On Sunday morning I have a fun event planned, riding the Pacific Surfliner train. I read somewhere that it’s one of the most beautiful train rides in the country. It happened that Britany has a meeting in a town a few hours north from here and came up with the idea that I could take the train and meet her up there in the afternoon. After being stuck in traffic for hours yesterday, I’m glad I can ride the train today.
I walk to Santa Fe station, buy a ticket and wait in line for the train. The station is a very old building and I like that it still goes the old-fashion way here, buying a ticket at an office from a real person.
One of the first things you’ll see when the train rides out of San Diego is many homeless people living in tents and sleeping bags. It’s pretty sad that parts of America look a lot like a third-world country. The scenery gets prettier soon when the train rides out of the city and through green hills along the ocean. It keeps getting more beautiful. When we’re close to Solana Beach, the train rides right next to the ocean. There are countless surfers in the water and many people walking at the beach while the train rides by.
The train continues to ride through all the beach towns along the coast. I get off the train at the town of San Juan Capistrano. I was there years ago with friends. It’s a cozy small town and there’s a nice little coffee place just by the train station, called Hidden House Coffee. Coincidentally this coffee place is also yellow, like Panikin. I get myself a cappuccino and a croissant and sit down at the patio. It’s fun to watch people walk by and new trains coming into town from time to time. I have a nice and relaxing afternoon, doing some reading and writing and people watching. After a few hours or so Brittany and Addie pick me up and we drive back to San Diego. They have a few other appointments today and so I go into the city by myself. I get myself a nice San Diego hoodie, because I think it might get colder when I drive out of California next week. Tomorrow will be another fun day, I got a text this week from my friends Nancy and Matt if I want to join them for a fun day at Disneyland. I’m looking forward to that!
