1 MAJOR fuck up + 3 near misses + 8 days of fun & sun = a great vacation

THE MAJOR FUCK UP

Last spring hubby received an e-mail from his favorite niece (since she's his only) letting him know that she was getting married on 11/5 in an abandoned power plant in LA.  Now who could pass that up?

I assumed my administrative role and planned a terrific vacation around this important event.  Postponed our fall foliage cruise until 2016; cashed in a ton of AMX points for a free Amtrak trip across America; used points from a hotel club to get hotel rooms; while patting myself on the back for all the savings I had accomplished, booked us business class tickets on a flight to LA; and started my packing list.

Two weeks before the trip I commented that we should have received a wedding invitation so hubby said he'd check with his niece and get more details.  She had previously indicated it was a "vintage" wedding but I didn't even know what era.

The next day hubby came home looking like his dog and all of his relatives had just died in a tragic accident.  Turns out he had all the information except for 1 little detail.  The wedding will be in

2016

Why didn't I have my camera at the ready?  His face was priceless.  His demeanor said he'd rather crawl through boiling oil than give me the news.

What did I do?  Well,  I obviously had lots of options.  My evil twin could have paid a visit and pitched a royal hissy fit.  But no - my conniving twin actually took over.  I told him not to worry.  The world hadn't ended. We could cancel. I would always love him (OK, I was spreading it on rather thick but I really did mean most of it).  At the same time I was thinking - this is marvelous.  In the future when he's getting upset at my fuck ups (which occur on a regular basis) I'll just say "Becky's wedding".  I figure that will keep me off the hook for at least 5 years.  

THE TRIP

Seems all that free stuff I had booked couldn't be cancelled without
losing the points.  We hadn't had a major trip this year, so, what the hell, off we went.  We hadn't met Becky's intended anyway, and next year with all the hoopla that surrounds the modern wedding we wouldn't have a chance to actually visit with him.

Now that they have trains to lots of flights instead of those awful "people movers" I actually like Dulles Airport

We arrived at Dulles with plenty of time to spare.  Pre-check is the way to sail through security but we did notice the number of business travelers taking advantage of this option has definitely lengthened the line, but still we got through in less than 5 minutes.

This was our first time to fly Virgin America and it was great.  I loved being able to order from the touch screen in front of our seats and, voila, an attendant appears with just what I wanted.

WEST HOLLYWOOD

I had selected our hotel because it appeared to be centrally located.  It was close to some well known tourist spots, but the truth is nothing is centrally located in LA.  I don't think they even know where the center is.  Residents spend an inordinate amount of time driving around.  Nothing is less than an hour (in good traffic) from where you are.  We are amazed that Becky and Tommy (her fiancé) manage without using a car.  She takes the bus and he bikes to work.  They would LOVE DC or NYC.  Fingers crossed they will move east.

Our hotel was a nice, basic tourist hotel.

After checking in and unpacking, it was time to explore the neighborhood.

Just a couple of blocks from the hotel was this small but interesting museum.  We love anything about history and were disappointed that it was closed. 

Wasn't expecting an active American Legion Post in Hollywood.

We discovered a parking lot full of food trucks.  As you can see, they're serious about these things.  I've never seen 1 with pop-outs before.  Apparently they were setting up for a large private party that was scheduled for that night.  

We were near the famed Hollywood Bowl

These homes were the view from the hotel.

THE FIRST NEAR MISS

Ten minutes into our walk I was busy looking for photo ops when I missed a curb and, as usual, fell on my bad knee.  Given my history with this knee, we were both scared that I had just screwed up our vacation when it was just getting started.

This is not modern art.  It's a close up of my knee several days after the accident.  This looks a lot better than initially.  Trust me.

After spending our 1st evening having carryout pizza in our hotel room while I iced my knee, we spent the next day marveling at the setting, views, fine dining, and the art at the Getty Museum.  The art is listed last because we only gave it about 40 minutes of our time.  The day was perfect and we spent most of it taking photos of the buildings and setting.  We were also very thankful for the 4 star restaurant on site.  You'll see in the photos that the place is a favorite for school field trips and the students were happy using the food court and we were happy too.

As you can see, the place is huge.

Here are just a few of the shots taken that day.

I couldn't help myself.  I had to play with my panorama setting on the camera.

Dinner was with Becky and Tommy.

