Train - And Cars and Planes

Trish planned a train trip on the California Zephyr, from Emeryville, CA to Denver, and back  We wanted my sister-in-law, Linda, and her guy to join us.  She did.  He didn't.  So, she invited her daughter, Trista, instead.

Linda flew in from MN, Trista from FL,  Trish and I drove from Lake Havasu City.  We met up at the Hyatt House, a nice hotel, right across from the train station.  

Trains are inherently tight on space.   Two people plus their luggage plus their beds in a space that's 3' wide, 7' long and 7' high is cozy indeed.  But it all worked and the food was good.  We spent 1.5 days on the train.

The plan was to spend 2 days in Denver, do a tour of the city, head home on the train AM of the 3rd day.   But - the best laid plans of mice and men.....  Our return train got stalled by a snow storm somewhere between Chicago and Denver.  That gave us 2 choices:

     1. spend an extra day in Denver and take the train back to Emeryville, lose our Emeryville hotel reservation $, get home a day late, pay doggy day care more $. 

    2. Linda and Trista fly home from Denver; Trish and I fly to San Francisco, to get the car and use the hotel reservation.

The 2nd choice won.  

The lobby of The Crawford Hotel.

The down side is we much enjoyed visiting with Linda and Trista, and wish we'd had a couple more days for that.  And the 'luxury' hotel, The Crawford, in Denver.  Apparently, luxury means pretty.  With no microwave and a pissant coffee-maker that was worthless, jazz music all day in the lobby.  I think the only thing worse than jazz is opera.  Yes, I have pedestrian tastes in music.

The upside was our last night in Emeryville, on the 9th floor of the hotel, with a great view.

This was my 2nd (and last) overnight on a train.  The first was when I entered the army, in 1966.  The airlines were on strike so I took the train from Fargo to New Jersey. 

160 MPH?

 Maserati, Lamborghini, Corvette - and Ford Edge ST?

Never having owned an expensive sports car, I'm wondering how high their speedometers go.  

Why?  Because my new Ford Edge ST speedometer goes up to 160 MPH.  The highest speed limit I've seen in the USA is 80 MPH.  So, where do I go to see if it'll really do 160?  

There are 6 automotive proving grounds in AZ, one of which is in Yucca, about 30 miles away from LHC.  These places are huge, have large race tracks, very high tech, designed to test vehicles in every way imaginable.  But, I doubt those facilities are open to the public.     

I'll be going to the Phoenix area in a couple weeks.  Might push the speed limit a bit, but not up to 160.

Cave Upgrade!

 Several posts back, I displayed the Mini Man Cave at our summer digs, 18" x 36".

This year, I got upgraded to a 10' x 12', insulated MAN CAVE!

And, I'm loving it!

The Boys in the Boat

 We watched the movie last night.  Excellent!

The coach was tough but fair, and his career was on the line, would likely have been fired if his team lost in the US.  I was reminded of my HS phy ed coach, who for whatever reason, didn't like me.

Wrestling was my only sport in HS, taught by a different coach.  Frankly, I was terrible.  I made the team but didn't win much.  I was a beanpole, 4" taller than most in my weight  class, and not heavily muscled.

I did well in phy ed, though.  Definitely well above average in everything: rope climbing, dodgeball, etc.  But one day the coach embarrassed me in front of the class.  We were doing forward flips with the help of a small ramp, coach standing beside the ramp.  When my turn came, coach stopped me and held me at the top of the ramp, and said to the rest of the class, "Here's an example of a person that isn't trying." 

His comment was unjustified and I was pissed!

When I was 45 I attended the HS class reunion, the one and only reunion I attended.  Sure enough, the phy ed coach was there.  I gave him a dirty look when I first noticed him. ignored him other than that.

Yesterday and Today

 Yesterday, I towed the RV to a consignment shop.  Today, the truck was traded in for a new Ford Edge ST.  Awesome that they went away on consecutive days.

The Edge is a medium sized SUV with all the bells and whistles.  It has darned few knob-type controls, most things done by touching the HUGE flat screen in the mid front dashboard.  I never did learn all the electronic gizmos in the truck, doubt I will in the Edge either.  And, get this: the gear shift is not on the floor nor on the steering wheel shaft.  Nope, it's 2" dial on the center console!

I've owned pickups for 50 years, was planning to buy a new 1/4 ton this time.  Trish asked me why I wanted a truck, and what I would haul with it.  I thought about it for a few minutes, finally said, "Guess I don't really need a truck."

Consumers Reports has been my big-ticket-purchase-bible forever, and they gave the Edge high marks.

With high temps in the 90s, I hope I can figure out how to turn on the A/C tomorrow.

 

Drivers Test(s)

 Virtually every 16-year old looks forward to being able to drive.

The driving tests were given in Detroit Lakes, MN, which was 30 miles from our home.  Farm home.  Farm kids learned how to drive tractors early on, at about age 13.  So, I had 3 years of 'driving experience' but darned little time driving on roads or in towns, before taking the drivers test.  No stop signs.  No traffic lights.  No parallel parking.  I may have driven the pickup the 7 miles to town a couple times, but that was it.

I wasn't stressed when my Dad and I went to take the drivers test.  Nope, not a bit stressed: fell asleep at the wheel.  Was headed for the ditch when my Dad yelled, "What are you doing!"  In my defense, I had been up since 5 AM, milking cows (by hand), slopping the hogs, etc.  And, it was nice and warm in the truck.

I had the written part of test down pat, had studied the learning manual at length.  The driving part was another matter.  Flunked it.  Ambled slowly through an intersection with a stop light that was yellow when I started but red when I was halfway through.

Flunked my second attempt, too, some weeks later.  Don't recall what I messed up that time.  Finally passed it on the 3rd try.  Alleluia!  

Alamo Lake

 We first visited Alamo Lake 13 years ago.  I was there again about 6 years back, hanging out with old college friends.  It's off the communication grid: no cell phone signal and no WIFI.

The earthen dam that forms the lake on the Bill Williams River.  Having visited Grand Coulee Dam, Hoover Dam, and several others, this one isn't a bit impressive. 

This overlook is near the dam.  Trish is reading the sign, part of which is shown below.  The name Bill Williams intrigues me: why his parents gave him the same first and last name is beyond me.  I have to wonder: was his middle name Bill also?

We returned from Alamo Lake yesterday.  As noted in my prior post, it was our last RV trip.