Finally, Home Bound

So, everyone woke on Sunday morning and Brennen and I curled up in their beds as they got ready to go catch their planes.  I assured them that Brennen and I could check out of the motel by 11:00am and then catch a taxi down to the pier.  Our train wasn't scheduled to leave until about 4:45pm. (or maybe 4:25pm).  Everyone still loves me enough to think of me as a little girl.  So, Aunt Kay had made arraignments for Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary to take us to the pier before they left.  So, there Brennen and I were, relaxing, watching a movie on tv and eating left over pizza when Uncle Mike calls and says he is on his way for us.  From the sound of my voice he could quickly tell I wasn't ready.  So, he offered to stop at Brandon's and drop a gift off for the baby before coming to get us.  So, Brennen and I got up and dressed and luckily, we had mostly already packed.  So, when Uncle Mike called that he was there, we rushed out (so they wouldn't have to wait).  It wasn't then but later I will regret frantically rushing.  So, anyway, Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary dropped us off at the pier about 9:45am.

Remember my sunburn from yesterday?  Yeah.  I was not about to get in the water with that.  And besides, we had all of our luggage and who was going to watch it while both Brennen and I frolicked in the water?  Brennen was a little bummed but understood.  So, he changed and here are some pictures from Sunday spent on the beach:

He is the one that is in the water on the right.  So we did definitely see some pretty amusing things while we spent the day on the beach.  Look at this guy - now that is wearing socks with your sandals. Ha!  

                                                         

I thought socks were outlawed in California but I guess that guy didn't get the message.  At one point while we were eating lunch, Brennen happened to look up and from the breathe he took I had to look up too.  This woman was just toting her baby down the beach - butt naked!  It was pretty funny.  I thought maybe she went to get a new diaper, or something - Nope.  Just toted that baby from one end to the other.  She was carrying the baby girl on her hip which would have been pretty ok the way you are picturing it.  But the problem escalated it wasn't the way you pictured it.  The baby was facing out.  That poor little baby.  

I spent the day under an umbrella because sun was killing me.  But low and behold, we made it to 4:30pm and then toted our luggage up to the track and waited for the train.  As we reached the tracks, I realized why being in a rush this morning did not pay off.  We were missing an element from our luggage.  Guess what it was - MY PILLOW!!!  Let me tell you, it wasn't just the pillow I brought so I would have one; it wasn't the extra pillow from the guest room in case I lost it; it wasn't the pillow I stole from a hotel at some point - NO!!!  It was MY PILLOW!  Well, now it was at the hotel and the train was approaching.  Not much I could do about it.  Poor Pillow!

Apparently, late on a Sunday afternoon is when everyone comes back to reality from the beach because that train was only standing room again.  Brennen sat on the floor of the lower level car and after a stop or two I got a seat.  Let me tell you, we were exhausted.  Neither of us said much, just kinda sat.  When we reached LA, we were only a few tracks away from where we needed to be.  But, it sounded like we would need a boarding pass.  Everyone said they were down stairs.  I was not about to lug all of our luggage down stairs and then back up.  Brennen had to use the restroom, so I sent him down into the craziness for boarding passes and a pee break.  If I would have known they had Subway, I would have sent him with money as well.  But we didn't know.  So, turns out we didn't need to passes anyway.  We boarded our train and then started the journey home.  

I took a few pictures on the way home but they all came out blurry.  On this train ride, there were a few boy scouts plus a HUGE youth group.  So, Brennen hung out a little with me, but them mostly, hung out with them.  He did however come to lay down about 11:00pm or so.  This train was not as comfortable as the first one.  The first one had perfect temperature, was very homey feeling, and was just overall comfortable.  This one was freezing cold (and I am very hot natured, but I also had a horrific sunburn - so who knows) and it stunk so bad.  Apparently there was a problem with the bathrooms in our car and it stunk!  The whole thing was just uncomfortable and to top it off I did not even have my pillow!  

So, long night short - we made it to Albuquerque about 11 something Monday morning.  We were smart this time and I went to get the car and Brennen stayed at the station with our stuff.  Then I returned to get him.  I wanted to eat before we left Albuquerque.  I knew as soon as we got to Roswell our vacation would be over and I wasn't ready for that.  I was pretty much stalling.  So, I gave Brennen the choice on where to eat.  Guess where he picked.  If you said Denny's - you get a gold star.  Then he said Taco Bell, etc....So, I located us a 

I have never eaten there - but I always wanted to.  Hamburgers are like ONE of my favorite foods.  

