Hello, blog.

So I just set off on an Amtrak train from Salinas station in Central California. I’m heading for Seattle and if the journey’s as riddled with delays as it was on the way down, I have about 30 hours to kill.

It’s dark. 6:50 PM January 23, 2014. Microsoft Word filled that in for me. I’m using Word because there’s no internet for the common folk who aren’t in the section of the train that has beds. On the way to Salinas I took photos every hour or so and posted a ‘photo diary’ on Facebook, to unanimous praise. I’m kidding, of course. But my parents certainly enjoyed it. I guess they’re who it was aimed at. Anyway, apart from that I had very little to keep me occupied. I didn’t sleep. There was no internet (except for the limited cellular data I sacrificed on posting my photos). I met a guy from Oregon and another from California over breakfast, but that’s about it. Sudoku, music, and the few hours of view I had: that was it.

This time I’m going to be writing, on and off, for the duration of the trip. I have no idea what I will write, or whether it will be of any quality. What I do know is it will be bloody long. Longer than anything I’ve ever written for this blog before. I mean, I’m writing it on Word for goodness sake. Never done that before. Hah, a green squiggly line under that last sentence. It wants me to write formally, the prick. Well too bad. Oh hoh, Weekend Warriors just came up on my iPod. Haven’t heard it for aaaages. I sung that so badly, but I can’t help thinking back on it fondly. Oh right, it’s a song I performed with my high school band, by the way. One of the first songs we played, in fact. That band was so much more successful after I left, haha.

So what was I doing in Salinas? Nothing, I took a bus from there to a place called Monterey. What was I doing in Monterey? Well, to be honest I just wanted to come down to California and my father happened to be part of a workshop down there with some research scientists from various universities and institutes around the world. It actually made me think twice about pursuing engineering. I mean, a bunch of the world’s top scientists in their respective fields, coming together in one of the most beautiful places in the world to spend a week living together in a massive house by the sea to try and tackle current major world issues, and in their down-time using university money to eat at fancy restaurants, travel the gorgeous coast, and kayak with seals, sea lions, sea otters, whales, sharks and a butt-tonne of other brilliant creatures. How freakin’ awesome is that? I’ve always thought being a research scientist is one of the most boring careers you could embark on. My dad’s going off to Iceland next week. Insane. He never told me what it was he did when he travelled abroad. I figured he was just going to seminars and writing emails and papers from an office that just happened to be in a different country.

As for what I did… How about a diary? I wrote one for my mother after my trip down to San Diego and she seemed to enjoy it. So I might end up copy-pasting this for her too.

Anywhoooo, here goes:

Day 1: Arrival in California

The train only got as far as San Jose before the engine exploded and everybody in the first class was obliterated. Okay, it wasn’t that dramatic, but the engine was destroyed. Anyway, fortunately Amtrak offered those of us heading to Salinas, Seaside and Monterey a bus from the station. So myself and a couple others took that, leaving everyone heading down to Santa Barbara and LA to wait at the station for God knows how long. A few hours later I arrived in Monterey, which looks like it could be a town in Southern Italy, except everything’s in English (and Spanish)! I strolled around the town for a little while and then retired to the luxury hotel that the good people of Stanford had provided for me. I discovered the mini bar, read through the list of items and their outrageous prices and exclaimed out loud how outrageous they were, before heading back out for dinner. I took a peek in the art museum, listened to the sea lions making stupid noises, and then went looking for food. My search ended quickly when I discovered there was a McDonalds nearby which, considering I had about 10 dollars on me, was probably my best option. Mcflurry in hand, I returned home and watched a crap movie on amc, then fell asleep watching Pulp Fiction.

