We started Friday off by going to Cabrillo National Park. It is on the tip of a peninsula with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the bay on the other. There is an old lighthouse there…

Also some great views and some Navy ships coming into port.

Around on the Pacific side we went down by the water…

We then grabbed some lunch at Fuddruckers and then headed to the train station. I dropped the family off and then went to return the rental car. I then hopped on a trolley back to the station to await our Surfliner train to Los Angeles.

In a couple of hours we were at Los Angeles Union Station to wait to board the Southwest Chief back to Albuquerque. There was some big photo shoot going on. Someone said it was for a movie, but I don’t know.

We boarded the Southwest Chief and got moved into our rooms. Soon after departure we went to dinner.

After dinner, we were all pretty wiped so we turned down the beds and went to sleep.

Because of time zone shifts, my 6:00 alarm went off on my phone right before it shifted back to 5:00am. So I got up pretty early. Stephen was awake too so we stepped off in Flagstaff where it was really cold.

We all went and grabbed some breakfast in the dining car at 6:30. Then chilled in our rooms. There were only a few stops between Flagstaff and Albuquerque. We took a little time to hand in the lounge car…

Before we knew it, we were getting real close to Albuquerque. But not too close that we could not get one more meal in on the train. So we had a quick lunch as we approached Albuquerque.

We arrived in Albuquerque, collected our checked bags and our car and headed back to Amarillo. We arrived in Amarillo around 6:30.

So, another vacation complete. It was a long time coming. Lots of planning and lots of changed plans. It was a good time and we hope we have the honor to travel again next year.

Until next time…

We are at the Santa Fe Depot getting ready to board our first train, a Surfliner.

We headed off this morning and parked the car at Qualcomm Stadium (where the Chargers play) and got on the trolley.

We rode it down the the Santa Fe station (this is also the station Amtrak uses).

We walked a couple of blocks to the USS Midway and spent a couple of hours checking it out.

After grabbing some lunch, we headed over to the Maritime Museum where we checked out a couple of submarines (one was an old Soviet sub) and some old sailing ships.

Then we went on a harbor tour cruise for an hour…

After grabbing to dinner, we went to Petco Park to watch the Astros take on the Padres.

Here is Stephen watching Lance Berkman and Michael Bourn warm up.

The Astros won 6-3 in 10 innings. The Astros won one for us. I e-mailed Fox Sports where we were sitting and they said they would get us on. It has been reported to us that we were on TV in Houston THREE times and they mentioned my name. I set the DVR to record. Hopefully we got it.

After the game we took the trolley back to Qualcomm and drove back to out hotel. It is now 12:30 so I am going to bed.

We leave tomorrow from San Diego (on a TRAIN this time) at 3:00. I will post as much as I can during the trip.

We started the day going to the Flying Leathernecks Museum. For those who did not know, leatherneck is slang for a marine. So it is a Marine Aviation Museum. It is right on the edge if Miramar (you know, Top Gun). Unfortunately, no going on military bases anymore so we could not tour Miramar or any of the other military bases around San Diego.

 

We then headed to the Wild Animal Park which is part of the San Diego Zoo.

We then had just enough time to run to Carlsbad and stop in the The Museum of Making Music. We were all not too interested in the displays but had a blast on the hands on stuff…

It was a fun day. I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

Until then.

The day started early cause my iPhone sitting next to my bed kept vibrating. Finally I grabbed to look at it and it was vibrating every time someone wished me a happy birthday on Facebook. Thanks everyone! Course, the next time I am on the West coast on my birthday, could I request everyone to wait till 8:00 Pacific?

We headed out to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Command Museum. Was a small Marine Corps history museum. I am a World War II history buff so I love military museums. My Dad, having been in the Marines, also gave it special meaning to me.

We then headed to Balboa Park to spend the rest of the day checking out the museums there.

We started with the Air & Space Museum…

The boys took turns flying a flight simulator…

Then we headed to the natural history museum…

They invited us to be in the first group of visitors to try out their new 3D and motion movie theater. It was cool. The seats moved, it blew air in your face, had some tube that would flop around your legs to feel like you were hitting things and also sprayed a bit of water in your face. It is not opened to the public yet but should be very soon.

We then ran by the model railroad museum…

Then to the Automobile Museum…

Then finally the Hall of Champions (Sports Museum)…

After that, we went to the hotel for a little and then off to eat Mexican food with the Mazos who are friends from Harding.

This was mostly an indoor day. It will be our only one.

More tomorrow.

Today was pretty straightforward and simple… SeaWorld

Shark Tank

Beluga Whales

The boys decided to end the day getting wet on a ride.

Before getting wet…

After getting wet…

SeaWorld was very cool. Great place to spend a day and plenty to do. Course, food prices are crazy high as well as everything else they sell. We bought the Go San Diego cards so it was included.

More tomorrow.

Everyone got some sleep on the train Saturday night. I slept pretty good. Probably the best I have ever slept the first night of a train trip (usually don’t sleep cause I don’t want to miss anything).

We all got up before 6:00 (we will still on Central time). We went to breakfast at 6:30.