Our second day was spent walking through West Hollywood.  A surprise find was the Craft and Folk Art Museum near the La Brae Tar Pits.  Remember Noah Wyle of ER fame, now The Librarians? He is on the Board of Directors.  I've been told he knits.  Can't confirm but it would be a great way to spend time between takes.

There were 2 marvelous exhibits in the museum and here are some shots taken there.

Vietnamese artist, Bihn Pho, does mazing work.  These are wooden vases,  one inside the other.

The 2nd exhibit was by 15 different artists and the medium was paper.

 Their artist in residence was on vacation but here are the tools of his trade.  He makes "kinky boots" and other whimsical shoes.

We just didn't have time to visit the Tar Pits - maybe next trip.

Yes, there will be a next trip - remember, we have a wedding to attend.

The next day we flew to San Francisco.  Our hotel was hosting a convention of cardiologists which gave some comfort in case I had a heart attach until we saw how crowded the bar was.  Nope, not the guys I'd want in an emergency.  We walked around the neighborhood and found a very expensive (guess they all are in SF) Italian restaurant and had a lovely early dinner.  Early to bed because we had an early wake up call the next day.

We had to take an Amtrak bus to Emeryville, CA, to catch the train to Chicago.  Here's the route we followed.

I understand train travel isn't for everyone.  Even though we had a private bedroom and bath, quarters were still tight.  There's not a lot to do except watch the country go by and eat and/or drink.  Not a lot of opportunities for exercise unless you got off the train at some of the longer stops.  Of course, you were in danger of being knocked down by the smokers rushing to light up.  We spent a lot of time in the observation car taking photos and I was 1 of several knitters who managed to stay busy.  Here are just a few of the shots I took.

California Zephyr, Day 1

 Davis, CA

LAKE TAHOE

Day 2

 Running next to the Colorado River

Note the front of the train.  Lots of switchbacks in the mountains.

Stacked 4 lane highway

The higher we got, the more snow we saw.

Day 3

Radar's home!

THE SECOND NEAR MISS

After breakfast and a brief stop in Ottumwa, we arrived in Burlington, IA.  The conductor got on the PA and informed us that the train in front of us had derailed.  He didn't have any additional information but he promised to keep us informed.  Not too long after that he reported that it was a serious derailment and because it was going to take a long time to clear the tracks we would have to get off the train and take buses to our next stops.

I have to give kudos to Amtrak.  We were out in the middle of nowhere (with apologies to IA) but a convoy of buses arrived in two hours fully loaded with plenty of bottled water and snacks.

Passengers were divided into 2 groups - passengers who were going all the way to Chicago and those who were getting off at various stations before Chicago.  Those of us headed for Chicago were boarded first because it was becoming doubtful that we'd make our connections, but the driver said he'd do his best.

Waiting for the buses

The calvary arrived!

While loading the buses, I discovered that we had a large Mennonite contingency on board.

THE DERAILMENT

Turns out the train in front of us was a VERY LONG coal train.  The near miss was it could have been us derailing.  Note the flat terrain and straight track.  Poor track maintenance had to be the cause.

This is a very small portion of the train before the derailed section.

The 3rd engine and several cars immediately behind it were turned over.  The coal had been dumped in the culvert running parallel to the road.




We spent eight and one half hours on the bus.  Managed to get to Chicago during rush hour.  Instead of the 2 hour layover as scheduled, we had SEVEN MINUTES to get off the bus (we were in the last row, of course) find our luggage, and dash to our train.  To say we barely made it is such an understatement but we did make it.  There were 3 buses loaded with passengers going straight to Chicago and we have no idea if everyone made it.

To say we were relieved is another understatement.  That evening the Mennonites and the Pentecostals met up in the club car and had an old fashioned hymnal hootenanny.  I'm pretty sure the bar tender had never seen or heard anything like it before.

Day 4

The homestretch Chicago to DC took us through more familiar territory.

Harpers Ferry, WV

Finally back in DC.

Cross the Potomac on Metro

Virginia's state slogan is "Virginia is for Lovers".  Plays out even in the parking lot of the Metro stations.

Our dear neighbor, Lynda Soady, provided our taxi service home.

THE THIRD NEAR MISS

Listening to the news the next day we heard that a strong blizzard had just crossed the plains, going right along our path.  Had it hit the same day as the derailment, we would have been in a world of trouble.  We had enjoyed perfect weather the entire trip and are happy for the many wonderful experiences along the way.