We Got Sick

We have no idea how it happened, but we have both been sick since about Friday evening.

We masked on all our trains, and public conveyances, over the past 2 weeks, but something got us.

We have decided to cancel our trip next week, because we don't see an end to this illness.

Maybe we might be better by the final few days of our 10 trip pass, otherwise, the two journeys we have taken, will have to be it, for us.

We have been in touch with our PCP, so we are being medicated, but I personally don't think it is helping a lot. I don't have any COVID-19 tests left that are current, so I haven't tested for that.

What bothers me the most, is that almost no one masks anymore, and someone gave us this.

Hopefully we will feel better soon.

Vaillancourt Fountain Is Being Dismantled

Vaillancourt Fountain is a huge artwork at the confluence of Market Street and Embarcadaro, right in front of the ferry building.

It has always been a place we visited, when in San Francisco.

We got to the work just when they were beginning the dismantling of the fountain.

Thankfully, we could get a final photo of the structure, before they took it away, and placed it into storage.

They say it had problems with asbestos, and age, and it was better to remove it, and remake the park it sits in.

I personally think it is the wrong thing to do, and I am very sad to see it go.

My husband photographed it back in the 1970's, before I came onto the scene, and 2 photos have hung in our Family Room, all this time.

Unfortunately, age has faded those photos, too. A shame, but we leave the montage up (at least for now).

I am glad we got to say our goodbyes to it.

Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

First off, Happy Cinco De Mayo. Perfect timing to get a taco. :-)

This photo was taken at San Jose station.

They got new Cal Train cars a few years ago, and I may have posted them, at the time.

They are an interesting color (not my favorite, but hey).

I do like their paint jobs, especially for the bike cars.

The stop is a longer one, because it is Silicon Valley.

Always interesting to see something different, on our journey.

Emma Woods State Beach

May the 4th be with you. Happy Star Wars Day.

My Water Post For Today.

Emma Woods State Beach, is in a remote area of Ventura, and it is where my boyfriend and I camped, back in 1979. We think of it fondly.

As we were watching the area, my Husband told me that the beach is currently closed for construction, which is why I only got this photo.

The sun was beginning to set, but was too high in the sky to get much of anything. Oh well, we liked it anyway.

A no frills area to camp, and enjoy the mighty Pacific Ocean.

I hope you enjoy.

Food In The Cafe Car

Since I am rarely dependent on the Cafe Car, I thought I would show you the current menu. (click the image, to make it readable).

We ended up buying a hot dog, but I forgot to ask for condiments. Being we were 3 cars from the Cafe Car, we just ate it, as is.

The next meal we had, we bought the cheeseburger, and I made sure I got the condiments. Unfortunately for me, for dinner, I forgot the condiments, once again. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich, and my Husband had a texas toast grilled cheese sandwich. In almost all cases, I do not end up eating the entire thing, so sometimes my Husband eats some, and other times, we throw it out.

I did appreciate the apple juice, which I had 2 times out of three meals, and milk the middle time. I am not a soda fan.

All in all, we survived the journey.

Tiburon

We made it to San Francisco!

Our hotel in Oakland was just a block away from the main BART station in Downtown Oakland, so it was very easy for us to hop onto it, travel across the bay to the Embarcadero, where many of the ferrys to the different areas, all come together.

We were not knowledgeable of what the timetable for each ferry was, and it ended up that we had just missed the Sausalito ferry. So, instead of waiting several hours, we decided to go to Tiburon, instead.

What we didn't know at the time, was that the ferry first stops at Angel Island, to drop off campers and hikers, and then continues onto Tiburon, on the Marin side of the bay.

I considered it a unexpected treat, that this "angel" ended up on Angel Island!

We did not get off the ferry, but we did get to see some of what is around the island.

It is known as the Ellis Island of the West, and many immigrants came through the Island, to eventually settle in the US.

Tiburon, was next on the journey, and it is basically a bunch of cafes, and a few clothing stores. Nothing that I wanted to purchase.

We wanted a soda, but the cafes seemed to be more "high end" in that regard. Coffee, wine, etc.

So we passed on it all, and drank water with our lunch of a bagel with cream cheese.

We got some excellent photos from the bay, and spent the remainder of our time in San Francisco, at the Embarcadero. We ended up getting an early dinner at a Mexican cafe (Cholita Linda), at the ferry building. 2 tacos each and we split a large salad. We felt healthy, and then picked up a home baked cheesecake (Nash Bakes Cheesecake) from an older gentleman, selling them in the ferry building. We brought that back with us, to Oakland.

A fun day in San Francisco, which is so very different from Los Angeles.

It's May Day! (2026)

Since it is May Day, I thought I would show off a few roses in my back yard.

We have had them for several weeks, because we had hot weather in the midst of February and March.

I love Ketchup and Mustard, the plant that stands for me and my guy, the love of my life. :-)

The other one is John F. Kennedy, planted as part of a red, white, and blue display. I lost my red one, but John Kennedy perseveres.

I hope you enjoy.

Jack London Square, Oakland

Hopefully a few hours from when this posts, we will be boarding our train back to Los Angeles.

This is Jack London Square Station, in Oakland, California.

They did a great job on the immediate area, when they built the train station, but it seems to be industrial, on the other side of the tracks.

We fully intend to call a taxi, to get us the 7 blocks up the street from the station, the phone number is already in my phone.

More on our journey, Saturday, when we get home.

See you then.

Another Pizza

Yes, we made another pizza on Friday.

I did want to mention that it stretched out much better (though not perfect) this time around.

