The last leg, train trip home

Dec 13: Midnight: I got to the same Hampton Inn I had stayed at the night of the 9th, about midnight, and the nice Filipena lady at the counter checked me in. I mostly wanted to see the Internet, so to the kiosk I went, logged on. An old guy came in, and started giving the counter lady a hard time. I took a few things to my room, wandered back�. The old guy went out to his car (I noticed he had fender-tapped the car in front of him, he was parked right next to me!) the nice Filipena said in that accent "Help! Stay here, emergency! He�s drunk! It�s safety!!" He had a card for the Holiday Inn, he was at the Hampton, drunk as a lord��.. THEN he went out and got in his car, and drove out onto the highway! Then the cops pulled up, and we told them about it, I had written down his license plate and said "capture the guy!"

The Filipena gal managed to get locked out of her office, the phones rang, I vaulted over the counter to open the door �. It was a mess. That mean old man, the cops finally caught him, the other car had been banged up good by now, as the drunk couldn�t find Reverse. I hope they lock the guy up for a while, that was NUTS and he was very very dangerous. Again, I didn�t get the sleep I should have that night.

Dec 14: I FINALLY connected with Cousin Joe, and went over to visit with his family, as well as his brother Bill, and his Mum Rita. Rita is Irish, apparently found my Uncle Ross in England somewhere during WWII, and came back home with him. I just don�t connect with them enough, and Joe is so much like me, we were born like within months of each other. He and I have very similar attitudes. His children (3 and 9 months) are lovely, his wife is into child development, and I think they both teach. Joe is up for the bar exam in 6 months, is a damn good looking Indian if you ask me. He�s going to make a formidable lawyer. Little Joey is 9 months old, a cutie and he had an appetite for electronics; we rescued a cell phone and a camera from him while I was there. He�ll go far!

I watch the birds fly South across the Autumn Sky and one by one they disappear�. Forever Autumn (sung by Justin Hayward)

It was a morning of just catching up with family stuff, and passing photos that sort of thing. Dang I forgot to pull out photos of MY son, I never think of this. But again, it turned out I had to mush onward to Kansas City (the closest place I could dump my car) so I headed out, into a clear, beautiful, balmy Oklahoma morning.

Birds were migrating in Vees everywhere. I don�t know where they were going, north or south. Maybe they didn�t either. Oklahoma is certainly a migratory fly way tho, and I saw plenty of birds and wetlands.

Grudgingly I got on the Turnpikes. My Dad and I always have this game to try and avoid paying on these things, but I finally gave in, and besides it cut about two hours off my travel time, which I was going to need I had the feeling. I headed diagonally across the plains to Joplin, after the inevitable pit stops, reached the border, then turned North to travel through Missouri.

Neighborhood watch area: if I don�t call the police, my neighbor will! --sign seen in Butler, MO.

MO is Heinlein country, and indeed I was able to go through Butler, which is his birthplace. I never found it (a couple of grudging signs "The birthplace of Robert A. Heinlein" were up, dumped you in a residential area). Snow clouds were gathering, in fact I was worried about tornadoes, the clouds looked a little dodgy. Either that or Starship Dora was entering the atmosphere in formation with her friend Gay Deceiver.

KC hove into view about sunset, the airport was on the north end of town, and thankfully right on the highway as I went by, was the sign for the Westin Center. I drove over the Mighty Mo (Missouri River) saw a blue bridge, and a River Boat Casino. Wish I had more time to explore the city, Heinlein loved it apparently, and several of his stories are set in vintage KC. My rental car worked thus�. Hertz (I usually go with them for AAA) wouldn�t let you take a car from the OKC airport to the Westin, where there is a Hertz drop spot. Nooouu, a hideous surcharge was attached. SO the only way to work it was to drop the Alamo (cheaper car) I picked up in OKC airport at the KC airport. THEN I picked up a Hertz at the KC airport (next door to the Alamo) and could drop that at the Westin, which was across the street from the Union Station. It sounded good on paper.

Snow was starting when I got to the airport, along with a knife-edged wind. The rental car zone is "combined" into one complex in KC, and I was cold tired and confused, finally found the drop for Alamo, and had to pack all the crap I had accumulated (unto even some Christmas presents). Accidentally I hit the lock (locked all doors) and the wind blew it shut. All my stuff was locked in the car (keys tossed on the dashboard), the trunk was up�� and the snow increased. There were no attendants anywhere, they were all hiding inside where it was warm. Three rough looking dudes in stocking caps finally wound up helping me, all speaking Arabic! (Egad��.. A new joke, how many Al Qaeda does it take to break into a rental car? I haven�t come up with a good punch line yet, but give me time). They crawled into the trunk, tried to open it, no spare key on the spare tire (of course) cutting a new one didn�t work. I screamed once, I even tried to break the wing window, but it wouldn�t break! My toes and fingers were solid ice, despite having warm gear on.

The answer to the joke turned out to be, a hour and a half. My God I was beyond anxious about getting on my train! I passed a woman once, and muttered "I�m in Hell" and she agreed with me.

After much Slim Jim action, it finally it popped open, and with Godzilla in tow (had to leave a cooler with 7 beers in it, out in the snow next to the car� hope someone enjoyed it. Al Qaeda don�t drink and Charlie don�t surf) this sinful infidel got to the Hertz counter, and they gave me "the red one". A very pretty little compact red Ford sedan awaited me out in the snow. I felt better, as Fords have much better steering, and I finally understood the controls. Any other car, and I probably would have wrecked it on the slick roads. I crept back downtown to the Westin Center (45 mph on the freeway, people passing me, cussing), had a grand adventure in the catacombs underneath��� a garage with no signs, more than big enough to get lost and starve in. Empty too, no one was stupid enough to be out this night. I took the wrong elevator into the Hallmark building, and set off alarms, froze the elevator��.. The security dude showed up and drove me out: he looked like a clone to Robert Heinlein, putty nose and all.