Here is what our lunch entailed.  

      Don't it look good?Ok.  Don't know why this is underlining everything I type.  I have tried everything to get it to stop.  But it won't.  

Ugh ! Finally!  Above you will see the burger with the egg, the freckled lemonade (they call it freckled because it has fresh strawberries and when all of the seeds come off of the strawberries, it looks freckled - that's my best guess.  I don't know for sure.  But what I do know is that it was super good.  It was bottomless so I kept getting refills and even one to go.  The other thing that was bottomless was Brennen's root beer float.  GROSS!  

So, anyway, after lunch we headed home.  Brennen slept all the way to Vaughn.  In Vaughn, I was so sleepy we pulled over so I could sleep for about 15 minutes.  Guess who was awake and anxious to get back on the road - not me.  

Once we arrived in Roswell, I dropped Brennen off with Sam and then home I went.  

I think these were the longest posts ever!!!!  Anyway, we had a great time.  

To sum it all up

I have been trying for the last two weekends to get my home computer to let me write a post. It would not. For some reason it will not pull up my blogger dashboard. So here it is. I am typing this whole post on my phone.

So, this trip to California could be broken down into about 3 more posts.  That is crazy.  It was only about a 4 day trip to begin with.  So, to save us all some grief - (and to be able to post about other things) I am going to try to finish up our trip in this one post.  There are quit a few pictures.  so it shouldn't be that bad (I hope).

I believe we left off on Friday morning.  Well, after Brenn stayed up until 3am playing cards, this was the sight Friday morning:

I of course, woke with the sun.  Brennen slept quite a bit longer.  We were about an hour behind schedule.  But we had an hour and a half layover in LA.  So, you can image how much I DIDN'T mind being late.  

Here are a few of the pictures  we got as we pulled into LA:

I tried to capture the sky scrapers but I had began to get nervous about switching to the right train and so my picture taking suffered.  

Luckily for us, as soon as we got off our train, there was a guy with a golf cart thingy who took us right to the spot of our next train.  We did not go underground into the actual station.  So up top where we were, there is only about 5 feet between each train track.  Dozens of tracks, all right next to each other.  When you need to change trains, You just look real good and hope there is not a train coming and then just cross across the tracks until you get where you are going.  

I hear that if you actually go down into the station (kinda like a subway) it is crazy.  I wouldn't know.  (Brennen will but not at this point).  So, we safely boarded our next train.  It was called a surf liner.  This is what our ticket looked like.  I was actually able to download the Amtrak app and then they scanned the ticket off of my phone.  But you know I had 2 copies of the paper ticket , just in case!

So, as you can see from our ticket, we weren't on the surf liner but about an hour or a little over.  This train was standing room only.  We did get a window seat after about the first stop or two.  One of the funniest things that happened that just screamed "TOURIST" was that as we went through Anaheim, CA we saw this huge red A.  It was across from the Anaheim Train Station.  

 

 Well, Brennen yells out - "The ASTRO's."  Not once but twice.  Ha ha.  Of course, everyone on the train stops and stares at us.  Then I go to correct him but he realized at the same time (I think - it is all kinda blurry now) and we both say "NO.  THE ANGELS".  Who, let these tourists on the train?  TOO FUNNY!

Anyway, like I said before, we were on the train about an hour.  The surf liner goes down the coast of California.  Anyone can ride it for a discount price.  It is a train that does not check luggage.  It is used for commuting, and for days spent on the beach, or shopping.  Someone might get on in LA and then travel down to San Diego for a day of shopping, or a day on the beach and then just hop on the train when you are ready to leave.  You do not have to ride at a certain time.  You buy a ticket and it is good for all day and night.  You just get on and off where and when you want.  Pretty cool.  So, about 35 minutes before we arrived to San Clemente, we saw the ocean.  We went downstairs on the train and looked out the door at the water.  I am super glad I was with Brennen for his first time to experience it.
 
You can totally see how close the train was to the ocean as I snapped a few pictures just before entering San Clemente.  It had just started to rain as we were getting there.  So, the first picture in this row should actually be last.  But, you get the idea.
Of course from looking at this next picture I didn't take it but here is how close the train runs to the beach.

