PORTLAND!!

Hi all!

I know you already know I made it to Portland Saturday, so this post is really to catch up on some of the details and add some photos. Sorry it took so long to get up, but it was a busy Saturday evening and Sunday. I haven't seen Jesse in 3 months, so the blog was clearly not a priority.

Anyway, on Friday night I went out for drinks and dinner with Emily and Marc. When our food arrived at the table I realized we had 20 minutes until my train was scheduled to depart. Having checked Amtrack's website before arriving at the restaurant, I assumed it was on time, so we shoveled the food in our mouths, pounded the beers and ran out the door, only to check the schedule and see it was 35 minutes delayed. Oh well. We hung out at the Emeryville train station for a bit, it was fine. The train arrived, I said my goodbyes, got on the train, and sat. For 1.5 hours. Without moving. According to the sign in the station, we were delayed for a "passenger trespass situation". I later found out this was code for suicide by train. Yikes.

Fortunately, it was night time and I was tired. I got probably 3 hours of sleep at various points throughout the night. My neighbor smelled like chicken soup and snored pretty loudly. She did spend much of the night sleeping in the lounge car, though, which was nice.

Then the morning brought the most amazing scenery I'd seen yet. The Cascades beat out the Sierras and even the mighty Rockies in epic sweeping views. Plus there was snow! It was all quite incredible. Photos are below. I couldn't get great photos, sadly, because I was on the aisle and there were lots of trees blocking the view. What I did get does not really show the scenery, but you all probably guessed that.

After all that, we arrived in Portland just under 45 minutes late. Jesse was waiting for me at the station. It was sunny and also raining, which turned out well because we saw the most amazing double rainbow, where we saw the entire arc of both. It was a hell of a welcome to my new home.

I'll tell more about my last few days another time, the final Presidential debate starts in a few minutes. Must get ready!

 Cinder cone next to Mt. Shasta (Northern CA)

 Mt. Shasta's snow-covered north face

 Canyon in southern Oregon

More canyon

The Cascades

I'm currently traveling through snow in the Cascades! Makes bad photos, though. Here's one from earlier.

Coastal Starlight Express

2 hours after shoveling fish & chips, salad and beer down my throat to make my train on time, we're still sitting at the station. By the way, there's not 1, not 2, but 3 small children on my train in my car, none of whom are happy with the delay.

I just want to be in Portland!

San Francisco (day 2)

The weather did not turn out for me today. Oh well. My knee wasn't going to let me walk around too much today anyway. Plus there's that whole "work" thing. So I've been bouncing around from place to place today stealing wifi and power. The day started with a diner-like breakfast near the BART stop I selected at random. It was ok, but despite having "Coffee Shop" in the name, it was without wifi or anything beyond drip brews.

I consulted Yelp while eating my veggie omelette and found my next stop, Contraband Coffee Bar. It was an obvious choice with over 200 reviews on Yelp with a 4.5 star rating. The espresso was very tasty (though for my second cup the female barista made regular instead of decaf, so I've been crazy jittery all afternoon). It was also a lovely place to hang out. Good atmosphere and fun people. The music was pretty good for the first half of my stay, but graduated to metal for the second half. Near the end of my stay, the male barista (baristo? barister?) commented that a regular customer who had just left was "the guitar player in Almost Famous." As many of you know, this is one of my top 5 favorite films of all time. That said, Billy Crudup was definitely not in the coffee shop (he lives in NYC and is probably in some Broadway play right now). I decided not to correct him, but having not seen the person I could not tell you who it was. Oh well.

After that I had a brief lunch at Modern Thai. I was in the mood for some noodles. But there was still work to be done and the misty weather wasn't doing anything to help my willpower, so I moved across the street to Leland Tea Company for a non-caffeinated afternoon beverage. I haven't left yet. The proprietor is very friendly and talkative. We chatted for 5 minutes before tea even came up. I settled on his suggestion of blending the Rooibos Chai with some vanilla. He is also the baker and the other customers and I were part of the decision process of what treats were to be baked this afternoon. The answer was one batch of Earl Grey scones with caramel and one with dark chocolate. And guess what, he doesn't like chocolate either! Take that, everyone else! Oh, and the music has been old jazz/soul in the Nina Simone/Billie Holiday vein. So in short, if you're in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood (or anywhere in the city really), definitely stop here!

My final train ride is at 10pm tonight. Emily is going to put her best effort to get home before then (she has not the last two nights... yay harvest time!) so we can actually catch up before I head out. Fingers crossed! Also, she promised me better cocktails than I had in Chicago. We'll see about that...

