Dirty Thirty Photography: Train Travel

I like traveling by train. Especially in California where the tracks run along the beautiful Pacific coastline. So, when Rachel and I decided to head to San Diego for Christmas, I convinced her to take the Amtrak on the return trip.

We flew into Orange County on Thursday and spent a few days with our good old friends in Irvine. Then we took the southbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner from Orange County to San Diego on Christmas Eve. I have taken this train before and it is great! It is a new train with WiFi and only takes about an hour and a half. We spent Christmas and the next few days with our friends and family in San Diego, and boarded the northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner on Wednesday. The five and a half hour commute flew by and we were in Santa Barbara just after sundown. Our time in Santa Barbara was brief but enjoyable, highlighted by a fantastic dining experience at The Palace Grill (if you visit SB anytime soon, I highly recommend). The next day, we had enough time in the morning to grab a couple movies from Redbox and eat lunch before we boarded the Amtrak Coast Starlight for San Jose. This train is a little older and does not have WiFi, but overall I like it even better than the Surfliner. The seats are huge with built in leg rest and lots of leg room. There is a dining car in addition to the snack car, as well as a sightseer car enclosed in all windows. There are also arcade games on one of the lower levels and an abundance of bathrooms. Again, time flew by between the arcade games, playing cards with Rachel, eating dinner with a nice couple in the dining car, looking out the window at the beautiful scenery, and exploring the train. I was so occupied with all of this that i didn't even get to the movies we rented from redbox. The last leg of our journey consisted of taking the Caltrain from San Jose to Millbrae, and then walking home from Millbrae which only took about 20 minutes.

In conclusion, it was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again. We have already discussed taking the train to Seattle and even purchasing the private sleeper car which is a surprisingly good value. I have even thought about taking the train across the country the next time I go to Ohio. Although, it might take some convincing to get Rachel to go with me.

Below are pictures of the trip. The landscapes were mostly captured from the window of a moving train, so needless to say the technical quality is not the best. However, I think they do convey how diverse and beautiful the landscape is along the route. Thank you as always for stopping by and take care.