 Crazy Right!

We got off of the train and with about 10 steps we were totally on the beach.  It didn't take long for us to find Aunt Kay and Kim (who had come to pick us up).  We hugged and then everyone was hungry.  We decided to load our bags into the car.  Well, the only slight hang up was that the  car was like 1/2 a mile up a huge hill.  The humidity in the air was crazy.  I barely made it up the stinking hill to the car.  Brennen and I had our luggage and it was getting heavier with every step.  (At this point I decided that the swim classes were not doing a whole lot for me).  Ha ha.

Anyway, we get into the car and talk about what we want to it.  I quickly found out that our Texan relatives only wanted something that they knew "like Whataburger".  I told them - when traveling to new places, you are supposed to try the new and local cuisine.  They begged to differ and had seen a Denny's not far away.  Brennen and I were starving too so we didn't put up a fight.  I would like to point out at this point in my story - I never really did see any fast food there.  A few sandwich shops, a few Mexican places, but no fast food.  So, where were we?  Oh yeah.  Denny's.

Here is a picture of Aunt Kay and Kim while we are waiting to order lunch.  It was so good to get to catch up with them.  I had not seen them in quite a while.  So, we had lunch and then off to the hotel.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary weren't in yet and there was not enough room for all of to ride to pick up Mom and Mamaw.  Brennen and I went to the hotel to wait.  They were nice enough to let us hang out at the pool while Aunt Kay and Kim went for the only one of us who could check into the hotel.  

Here is a picture of Brenn swimming in the pool.  I thought this was kinda a cool picture.

He kinda looks like he has a shrunken head.  

While we were swimming Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary showed up.  They had drove in from Ehrenberg, where they live.  We sat outside the motel and just caught up with each other for a while.  I really enjoyed it.  I had not seen Aunt Mary or Uncle Mike since they had gone in for thier transplant.  I really did enjoy spending time with them.  After a bit, Aunt Mary and I went to get manicures just down from the hotel.

Like my little flower?  Cute? Right?  

Anyway, while we did that the ladies returned.  As soon as they got into town they were starving as well.  So, Aunt Kay and Kim took Mom and Mamaw to Denny's to eat too.  After they had a snack - from what I hear, Mamaw ate only dessert.  Everyone went to the hotels and got changed for the Bar B Q.  Here is a pretty picture of our hotel.

We then went to the Bar B Q.  We saw a bunch of family we had not seen in a long time - in particularly Aunt Mary's Family.  We all did some catching up.  Here is a picture of Brandon and Stacey at the BarBQ.

We even got to meet Taylor for the first time.  Man, she was super cute.  I think (now don't quote me) but I think that all of their friends went in and rented this house for the weekend.  It was a nice little place.  All of Brandon's friends from the fire department cooked (again, don't quote me).  And it was super delicious.  They had hot dogs, and burgers, and sausage.  They had all of the fixings for a great burger including tons of bacon, sauteed mushroom, sauteed onions, etc...Anyway, after some catching up and eating, we all called it a night.

Please forgive me because I did not get very many pictures while we were actually in California.  I was to busy enjoying it.  So, for the first night, Brennen curled up under the desk and went to sleep and I curled up between the bed and wall and slept.  About half way through the night I woke with horendis leg cramps.  I spent the rest of the night in the chair.

So, we all know how early Aunt Kay wakes up.  Well, the rest of us were not far behind her.  Aunt Kay, Kim, Brennen, and I went down and enjoyed a pretty good breakfast.  The eggs were disgusting but the rest of it was great.  I just love when the hotels have the breakfast bars.  I think I had like sausage with gravy and biscuits, some fruit, and yogurt, and it seems like something else.  I don't remember.  That was literally like a month ago.  But anyway, after breakfast, we went to the beach.

Of course we did!  Who can go to California and NOT go to the beach.  Especially when you have a teenager who saw the ocean for the first time just the day before.  So, Aunt Kay and Kim walked the beach and then later relaxed in the sand.  Brennen and I were out trying to learn to body surf the waves.  Ha Ha.