And at this time tomorrow my journey will be over! Portland in 23 hours! I'll keep the blog alive for a while, particularly until I find somewhere to live. That's all for now!

San Francisco (day 1)

It was a lovely day in the Bay Area today! I more than made up for my long train ride by walking around 12 miles with my monster work computer in tow. First there was work (boring!), then lunch at Fisherman's Wharf! Huge sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder. I love sourdough. A lot. After that was some more work (again, boring!), but then I had some time to walk along the bay out to the Presidio and back.

There were lovely vistas during all this, and of course the weather made it that much more pleasant. I was a little toasty wearing pants, but overall a successful day. My train tomorrow doesn't leave until 10pm, so I will have another equally lovely day wandering in other parts of the city. Golden Gate Park? Haight-Ashbury? Who knows!?

Lunch!

View of Fisherman's Wharf and surrounding area from the Public Pier

Did you guys know that I like bridges?

Well I totally like bridges!

California Zephyr (part II)

Yes, this is delayed, but I needed some time to look through the 75 photos I took during my ride through the Rockies, the dessert and the Sierra Nevadas to see which deserved to be displayed publicly. Here they are, unedited (because I'm lazy). This is the reason I took the train. It may have been 33 hours, but you don't get views like this on any other mode of transport.

The foothills outside of Denver

Snow-capped peaks of the Front Range 

 One of 48 tunnels in the Tunnel District

The Colorado River, which we followed for 250 miles

Change of rock type and namesake for Colorado itself 

 Sunrise in the Nevada desert

The only halfway decent photo from the Sierras (the sun was always shining on the window)

The California Zephyr at its final destination in Emeryville, CA!

Greetings from steamy San Francisco!

Hey all!

I survived the 33 hour train ride! I know there were some doubts that I could stay sane, but I did. My legs haven't recovered, but as soon as I rid myself of this work I will spend my day wandering around San Francisco. It's supposed to be in the mid 80s today! Crazy! Haven't decided where I'm going to go, but I think wandering Golden Gate Park is probably the best idea.

I'm on the wrong computer right now, so I can't upload photos from the mountains. Needless to say, there were some spectacular vistas, over 50 tunnels, 250 miles along the Colorado River and almost as long following the American River. I was fortunate that I got a row to myself for the overnight section so I could spread out, and even slept a whole 4 hours! Not at once, of course, but one of the sessions lasted a full hour! I'm still waking up at east coast times. I guess that won't last too much longer.

When I arrived yesterday I spent some time working at a coffee shop, then a pizza place. Marc then picked me up and we went to a bar for a quick drink before heading back and watching some Walking Dead waiting for Emily to come home. Everyone was tired, so we didn't stay up too late. Hopefully Emily will be able to leave work at a reasonable hour today so we can have a real evening.

Well, I was waiting around for people to send me stuff, but I'm tired of it, so I'm leaving this coffee shop. I'll try to post photos later tonight.

Pacific timezone!

With my check-in at the Elko, NV Amtrak station (really more of a bus stop), I have crossed into the Pacific timezone! And only 13 more hours in this train before Emryville! This has also been my most successful night of sleep on the train. 3 hours and only 3am! Trying for some more.

Goodbye, Colorado!

At the temporary train station. They're running 30 minutes late, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the 33 hours I'll be in the train. But I'm loaded with snacks and TV shows, so I should be ok.

Colorado was, as always, a great time! It was good to see everyone here and I hope they all come to visit Portland! It's a much easier and quicker trip than DC (plus there's more hiking, skiing and climbing).

Well that's all for now. Look for photos from the mountains coming soon!

Denver daytime

This is a nice city.

Sunshine, discs, beers, Aflicktion

Still in Denver! Camped out at the very friendly neighborhood KJ's Coffee Bar for the morning. Lot's of work to get done. Ugh. It's lovely outside and I want to steal Christian's bike and enjoy it. Maybe this afternoon.

In more important news, yesterday was full of fun adventures in Fort Collins! Christian picked me up at the frisbee fields as Carrie and John were dominating the first round of their tournament. The drive was short, but we still needed to stop at Johnson's Corner for cinnamon buns.

When we arrived, Christian went for a ride on his mountain bike while Ben, Kaydence and I did work because we are not as cool. But once Bailey and her boyfriend arrived we had snack time and headed out to enjoy a brand new disc golf course. It was pretty flat, but once the trees grow up it will be more interesting. Of course, just because they're only 5 feet tall doesn't mean I didn't hit one on every other hole.

