Trains

California Road Trip to Santa Barbara – Part Two

Road trip to Santa Barbara; Big Sur closed, and 16 miles of denial; the alternative: Salinas Valley, the salad bowl of the world; the Mexican at San Simeon; not visiting Hearst Castle; San Luis Obispo Bay – say that 10 times, quickly; the very big rock at Morro Bay; declaring a lucky day; my main problem with road trips; San Luis Obispo: two missions (church and café); Los Olivos, but alas no wine; Solvang, a little Denmark; beautiful Santa Barbara; Stearns Wharf and sausages; Derek at Joe’s Café, the world’s most generous – and ethical – barman; life-saving meatloaf and short-rib; Newport Beach, here we come!  

Prologue

This is a huge one! But I have managed to cover the whole of the rest of our Pacific Highway road-trip… so hang in to the end for some gorgeous pics of Roy and Santa Barbara. Here’s a preview:

___________________________________-

Big Sur Road Closure Denial

Read More

Train to San José, California, May 2025

Train to San José: all aboard the Amtrak overnight choo-choo; dinner in the diner; dissing Reese’s and devouring Frank & Louie’s; Rock Me (un)Gently; stunning San José station; Santana Row and shopping

It’s an overnight journey of 19.5 hours from Portland, OR to San José CA. With a couple of hours to spare before our 2.30pm departure, we enjoyed the comfort of Portland Union Station’s Metropolitan Lounge. (Here is our Amtrak eTicket.)

Lured by the help-yourself drinks and snacks bar, I succumbed not only to the Reese’s peanut butter cups but also to Miss Vickie’s Jalapeño Kettle Cooked Chips. (Purely in the interest of cultural research, of course. Fortunately, though our local supermarkets in Western Australia do stock Reese’s peanut butter cups, I’m now relieved to know that they’re fairly yuck; definitely not worth the calorie and chemical splurge.)

Read More