More pictures from the trip...

This week will be mostly images and hopefully not so many words.  Here we go.

Peri and I sat in the observation train for a bit, mostly so I could see what it was like.  What was it like? Noisy.  Wahhhh, I want to go back to our room and watch the scenery.

We always were at the back of everything, but that gives you a different perspective.  I love this house and the shadow of the trees.

Everything still seems very flat.  This looks like a community where there are few secrets. Kind of small town like, if by small town you mean double-wide. ( If you are offended by that reference, you probably shouldn't be here.)  Any way, we are now at the point in the journey where we are about to climb a mountain...

Here is a little version of two pictures that I stitched together in my photo program.  I know I need more practice, but you get the general idea.  It pretty up here.  The air looks fresh and clean and you can see for miles.

Hey, what's going on? These trees are gnarly and scary and the clouds are getting grey. It looks like it just might...

SNOW!!!! We got so excited.  We acted like two fools (acted, I said). I love snow when you can sit back and watch it and not worry about having milk and bread.  Peri hadn't been in a snow storm for quite some time and this one was soooooo pretty.  It got so foggy and snowy that we didn't get to see Donner Lake, but hey, not everyone gets to ride the rails in the snow in April.

Finally we start to come down the mountain

and it's still snowing in Truckee where we stop to drop off some riders. 

Finally moving again, and definitely out of the snow.  We get settled in for more adventure.  This whole way we have had volunteer guides telling us interesting facts over the intercom system, so we are sure to find out some more fun things.

As a final shot and the tease for next week's installment, I know this much is true...

You sure don't see this at home.

Well, that's it for today.  No one guessed that the secret picture was shot from the last car on the train, so I guess the gift goes to Peri.  Happy Birthday, Sis. Your gift will soon be on it's way.

See you next week for pictures of when things get rocky!

She's baaaack!

As the said in the movie Poltergeist, I'm back.  I certainly hope I'm not as scary as the images in that movie, but from some of my shots I'm not too sure. The first photo of the trip wasn't even taken in San Francisco.  We got in somewhat late and were tired and I didn't even take a shot in the city.  The only picture I have is this one of me...

taken in a mirror in a restaurant on the way to San Fran. Pretty crazy, huh? Spend the night in the Ritz Carlton, where the room was really nice, there was a lovely executive lounge on our floor with the best food you could imagine, and a great view and I took zero pictures of it. Tired or excited, I'm not sure which.

I did remember to take a picture of Sister in the Emeryville train station, looking as cute as ever.

Once we boarded the train, I remembered I had a camera...

Here you see Sister Peri, (dressed for comfort in flannel) adjusting the reading light. We had planned on doing a lot of reading and sketching while on the train.

Here is a shot of us both together, taken in the mirror on the door that used to open up to connect the rooms...

I wish I had noticed my shoulder bag sitting on the seat, but alas there it is in all it's glory, taking away from the very loveliness that this photo was supposed to show (us, get it?) Seriously though, after looking at the door (which was closed with packing tape), we ask our attendant if he could open the connecting door and he said he would be glad to. So for the rest of the time on that train we had connecting rooms.  It was fun and made the space seem much larger.

Speaking of seeming larger, I can't decide if the size of the room made me look larger than life, or the other way around. Hmmm, I'm thinking a new weight loss plan is in my future.  I mean, really...when did I become this massive?

So far this post has been only about us, now hasn't it?  Well, it was a sister get together type trip anyway, but I did manage to take some pictures of the scenery.  In fact, I took over 500 photos during the course of the week.  Funny how some of the shots look so much better on the tiny viewer of the camera.  When I went to enlarge the shots of the eagles nest that we saw and the snow storm that was so pretty, the shots just somehow seem anti-climactic. 

So, with all that being said, remembering the trip and the fun that we had is what's important. It's not the fact that after all these years of fancy cameras and photography courses, I found it difficult to take a decent picture from a moving and bouncing train.

But here we go...

We saw a lot of this...

And a lot of this...

But we did see fun things like the San Francisco Bay...

and we saw the Suisun Bay and the Mothball Fleet...

We stopped in Martinez to pick up passengers...

 and a short time later we stopped in Davis. 

This is rail travel, folks.  You stop and go and you stop and don't go.  While you are stopped your shots look like this...

You then go really fast to make up for lost time and your photos look like this...

We had a great time, though and with seven days worth of photos to go thru, I'm sure you will understand if I do my little travelogue in segments.

As a tease for the next installment, I'll show you this and if you know what it's a picture of I just might give you a little gift for your smartness...

So that's it for a couple of days.  Hopefully I will be working on my pictures at a rate that will allow me to post a bit more often.  Till then, enjoy what I've had a chance to work on and please let me know if you have had the experience of rail travel. Inquiring minds want to know.

TTFN.

Steppin' Out

No I wont be going dancing, but I am stepping out of my little box.  I'm going to fly to California to meet my sister and we are coming back cross country on Amtrak.

Of course, while looking for a nice image of the California Zephyr to post, I came across videos and articles of recent derailments and crashes.  I'm not going to worry about that.  I'm going to restrict my worrying to which suitcase to take.  I know we will have great fun and my sister is a seasoned traveler and has already discussed the emergency exits and where they are and how to operate them.  I am too old, at this stage of my life to worry about train crashes.  At least in a train I have a chance.  It's those flights from Virginia to North Carolina to San Diego that give me pause.  But I'm mostly ready, I've got my 3-1-1 bag packed and I'm going to use my regular suitcase that I can wheel through the airport to me Sissy when they pick me up.

We will be driving up the coast to spend the night here and then bright and early we will go to Emeryville to catch the train.  Train travel, for me thus far, has been a two hour ride on the coastal line from LA to San Diego which was fun, so I'm sure this will be quite an adventure.

So with my new camera in hand, motion sickness bands in place and a sense of adventure enveloping me, I will board the plane at 5:30 a.m Wednesday and arrive 10:00 San Diego time.  There is no wi-fi on the train, so I will be internet free for four days. Several books and an art journal and pencils, combined with the always effervescent personality of my sister should keep me entertained.

My next post will certainly have pictures and will recount the fun that we are bound to have.  Since I wont be back until April 8th and my sissy and I will be spending a couple days visiting some of our old haunts and taking pictures to paint from, this will be my last post for several weeks.  Wish us well and have a lovely holiday weekend.

Till then...