From there we went to a super cool bar/coffee shop/bike shop called Cranknstein. Lots of local brews, great atmosphere, good coffee. They also serve a beverage which is Great Divide's Yeti stout with a shot of espresso. I did not get it, but sampled Ben's, it was quite tasty. It was there that Sam and Angie met up with us and we headed to an Indian buffet for dinner. I ate too much. It was great.

Spent the night back in Denver at Christian's place, where I will be tonight as well. Next train out is 7:30am tomorrow. It's the long one: 33 hours! Gonna stock up on snacks today. Try to minimize food from the cafe car.

Alright, readers, time to get back to work. The more quickly I finish what I need to do, the sooner I get outside! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Denver!

Denver is a great town. I have fun every time I come here. I arrived yesterday morning and grabbed coffee and breakfast with Christian at a place near the train station (or rather, the temporary train station since the real station is under construction). It was a lovely temperature, though cloudy, which is unusual for Denver. It rained later, which ruined our plans a little, but oh well. Anyway, we spent the morning walking around LoDo and the Highlands. There was a sale at an outdoor store where I wanted to buy everything.

Christian had to drive to the mountains yesterday, so I hopped the light rail to the 'burbs to spend the rest of the day with Carrie and John. Our plan was to play disc golf, but the rain said "no". Instead we enjoyed an exhausting dance game for xbox Kinect. The evening was spent at a housewarming party for a frisbee friend of theirs. Didn't stay too late since I was running on very little sleep and they both have a tournament today.

Speaking of today, after a morning watching some ultimate, I'll be headed up to Fort Collins to do who knows what with more Lafayette folks! It's a beautiful day and there is lots of fun to be had!

Approaching Denver

A fairly uneventful train ride. Did go through Nebraska and Iowa for the first times. There were some crazy thunderstorms in Nebraska. The rain was so heavy I couldn't see more than a few feet away on each lightning strike.

About an hour from Denver now. The mix of people on this ride is interesting. A direct line from one of the fattest cities in the US to one of the fittest. When I was in the cafe car earlier a 250 pounds man asked if they had Mountain Dew. They did. Gross. But they also have organic trail mix and vegan burgers (which they heat in the microwave). I had a frozen pizza and Sierra Nevada pale ale for dinner. Could have been worse.
Getting my first glimpse of the mountains now as the sun rises behind the train. Looks like it will be another beautiful sunny day in Denver! Colorado is one of my favorite places with a lot of my favorite people, looking forward to a great weekend!

Omaha's gayborhood

Sitting at the Omaha train station, I pulled up foursquare, as I have at every station. Half of the available check-ins are gay bars. Good to know?

Mississippi river!

Believe it or not, I've actually never seen the Mississippi from the ground! Except at the delta, but that's not the same.

Galesburg smoke break

As you all know, I have no problem with adult language, sex and drugs (at least their use by other people, anyway), but in what world is it ok to discuss all of this, loudly, on your cell phone in a full train with a 6-year-old sitting directly in front of you? "mother f-er" does not need to be in every other sentence. I promise.

California Zephyr (Part I)

An hour and a half outside of Chicago and already it's cornfields as far as the eye can see. I'd better get used to it because I think that's all I've got on this 18 hour ride.

This morning was uneventful. Got stuck doing work stuff so I didn't get out to do any sightseeing. But that does give a good excuse to get back to Chicago sometime soon! As a sidenote, Union Station in Chicago is much less appealing architecturally than all other Union Stations I've been through. Pretty plain.


The cell signal on this train has already been spotty, so I don't think I'll get much work done. Good thing I've stocked up on TV shows: seasons 1 & 2 of Boardwalk Empire, season 1 of Homeland, and seasons 1-3 of The Sopranos. I think that should hold me over.

In other news, Princeton, IL appears to have no traffic lights, one truck depot and corn. On the upside, a bunch of people got off the train and now I have a row to myself!

Time for a few more spreadsheets before the network dies. More from Denver!

Payment for room & board (Chicago)

It's only fair that I give something back to Steve and Michelle for graciously allowing me to stay here for a few days, so I made dinner tonight. It's my first real fall day (since it's still summer in DC), so I went full autumn with the menu.

First course: roasted butternut squash soup with shallots, garlic and cayenne pepper, topped with crispy red kale. Liked the kale with the thick soup, basically serving the purpose of crackers or popcorn. I'd do less shallot next time, but overall a very tasty start.