Kim had her camera and ended up taking some pictures.  Since we haven't got those from her, I will show you this:

This is not a picture I or Kim took.  But this is right where we were at.  That building on the edge is a restaurant.  Then that is the pier.  Right even with the Cabana thing on the right side is about where we were.  There is a little hill that goes down right into the water.  But do you see the train tracks.  Yes, literally, our train dropped us off on the beach.   

This is a picture taken from the pier, looking back at the beach. If you divide this picture in 3 the first third is where we were playing in the water.  The second half there were actually surfers with surf boards.  It was really cool.  (Here is a hind point - the train dropped us off at the right side of this picture.  The day that we carried our luggage to the car, well, the car was just about where the line btwn the 1st 2 thirds you drew a minute ago.  On top of that green hill and a little bit up was the parking lot.  Again I say UGH!) 

So, after we swam for about an hour and a half or maybe two, it was time to go back and get ready.  We returned to the motel and did showers, dressed, and make-up.  Then what did we do?  We went to eat.  Everyone met up for a very hurried lunch.  Wanna know where we went?  

 Yup.  You guessed it - DENNY'S! 
As you can see my cheeks are a little pink.  Keep that in mind a little later.  After lunch we went to dress and then caravaned to the wedding.  They had some mingling time before the wedding where we all visited.  Then the wedding - short and sweet and then the reception.  Here is a picture of them at the wedding.

It was super cute.  They put Taylor in a wagon covered in flowers and her and their dog come out before them for the ceremony.  During the reception Kim took some more pictures.  She took some really great ones of Brennen so I can't wait for her to find time to get those to us.  I am super excited.  Anyway, it was so hot.  Many people got a little blistered.  Let me show you how blistered I got...

OWWWW!!!!!

When I returned from the reception (I stayed with Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary) everyone was asleep.  It wasn't even late and everyone was still asleep.  I wasn't sleepy yet.  So, I did want every great american would do. I went and chilled on the patio and ordered pizza.  

That pizza was super yummy!  I ate some and then went to bed.  (Well, more like to my chair).  On this night I stayed in the chair and propped my feet up on the end of Aunt Kay's bed.  Better than the floor.  

Tired of reading yet?  Well, let's close here and then you can read about our trip home after your eyes rest.  

All Aboard!

We waited in a long single line for the attendants to assign us to a car and give us some seat numbers.  Once they give you a seat number, you load the train.  As you step up into the car there is a place to but your luggage.  You place your luggage like in these really big compartments.  Then you go up some stairs.  These stairs are very small and very narrow.  If I put my arms down at my hips as I ascended them, I would not have fit.  So, luckily my arms were up because I was carrying our backpack and holding the rail.  Our seats were about half way to the front of the car from the stairs.  The stairs sit in the middle of the car (just for reference sake).

This picture was taken from our seat.  You can see the front of the car, the guy in front of me's head, and the seats across the way.  It looks pretty roomy from here and it was.  The orange things hanging there tell the attendants and the conductors where everyone is getting off at.  The little green lights on the floor stay lit at all times, as do the two little lights every few feet down the ceiling.  Above the seats are overhead compartments for your carry on bags.  You can actually put them up there or keep them at your feet, as long as nothing runs over into the isle.  It looks a lot like how an airplane is set up but roomier.  

Why is it that everyone I know (including myself) always wanna push new buttons that we see.  Such as the case here, above our heads:

I was hoping these were like little air vents (like I have become so accustomed too in the back of my car).  But no, they were not.  They were lights.  The little white button turns them on and off and the yellow button calls the attendant (I am guessing).  We never got brave enough to push it.

There was actually a lot more leg room than I had thought there would be.  They also had foot rests you could fold down on several different levels to fit your comfort.  As the night went on I learned that the bottom of your seat also came up like a short recliner rest for your calves.  

And of course in our very technological era each seat comes with 2 outlets to plug stuff in.  Also, a tray table that folds down and then slides as close to you as you want.  Brennens's feet are up on the foot rest in this picture.  He at this point is questioning me - "why are you taking pictures of everything?"  I informed him that we had to take them for Carla.  She even likes pictures of toilets I told him.  (HaHa)

Here is a picture of Brennen and me after we got settled in our spots.

Brennen wanted to get up and go wondering around right away, but I told him that we probably had to wait until the train started moving and stuff.  Boy was I wrong.  Once your ticket has been scanned, you never have to be in your seat again.  Start, stop, light, dark, it doesn't matter.  Once they scan your ticket you can move freely through all the cars, up and down stairs, every where. 

