prune picker

This is the blog of a prune picker. (Native born Californian) Retired oilfield. I am an old man. I blog a lot about my body and getting old. As I approach death life gets more interesting. More interesting is not good. I still drive. I attend sports, music, and civic events. I am writing my memoirs. I attend swim class three times a week. Some of my blogs might be interesting. A lot of my blogs are silly and trivial. None are very long.

Monday, January 14, 2019

Train ride to California. How come?

I leave Marshall, Texas  on Wednesday, March 20 and arrive in Pomona, California Friday, March 22. Two weeks later I leave Pomona on Friday, April 5 and get back to Marshall on Sunday, April 7. I will be gone from home for 18 days. Poor Patches, my cat. Home all alone. I know that Kerry and John will feed her while I am gone.


Patches loves my lap, but will not let me get near her when we are outside in the yard. She is a wild cat you know. Came out of the woods and moved in with me several years ago. But not in the yard.

I m going to California to attend the 100th Birthday Party for Jerondine Wright. Jerondine is the mother of my son in law Bob Wright. I have known this precious lady since her son dated my daughter in high school. It was in Coalinga, California. It was about 55 years ago.

Why take the train? Over the years I have came to not like flying. My first commercial flight was in 1951. I was flying from California to Houston for a Schlumberger trainee school. The flight was exciting for a 26 year old kid. The seats were comfortable. I remember a lounge at the rear of the airplane that had several chairs around a coffee table. It was the first Houston trainee school the company ever had. I was excited and enjoyed the experience. I now do not like flying at all. So restricted and cramped. I was seriously considering driving. I have done that three times in the last 12 years. And many times before that. In the last couple of years my eyesight has declined. My daughter asked me if I had considered taking the train. I considered it and was blown away. It sounded like fun and the youtube videos looked like fun. I would get to really see the country that I have driven so much.

I am excited about the trip and the birthday party. Will se some grand kids and great grand kids that I do not see very often.


 

5 comments:

  1. I'm so relieved you aren't driving!

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  2. I have considered that train, from FTW to Alpine to go visit our west TX cabin. But the cost always changes my mind. Plus we would need a vehicle in Alpine to get to the cabin.
    I bet it's a very enjoyable trip on that train!!

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  3. I do look forward to hearing about your trip!

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  4. I am looking forward to texting about trip. Both on Facebook and PrunePicker blog. I am also taking a bus ride to Modesto to see son and grandson. Bus trip from Dana Point.

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  5. I'm excited for you. I grew up taking Amtrak's California Zephyr from Chicago to California. It would have a stopover in Denver and they would unhook the "dome" cars (the two level cars) because the train would go through tunnels after leaving Denver. I still ride the train now and again. I really hope you enjoy it. :)

    Here is a little info about it that I copied from the internet. It mentions the train you'll be taking:

    "The California Zephyr is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At 2,438 miles, it is Amtrak's second longest route after the Texas Eagle branch to Los Angeles, with travel time between the termini taking approximately 51¹⁄₂ hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The modern train is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr, the original train was privately operated and operated on a different route through Nevada and California."

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