Adventure Day Friday

I've been wanting to go out and see Gretchen in her house and just hang out there, so Friday was the big day! I'm kind of shy about driving that far (even though she does it without missing a beat), so I thought maybe I'd look into taking the train. A few weeks ago David and I went and scoped out the Santa Fe Springs train station, figured out when the trains come, where to park, etc. I figured out that once I got into LA Union Station I'd need to walk down into the building then up onto a different platform to get on the Ventura bound train that would take me to Northridge. So... off I went! The round trip ticket was $19, I had a good book to read (letters of Julie Child and Avis DeVoto) and comfortable shoes. It worked great! GG picked me up at the Northridge station at 10:20 in the morning, about 1-1/2 miles from their house and brought me back at about 2:40. The time flew by but it was fun to do it and I think I'll do it again... if I can figure out where to park where I don't get a parking ticket! I was greeted by a $52 parking ticket when I got back, even though the helpful person at Metrolink said there should be no charge to park there and the signs were not clear either! Well anyway... it was still fun.

Here's where I stood, waiting for the train that was coming up from Oceanside, heading into LA.

This pigeon was really having a time. He and his friends were finding lots of goodies on the track... which makes me wonder what in the world was all over that gravel.

This is platform 3B and that's my train on the left. It's all locked up since I had about a 40 minute lag between arriving in LA and leaving on this train. In the middle is the ramp that leads down into the building.

This is looking the other way, at another train going somewhere else. LA is a huge hub. Those guys were just waiting for their train, like me... there were actually several people around and it wasn't as deserted as it looks.

This is what the inside of the train looked like and it wasn't crowded at the time I was traveling.

This is what I look like, waiting for the train to get going.

When Gretchen and Anders picked me up, she needed to run into Costco and Anders was hankering for a hot dog, so he and I went to the hot dog place (I had the drink) and GG shopped. We had a very nice time and he ate the whole hot dog, with no toppings.

This is my drink - Diet Coke!

I let Anders try to take a picture of me.

Finally GG came and got a picture for us.

When we got home, Anders was pretty tickled to show me his great bedroom and his bicycle helmet! He has various signs on the wall and a very cozy bed!

We had some fun with Woody and Buzz Lightyear while we snacked on pieces of orange that I brought. It came from our very own tree, which is now producing lots of oranges!

I got to wash dishes for GG in her cute little kitchen and she dried.

The backyard they share with the family in the front house is an absolute dream for Anders... he'll have wonderful memories of this place and of the four nice neighbor girls! 

This tire swing goes really high and Anders was scaring me with his boldness on it! Of course when I started pushing him, it got going the wrong way and crashed into the playset! He started calling for his mom who knows how to do it the right way. 

Here she is, doing it the right way.

Well, before we knew it, it was time to take me over to the Northridge train station again. I was home by 4:40 and had had a great time. I like train trips and I think I inherited my interest in modes of transportation from my dad! It just seems so *special* to go see GG on a train. :-)

Northridge Station platform - this is the station that Chris uses to go to work.

An artistic view across from the station platform.