Second course: spinach salad with goat cheese, sliced almonds, slivers of shallot and balsamic vinaigrette (made with the sage-infused oil, which was a delicious byproduct of the main). No reason to change anything about this course, it was excellent.

Main course: sweet potato cream sauce with crimini mushrooms and toasted sage over conchigliette. The base for the cream was made with pecorino-romano and almond milk. It turned out pretty well. Needed more salt, but good potato flavor. The added body from the sweet potato and the nutty almond taste went well together. Ended up a little cold, though, since we were eating in stages. Decent idea, probably could be more refined. I'll consult a chef.

That's all for tonight, folks! Look for more cooking adventures during the trip, it's my favorite form of payment!

Food & Drinks in Wicker Park

As any of you who have spent time with Steve and Michelle know, these two love good food and drink. So last night I got the weekday tour of the Wicker Park bar/restaurant scene, the neighborhood in which they live.

First stop was Small Bar, where we sampled four beers before deciding on two totally different pints. There was also fried cheese curd. Welcome to the midwest. The bar was pretty neat, friendly and helpful bartender and very tasty fried cheese.

Next up was dinner at Piece Brewery & Pizzaria. This was not Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, for which I was glad. They call it New Haven-style, but I'll call it Jersey-style because it's what I grew up with. Anyway, they also brew their own beer. I had a pretty tasty English IPA. The pizza was monstrous and we all ate too much.

For the final stop of the night we walked through a door to what looked like a boarded-up, abandoned building below an 'L' track, pushed through a series of heavy velvet curtains and entered a dimly lit and well decorated lounge with a bar stocked beyond anything I've ever seen. This is the classy epitome of Chicago speakeasy. At The Violet Hour you may not use your cellphone, stand around the bar, shout to your friends across the bar or drink "lite" beer. The menu was full of incredibly creative cocktails utilizing homemade mixers and mid-level booze (aka no Grey Goose, etc). Steve had brought me here to have a sazerac, my new favorite cocktail. It was no longer on the menu (they change it frequently), but the bartender was happy to oblige and produced hands-down the best cocktail I've ever had. I had a different drink after which contained scotch, allspice and apple bitters that tasted like a smoked apple pie. It was a lovely experience. There was a line to get in as we left. Keep in mind this was a Wednesday night at 10:30.

Tonight I am making dinner for the three of us as payment for the room. There will be photos.

Introduction to overnight train rides

Hello from the Windy City!

Last week it was in the 80s and humid in DC. This morning when I arrived in Chicago it was 32 with the windchill. But I came prepared with that one long-sleeved shirt I own!

Anyway, back to the beginning. Yesterday I woke up in DC on an air mattress in my sleeping bag. I had forgotten to set my alarm, which is only relevant because I thought they may come pick up my storage container before I got my air mattress and sleeping bag inside. They had not. I did tetris the crap out of my container, though. I could have brought more things!

I then taped and painted my bedroom a nice light green. John likes it. I did not have time to take a photo. Or clean up. Or pack my knives. Oops. But I made it to Union Station with just enough time to reserve the last two legs of the journey, buy a sandwich for dinner and settle in to my seat.

First hour of the ride was pretty uneventful. Talked with the man seated next to me for a while. He was on his return trip to Chicago, having been to Memphis. The elderly couple across the aisle waved to every person we passed until it got dark. You can see a few in the photo, crossing the Potomac into Harpers' Ferry, WV.

It was slightly before this that I discovered there was not one, but two small children in my car. How, you ask? Because they both started crying. Excuse me, not "crying" so much as "shrieking at the top of their lungs." For over an hour. The longest break from crying for the rest of the trip was the 3 hours of night between 2am and 5am, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. Mostly, the photo below:

Rural America at its finest! The beginning of WV was all like this. Some spectacular sunset views reflecting off the river, but none presented good photographic potential. Then we hit darkness and coal country. Everything after that was less entertaining. Rolled through Pittsburgh around midnight. As is true of any approach to that city, great views of downtown on the way in. There was also Cleveland and Toledo during my insomnia.

But eventually the sun came up and we came to rest in Chicago. I bundled up and walked a few blocks to meet my gracious host, Steve, and get his keys. He and Michelle have an amazing place in Wicker Park (let's be honest, we all knew they would have an awesome place). I took a shower to feel like a real person again and the rest of today has been catching up on work and trying not to fall asleep on my computer.

Whew. The rest of these posts will be shorter and have more pictures since I now have Blogger on my phone. Until then, listen to some Ha Ha Tonka.