A Busy 10 Days (Miami, Memphis and More)–0509-1926
Miss in Miami I had recovered from my extended visit to California and Oregon, and those leftover segments from my Amtrak USA Rail Pass that would soon expire were virtually burning a hole in my pocket. Wandering around the Amtrak site, I saw a suggestion that the train from Washington to Miami offered attractive scenic views of the route. I scheduled a quickie train trip that would only allow an overnight stay in Miami, and I added a nighttime tour of the city and dinner in the area at a restaurant that offered regional cuisine. Unfortunately, the trip went badly from beginning to end. In addition to the horrible Amtrak customer service during the trip, they had engine trouble that resulted in our delayed arrival to Miami. We arrived too late for me to get a taxi to the tour starting point. Instead, I used DoorDash to have dinner delivered…
California-Oregon National Parks Trip: Afterthoughts
I could think of no better way to feature the scope of my trip to the California and Oregon national parks than to use the GPS map generated by Piwigo of the photos I uploaded to the app. All of those photos are accessible at https://singin1.click/piwigo/index.php?/category/10. I try to learn from each trip, the things that go really well–sometimes despite me, I admit–and the things that don’t go well. Some of this is to set into writing for my own recollection, and some is for those of you who share in my adventures. Let’s get the not-so-good stuff done first. On One Hand,… I had purchased the Amtrak USA Rail Pass, honestly, to save money using a mode of transportation I usually enjoy using. I used my pass for the Washington to Chicago and the entire Portland to Washington trips (see the blue-marked routes on the map to the right).…
California-Oregon NPs-Gettin’ Home-0428-050226
By the time I reached the Portland, Oregon, Amtrak station on Tuesday afternoon, I had completed the drive from Crater Lake, boxed and mailed the items I had purchased during the trip that I didn’t want to carry with me on the train, cleaned up eight days of mostly living in my rental car and turned it into the Enterprise dealer in Portland, then gotten a free ride to the train station from Enterprise. (BTW, my compliments to Enterprise for their service throughout the rental process. I’ve been using them for years and will continue to do so.) When we pulled into the station, I had to take a couple of pictures of the tasteful, old-fashioned building. I was lucky on the trip back that the staff at Portland went out of their way to get me seated in the lower car level, which is for those who need accessible…
California-Oregon NPs-Gettin’ There-April 17-20, 2026
Departure day finally arrived on Friday, April 17th, but I wasn’t ready. While I had worked on prepping equipment and information for the trip to California, I hadn’t packed anything. This is not much of a problem when I am driving SB for the duration, but when I am reliant upon mass transit (Amtrak in this case), I have to operate under their schedule. I managed to finish laundry and gather things, but I accidentally left four important items: my tablet–which contains several downloaded files about my anticipated stops–and its peripherals, my handicap parking tag, my print 2027 atlas, plus the dash camera I wanted to use to video some of the scenic routes I would drive in my rental car. More about the impacts of these missing items in later posts. My youngest brother got Debra, my eldest sister, and me to Washington Union Station in time to catch…