life in the old lane

Most of today was “wasted”. As in accomplished very little. But I did very carefully fill out a “Daisy” award for the ED Charge nurse who drove me to my hotel in Clarkston. 

Haven’t heard of a Daisy Award? I am not surprised. Most hospitals have a way that you can nominate one of their nurses (or an entire group of nurses) on the hospital website. It’s a lightweight silly-sounding name but it’s the Academy Awards of Nursing. The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurses.

I could have died that night when I started walking two miles to the hotel in the dark. Actually, that’s overly dramatic. But, I might have passed out in someone’s front yard. It wouldn’t have been a good night.

Don’t think the Rosemary and Sage have ever looked this happy. 

So much for gracious living. It’s more like Toy Story. But, I have resolved to not let such trivial matters concern me. If this were my building I would have knick-knack-free elevator lobbies. But, not my monkeys, not my circus. 

I was charging madly through my day, just finishing up yoga, half a sandwich, and 2 cups of coffee when I was overwhelmed by a need for a major nap. 

During the early Covid days, I made a pretty good video about our Asylum’s George Floyd/BLM Rally. Folks seem to think I can do a good one on an upcoming “Sensible Gun Laws” rally. I am not so sure. Anyhow, I am thinking about it. (I don’t think management knew exactly what we were up to back in 2020, this time management is “concerned”. Which, of course, means I need a bitching great video.)

I find myself rather uninterested in my trip photos.  ChatGPT and I wrote a nice email to Lindblad asking for a refund or future credit. I know nothing will come of it. I was told that on the phone many times. I have it in writing that fluking a Covid test gets you put ashore with no recourse. But, I am still willing to spend 15 minutes crafting an email. On the off chance that something might break my way.

My life is almost back in order after being away for 19 days. I have a few more emails to attend to. And the to-do list that I made on the train is untouched. When I come back from a trip I am always overwhelmed by how much crap I have. So, it is a great time to do some major deacquisitioning. 

I am almost ready to go again too.

Made it back all in one piece. And that’s about all I have to offer tonight.

I am all unpacked and everything is back where it belongs. So, I can start planning my next getaway. But first I need to do my laundry. 

And sleep for a couple of nights in my own bed. Did I mention that my watch thinks I have been awake 72+ hours because it could not tell I was asleep on the train? Isn’t technology grand?

All day on the train. Miles and miles of miles and miles.

Will be getting on the Capital Limited soon. 

I see that Prince Chuck became King Chuck without any help from me. I wonder what happened to Prince Harry? All things considered, I bet he has more fun than his big brother. 

Time to go find the train. It has my dinner and my bed.

WiFi is non existent and cellular is iffy.  The food is is surprisingly good and the people on board are interesting. And, I must say that I am liking the bedroom experience. 

Has this trip changed my future travel plans? Nope. Except I will be a damn site more zealous about masking. Maybe.  

Grateful for my old age. I must stop wasting this bonus round. And, that’s a totally inside job. First, wrap of the death cleaning. Second, ignore the Asylum. It really is just another rental building with a totally non functional food service operation on the premises. And my friends live there. 

Grateful that I was able to hangout on the concrete in the sunshine this morning. The first train was 2 hours late. Not really Amtrak’s fault. Two cars fell off the 101 freeway and landed on the tracks.

will be getting on the train in about an hour. The train leaves in two hours. Plenty of time to settle into my “bedroom”. I have not had a bedroom in a long time. 

It has a private potty. So the room has a slight chemical toilet scent. But it beats the smell of the shared johns after the first day. 

So, what to do today? I decided to walk along the dock, sea wall, beach.  No one was surfing. Because there wasn’t any surf.  But, it was still the ocean.

There were all manner of fine benches all along the way. And my buddy Billy from Kona called. We had a nice chat. Each of us looking out at the Pacific Ocean.  

My walk about ends with 13,000 steps and 5.5 miles on the Fitbit. Brought some takeaway sushi back to the hotel with me where I enjoyed it on my private patio.  

After dinner, time to get it together for 3 nights on the train.  

 I started my post Covid life with breakfast at Joe’s.  It might not be my favorite place for breakfast, but it’s older than I am.  I am pretty sure that I am not established yet.

About Covid. I am not 100% in the energy department. I walked about 5 miles today, but they were slow and flat miles. And I took a nice nap. 

Back to the pictures.

Oh, I got one of those “customer satisfaction” on line survey things from the boat. I wonder what I am going to say and can I possibly play it to my advantage? 

Grateful as hell that the Covid thing worked out as well as it did. 

The Coast StarlightThis has been an excellent train ride so far. And the last couple of hours of my tripis along the coast. A few shots from today.

Salinas has a fine old train station. I am always careful when I get off the trains. They leave rather quickly and I think they actually enjoy leaving the stragglers behind.  

As promised the last couple of hours of the trip was along the coast. Nothing but ocean. It interfered with my reading, I was forced to enjoy the scenery.

Arrived on time, my fine little hotel was just around the corner, avocado toast was acquired for dinner. I am settled in for the evening.

Now I am sure that part of this is the pants stretching due to wear, but… I am liking what I don’t see.  

Waiting on the train. Yesterday it was 3 hours late, but looks to be on time today.  There is a huge service dog, legit, the owner has some serious mobility issues waiting. And a man with a killer cough. Oops he can hardly walk. He looks as bad as I did last week.

Hey, it’s time to train up. More later. Or not.

Upgraded myself to a sleeping box. Used to be you would bribe the conductor, nowadays you can bid for empty rooms and roomettes. I feel sure the conductor’s liked the old system better. They wanted to feed me lunch. But, I want to enjoy the loose pants for a while.   I will do dinner. 

Next stop Santa Barbara. (Got 20 more minutes in the station.)

 

Made it safely to sunny Portland this afternoon. Walked past famous Portland Union Station on my way to my hotel. I have never seen it in postcard like sun.

 I am rather tired tonight, the Wi-Fi is crappy and the bed is looking pretty good. 10,038 steps. Not too shabby for a sick old woman.

 I have totally resisted thinking about the boat trip that got away. But, I did notice the Columbia river.  What ever happens is what I planned. 

Took the last fistful of Paxlovid this morning. Thank you Pfizer. 

On the train tomorrow at 2:15 tomorrow afternoon, Amtrak willing.  

It’s been a very interesting week.