After my adventurous weekend, on Labor Day I headed back north, again on the Coast Starlight. This time went a bit smoother schedule-wise. Interestingly I ended up sitting with a young guy (a software product developer) who was on a photography travel adventure. He was learning and exploring still and video. He had gotten himself a Nikon D750 with a nice lens, and also had a drone, and was planning on traveling around trying to develop some skills and perhaps a concept. He jumped out at every leg-stretch stop and launched his drone trying to get some shots. It was interesting to see his just-jump-in and try it attitude.
It was interesting that the scenery appeared better going north than it did coming down. I guess it was partially the timing, starting from the south were it’s more scenic, and also the fact that it was overcast giving softer colors. We arrived in Oakland only 20 minutes late, and I made a dash for BART only to discover that the station was closed. They (unhurriedly) bused us down to the next stop, and I just made the train I needed by 1 minute. Then I traveled out to where I was getting my final bus with 5 minutes to spare. Too much stress worrying about it, but I made it home about the time I had planned, a little before midnight.
It was a fun adventure down to LA for the long weekend with lots of firsts: west cost train trip, Uber, Airbnb. Gotta plan on keeping this fun level up.