Day 2: Big Sur

I awoke to discover father had arrived. Rather than a 30 hour train ride, he had taken a couple of 2 hour flights. I ate a bagel and then we went to a place called Steinbeck Court (after John Steinbeck, whom the city takes great pride in, judging by all the places named after him) to meet a guy called Josh Cinner, from JCU (although, as he mentioned several times throughout the week, he’s been shortlisted to move to Stanford). He’s a pretty cool guy, American but lived in Australia for the last 11 years or something; really talkative. So then father, Josh and I took a car south to Big Sur and drove along the coast, which was absolutely stunning. Eventually we reached a place that, according to the location stamp on the photos I took, is called ‘Julia Pfeiffer SP’. Anyway, we went for a hike through a redwood forest and came back just in time to see the sunset. Then we went back to Monterey for dinner. We went to a place called the Sardine Factory, which upon entry looked like a fairly standard bar. We were asked to wait for a table to become available and sat at the bar where they had breadsticks and goldfish (the edible kind). After a little while we were led through a very fancy room to an even more fancy room which our table was situated in. It was pretty hilarious because everyone in the room was dressed in suits and dresses and we walked in wearing t-shirts, Josh in shorts and me with baggy jeans and a sports jacket. We were also pretty much the only table not seating a couple on a date. Josh accidentally bought a $75 bottle of chardonnay, believing it was $40 because he had read the half bottle list. After the fancy meal we went to a bar on Cannery Row (tourist-y area) where I was reminded that the legal drinking age is 21 in this country, so I watched father and Josh drink for a few minutes before leaving and walking back to the hotel. Turns out they nearly got into a knife fight with a couple of drunk, die-hard Oakland Raiders fans.

Day 3: More walking and stuff

I’m struggling to remember the name of the woman we met up with on this day, so I’m going to compile a quick list of people who I know were at this workshop thing, then use the list to find her online. Clever? Yes, thank you. So there’s father, Josh, Aaron MacNeil, Nick Graham, Tim McClanahan. Oh wow, Tim has a Wikipedia page. That’s pretty neat. Then there’s Nyawira Muthiga, whom I met in Amsterdam a couple years back. Cindy Huchery! That’s the one. Just for personal interest though I’m going to search for the rest of them. Actually, I changed my mind, that’s a terrible idea. I have limited cellular data. So anyway, father, Josh, Cindy and I went down to Point Lobos for another stroll. Although it wasn’t a particularly ambitious stroll because Cindy had damaged her leg in a skiing accident and so had to shuffle around with a leg in a cast all week. But the scenery was lovely and we saw a little otter swimming around in kelp. We also saw some white guy making strange gestures in front of a camera, later realizing he was filming a music video. Didn’t recognize him though. Ugh, Word is changing all the ‘s’s to ‘z’s.

After going down the coast again we drove to the house that we’d be staying in for the duration of the workshop. It was this big yellow house cleverly named ‘Yellowhouse’ in Pacific Grove, just west of Monterey. I stayed in the guest house with father and a guy called Joseph Maina. We watched the end of the big football game in time to see the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, much to the disappointment of every football fan in California. Which was unfortunate, considering we were in California. I forgot to mention we went shopping before reaching the house. Not that that’s particularly exciting information. It was Trader Joe’s. We had dinner and then I forget what happened after that.

Day 4: Work Begins

But not for me! This was the day that the rest of the 10 or so people taking part in the workshop turned up and their important work stuff kicked off. I kept out the way by renting a bike out for the next 3 days and heading north. Before I did that though, I paid a visit to the Monterey fire department to give them a jacket they had dropped off the back of a really loud firetruck. Josh thought they’d give me a free jacket or let me slide down a pole or something, but they just said thanks. So I set off down the coastal trail, leaving Monterey into a town called Seaside, which just so happened to be near the seaside. Seaside subsided into the equally inventively named Sand City, and then I followed a trail that ran along the coast for quite some distance. Probably the best cycling path I’ve been on before. Eventually I reached a little fork that had paths north and east. I went east and ended up in a ghost town. It was really quite creepy, just rows of deserted buildings for miles. Beyond that was California State University – Monterey Bay, which is essentially just desert with a few buildings scattered here and there. Every so often you see a student wandering along. I quickly tired of this creepy university campus and rode on to Marina where I bought beef jerky for lunch. At this point I noticed the sun hanging worryingly low over the horizon. There’s little scarier than being in a strange place and needing to cycle a fair distance through the dark without lights. So I peddled like a maniac down the bike track to beat the sun. When I realized I was going to get back before sunset I stopped briefly to do some mountain biking on the sand dunes of Fort Ord and then, completely knackered, hobbled back to Monterey. At the border between Seaside and Monterey there were a couple of geese that hadn’t moved during the several hours I had been away. I laughed out loud at this for some reason and then got back to Pacific Grove as the sun set.

Day 5: Carmel

Nick had told me that going south was more interesting than north over dinner the previous night so this time I headed south. Sure enough there’s this long road called the ’17 mile drive’ which follows the coast out of Monterey and goes down to, and through, Carmel. This 17 mile drive was stupidly beautiful and largely empty. I cycled past massive houses, more golf courses than you could shake a golf club at, and, of course, the wonderful coast. I reached Carmel, which is a very pretty but slightly boring town, then stopped off at the fanciest Starbucks I’d ever been in. I left my bike outside, not in the slightest afraid that it would be stolen despite not having a lock, and bought myself some salami and bread wafers before heading back through Carmel. I stopped off at the marshlands, having been enticed by a road named ‘Scenic Road’, right next to a beach which I had essentially to myself. I decided to take a different route back to Monterey, however it turned out to be a terrible mistake, as I had to struggle up huge hills and turn onto several highways. The hills paid off however, because once I turned off the final highway I was treated to a couple of miles of a downhill path, which was completely deserted. When I got back I met a kid called Jake, the son of two of the scientists at the workshop. We decided we’d go to the aquarium the next day. I’m going to have a quick snooze now. Aaaand woke up to the sound of people shouting about a train crashing on the tracks ahead of us. Yay, a delay.

Day 6: Very Thirsty

That title has nothing to do with what I did that day; it’s just that the little shop on the train is closed after 11 so I can’t get anything to drink. Blergh. Anyway, in the morning I went with Jake to the aquarium. He’d already been several times so whenever we went in to one of the informational talks he would give out facts before the speaker said them. He also insisted we spend plenty of time in the gift shop. Apart from that he was pretty good company. Smart for a 12 year old, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re the son of two research scientists. Actually, come to think of it, I’m not sure the mother is one. I just presumed that because she was there and has an intelligent sounding British accent. But I digress. The aquarium is awesome. Which it should be, considering it’s supposed to be the best in the country. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back because we had kayaking planned. The kayaking was one of the highlights of the week: I’d seen seals, sea lions, otters, dolphins, whales etc. from a distance all week but getting up close in a kayak was amazing. We paddled from one end of the bay to the other, past a headland that was swarming with sea lions. As we passed it we were surrounded by them in the water. Some would follow you as you passed them, some would swim under the kayak, and some even came right up and tried to nudge the kayak. We were told beforehand not to get too close so as to interrupt the natural order, but there’s little you can do when they approach you. Past the headland was a massive kelp forest with several otters sloshing around in it. When I saw a baby otter riding along on its mother’s tummy while she was grooming it I decided otters were my new favourite animal. They were a lot shyer than the sea lions, but we still managed to get pretty close. No luck with the whales and dolphins, although we’d been pretty lucky to see so many of them throughout the week. In the evening we all went to an Italian restaurant called ‘il vecchio’ where I discovered the joys of frozen mousse and ‘Italian’ soda. Yummers.

Day 7: Today

Although it’s actually yesterday now, because it’s past 12. I stayed in for the morning and packed, and then Jake and I went back to the aquarium with our special member cards (advantage of knowing certain people). We saw most of the exhibits and shows that we didn’t get around to the day before and then before I knew it I had to rush out to the bus stop. Skip forward a few hours and I’m here writing this.

I may have gotten a bit lazy with the writing towards the end there, but I think I’m going to lie down in a weak attempt to get some sleep.

Alriiiiight, just had breakfast – buttermilk pancakes with syrup. The sun’s up now too, just in time to see a little bit of Northern California. Wow, those wide open plains like you see in the western movies. I missed all this on the way down because it was dark. Ahhh, the sun rising over the hills… So nice.

8:15 am at the first stop in Oregon – Klamath Falls. Should be about 13 hours left if the train meets its schedule. My friend told me I ought to write a story, but I don’t know if I should save it for after I’ve finished this monstrosity, else he’ll probably not read it. I’m already 5 pages in. Nobody in their right mind would read 5 pages of ramblings.

The guy in the café cart is funny. He keeps making these announcements whenever the café closes or opens. Last night there were a bunch of drunken hippies hanging around in front of it and he announced to the rest of the train that he was ‘having a blast’ down in the ‘party cart’. I imagine it’s a fairly tedious job. Oooh snow outside!

Ah, screw it; I’m going to write the story. It’s just the right atmosphere. The snowy forest out the window, unchained melody playing on my iPod, the clear blue sky. Definitely fit for the romantic story I promised Johnny. Well, I didn’t promise him it, but whatever. If I remember correctly, it begins something like this…

I gently stroked the soft, supple back of a bat ray. It tensed slightly at first, but relaxed as it became accustomed to my touch. Upon seeing the pleasure the bat ray was experiencing, a trio of lemon sharks glided like silk through the still water to where the ray and I were bonding. They circled eagerly around my hand, occasionally darting forward to nudge it. I let out a slight chuckle and allowed one of the sharks to slide along my outstretched arm. Before long there was a large congregation of various sea critters caressing my arms. I let out a giggle of pleasure and pulled away from the touch pool quickly.

    “You silly goose” I exclaimed out loud to the animals. I turned around and my eyes were met by those of the twenty or so tourists and staff in the room. Without hesitation I lifted a plaice from the touch pool and shoved it down the front of my pants.

    “Well go ahead and look!” I shouted as the plaice writhed around. Nobody could force themselves to look away as the plaice’s squirms grew weaker. Before it could lie still I quickly retrieved it from my pants and placed it back in the water.

     “You sick bastard” an elderly woman said. I paced slowly towards her, closer and closer, until our faces were practically touching. Then I leaned to her side, placing my mouth an inch from her ear and whispered: ‘plenty more fish in the sea’. The woman stared at me, utterly bewildered as I confidently strolled from the room.

I appear to be in a place called Chemult. I’m not there anymore. I’m somewhere really snowy. I was reading a book that I can’t seem to invest myself into very well.

So I got off the train for a bit in Eugene for the first time in 18 hours, which was nice. Now it’s that part of the journey that’s pretty much just endless farmland. To be honest it looks quite pretty at midday, like something out of The Sound of Music. It’s clear enough to see the mountains in the background.

There’s something oddly calming about listening to Rammstein as we cruise through the Oregon countryside. MEEEIN TEEEIL. Choo choo.

An hour wait at Portland union station? Whyyyy. We’re so close to Washington. But no cigar. Oh, we’re moving. I should have written something in that hour. Now it just looks like I was complaining for nothing. Oh wow, there’s a movie on this laptop. Well hey!

Damn good movie, that. The Fighter. Pretty sure I’ve seen it before. Well it’s totally dark now. Just a few more hours. Pretty peckish. So I had a hotdog. On the Amtrak trains they have these kinda weird tasting kosher hotdogs. I don’t know why I keep getting them. I remember the first one I had back when I took the train from San Diego to LA and I’m sure I’ve had several since. Not that the selection onboard is immaculate. I’m talking about train food, what is wrong with me. I guess I’m just tired and uninspired. I think I’ll read over this whole thing to pass the time.

Well I just read over it. Too late to change anything now. Okay, that’s not true, but who’s going to stop me from not changing anything? You? I didn’t think so. I’m in Tacoma.

Now I’m in my bed in Seattle. Just like magic. Goodbye! *Fades away*