We had French toast all around.

After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning hanging in our rooms.

We got to step off the train for a couple of minutes in San Bernardino…

We arrived at Los Angeles Union Station around 11:00.

We missed our connecting train so we were put on another leaving at 12:25. We boarded and rode the train for an hour to Irvine.

There we transferred to a bus for the trip into San Diego.

We arrived into San Diego Santa Fe Station around 3:30. I left the family waiting in the depot while I hopped on a trolley to pick up the rental car. I got it and swung by and picked them up. We then hit the hotel to unpack and got right back out headed for the San Diego Zoo.

Yes, we are wearing jackets. It is really cool here!

After a late night at the Zoo (they are open till 9:00 during the summer) and a cool bird show, we are now back at the hotel getting ready to turn in for the night.

More tomorrow.

Here is a wrap-up up Saturday…

Due to tracks being washed out near Las Vegas, NV, Amtrak’s trains (#3 & #4) Southwest Chief could not get through. There solution is to stop the Eastbound train in Albuquerque and bus all passengers East to La Junta, CO. They then turned the Eastbound train around and it became the Westbound train. They stopped the Westbound train (the one we were suppose to be on) in La Junta, CO and bused all passengers to Albuquerque, then turned the train to make it the Eastbound train. Since our stop (Lamy, NM) was so close to Albuquerque, we just decided to drive to Albuquerque to catch the train.

The Westbound train we were suppose to be on left Chicago 4 hours late. That means the buses left La Junta late. The train that stopped in Albuquerque and became our Westbound train then sat around in Albuquerque a very long time. We were suppose to depart at 4:45 but the buses were nowhere close.

So we settled in for a 8 hour wait! The family was fantastic with no complaints.

They backed the train into the station around 4:00.

They allowed us to board the train at 4:15 and we also got to eat dinner at 5:30.

Buses started showing up around 6:30 and we finally pulled out of Albuquerque at 8:02pm.

We then hung out in our rooms enjoying being on the train.

Around 9:00, we converted our rooms to beds and everyone went to bed (except me cause I am typing this).

We made it and are at the zoo right now.

WW got to LA around 11:00am. Our late arrival caused us to miss our connection so they have put us on a later train. We will be on it for an hour then a bus for the final hour.

We are now on board our train. However, we will not be leaving until 8:30 or so. We are getting dinner at 5:30 while still sitting in the station.

We have arrived at Albuquerque’s Amtrak station. Nice building but NO WIFI.
Normally the train would leave here at 4:45 but due to delays in the train leaving Chicago we will not depart until 7:00. Only 6 more hours to wait.
Our train is actually already here but we have to wait for all the buses to arrive. Hopefully they will let us board early.

It looks as if the track problems are going to last at least a week. I have found out that we can leave FROM Lamy on a bus, but that they might not have a bus BACK to Lamy when we return next Saturday.

SO, I have now decided just to drive to Albuquerque to catch the train. My biggest issue with that is parking. Not real sure where we can park and how much it is going to cost us. I do know they have no free parking like Lamy.

Will update tomorrow from Albuquerque.

Well, got word a little while ago that we will indeed be on a bus from Lamy to Albuquerque. I realize that is not too bad, about an hour and a half train time turned into bus time.

However, I will be missing one of my favorite things in train travel. That is waiting for the train to arrive. I just love sitting at the station in anticipation. Waiting to hear the train horn in the distance and finally seeing the train coming around the bend. There is nothing like that in any other form of transportation.

The train will already be sitting at the station when we get to Albuquerque. So we will miss out on that this year. Going to San Diego we will begin and end the trip on a bus.

Bummer.

The Mashburns are again headed out on a family vacation. This year we are going West coast to San Diego. Once again I will do a blog during our trip and hope you enjoy it. Here is our itinerary…

Saturday, June 26th – Drive to Lamy, NM and catch the Southwest Chief train to Los Angeles.

Sunday, June 27th – Arrive in Los Angeles and board a Surfliner train headed towards San Diego.

Sunday, June 27 – Friday July 2 – Enjoy San Diego

Friday, July 2nd – Board the Surfliner train back to Los Angeles, in LA, board the Southwest Chief.

Saturday, July 3rd – Arrive back in Lamy and drive home to Amarillo.

Couple of last minute issues. Amtrak called and said due to track work being done, the Surfliner going LA to San Diego will be stopped in Irvine and we will be on a bus the rest of the way. Oh, well.

Second BIG issue is there has apparently been some track washed out East of Lamy and the Southwest Chief will be temporarily rerouted through AMARILLO for a few days. This might sound like good news, but we cannot board the train in Amarillo and we would need our car to be in Lamy when we return. If they cannot get repairs done before Saturday, most likely we will be on a bus from Lamy to Albuquerque. I really hate to miss the experience of waiting on our train to arrive in Lamy. We will see what happens.

I hope to have some little blog posts while aboard the trains and even possibly some video. I will then follow up with daily reports.

I hope you enjoy and will follow us on this adventure.

Also, a big “Thank you!” goes out to our good friend James for house sitting for us.