Travels, So Far!

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Train-o-mania

Happy New Year everybody! Miss you all dearly, but we're not sorry to have missed the onslaught of snow! We rode through some beautiful bits of snowy tundra on our train ride here, but we were trapped inside a climate-controlled caboose. The train ride was a nice, slow transition, and felt like we were travelling in a twilight zone for 3 days (we didn't know, and it didn't matter what time of what day it was). We got to see the backyards of many a state-all beautiful in their own way. It was good to become a bit more familiar with our country. The first 2 days were all blue-skies, but on the 3rd day, everything was white! As we went through tunnels in the Rockies it was one (gasp!) good view after another. Our ride through the Sierras was really peaceful. Everything was blanketed in snow, a winter wonderland. A third of the way through our trip we were already 4 1/2 hours behind schedule due to some unforseen engine problems, some drunk frat boys getting kicked off, and the misfortune of an elderly man's collapse (Mike was right behind him in the stairwell and helped lift him back down). But towards the end, our conductor hauled ass and we made up some lost time. So, after 60 hours in car 11 of the California Zephyr and 2 nights of the most crooked sleeping we've ever managed, our dear friend June rescued us from the Amtrak station in Oakland. We spent our first night here at a funky dive bar watching the Mermen play live. Those guys are old! They've been playing California surf guitar jams as long as I've been alive. It was a nice reprieve.

First days in Sunny San Fran

We've managed to evade the crappy weather here as well- it's been sunny and 50* so far (90%!c(MISSING)hance of rain the day we leave! hehehe...). We both contracted a little Amtrak sinus/throat sickness, so we've been taking it easy here. Walking around and eating lots of good food. Oh yes, and Mike (spontaneously) got his 2nd tattoo!We went into this beautiful parlor called Braindrops, to find some new nose and earrings, and Mike came out with a Chickadee on his arm! Tomorrow we plan on going to Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and hiking along the seacliffs. Of all the crazy New Year's things we could've done tonight, we decided to toast with tea and listen to all the nuts out on the streets. We hope you all enjoyed yourselves and have some good intentions for a prosperous and healthy new year! Next stop: Honolulu, HI! Until then, keep on lovin!

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Photos

Rocky Mountains, choo choo!
Checkin' out the engine from the back

Ooh dats purty
You don't see that in Michigan. And you probably never will.

Holy Macaroni, itsa big
I know many of you have climbed mountains, lived next to them or otherwise enjoyed them but, for me (and Brit), there was many a slack jaw moment through the Rockies.

Sierra's
A stunning stretch of rail between Reno and Sacramento.

This cute girl on the train
She was sleepy and drinking coffee while looking at a sunrise suprise from Mother Nature.

What a sunrise it was...
We woke up to this glorious salmon-orange light one morning. It was stunning and surreal. Chugging along, watching the sun wake up in western Utah.

Sierra Snow
Imagine winding around white covered mountain cliffs while a soft snow falls quietly and the only sound you hear is the click clack of the train.

Chinatown looking at the Bay Bridge
This is the bridge that collapsed during the 1989 earthquake. It seems okay now.

Mike at Vesuvio, North Beach
Funky old bar that the Beats used to drink at (it's right next door to City Lights book store, Beatnik headquarters). Jack London and Dylan Thomas also drank here. Very cool space.

Haight/Ashbury district
Some really cool bright colored houses, funked out. Why don't people paint their dwellings like this more often?