We sat and viewed the scenery for a while before we were off exploring the train.  (Our new playground for the next 16 hours).

I think both of these were taken somewhere up by Grants.  

Somewhere after this photograph was taken - I had to give Brennen an education.  I had to educate him on TREES.  Brennen had made the comment about look at all of the trees.  Let me tell you - I was beside myself.  I told Brennen, "THOSE are not trees; they are shrubs".  He didn't believe me.  I had to ask him, "when you draw a tree, what is the first thing you draw?"  He responded something like a trunk (I was too floored to remember his exact wording).  I said exactly.  Those do not have trunks.  The branches are on the ground - that defines a shrub.  Ha!  I could not believe that conversation.  They were big shrubs but by no means were they TREES!  

Soon, night fell and here is a picture that I snapped as we sat in Flagstaff Arizona about 11:00pm.  

At 1:00am we were going through Williams, AZ (where ever that is) and playing Skip - Bo.  If you followed me on this journey through facebook you will already know that of course, I WON!

We were in luck on this trip - we were on a train full of Boy Scouts.  Brennen stayed up in the lobby playing cards and hanging out with different kids till 3:00 in the morning!  It was really a pretty good trip.  The train was comfortable, the atmosphere was comfortable, and we had a good time.  Carla - I wish I had taken a picture of the bathroom!  Oh MY!  I will save that experience for my next post!

California and Back in 5 days (gone)

If the last thing you read wasn't, we were on our way to Albuquerque then you might wanna back track...

As we entered Albuquerque I told Brennen, I think the train station is on the other side of Albuquerque like in the downtown area.  I was not for sure but that was what I was thinking.  We were able to GPS it (thank goodness for Google maps on my phone).  It was exactly where I thought it was.  I had actually dropped a client off at the train station back in like 2003.  I had forgotten all about that until this moment.  So, anyway, we found the train station.  But guess what - there is no parking.  There is no where for our car to stay while we are gone. I sent Brennen into the train station (which doubles as a bus terminal) for directions.

He came out and told me that we have to park in the public parking downtown.  Just so happens there is a parking garage just down the block from the station.  After circling a total of 3 times, we finally got in it.  They offer free parking for the movies and different stuff.  Other wise it is like $2 an hour and a maximum of $8 a day.  A little more expensive than I had planned but still reasonable (I guess).  Somewhere in my brain I figured on $2 or $3 a day.  I have no idea where I got that idea since I don't ever pay for parking anywhere but I did.   As we parked the car, I got an alert on my phone.

I guess our train was delayed.   As we finished parking I became nervous that one of our bags would not fit in the regulations for the carry on bags.  (One of our hick-ups in packing was that we could not check our baggage because the second train was only a commuter train and there was no baggage check).  So I began rearranging stuff and worrying like I do.  Brennen kept saying, "Mom.  It will be ok".  He was busy hiding all of the valuable stuff in the car.  There was nothing actually valuable except a stack of cd's.  Those to him - are invaluable.  So, he hid them and I rearranged.  Then we unloaded the car and loaded it all onto our backs.  As we went downstairs and exited the parking garage I became aware of how NOT smart we were. We could have unloaded the bags and Brennen at the station and then I could have parked the car and came back.  But with our lack of experience, we did it this way and then carried our bags to the station.  Luckily it was not a long way.  Here is the picture of the parking garage:  

 And then here is Brennen in front of me walking to the train station.  I always wanted to buy a hot dog from a stand on the street like the one in the picture - but we had way too much other stuff on our mind.  Brennen was getting very excited and impatient and I was getting nervous.  But together we did well.  Brennen was so sweet.  He carried my bag which was the heaviest and then I carried his bag which was a little lighter.  (What a big kid he is turning into).

Because I printed out tickets online, we didn't have to check in or anything.  We just went and found a spot to wait.  Inside the station they had a Burger King.  I kept asking Brennen if he was hungry but he insisted he wasn't.  So, we just waited.  The station was packed.  We had our luggage on the floor outside of the men's bathroom and Brennen knelt on the floor next to it and I just stood there.  We waited and waited.  Then our curiosity got the best of us and we headed outside.   

This is a picture of inside the station just above the doors to exit to the tracks.  We went outside and sat on the sidewalk and waited some more.  While we waited outside we played a short game of WAR with Brennen's Star War cards.  I don't know what he was thinking of when he said WAR but about half way through he grew tired of it and we quit.  We got even more curious and went up the stairs to the actual tracks and waited some more.  

Carla - you are probably thinking YEAH!  She took lots of pictures - but actually I only took them in clumps.  I started strong - but...well, you will see as we go.  

So it seems like we waited for EVER and a DAY - but actually, we only waited like an hour and a half.  But it was really hot, and really sweaty!  Really hot!  Carla - you probably forgot what really hot feels like but it as burning hot.  And we had no where to sit except the sidewalk or the floor by the bathroom.  But hey - we were too excited to really care.  

And then finally, we heard the railroad crossing start to make noise and we looked down the track and here came our train.

 Can you believe that you can stand as close to the train as you want (even while it is in motion) as long as you do not pass that yellow line.  That was just to close for my comfort at this point - but as our journey continued, that yellow line got closer and closer to my feet.  

California and Back in 5 days (going)

Ready for part 2 of our trip?

I left off where Carlos asked me, "why don't you go by train?". So, I checked Amtrak website. It was surprisingly like the airline websites. I started checking to see how much the tickets were. I was able to price tickets at about half the price of airline tickets. Actually for 2 train tickets it was like $30 more expensive then 1 airline ticket. I was like WOW!!! I started again with my figuring. It was going to cost about the same to drive as it was to go by train. It was a whole lot safer to go by train than it was going to be to drive. And lastly, it was going to be a whole new adventure going by train than driving. (I hate to bore you with the motherly stuff) but the actual selling point was that I could "hang out" with Brennen in a train where I couldn't in a car. We could eat together, and play cards, and explore. (In a car my attention is mostly on the road and his is mostly on his video game or music). I was looking for that bonding. It was gonna be cool.

So, I had to wait a little while before I could book our train tickets. I had to wait till I had all of the money. I ended up booking our tickets about a week and a half before we were leaving. This raised the cost of the tickets by about $150 but it was ok. I was able to book us overnight train rides. I thought this would be better, that way we could sleep some and be refreshed when we arrived. So, we waited....until the day to come when we could go. While we were waiting we had one of our cars break down. Great! Nothing I do is ever seamless. I don't know why I still expect it to be. So, we are down to one car. Our tickets had us leaving out of Albuquerque. Now, that we were down to one car, that added to our trip expense because I would have to pay for gas to get to Albuquerque and whoever drove us to go back home and then come get us and take us home when we came back. So, I kept saving money. (well, not really. I am not good at saving. I am real good at spending though). Anyway, I had to find someone to take us to Albuquerque. Amber's anxiety has increased in the last few years and she is no longer able to drive in Albuquerque. Gladys has not been comfortable driving there in a long time and Dorian said he would take me but really seemed apprehensive. So, I looked at changing our tickets to Santa Fe. But really, I just tried to wait out our car trouble.

Guess what - it worked. Our other car got fixed so this meant I could go with the original plan of driving myself and Brenn to Albuquerque and leaving the car there till we got back. The day came fast and soon it was the night before we were supposed to leave. Of course I had been planning at work too, but of course another seam showed it's head. I ended up having to attend a meeting the morning we were supposed to leave. So, the day before (on Wednesday) I gave Brenn some instructions on preparation stuff - like laundry and went to work to get everything done before Thursday (except the meeting). When I arrived home from work Wednesday night (late of course) I expected to see all of the laundry done so I could pack. Well, I won't go into details but by the end of the night, I ended up mad and Brenn and I were up till 1am doing laundry. Brennen packed while we waited for the clothes. I attempted to regulate what he took (as much as a mother of a teenager can do). Poor Brennen. I still make him pack, then bring me the bag and I go through every outfit with him again. I count underwear and socks. I bug about matching and appropriate dress. I also bug about toothbrushes and combs.

