One evening we had a cheeseburger, and the night before we had dessert.
The cheeseburger was as you would expect, but the dessert of cheesecake deep fried in a flour tortilla, was excellent!
Thanks to our hotel, most of the other meals were covered by them.
We have done the Coast Starlight multiple times, but never for free.
Thanks Amtrak for taking a small amount of points for this trip.
We will get to ride along the coast, from around the Vandenberg Space Force area, to Ventura.
Always a pleasure to do so, and we hope the weather holds out for good views.
Los Angeles this evening.
Another day on the rails and if all goes as expected, we should arrive in Emeryville, California, at around 4:30PM this afternoon.
As the people who died in the Donner Pass know, it is the only way into the State of California, from the north.
A very beautiful area, but very remote.
We intend to sleep just outside the station, at a hotel in Emeryville, and will pick up the Coast Starlight on Thursday.
Can't wait to get home.
If all is going according to plan, we will be in Denver Colorado this morning around breakfast.
This was as far as we went in Colorado, before they detoured us up into Wyoming last time. If you remember, we could not pass, due to an avalanche along the route.
We are looking forward to seeing the Rocky Mountains throughout the remainder of the state, before we come back to where we hooked up with the route again in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is supposed to be the absolute best area to see, via rail.
See you on the other side, as we pass places like Reno, the Donner Pass, and arrive in the Bay Area.
