Coastal Adventure - Part 3

Coastal Adventure Fall 2024

The images below are all in order, starting with departure from Los Angeles Union Station northward toward Seattle. I'm not adding captions on all photos, since for the most part, these are just the sorts of scenes you'll see aboard AMTRAK's Coast Starlight. Aboard this train, I'm sitting on the right side, so most of the shots are looking eastward from the train.

Departing Los Angeles Union Station right on time.
On the larger image, railfans can see we have the GREEN signal.
[Click on the image for the larger view.]

At station stop, Santa Barbara

Truth be known, one doesn't really see that much of the Coast
on the Coast Starlight. Having said that, there are a few 
spots where there are some nice views to the west
like the one above.

Critters are spotted quite often.
Good reason to link up with Eileen's
Saturday's Critters

Thinking this train could be renamed
Farm Special

The train climbs significantly to get over the Coast
Range of mountains and will end up in the 
Sacramento Valley ... another giant farming area.

Purely a random capture that leaves me with a smile.
I had the camera ready as we moved through this cut.
Look at the larger image and you'll see the person
standing up above us was snapping a photo 
of the train. Question: What are the odds that
person will ever see this photo? 😊

There are some amazing old trees along the way.

I wasn't expecting oil wells!

Sunset at the end of the first day.
The trip takes 2 full days, with, of course,
1 overnight.

Early morning arrival at Klamath Falls, Oregon.
A beauty of a day ahead, however, some smoke
and haze in areas.

Klamath Falls boarding sign.

We're into the forests of Oregon.

I'm including this shot as it fascinates me how the 
railroad will put up these wires in areas where
bolders from above, or big trees, might come
down on the tracks. I doubt if the wires would
stop the bolders, but they might notify dispatch
who would then notify the train.

I'm ending this series of photos with this image taken
at the Eugene, Oregon station stop. The conductors on
the train announce these stops as "fresh air" stops. I thought
it amusing that lots of folks who step off the train
for fresh air light up a smoke.

Thanks for joining me on my Coastal Adventure.

Coastal Adventure - Part 2

Coastal Adventure - Part 2

My Coastal Adventure is a round-trip Seattle, Vancouver BC, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, and back to Seattle. In my previous post, I covered Part 1 - Seattle to Vancover by rail. Here, in Part 2, go along with me from Vancouver to San Francisco aboard ship.

Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA

The Pan Pacific Hotel is in the same complex
as the Vancouver Cruise Terminal
known as Canada Place. Note brilliant 
design to look similar to a ship.

After spending one night in the hotel, I'm up early for a cup of Canada's favorite coffee ... Tim Hortons. At Canada Place it's so easy to cross the street and enter the Waterfront Food Court where you'll find Tim Hortons, McDonalds, and many other food stands.

 

Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam
 arriving at Canada Place.
Boardling begins around noon.

Walking around Canada Place and couldn't resist snapping
this picture of the flag.

We'll be aboard this ship for 5 days as she heads
south to San Diego. For the ship this voyage is called
a REPOSITIONING. All summer she has been carrying
passengers on weekly voyages to Alaska and back
to points in the Pacific Northwest. Now she'll be
heading south for the winter months.

This part of the Harbor is home to Harbor Air --
float plane service to nearby locations.

I'm on the starboard side of the ship. This shot is taken
as we depart about 4 PM. The building across the way was
built for the Olympics in 2010 and was used as the
Media Center.

As the ship departs, so do some float planes, part of
the Harbor Air fleet.

Don't miss the float planes that have just taken off
ahead of us. Note Lions Gate bridge ahead.

Lions Gate Bridge

Sunset, first day of the cruise.

2nd Day ... out for a walk on deck. You might think it
rained overnight ... actually the crew washed down the
deck during the night. We had great weather on
the entire cruise.

Shipboard activity results. 😂

Whoa! What's the above all about? Well, people are always asking me: What do you do on a cruise ship? My favorite thing, of course, is sitting on deck watch the ocean go by, but there there are folks always suggesting I take part in some of the organized ship activities. In this case, a lady was offering a class in artistic doodling. She provides the paper and pens and suggests we start doodling without thinking about it too much. After about 30 minutes, my result is what you see above. Ha Ha. I think it's kind of crazy, but the lady teaching the class thought it was "very interesting." And, honestly, it was fun. 

3rd Day ... afternoon walk on deck.
On this day the Captain told us we were about 52 miles
from the coast.

Early morning arrival in San Francisco just before dawn.
The Captain had reminded us to be ready to sail
under the Golden Gate bridge.

Sailing under the Golden Gate is spectacular.

The bridge is undergoing a major refurbishment.

Quick look back after passing under.

Arrival, San Francisco, dawn October 2nd

Comments are off until the final post of this series. Thank you for stopping by. Keep an eye out for Coastal Adventure - Part 3 - San Diego, The Surfliner, L.A., and The Coast Starlight to Seattle.