Trains – Postcards from Retirement

Cousin Time

Rich’s cousin Mary Ethel and her husband Roger are some of our faves. They are a blast and we always enjoy our time with them, hearing family stories and laughing at some of the memories they share. Roger has had some health issues this year but he seems to be doing better and we were glad to see them both. It’s a short drive from Folsom to their home in El Dorado Hills, where we hung out at home, the guys fixed dinner, and they taught us how to play Rummikub.

They are from Pittsburgh originally and still big Steelers fans even after living in CA most of their adult lives. Mary Ethel was excited for the game but then discovered it was not being shown on TV in CA. She still had all her gear on anyway! Later she asked me if I wanted to take a walk with her so off we went. Well, let me tell you, that little lady at almost 80 years old could definitely outpace me. She is a FAST walker and we did five miles in the wind and cold without her slowing down a bit. I did not want to be the slacker so I kept up with her the best I could. 🙂

We went out to dinner the second night and had a Santa and Mrs. Claus sighting at the restaurant. Played some more games after dinner and then they drove us all the way to Sacramento the next day to catch the Amtrak rather than going back to Folsom for the light rail first. On the highway we were traveling at a snail’s pace when Rich said up ahead he saw a guy on a motorcycle either fall down or get hit. Traffic was moving over into the right hand lane to get by and we saw the guy lying in the back of a pickup with his leg shaking involuntarily. It was scary and we were hoping he was not badly hurt. A few minutes later we saw two cars that had crashed over near the shoulder, with one smashed into the concrete barrier. We told Mary Ethel to be super careful driving back home!! I honestly just want to live somewhere that I can ride public transit and never get in a car again! 🙂 We said our goodbyes at the station and the train was already boarding by the time we walked through the tunnel back to the tracks.

Once on the train, we looked at the route map and decided we could go all the way to San Jose and then take a Lyft back to Susan and Kris’ for one more night before flying home the next day. We had already purchased our Emeryville tickets so we bought two more from there to San Jose. I went to the cafe car to get a snack and a drink and spied one of the conductors so I told him what I’d done. Easy as pie, he got out his phone, looked us up, and checked us in for the rest of the trip.

Two Trains to see Frank

We still had some credits on Amtrak and didn’t really want to rent a car so we got up the next day, cleaned up the condo, and took a Lyft to the Amtrak station in Emeryville (!!) to get to Sacramento. I love riding the train and watching the world go by outside the window. I messaged the teenaged grandkids and told them we were having fun on the train since we did not have to sleep overnight in our seats like we did on our way to Chicago. 🙂

Once in Sacramento, we had to switch to the light rail for a few bucks and ride the rest of the way to Folsom where we met Rich’s old friend Frank whom he had not seen in at least 40 years!

We enjoyed lunch with Frank, lots of reminiscing and catching up for a couple of hours, then wandered around historic Folsom before Rich’s cousin Mary Ethel and her hubby Roger came to get us.

New Jersey

Up at 6 AM and off to Love Field on Saturday. It was raining so I was not thrilled with the idea of flying. We were delayed slightly but not too bad. After some initial bumpiness climbing out, we had a nice flight to Philadelphia and were happy with a not-full cabin so we had an aisle and a window seat with no one between us. Sweet! Mom doesn’t like to drive in the city any more so we took a train from the airport to the Jefferson Station in Philly, then walked a few blocks to the High Speedline and took another train across the river to the Jersey side. I always love that feeling of “coming home.” 🙂 Mom picked us up at the station and it’s a short drive to her house. We happened upon “Laurel Springs Day” in her little town so Rich so I walked downtown from Mom’s to peruse the booths, but it wasn’t too exciting. 🙂 We had to buy hoagies, though, and brought them back home to eat. My favorite!

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Morikami Japanese Garden and Museum

On my last full day in FL, I decided to take a Lyft to the Morikami Japanese Garden for the day. My driver was a nice enough guy but did not speak any English so we had a bit of a language barrier. He wasn’t sure where to go, found the garden, but entered on a service road where we almost got creamed by a semi truck coming out. That was fun! He dropped me and I had to climb under a fence to get into the main building. But no worries, all was well in the end!

The sun was shining and it was a lovely day wandering around the gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and finished it with a stroll through the museum and great lunch in the cafe. I was interested to see that it is rated one of the top museum cafes in the nation! I can see why–the food was amazing. In fact, I wanted more! Read more about the garden here.

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My driver back to the hotel was a reasonable white guy so I told Rich that his team was redeemed after the other night. haha

Kathi and I went back to the Atlantic Ave area for dinner at a place called 32 East, where we had some pizza and arugula salad, both delicious. We enjoyed chatting with our server who was from Haiti and had the most positive attitude!

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On one of my Lyft rides, I had seen a train speeding by and asked my driver where the train went. He said “lots of places.” I asked if it went to the Fort Lauderdale airport and he said yes. So I looked it up and found that there was a station very close to the hotel and it was only $5 to get to the airport. Score! Much better than paying another $40 on Lyft. I made arrangements with the hotel to take the shuttle over to the train station the next morning. Kathi and I had a pleasant last night in the hotel and then said our goodbyes the next day as she still had another half day of training and I had to leave in the AM to catch my plane. I’m really glad she invited me and had such a nice relaxing time!

The shuttle took me to the station the next morning and I purchased my ticket for the train. As the departure time approached, we started hearing messages over the loudspeaker that the train was delayed 35-40 minutes. I had allowed several hours but certainly did not count on any big delays! I eventually asked one of the transit officers what I should do and he seemed to think I would still be “okay.” He gave me an 800 number to call, which I did, and was told the train was on its way and should be at our station in a few more minutes so I stuck it out. It did arrive soon after and we all loaded up. Another thing I didn’t realize was that the train did not go right into the airport but to a station about 15 minutes away and we all had to get on a shuttle bus. By then I was a little anxious but thought I still had plenty of time. Thankfully, this was true and I made it through security with time to spare; even had time to get a tea and a snack before boarding. The flight home was good and Rich was there to pick me up. It’s always nice to get back home!

	Suzassippi on Winter Formal
	janebye on 92!
	janebye on Happy Anniversary to Us
	Suzassippi on Happy Anniversary to Us
	Suzassippi on 92!