I only woke up maybe once or twice overnight as the bed was quite comfortable, even for a big guy like myself (I’m 6’2”) and around 6:30am, I woke up while we were sitting in the station at Sacramento, CA. We got there early and I got up, grabbed a glass of orange juice out of one of the unoccupied rooms where the crew left us pop, juice, milk and snacks. I got some air on the platform and at around 6:35am, we left once again on time from Sacramento. I then got a phone call from a buddy in Atlanta, GA who forgot I was 3 hours behind him when he called but I was up so no biggie! I tried to get a little more sleep then at 7:30am, the first call for breakfast in the Dining Car was made as I walked to the car. I was seated with a passenger from Seattle who was getting off in Emeryville, CA as well as a passenger who I was seated with on the Empire Builder two nights before who was on his way home to Saratoga, CA! I had the French Toast with Pork Sausage Patties with Orange Juice to drink, total cost, NADA! Based on when I upgraded to a sleeper, I should be getting 3 Complimentary Dining Car meals out of this deal, incredible!
   We stopped at Emeryville which is the San Francisco connection stop while I was eating breakfast. Our next stop was Oakland-Jack London Square. It was another smoking break for the train so I got off there and took a few slides of the train. I also had a brief chat with an Amtrak manager who handled the stations all the way to somewhere in Colorado. We left Oakland once again on time! The only delays we incurred thus far were just before San Jose as we had to wait for 2 other trains to pass, but not freight trains, nope, they both were passenger trains! At San Jose, our Conductor said it’s possible we may get to Los Angeles EARLY!!! We left San Jose around 10:18am still only running maybe 11 minutes late. The Sleeper Attendant came by and switched my bed back to regular seating in the sleeper and I set up the laptop and continued writing this travelogue.
   We rode through Salinas, CA and stopped there as well. This seems to be the salad bowl capital of the known universe as far as for miles and miles, there were huge farms growing everything from lettuce to radishes to things I couldn’t even identify! I had lunch while we were in the Salinas area. Today, I had the Angus Beef Burger with Potato Chips with a Diet Pepsi and the Mississippi Mud Pie, all very good. I was seated with a passenger on her way to California to visit family. We eventually stopped in Paso Robles, CA running a little late but no big deal. An announcement was made for all Sleeping Car passengers to come to the Dining Car for wine and cheese tasting! I’ve never done this before so this was another first on this trip for me! I tried 3 glasses of wine, all from California wineries, I know about as much about wine as most people do about astrophysics, but the overall sentiment in the car was that all of the wine was very good. All of the wines we sampled were decent. They also had cheese and cracker plates set up for us as well. The scenery just north of San Luis Obispo was incredible, huge valleys and lots of winding turns and tunnels on the railroad.
    At San Luis Obispo, we ended up leaving on time and eventually met up with the Pacific Ocean! My dinner reservation was set for 4:45pm as the Dining Car was doing a short dinner period since we were on time this whole way. I had the Chicken Fried Steak again with a Baked Potato and Rice Pilaf with a Diet Pepsi and Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert, all very good. I was seated with 2 passengers on their way to visit family in Fullerton, CA. After dinner, we arrived at 5:40pm in Santa Barbara, CA, our next stop, we got there way too early so we stayed there until our scheduled departure at 6:17pm. I took one final photo of the train there and after we left, still on time, I took a nice photo of the sunset and continued this travelogue. I spent some more time just relaxing in my sleeper car as we stopped in Oxnard, CA when I called my cousin who lives in North Hollywood. She told me she was 10 minutes from where I was when I called her! Our next two stops were to drop off passengers only, they were at Simi Valley, CA and Van Nuys, CA. I spent a little time in the Sightseer Lounge at the end of this trip and had a quick chat with another passenger before going back to the sleeper one last time. Our Sleeper Attendant was getting all of our luggage together and shortly after the train crew’s farewell announcement, we arrived at Los Angeles at 8:32pm, 28 MINUTES EARLY!!!!!
   I picked up my bags on the platform and headed for the station. After waiting in the waiting room and calling home, I requested some change to use the vending machine. The ticket agent who gave me the change as well as myself started laughing when she thought I was an Amtrak Employee since I had a blue Amtrak baseball cap on, we both chuckled since I told her that no, I don't work for Amtrak but give them all kinds of free advertising! So much so I had to pay Amtrak for the hat I was wearing! (I bought it from Amtrak's online store for $11.00). I picked up a bottle of Diet Pepsi and made the long walk out to the platform where I would board my next train. And now, check out the link below for the exciting photos taken on the Coast Starlight. For a quick little report on my 32 minute ride to Fullerton, CA, also click below...