November 30, 2004
Finally!
Okay! It has taken too long, but I am finally done with posting my vacation pictures.
Go... Look... Fawn...
All the pictures from the trip are under the SamerFest link. You can also see all the pictures for each city (San Francisco, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver), each state (California, Oregon, Washington) or each country (USA, Canada). We slice, you decide.
Posted by Samer at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 23, 2004
Cascades Service
I've completed the train part of my trip. I've travelled on the Starlight Express from San Francisco to Eugene, and from there on the Cascades to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. I'm pretty impressed.
The Starlight Express starts off in Southern California and goes right up the coast. It is a slow, lumbering train, that often gains a lot of delays on the way up. LVH and AB both warned me that it would likely be late and just get later. But the train left Emmeryville just about 10 mins late and, almost 15 hours later, arrived in Eugene.
Yeah, 15 hours is a long time to be sitting in a seat. But that's just one of the great things when you compare Amtrak to flying. For one thing, you don't have to sit in your seat: you can get up, walk around, go to the dining car or the lounge. The views are spectacular, even in the fog. Your seat mates are sometimes a fun bunch, and sometimes just crazy. Oh, and there's no long security lines or annoyances that make flying a pain in the ass.
Here's a shocker for those used to dealing with Amtrak's NE Corridor and big city staff: the staff on the west coast are just amazingly nice people. They were all helpful, even to the annoying people on the Starlight Express.
There's decent food at not too high a price, the seats are comfortable, and did I mention that there are no body cavity searches? If time is on your side, what's there not to love?
Posted by Samer at 07:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 17, 2004
Skinner Butte
LVH told me to go up to Skinner Butte in Eugene. Lots of nice views of the city from up there, and will give me something to do while she was at work. She warned me it was a steep climb to get there.
So I found Skinner Butte and started looking for a road or a clearly marked trail. I did find a not well kept hiking trail that seemed to go straight up. Never being one to shy away from a good view, I started up the trail. The mud and leaves made not falling a tricky proposition and I had to find a stick to help steady me.
Each leg led to a fork, and each fork led to more up hill trudging. Slowly but surely I could see the peak and was waiting to crest and see this amazing view. Not really all that amazing. It seemed to be filled with more trees and some highways. Nothing really eye popping or worth the effort.
Then I noticed the hippies. Three of them, a baby and some Chinese food. They looked like they had driven up -- no mud or sweat or any indication of a tough climb. Huh, well look over there. A road. How did I miss that?
I start walking down it, when I notice a look out point. Wow. What a view. Very nice. Well worth the hike, though a walk up the road would have been much easier.
Posted by Samer at 09:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 16, 2004
The Coast Starlight
I took the train from San Francisco to Eugene, OR. It really was a cool experience and not one that seemed as dreadful as you might expect from a 15 hour overnight train trip. Much more comfortable than flying ever will be.
I also learned, but to no useful purpose, that the sleeper cars can be had for considerably less if you buy on board, rather than before your trip. Of course, you may not be able to, as the sleepers might be sold out. No matter, really... The seats are comfortable enough to sleep in.
And, it turns out, all the crazy people in the world ride the train, especially through Oregon. You should be well entertained.
I highly recommend the train.
Posted by Samer at 12:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack