Thurs. Aug. 4     Travelling back to California

After just a few hours of sleep in the Green Tortoise dorm, we were up at around 6:00 am to shower and make ourselves breakfast.  Down in the Common Room, Bill headed for the Internet and I headed for the kitchen.   A staff lady was ladling out premeasured amounts of waffle batter into paper cups.  She’d already made a couple of “test’ waffles and asked if I wanted them.  You bet!  I slathered them with butter (max calories!) and syrup, and sliced bananas on top.  Bill got coffee (great coffee of course–it’s Seattle!)  and we ate by the open window overlooking 2nd Avenue.  People from all over the world were eating breakfast with us–a Chinese couple eating an egg dish HE had been making  in the kitchen, a German with a plateful of bread and fruit, some Brits, and several others.  We ate very well, then it was off to the train station! 

What a different place 2nd Avenue is, early on a weekday MORNING.  No bums, no drunk people.  We got to Union Station in plenty of time, and when the train came in, we started toward the FRONT of the train instead of the back.  (Normally we travel “coach” on Amtrak; those cars are towards the back of the train!).  We were eager to see what an ‘economy sleeper” cabin looked like.  Well, all I can say is, “Don’t bring much with you–it’s a tight fit!”  We stowed our backpacks on the shelves near the car door and setled in. Cozy, VERY cozy. When the train got underway, to my amazement, it went back exactly the way we had come in last night.  Aha!  No wonder we got our directions all turned around last night!  Eventually the train did turn south, and I started writing and Bill wandered off to go exploring.  He reported back that we sleeper car folks have access to unlimited goodies in the parlor car.  So we started eating again! Muffins, pastries, juice, coffee…yum! 

While I continued writing, Bill studied his feet, and they didn’t look very good. He was particularly worried about a couple of toes on his right foot.  The toenails are coming off, and the toes don’t look very happy.  In fact, Bill’s feet look very beat up in general, and he still has trouble with them hurting.  My feet are just fine, for which I am grateful.  They have toughened up unbelievably since I began at Campo, and just keep going along without a problem except for being VERY tired toward the end of a day’s hike.   Here on the train, I am leaving off my shoes and trying to keep my feet up as much as possible to give them a good rest. 

 At lunch in the dining car, we cleared our plates (did manage to refrain from licking them, too!) then went to the parlor car for more. At 3:30 we went to the wine-tasting and enjoyed 3 wines frm our own home turf in Sonoma County, CA.  At dinnertime, we cheerfully cleared our plates again.  (By the way, the food was GREAT!)  So I guess you could say we definitely got our money’s worth in the food department!   And we needed it.  I have had to tie something around my waist to be able to cinch up my pack tight enough.  Bill and I are definitely in calorie deficit, and we needed this rest and food.

It was a hot day outside, and turning into a very warm night.  The train air conditioning was having a tough time coping, so it was a bit warm inside the train, too.  Even after the sun went down, it continued warm.  We set up our beds (upper bunk, lower bunk) and both of us were “crashed” by 7:30 pm.  Trains make a comfortable rocking, rolling motion as they run along the tracks–very soothing, and it was fun to be able to lie down instead of sitting up in coach all night as we usually do.  I got to read the Bible for a bit before turning out the light.