I did not sleep well that night and woke with a pounding headache on Thursday. I went to work and actually only worked about 2 hours. We were planning to leave between 11am and noon. I got home about 10:30am and then still had to pack. As we loaded the car, Mama saw us off. I am 34 (almost 35) and I could still see the worry in her eyes as she tried not to worry and told us to be careful and that she loved us. We headed in to town to run some errands. First, we stopped to get gas. Brennen and I started off feeling the tension from last night but we were able to shake it off by our next stop, which was to tell Amber bye. Then we went to the store and bought snacks.  We loaded up on granola bars, Vienna sausages, Pringles, gum, candy, Pop Tarts and some Dr. Pepper.  We had one last stop to make before we could leave town....

LUNCH!  Neither of us had eaten breakfast.  So, on the way out, we stopped at Sonic and ate on the road since it was already like 12:15pm.  Brennen was kinda flipping out that we would miss our train (which was scheduled to leave at 4:45pm.  I assured him it only took about 3 hours to get there (but I don't think he really believed me).

We were finally on our way.  As I tried to rethink everything and make sure we weren't missing anything, I did a lot of self talk.  I talked myself out of being stressed and just sat back and drove.  We listened to music and ate.  We did some talking and even took these pictures on the way to Albuquerque:

  This is kinda mine and Brennen's new "handshake".  For a while he wanted to do hand hugging but then it has been the heart for about the last month or so.  I am ok with it.  It is a way to say "I love you" with less touchy feely stuff.  (I actually prefer the touchy stuff but of course, he doesn't).

Please do not ask me what face it is that we are making but we both seem to be making the same one.  Funny.

And then of course, the highway.  This was someplace between Vaughn and Corona, NM.  Anyway, stay tuned for our next segment.  

California and back in 5 days (planning)

So, very recently we went to San Clemente California for Brandon's wedding celebration. We were gonna fly like the rest of my family - but when have you ever known me to follow suit? So we went by train. Amtrak to be exact. Actually, going by train was a hard thought decision... As July got closer and closer, I kept thinking about how important it was for me to go. Maybe not so important to others as it was to my self. I never want to miss out on big family stuff. I really wanted to be with my family. I always have wished that the Rainer side of our family lived closer. Now, that I think about it, I think that I am about half way for both sides of my family (well, more so before my Sister moved as far east as she could possibly get). But I never want Brandon, Brad, Uncle Mike or Aunt Mary to look back and think that I didn't want to be there. I made it to both the boys graduations and then to Brad and Karri's wedding. I really wanted to go to Brandon's wedding. I know in my heart that they would have never thought that I didn't want to be there. - But it was important for me none the less.

So, anyway, as July got closer I decided I was really going. The last week of May (I think) my mom began making her plans, as did my Aunt Kay, Kim, and Mamaw. My mom kept asking me, "Are you going?" and I kept responding, "I want to" or "I am trying". It was hard for me to commit. Most of it was because it was going to be expensive. I had to pay for 2 of us to go. I couldn't go without Brennen. Well, I guess I could have - but I didn't want to. I really want him to be involved in all of my adventures. (Guess that's the bonding part of being a mom). Anyway, I thought he would enjoy it and so it was never really an option for him to not go. So, as my mom bought her plane tickets and made her hotel reservations I crunched numbers. I worked out scenarios, and ways to get just a little more money. In the past I have sacrificed my bill money for things I really wanted. I did not do that this time. I am quit a bit more grown now and know what my priorities are. (Plus, Amber would have killed me if I had done that).

I kept crunching numbers and I finally decided, we can not fly. There is no way I can afford two plane tickets. I did some more crunching (and if you know anything about me, you can be sure your assumptions are right - My brain was smoking from all of the crunching). I decided finally (or what I thought was final) that Brennen and I would drive. I think it was about a 13 hour drive (non-stop) of course. So, it would take us a good 15-17 hours. But, he does very well in the car; I do very well in the car; and neither one of us minds traveling. I roughly figured out the cost - (more smoke and this time that burning rubber smell accompanied it). I began to get excited. I figured we could leave on Thursday, drive all afternoon and night and then be there Friday. We could (I could) sleep a few hours and be good to go.

I got pretty excited and started planning. As the days passed, I talked it over with a few co-workers as they all asked questions about where I was going on vacation. One day Carlos asked me - why don't you just go by train? WHAT? I had never EVER thought about that. I didn't even know you could still go by train. As I gave him this very puzzled look (which he says all of my looks are puzzled) he goes - "Check Amtrak"....