Alpine to Boulevard KOA

Not sure why blogger is ignoring most of my posts…
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> Today was a tough go! We had a nice breakfast in the Casino and then readied the bikes and set out about 8:10 with Mike following later. The first section was a lot of uphill, we did make a few good stops, first the Descano Trading Post for a few bananas and milk. We met John the owner and heard stories of other Southern Tier riders. Well worth the stop!

Alpine to Boulevard KOA

https://strava.app.link/S2q2z6eQIjb

San Diego to Alpine- Southern Tier

One spill, one lock smith to unlock a bike and one flat.

Check out my ride on Strava.
https://strava.app.link/DZeuhRJZGjb

Biking video

Bill shared a video with you from the Flickr app! Check it out:
https://flic.kr/p/2ms8s6h

Starting at the Pacific Ocean

Today we made a quick run to the beach to dip our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean. I also reset my bike odometer to help me track our progress. Tomorrow we ride to Alpine CA

Day 3 from the train to San Diego- bad and good

We woke up early to find that Amtrak had not managed to resolve anything overnight.  We still had no way to get from LA to San Diego.  The dining car closed at 6am so no breakfast for Jim and I, we both walked by Mike eating in the dining car and missed him and his “good morning” greetings.
Just before getting into LA we were notified that the LA staff had found a bus to get us to San Diego, at the same time Amtrak help line was saying they had no solution.  We found our bikes in good condition in the luggage compartment and headed to find the bus.
Having all my gear in one bag made some things simpler!
The bus arrived in LA about 10am, we packed the bikes and gear and road to San Diego without issue.
Unpacking the bikes with a little help from our friends
We loaded up the bikes and I gave the granny bag to a guy who had too many packages to carry, we were both happy, the bag did not go to waste.
The bike ride to the hotel was short and uneventful.  We got a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant and then good dinner perfect for ending the day.
With a nod to Gabe, the view from our room

Day two on the train

Day two on the train was great, the breakfast was nice and they had good coffee.  Spent much of the day in the viewing car talking to people and catching up on some reading.  Amtrak did a great job of requiring and encouraging masking.

At one of the stops, we ran into town and picked up some fruit - the only thing lacking from the dining car.  We managed to find the store, buy the fruit and get back to the train before it departed with time to spare.

The viewing car was alway busy, but not really crowded.  A great place to watch the world go by and to meet people,
We passed through a tunnel as we crossed the continental divide bringing the viewing car into darkness.

I tried to get a good shot of the train going around a bend, this does not do it justice…
In Albuquerque we picked up Mike.  He joined us on the train down 3 rosettes from us.  He we had a great meal in the dining car and got to talk in person for the first time.

Our train car number
So things were going great until Mike an Jim both got phone calls from Amtrak, the track between Los Angles and San Diego and Amtrak was not able to find a solution.

From 7pm until post 10 we tried U-Haul  - their website was awful and their phone support not as good,  Net outcome was they had nothing that would hold 3 people and 3 bikes near (15 miles) Union Station in LA.  Mike reserved an Expedition for more than I even want to say,  so we called it a night