This is living...

    The ride through the Sierra Nevada was wonderful. We spent most of the ride in the observation car. Actually, we stayed until we were told that bags were not permitted.

Nevada is desolate and unexpectedly beautiful.

 

Some people make bad decisions...

     Just as we were picking up speed (GPS said 80pmh), the emergency brakes began hissing and the train came to a fairly abrupt stop. A car raced our train at an intersection and nearly lost!

7/13/11 --On The Train!

F#@k Amtrak!

Back-story: Bonnie purchased our USA RailPass over a month ago. She tried twice to make reservations over the phone and twice she was told that our passes were invalid. After much arguing the agent on the phone instructed her to take our passes to the Davis station where things would be sorted out. As you may be guessing after reading the first sentence of this post, they weren't. The agent at the station told us that we would have to call the 1-800 number. We explained to her that we were instructed to see her. To top it all off, we learned that RailPass travelers are lowest on the pecking order. This means that when the train is 75% full, the quota for RailPass seats is reduced to zero. This is so that they can sell the remaining 25% for cash. After waiting on hold AT THE STATION for close to 45 minutes and threatening to cancel the entire trip, they reluctantly issued us new passes. They even had the audacity to lecture us about making our reservations sooner! Well, guess what? Now that we're on the train headed to SLC, we've got all day to sit around on hold. I'm gonna call “Customer Relations” and ask for a little compensation for our trouble.

7/12/11

     After leaving the river, we drove to Redding to purchase sunglasses for Bonnie (lost at the wedding) and shorts for me. We had planned to spend the day at the water park there but decided to hit the road instead in order to have dinner with Jim and Kathy Stewart at Raja's Tandor in downtown Davis. If you like Indian food, check it out!

7/11/11

     After tying up all the loose ends at home and at the Manila Community Center we threw our packs into the truck and made our way up CA 299 to The Trinity River Bed & Breakfast. Although we arrived a little later than we wanted, we were still able to enjoy a wonderful dinner! After a couple of cocktails and a bottle of champagne we, um, went to sleep.

The next morning we were treated to coffee, orange juice and omelets made with produce fresh from the garden! After breakfast we lounged around on the deck that overlooks the Trinity before heading down to the river bar for a bit.

The B&B is located in Hawkins Bar and is run by Emely and Randy Wilson. The 

food was great, the room was comfortable and we highly recommend staying there.

Mmm...Facon.

Bonnie with Emely Wilson.

Randy Wilson with the morning's catch.

We done did it...

We got hitched!

Under Construction!

Thanks for checking out our weblog.  We look forward to posting pictures and thoughts as we cris-cross the United States on our honeymoon.

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