Remo Williams...

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I started the first day of my trip in a familiar location; 50 California Street. It is my sincere hope that when I return from my trip our new lobby will be open and I can sit on one of the new lobby rocks and contemplate how much I enjoyed my trip. I left work and took the first train of the trip. How can someone who hates Bart so much commit to a ten-day train trip? I took the retched Bay Area Rapid Transit to Rockridge and Ben and Nick’s. I needed to check-in a few pre-vacation beers. For those who are counting the number starts at 540. How many beers will I check in before I return? Numbers range from 23 (thanks for the confidence Mike!) to 49, a great number for a great team. (Damnit Aldon!!)



After checking in my beers, Lon and his daughters picked me up. We played on the swings, chased ducks and bought Uncle Danny some beers for the train. We had dinner at an Irish joint, which infuriatingly was filled with Italian art. Back to Lon’s place, where some of us put on jammies and brushed our teeth and the Rorks (sans Anne) dropped me at the Emeryville Amtrak station. Thanks girls! (And Lon, I guess)



At present, I am on a real train. The coast starlight, which of course is rushing me east to Sacramento, I just passed the beautiful lights of a refinery in Hercules. A train makes everything more romantic, I guess. I am reading the first book in the Wayward Pines series, a recommendation from Tina Calvo. So far, so good. Also, I had to tip the porter 5 bucks to convert the bed to a chair in my sleeper car. Irish stock built the railroads and I can’t figure out how to pull a knob and push the cushions back into a seated position…

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