Well I went on my train trip up the coast to San Luis Obispo! It was A LOT of fun! I have a TON of pictures but it's going to take me a while to get through them all. My sister and I got to the train station really early, thanks to Sam. We were on the train from 1:30 - 9:30 I think. It took longer because we had to stop and wait for trains to get situated at the stations we stopped at. I'm glad we took one train instead of hopping different trains all the way there. The train stopped so many times. The further up the coast we got the less people were on the train. Soon it was my sister and I and two other people for an entire car. I was surprised at how much nicer people are on trains. On planes we're forced to sit next to each other and timing is much more restrictive. But on trains everyone is laid back. There may be more stops on the way, why not get more beer? hehehe Of course I didn't drink but this one group made the trip fun with their already wobbly walk down the cars to the snack shop on a bumpy train ride. We got to see the ocean and the sunset and it was gorgeous!
Once in San Luis Obispo we took a cab to our hotel. The hotel was 4 miles away and it cost 12.00! So at that point we made the decision to rent a car through Avis the next morning. We heard at the train station that Avis would allow us to leave the car at the station and they would come pick it up. We stayed at the Rose Garden Inn. I looked it up online and didn't hear too many good reviews. But I was pleasantly surprised by our room. It was clean, nice furniture and the beds were soooo comfy. My sister and I crashed hard.
The next morning, after getting ready and calling Avis we walked out to the front to wait for them to pick us up. We noticed that they were re-carpeting the rooms and putting in new furniture and curtains and basically overhauling the rooms. So we had a freshly overhauled room. :-D
Our first stop after taking the car was to get starbucks! Oh and snacks for our day at the beach. I ended up buying a really cute cowgirl hat which you will see when I post the pics. I was rather surprised because I'm not one for hats but my sister picked it out. hehe We were told Pismo Beach was the place to go if we wanted art possibilities. Once we got there however the beach was overrun by people and my sister and my idea of the art we were looking for didn't include people. So we decided to drive a little farther south.
We got to Grover Beach which was beautiful. There weren't as many people and had beautiful sand dunes that were ideal for photography and painting. My sister set up her easel while I roamed the beach for unique pictures. It was a blast! I took a bunch of duplicate shots because I was playing with settings and focus. A few hours later I noticed the wind picked up so I went to check on my sister who was getting frustrated to the point of wanting to leave. I completely understood. We took pictures of what she was painting so she could finish it back at home. At this moment is when I realized how thankful I was for my art medium. My sister was stuck in one spot painting a sand flower while I got to walk all over and explore the beauty of the beach! We were driving back home when we decided to head back to the beach to let my sister have her fun walking around.
Once that was done we went back to the hotel, showered and stopped off at the diner next to our hotel and had a HUGE portion of food served to us. We bagged half of it and decided to drive by and see if we could find the train station. We were glad we did because it was a bit hard to find. The sun had set so there were no more opportunities for pictures so we just went back to the hotel to veg and go to sleep since we were heading home at 6:45 am the next morning.
We stopped off at a nearby Starbucks the next morning on our way to the station. I was happy to be going home and looking forward to our ride back. I was not disappointed. Now that we knew where we should sit to get the best view I had a beautiful scenic trip back. I took a bunch of pictures to try and show the beauty of our ride. I don't believe it captured it but I am happy to have them even if they are spotted from the dirty windows of the train. After reaching the LA station we had such a full train we could no longer stretch our legs out on the seat opposite us, we had to share it for a couple stops. It's strange that I brought so many books to read and things to do but I didn't have that much time. I guess it was filled with looking out the window or taking pictures of the train.
Well that's basically the trip. It was a good time. I'm glad I went with someone so that I could share with them. But if I desperately need solitude I think I know what I'm going to do to get it. :)
Tonight I have to get to the church to help price items for our Parking Lot Sale this weekend as a fundraiser for the Mission Trip in August. I need to get home crash early because I have to wake up EXTRA early to go see Star Wars Episode III at 6:45am! I decided that would be the best showing. The theater isn't very full and it won't cut into my work time. I already am supposed to be to work by 7am anyways so it's not much off. I can still watch the movie early on. Sam, David and Meng are going to go with me. Sam and David though will be going again to the 10 am showing with more people that couldn't make the earlier showing. :) It should be fun. But anyways, I'm late and I've written enough for today.
I'll post the pictures as soon as I can.
posted by Charity at 5/18/2005 07:07:00 PM 