We actually added some onion to our normal sausage and olive pizza.

The one thing is that we get much more cheese on ours, since most premade pizzas skimp on cheese now days.

Since my friend bought me this screen, I have no idea what brand it is, or what the cost is.

No matter what, it is not especially expensive, and might be something you would use.

A Roasted Pork Butt

Our store had a Pork Butt Roast on sale for their top customers, $1.99 a pound.

I don't buy a pork roast because it is just the two of us, and it would take weeks to eat it all.

As I looked at it, I thought maybe I could ask the butcher to cut it in half.

He said, no problem, and off we went with an almost 10 lb roast for just about $20.

This particular cut of meat has a bone in it, so he told us which side had the bone, and we roasted that in my Dutch oven.

The other half is now in our freezer.

I just put pepper on it, though a recipe suggested salt and garlic, in addition to the pepper.

Cut the fat cap off the top, which I did not do, (I did it later on).

Pour about a cup of chicken stock (or vegetable stock), cover, and cook for a few hours.

Mine came out to a temp of about 140 F. I figured that way it was not totally cooked and will finish when reheated.

I think it came out quite good.

The Chicago River, Downriver

My Water Post For Today.

This is the South Branch of the Chicago River, downriver from the area with The Loop.

It is not just a river, it is also the Chicago Sanitatary and Ship Canal, so who knows what it is like, here. :-)

You can see parts of Downtown Chicago, from this view.

It also seems to have a barge in this photo. Since it goes all the way from Lake Michigan, to the Mississippi River, that might be why it is there.

No matter what, I hope you enjoy.

Our Next Trip Will Be...Oakland, California

When I was putting together possible trips on this USA Rail Pass, I had thought that I would make several stops along the way, so that we could see new and different things.

Well, it seems that my Husband is looking for simplicity, and not complicated journeys.

So for now, I threw out Flagstaff, Winslow, Williams, and the Grand Canyon Railway.

Maybe someday, but not now.

We do have a San Diego and Santa Barbara trip set up, so we will have some travel in those areas.

This one, I chose, because it stops at Jack London Station in Oakland, instead of Emeryville, just up the tracks.

I found a Wydham Hotel about a mile away. For 2 nights, I had enough points to basically cover it. I was just a bit short, so I had to pay $13 to buy a few points. Still a great deal.

I think after the last long trip, my Husband did not want to sleep on the train, and I actually agree with him. It is tiring getting up in the morning, after sleeping in one of those chairs.

We have no idea where we will go in San Francisco, but the BART station is just a block or so away from the hotel. Perfect!

We leave on Tuesday. Wish us luck.

Cincinnatti And Cleveland At Night

Both our trips had long overnight sections of the Country, that we did not see. Not even if we went in the other direction.

I was not sleeping well, so I ended up being awake during two of the cities I would have loved to pass through in the daylight.

The first photo is of Cincinnatti, Ohio (at around 3AM), it has many mountains surrounding the city, with broadcast towers on top of them.

I like to think that I woke up and saw the same one we had dinner at, in 2023. You can see it HERE.

The other one is Cleveland, Ohio (at around 4AM). That white building is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (sorry it's so blurry).

We spent a few days along Lake Erie, many years ago, but I would have liked to see it again, in the sunlight.

Oh, well. Glad I got to see them at all.

I Think The Picture Says It All

I posted in the past about seeing train cars in Mid-America, with F*ckbiden on them.

Well, on Tuesday I saw this in the San Fernando Valley.

I personally think it says it all, in regard to how our area of the Country feels about the current actions coming from Federal Government.

Apologies in advance, to any that don't like to see obscene language on my blog.

Day 5 And 6 Of Our Easter Trip: Back To Chicago

We woke up at the TWA Hotel, and decided to get some breakfast. A New York Bagel with egg and bacon (never a bad decision, IMHO) was enjoyed, and then we took a quick trip up to the roof of the hotel, to see the pool. It is fabulous, if you want a small infinity pool with an interesting view of airplanes moving on the ground, and taking off and landing.

We headed out on the air train, for our trip to Penn Station, for our journey back to Chicago.

We got to the Metropolitan Lounge at Moynihan Train Hall in plenty of time, and picked up our lunch there.

I have said this before, but they have great food at the lounge, the best I have had, and this was no exception.

Finally our train was called, and we asked for a Red Cap. Just an FYI, the Red Cap just carries your bags, you still have to walk to the train platform. So you decide if it is worth it. I personally appreciated the man showing us which car we were getting on, and placing our bags up into the train, so he deserved his tip.

Checking out our digs for this fast overnight train trip, we had the bathroom in the car, and the sink. It is not my favorite way to travel, but since we had 2 Roomettes, we just kicked out our partner, when needed.

Up we went along the Hudson River. Our side of the train did not view it, but that was OK, I saw it last year.

The first fresh air break is Albany, where the train connects with the Boston train.

This makes it a long fresh-air break and everyone, and I mean everyone, runs to the restroom first (I think it is so funny).

Then you can buy souvenirs, or get gourmet coffee at a place called Grind and Brew. Definitely it breaks up the trip.

Then we get dinner on the train and the sun sets, on another day.

By morning, we were already in Toledo, so it was not too far to Chicago. We ate breakfast, took a few photos and got ourselves ready to detrain.

At a little after 10AM, were were back at Chicago Union Station, where we said goodbye to our Son, and took a taxi to O'Hare, for our airplane flight home.

It was a good journey, and family bonding time. A rarity now days.