I decided to take Amtrak to San Diego to meet my daughter and drive with her back to Fresno for Christmas. As I have written previously, I make this trip a lot, mostly by car, but sometimes by airplane. Flying is a hassle, but driving in the winter has its problems, too: fog in the Valley, and you never know whether you'll be able to make it over the Grapevine because of snow or ice or both. So I took the train, which means train to Bakersfield, bus to Los Angeles, train to San Diego.
I'm happy to report that the trip was wonderful, although it took nine hours instead of the typical six if you drove. I love the train through the Valley, and when we got to Bakersfield, the bus was trackside and whisked us to L.A. No traffic or weather, so we made it in an easy two hours. I had a two-hour layover in L.A. so I walked across the street from Union Station to Olvera Street, which was decorated beautifully for Christmas.
One of my favorite children's books is by Leo Politi called "Pedro: The Angel of Olvera Street." It was one of the first things that I saw when I got to my daughter's apartment in San Diego. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
After browsing on Olvera Street, I went back to Union Station to catch the Surfliner train to San Diego. I upgraded to business class for $14, meaning you get a snack, newspaper and plug-ins for your computer. The total cost of the trip, by the way, was $59, which included a AAA discount.
The ride to San Diego was swift and interesting -- quick stops (quick means four minutes to get on and off the train) at Fullerton, Anaheim, Irvine, Santa Ana, Oceanside, Solana Beach and then San Diego. Because of downtown traffiic, I told my daughter that I would meet her in Old Town, and took the San Diego Trolley for $1 to Old Town. She picked me up there and we drove to her apartment in La Jolla near the UC San Diego campus where she goes to school.
The next time you go to San Diego, consider the train. It takes a third longer to get there, but the hassle is so much less than driving through L.A. traffic.
Jim- Being born and raised back east , and having lived in fresno for the past 30 years , it still amazes me that California , self professed as a progressive state,and constantly harping on pollution issues, is so far behind in public transportation. It amazes me that the trains don't run from San Diego to San Francisco , that you have to get off and get on for buses etc. That's pretty archaic in this day and age. How hard would it be to tie Amtrak into Bart and LA subway ? For that matter, it amazes me that Fresno doesn't have some sort of North - South Metro line ( Maybe from around River Park down to Grizzly Stadium or Fulton ST Mall?) It could run down the center of Blackstone (maybe elevated ?) The city already owns that property (wouldn't have to purchase any right of ways) and you could have several stops along the way. (Blackstone and Shaw area , Manchester Mall area ) Not only would this alleviate traffic and pollution (which we all know will only get worse in future years) but also revitalize the downtown areas of Fresno. If you realyy want to think outside the box , you could have East- West Feeders along Shaw and Shields. It's time we started thinking outside the box before it's to late.
I, too, love Amtrak for getting south, but this last trip was a bummer; took Amtrak to Antioch, gone Dec. 24 and 25th; came home at 10 pm to discover car had been vandalized and my large collection of old cd's had been stolen. Kind of an expensive trip - $300 to repair car. Now they want to put a light rail from downtown to airport - until they solve security problems they better forget it. PS: If anyone knows who stole my cd's I am willing to pay a good reward to get them back - no questions asked.