# Jim and Stacys Excellent Western Adventure/Part 5



## Bob Dylan (Jul 25, 2009)

7/10/09 to7/12/09

Awaken to a beautiful cool California morning in Sonoma Valley!We have breakfast/take a swim in

a heated pool( :lol: ),go into town to a great farners market,where did all the rich folks come from?

Tons of cars you only see in Auto mags or California I guess?  While the women shop my bro

and I cruise out to the local airport which is full of warbirds and old planes of all types/rides are

available but out of my pocketbook range,sigh!Then its a quick lunch in an excellent pizza joint,

a trip to the grocery store for provisions and we set off to explore the valley/wineries etc. in

the very heavy weekend traffic!Beautiful and exciting and another thing checked on the bucket list!

(Did not make it to the NAPA valley unfortunately so missed seeing the Wine Train, next time for sure!)

The next morning after an excellent breakfast(healthy for sure! :lol: )we set off for the Sonoma Coast,

Russian River Valley and the Redwoods!WOW and double WOW!Lots of folks of course on this sunny and

beautiful Calif. Saturday!When we get to the coast the fog is still there,there is a wedding set for noon,

just as the party arrives the fog lifts, the sun comes out and its breathtaking on the cliffs over the Pacific!

Sea lions/birds/boats and folks climbing down the steep stairs to the drift wood strown beaches!

After another restful night we do our laundry/take another walk and swim and a nap and prepare to

leave for the station, it will be a long night in Coach to PDX!!!Well be back I hope, a free place to stay!!! :lol:

MTZ-PDX CS#14

Arrive @ the station about 7PM after dinner @ chez hudson(my bros house),they have to be up early to

travel to SAC so drop us off!We explore the area, nice new brick station,the old one is down the way and seems to

be in use for charities and storage,at least its not torn down!Across the tracks is an old SP steamer,fenced off

but looks neat!A nice park behind it,lots of folks having picnics and playing in the warm gentle Calif. evening!

Not much open downtown, looks like they are turning it into a weekend destinationplace with antiques

and small mom and pop eateries!Several Cal trains come/go to/from SAC,very crowded!

The agent checks our bags/Julie and he say the train is running early and @ 11:00PM it pulls in!A large crowd to

board including lots of kids!Its a shorter train than our last, 2 engines/baggage/transition dorm/1 sleeper/

ppc(unfortunately not for we peons in steerage! :angry: diner/ssl/and 3 coaches!A long walk to the coaches with

@ least 50 others to board!We are assigned seats,bad ones #1/#2, ask for others, the SA tells us the train is

full,no other seats available!He gives us pillows and we never see him again till Klamath Falls when we stop

for a break! :blink: Its a long night with the door opening and closing/stacy has trouble sleeping so we go

to the ssl and traveler the lounge lizards are thick as flies sleeping everywhere and hanging out!

Stay till after SAC/we finally sleep on/off till the sun awakens us in the baeautiful Mt. Shasta area,mountains and trees and

snow cap mountain in July!!!  This area is pretty spectacular to us flatlanders from Texas!

Have some joe and a AMwitch in the cafe.we stop in Klamath Falls for any hour,its still fairly cool but feels good

to strech!Some get on/some get off,soon its time to high ball for PDX!rest of the trip passes by in the SSL/

we eat lunch in the cafe again,usual sandwich and chip afair,Stacy says the CB is good!!Interesting scenery Ive not seen

before along the way,it grows cloudy but doesnt rain/were running on time/make the usaual stops and pull into PDX

as the sun comes out right on time!A beatiful scene across the river,Stacy has not been here and its been

20+yrs. for me so we take it all in!We unload/go into the beautiful old station with the throngs and await

our luggage!After 30 minutes it comes/there is a loooong line boarding the EB#28 in the lobby/didnt see the

Metro Lounge crowd since were not allowed this segment!  Grab a cab/wind through the streets to our hotel/

PDX is a nice town,its rush hour but not bad @ all!Hotel is nice,by Portland State U./we check in/shower/unpack :lol:

and rest awhile!We catch the FREE street car downtown,walk around a little/eat @ a really good Pizza joint(lots of

kids hanging out),then visit Powell Books where one can spend their life if so inclined!Stacy finally drags

me away/we hop on the free street car back/have a snack in a neat coffe shop/go watch a little TV

and soon are in dreamland dreaming of the train rides to come!A long day but a nice break on our journey!!!!

Didnt mention that the bus station which is connected is nice,has lots more services than the train station and

that the PDX cops came through twice with dogs while we awaited our luggage!Is PDX a hot spot for terroists?


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## JayPea (Jul 25, 2009)

Great report! You're right about Powell's Bookstore. One could spend a lifetime there! I know next time I take the train to Portland I'll have to bring a bigger bag! I could also spend a whole lot of money there!


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## p&sr (Jul 26, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> Awaken to a beautiful cool California morning in Sonoma Valley...The next morning... we set off for the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley and the Redwoods!


Thanks for the Trip Report. Glad you enjoyed your stay here in California's North Bay Area.

Reminds me of our trip this June, when my wife and I rode local transit in San Francisco, the CalTrain to San Jose, and that evening caught the northbound Coast Starlight... passing through our "home station" of Martinez around 11:00 PM en route to Sacramento, Mt. Shasta, Klamath Falls, Portland, and "points north"...


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## the_traveler (Jul 27, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> Is PDX a hot spot for terroists?


It must be! I've been to PDX 3 times since October - and I am in PDX right now. And there's no one more terrifying to look at then me! :lol:


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## sky12065 (Jul 28, 2009)

JayPea said:


> Great report! You're right about Powell's Bookstore. One could spend a lifetime there! I know next time I take the train to Portland I'll have to bring a bigger bag! I could also spend a whole lot of money there!


You can do like my wife did when she was there earlier this month, have them ship your purchases home. Also, if you're looking for a particular book or just want to browse online, you can do what I did last week. Search on *their website* and place an online order. I got free shipping on my purchases because I unknowingly just managed to exceed their amount for free shipping. See their free shipping information page *HERE*!


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## sky12065 (Jul 28, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> jimhudson said:
> 
> 
> > Is PDX a hot spot for terroists?
> ...


You think you look terrifying? Before I retired I had to enter a few of our employees work stations daily to perform a surprise random cash audit. In doing so I scared the you know what out of more than one of them... and they were used to seeing me!

B*O*O*! * :lol:


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## sky12065 (Jul 28, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> jimhudson said:
> 
> 
> > Is PDX a hot spot for terroists?
> ...


I just stopped to realize that all three of us... you, Jim and I, were all in PDX during this month. How has Portland survive such a traumatic event and will Portland ever be the same again? :unsure:  :huh: :blink:


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 28, 2009)

sky12065 said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > jimhudson said:
> ...


Perhaps thats why PDXs finest had the dogs in the Station so much,they knew we were coming! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## sky12065 (Jul 28, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> sky12065 said:
> 
> 
> > the_traveler said:
> ...


And now The Traveler is going to be spending the rest of his month in PDX singing *"*


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