#10 Welcome to San Diego

This was our first sight when we stepped off the train in San Diego...

Yup, the MV Explorer! But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. We had a fabulous time traveling to San Diego by train. Two of us on that train out of Indy were clearly not heading for work or a shopping day in Chicago! Our Amtrak route took us from Indy to Chicago to Kansas City to Los Angeles to San Diego. Trains and people - we found this to be a good mix. Harry Truman said, “You get a real feeling of this country and the people in it when you are on a train.” Harry, we agree. In Chicago, Kathryn lunched with us and gifted us with champagne. She introduced us to Jerry, the basketball coach who will be taking on the Jayhawks this year before our return. How we wish we could attend!

In Kansas City, Eric, Tina, Joyce, and Lynn greeted us on the platform for a quick visit. To our surprise at the “All Aboard” call, Joyce and Lynn boarded the train with us for the midnight ride to Lawrence, Kansas, extending our visit into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Joyce and Lynn are like the section hikers that joined Rob and Donna for a day on the Pacific Crest Trail last year.

In Los Angeles, Christina stole away from Loyola-Marymount long enough to welcome us to California and point us toward the Pacific Surfliner to take us to San Diego. We’ll be coming back again for a longer visit.

Thanks to our greeters across the country who joined us at the stations and to all those well wishers who live nowhere near the Southwest Chief route. And to those special people we met on the train – Idelia, Roosevelt, Carlos, Judith, Joyce, and our luggage helpers in Indy – we thank you for the train ride of our life. A lot of cool stuff happened on the way – too much to talk about here. After all, we’re headed out to explore San Diego! Be sure to click on the link to our photos to see more of our adventures.

Yours in San Diego,
Mary