My trip to California was a conglomeration of planes, trains, automobiles, buses, and BART. Every piece of it seemed to work out pretty well - I drove to Denver's airport in the dawn glow on Saturday, and found the parking, shuttle to terminal, 'security theatre', and airplane boarding to be smooth and uneventful. In LA, the shuttle to Union Station and connection to the Coast Surfliner Amtrak train were equally hassle-free. This is in contrast to my usual anxiety about chaotic and unreliable travel arrangements.




Palm trees! California Mission Style Stuff! Union Station is a marvelous place, with much to see and admire. And the place is a busy working tansit hub, despite the museum-like qualities...

Manuel was there to meet me at the Oxnard train station, and we drove around without any particular purpose, ending up somewhere North of Ventura on the coast. We didn't have any shorts to swim in, so we agreed to return the following day and get into the surf. I thought, if I'm only going to be here for a day and a half and then return home, I'm at least going to get into the ocean, and take that memory with me.

That night, at Manuel's apartment that he shares with his brother and cuñada their adorable one-year-old Isabela, a brother, and a friend, I spent several hours cleaning up, tuning, and de-virusing the household PC. It was scary.

I didn't sleep well, regretting my decision to lop off the San Francisco portion of my trip. The next day, as we sat before going out, I decided to begin re-arranging things to allow the trip to proceed more or less as I had originally planned it, and with Pat's help got it all set up.



The rest of the day was a lot more fun, and we did hit the beach and swim in the ocean, which was pleasant despite the overcast and mild temperature. A final night on the couch, and a trip to the Oxnard airport for a shuttle back to LA got me going on the Northern portion of the trip. I was surprised to find that the shuttle route was up the Pacific Coast Highway, past Malibu, and there was enough to look at that I forgot about my plan to nap for a while on the way to the airport.

Tomorrow - San Francisco...

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