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Tag Archives: grand tour 2015

S is for Sacramento

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 22, 2015 by JeanApril 20, 2025
California Train Museum

We used Enterprise Car Rental in Sacramento. They were wonderful. They picked us up at the train station, took us to the rental location, handled all the paperwork efficiently, and, when we turned the car in, offered us a ride back to our hotel (or anywhere else we needed to go).

While in Sacramento, we met with one of Mr. L’s newsletter subscribers, so I got to see an amazing collection of kerosene lanterns. We had an enjoyable meal together and had to call it a night.

The next day, we found a nearby laundromat and did laundry before visiting the California Train Museum.

For those of you who have been there, this picture won’t surprise you, but this sight is stunning when you begin your tour of the museum:California Train MuseumCalifornia Train MuseumExhibit MarkerExhibit Marker

After we finished that, we visited the California Automobile Museum. The car museum was fine. They were focusing on cars of the 50s, which aren’t on either Mr. L’s or my radar.  I did learn that rubber is naturally white. Materials are added to increase durability, and that’s what makes our car tires black. I found the museum roof structure fascinating.

After that, we found a pub for a mid-afternoon meal. After eating, we unloaded everything from the car into the hotel room before returning the car. We spent the evening packing and relaxing in the room.

We could go back to Sacramento again. Perhaps as a jumping off place to head north. We’d like to spend more time in Seattle and also make a stop in Portland, which we missed when we took the Coast Starlight to the Empire Builder a few years ago.

 

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. If you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Travel | Tagged California, grand tour 2015, Sacramento

R is for Reno

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 21, 2015 by JeanApril 20, 2025
Reno

We were supposed to catch the train from Reno to Sacramento; however, this was where we experienced our first aberration in the trip. I was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting to check in when I received an automated phone call from Amtrak notifying me of a delay in the next leg of our trip. I asked for the automated message to connect us to a human, which it did. The human assured me we had no trouble, but the train was going to be delayed the next day. We planned for a departure three hours later (but we went to the station early in the morning to make sure). We had the option of leaving on a bus for Sacramento at our regularly scheduled departure time, a bus at 11:30, or taking our chances and waiting for the train. We decided to take the bus at 11:30, because we needed to make connections with our rental car in Sacramento.

We missed taking the train through the mountains, but Amtrak refunded our roomette fare and we rode comfortably on the bus with 12 other people, arriving close to our original planned arrival in Sacramento.

While in Reno, we stayed at Harrah’s (because it was across the street from the train station). Here’s the view from our room:Reno

We didn’t want to rent a car for our single day in Reno, so we planned our stops for walking. We visited the car museum and walked downtown. When we met friends for dinner, they picked up up and brought us back to the hotel. This 1913 electric car still runs and has a range of 80 miles — greater than the Volt. (The museum took great delight that their electric car was still running long after the GM vehicle was exhausted during it’s debut.)1913 electric car

 

 

Here are a few more vehicles I enjoyed seeing:

1937 Airmobile (front)

1937 Airmobile (rear)

 

I love the tail fins. How about a copper Rolls Royce?copper Rolls Royce

A 1921 Ford. One of the earliest RVs.

A beautiful 1913 Stanley (Steamer)a lovely Steamer

 

 

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. If you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Travel | Tagged grand tour 2015, Reno

P is for Paramount

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 18, 2015 by JeanMarch 28, 2023
Lucille Ball's office

Last time we were in Los Angeles, we took a VIP tour of Universal Studios. This time, we signed up for the VIP tour of Paramount studios. The most amazing thing we learned was how many massive scenes have been crammed into the tiny lawn in front of Lucille Ball’s office. Dr. Phil’s dog was being walked there while we were visiting, but that little postage stamp-sized lawn has been striped off and used as a football field. The tree in the background on the right? Where Greg Brady (The Brady Bunch) smoked his first on camera cigarette. Yes. Exciting stuff.Lucille Ball's office

I refrained from photographing Dr. Phil’s dog, but this is the lawn she was walking on with her two handlers.Lawn in front of Lucy's office

Paramount served us a delicious gourmet lunch. I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy enjoying it. We each got to pick a movie poster. Unfortunately, we forgot them on the train when we got home to San Antonio. I hope someone likes them.

The highlight of the tour was the dead body. No. Not a real dead body, silly. This is television. They needed a dead body for one of the series filming, so the dead body delivery company had one in the back of a pick up truck just waiting for its scene. (Clicking “Read More” will reveal pictures of the fake dead body. Don’t click if you don’t want to see.).