The Westin Center fascinated me. There are skyways, mazes��.. There was even a dog walking service! ("PS We Also Walk Dogs" is actually a Heinlein short story). There was a lovely lighted fountain in the lobby. Boy if I ever go back to KC for anything, that�s where I�m staying! I watched a couple of dog walkers trying to handle pit bulls and other large straining dogs, going down the corridors (9:30 pm)���. Wrote a note to the Hertz people where to find their lost hot red Ford, and repacked just a little.

And out into the cold wintry, white night. Outside the Westin, they were playing Christmas songs, and the strains of "Ave Maria" reached my ears. WOW of all songs���. I actually felt the words tonight, after the horrible locked car episode. I threw back my head and sang out there in the falling snow, absolutely no one on the streets to hear me. "Ave Maria" is a wonderful song to practice with if you are a singer��. It has the right twists and turns harmonically, and gets the pipes warmed up. It was pleasant indeed, and if Mother Mary was watching over me, I thank you Lady for the help. Hope I shocked a few listening folks, if anyone had their windows open.

Union Station was a short walk across Main Street, and it�s all decked out inside with Christmas lights, restaurants and touristy gift shops. It was dark, and people wandered around lost inside, including me. We finally boarded, and I collapsed, sleeping soundly (after a few swigs of tequila) on the rocking train, the Southwest Chief. Used to be the Supa Chief.

My fingernails are filthy! I�ve got beach tar on my feet--Joni Mitchell. Well, it may have been bubble gum, left over from the Brady. And for sure my nails were looking very very nasty by this point.

Dec 15: I enjoy trains, and having found the trick of keeping booze handy, am able to sleep on them (well cat nap anyway). I woke up about 6 times in the night, but every time there was just more darkness or snow outside, and then we went across more barren plains, and more snow, and more night in the Rockies. An uneventful journey, other than buying a turquoise bracelet in Albuquerque (which I love). We got stopped in the Rockies at about 2 am the next night (the freight train we were following got stuck in the snow, so we did too) lost two hours, made up most of it thankfully so we could make the connection to the Coast Starlight (LA to Seattle). We saw the sunrise over Norco and the San Berdu valley, and it was gorgeous, sunny and bright.

Dec 16: LA was pretty for a change (as winter often is there) and it was shocking to see snow all over Mt. Baldy! Boy that used to be a neat day indeed when you could see snowy mountains from my Fullerton home. Only a half hour to spare, onto the new train, and I began to make friends this time. The Coast Starlight has a much more hep, more personable clientele, and I actually did some wine tasting whilst headed up the road. We shared fudge, cup o� noodles, and chatted personably. Commuters got off and on, and we made fun of them (it was the mean old lady sitting across from me!) Everyone had stories. I worked on my needle-turn appliqué. All of us were calling our relatives, and keeping updated on the snow in Seattle��.. We got the news that it had snowed in Malibu!!! Four of us turned out to be "part Indian". It was a great trip home, very beautiful and lots of California rain. Winter wonderlands in the Siskyous. We saw sunrise over Mt. Shasta. So much wilderness a hermit could happily vanish for the rest of his life, and never be seen again.

I made friends with a gal named Fran (I meet a lot of single older women on trains) she said she was one of those evacuated during last summer�s wildfires in Southern California: she packed up her bird Sammie in a little cage, and hit the road! She lived in Brea near my old home in the Fullerton Hills, the whole place caught fire, the old Boy Scout camp is gone now. Brea High School was burnt right down the middle, Diamond Bar was affected. What worried her was that so many old folks live in that area who would have cooked up, never would have gotten out, if the fast moving fire had not stopped at Hwy 57 (Orange Freeway). The traffic is NOT set up for fast evacuation. This is what happens when we have irresponsible developers turned loose, and no competent civic planning.

Somewhere around Salinas we picked up a vintage rail car, I don�t know if it was some rich dude�s private car or what, but I REMEMBERED IT from Knott�s Berry Farm when I was little. We used to attend Sunday School on the old Calico train before the Park opened on Sundays, and it was the Virginia City. It was one of the first things I puzzled out on my own when I was first learning to read, honest to God. That�s what this car said! It dropped off in the Bay Area. Man what brain cells THAT stirred!

Dec 17: Seattle! YEAH I was very ready to get off that train! (but I did get more sleep on the rails than I did chasing the Moodies across Oklahoma). We passed snow on the roads in Centralia, but it was clear by Seattle. I walked rapidly to the ferry (about 10 min) the ferry trip to Bremerton was cold cold cold under the stars, but no snow when my parents came to pick me up.

Dec 18: By morning my front yard was a winter wonderland, and since school was out, I was forced to stay home and do laundry, and of course, type up my adventures. I captured a frozen hummingbird this morning (yes they stay here!) and warmed him up in my hand���. looks like I have a roommate now, until the snow melts at least. Another hummer knocked him into the snow with hypothermia, so I picked him up and put up a feeder in my room. Cute little dude, one of the ruby throated types with golden wings, and I think might be a young one, barely out of the nest (late clutch). We are projected to have snow on thru to Christmas, at which time it will melt, so on that note, I shall wish everyone warmest holidays, stay safe, stay in touch, say it with love, and enjoy your home and family on those days off. Your humble correspondent, Christie (aka Josie aka LA Woman aka Lunazure)