I found a flyer on a Metrolink train about this unique service to the Mission Inn in Riverside. I asked Robin Bowers if he wanted to go and he said yes. We would take Metrolink 684 to Laguna Niguel then ride Special Train 856X to Riverside then see the event at the Mission Inn, return on Metrolink 707 to Fullerton then take Metrolink 608 back to Santa Ana, ending another fun-filled Metrolink trip. One purchases the special Metrolink $7 ticket out of the ticketing machines. I would go to Mission Viejo and Robin would board at Santa Ana. That afternoon I drove to the Santa Ana station.
Metrolink 684 picked me up and I had a quiet trip to Laguna Niguel. I arrived there to find no train in the pocket track so asked the conductor and he said the train was coming from Oceanside. Later I had a yellow signal followed by a green and soon my train came into view.
Metrolink Special Train 856X to Riverside arrived and I boarded the bicycle car and sat at a table. The car started to fill up at Irvine and Tustin, and Robin boarded at Santa Ana and joined me. The train filled up the rest of the way and we ran as a full train out to Riverside. There we went to the first bus which left with just the two of us. It dropped us off about four blocks from the Mission Inn so we walked the rest of the way there.
On the way there we passed the children's area set up on a closed street. I found my spot and a lady sitting below me told me she had been coming here for years and this was the best spot for viewing. I felt very lucky to be here this evening.
The pre-dark Mission Inn.
There are mannequins in all the windows.
One strand of lights were on. At about 5:30 PM, the crowd counted down from ten to zero then the lights went on and the fireworks began.
What a fireworks show and lighting it had been and I was so glad I had finally come to Riverside to see it. Robin and I walked back to the Metrolink station and boarded Metrolink 707 to Fullerton. We departed Riverside on time and ran that way all the way to Fullerton Jct where it all ended. We had a red signal and Amtrak's Southwest Chief was on Track 1, arriving at 7:12 PM and not leaving until 7:29 PM. We sat there for over thirty minutes before we could come into Track 1 and we detrained, using the Harbor Boulevard underpass to reach a waiting Metrolink 608 that had been waiting for passengers to arrive. It was a quick trip to Santa Ana, ending another Metrolink adventure.
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