Continue reading →

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Travel | Tagged grand tour 2015, Paramount

O is for Onboard

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 17, 2015 by JeanMarch 28, 2023
homeless campsite

Lyn had several questions I want to ensure get answered, and the Onboard post seems like the best place for this. Here goes:

What did you see out the windows? Gorgeous scenery. America’s backyard. There is no single backyard. Some are gorgeous. Some are appalling. Some are interesting. You see a lot of homeless enclavehomeless campsites from the train. I suspect that’s because they make their shelters generally out of sight from roadways and walkways, but they’re in plain sight of train tracks. Some are communities. Others campsite near Denverare single outposts. If you see a collection of trash spread in a certain way, you can bet it’s been a stop for a homeless person or persons. It’s hard to describe, but after you’ve seen it out your window, you know it when you see it.

How was the food? The food is always good. I had a goal to try everything on the menu this trip and succeeded. I’m glad I did, because I discovered some good options. For instance, they had a Caesar salad on the lunch menu that could be ordered on the dinner menu. Chicken could be added. I don’t normally eat Caesar salad, but this one I could put whatever dressing I wanted on top, so it was really just a salad. After you’ve been on the train for a while, it seems as if all you do is eat, and while you can order the steak dinner every night, you don’t really want to. In fact, you sometimes want to cut back. Several nights, I ordered the salad.

I also ordered the healthy option one night and was pleasantly surprised. The cut of meat was very small — maybe two ounces, but it was a superb cut, and the rest of the meal was couscous and baby carrots. The healthy option turned out to be just right to keep from being stuffed.

They have a wonderful Angus burger or a tasty veggie burger. You can get bacon on either one. Yes. I ordered the veggie burger with bacon. The waiter said I was the 67th person to do so. Mr. L said he was kidding. I wasn’t so sure.

You can’t go wrong with Amtrak cheesecake and strawberries. Yum. If you want ice cream, you will get a superbly solidly frozen cup of Haagen Daz vanilla. You can also get the gluten free vanilla pudding and the chocolate mousse. Amtrak does desserts well. Amtrak does food well.

Did you get motion sickness? Nope. No motion sickness. One leg of the trip, I forget which one, was especially rough, and a poor man from Boston who sat with us at dinner looked like he was about to experience motion sickness. The poor man sat there staring out the window with a napkin to his mouth. After he excused himself without eating more than a bite or two of his meal, Mr. L said if he hadn’t been staring out at the passing countryside, he might not have been so bad off. We saw him again at breakfast, and he didn’t look much better.

Did you meet any interesting people on the train? Yes. With the community seating in the dining car, you get a chance to chat with different people at nearly every meal. Nearly everyone is interesting in their own right.

Am I too curious? Not at all. Great questions.

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. If you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Travel | Tagged grand tour 2015, onboard

N is for New Mexico

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 16, 2015 by JeanApril 20, 2025
New Mexico

My husband’s birthday fell near the end of the trip. We adjusted the trip dates so we could spend his birthday in New Orleans, a favorite stop of his for many years. Unfortunately, if you’ve been following the Grand Tour closely, you know this didn’t happen. Our luggage saw New … Continue reading →

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Travel | Tagged grand tour 2015, New Mexico

L is for LA

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on April 14, 2015 by JeanApril 20, 2025
downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles, commonly known as LA, was our least favorite part of our trip. It’s a necessary evil that we’ve tried to make the best of. We did the VIP tour of Paramount Studios. We also decided to go to Disneyland. Mr. L hadn’t been there since 1959, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in A - Z Challenge | Tagged Disney, grand tour 2015, LA

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal: Grand Tour 2015

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on March 23, 2015 by JeanApril 20, 2025
Amtrak engine

I’m excited to be participating in the 2015 Blogging A-Z Challenge. I always have fun writing posts and seeing what posts others have written. My theme this year is travel, specifically, people and places we visited on our Grand Tour 2015 Amtrak trip. My husband and I love traveling on … Continue reading →

Posted in A - Z Challenge, Photography, Travel | Tagged Amtrak, grand tour 2015

Photo: Ready to Ride

Philosophical Meanderings, Too Posted on March 16, 2015 by JeanMarch 28, 2023
Amtrak bedroom

We’re preparing to embark on Grand Tour 2015. Very soon, the scene will look similar to this:  

Continue reading →
Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged grand tour 2015, ready to ride

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