A Day for Riding a Train,
Albeit Not a Crazy One

I was torn from the arms of Morpheus at 6:00 AM by my house elf/gentleman's gentleman, Ben, telling me in his Alec Guinness sound alike voice that I should "awaken and greet the day". I told him to piss off. He then snapped his fingers and I was in a cold shower. There are times that I hate house elves.

And since I've been asked before, yes, his name is taken from Ben Kenobi and no, he will not under any circumstances say "Use the Force, Luke". I've tried a hundred times to get him to.

Anyway, after a loud scream and a fast shower, I was dressed and sitting at the dining room table sipping tea and watching various friends wander in. Grace, as always, looked like she had been awake for hours and was smelling like new cut hay.

Fun Fact About Green Ladies: They always smell great, like some sort of flower or herb or other vegetation.

Once most everyone was present, Annie produced the huge and varied breakfast, then she and Ben left for their annual day off. I've often wondered what House Elves do at the Hoedown, but never thought to ask. Might be better not to know.

Once everybody was fed, we schlepped our baggage out to the bus stop (1/4 mile from the house) and caught the Anibus to the train station. Today's Anibus was Rudy, our regular catbus. He's a very dependable fellow and usually shares the route with Cisco, a bunnybus.

Thirty minutes later, we were in what passes for "downtown" Sacramento and a few minutes later we were on the #3 Valley to Coast Loop Express and heading west towards the coast just north of Bodega Bay.

The trip was delightful, with great scenery and great company. Near Sonoma, we saw a pretty big herd of land whales, with the big bull measuring at least 50 feet long. Once the train was running along the coastline, we saw several sea serpents on the beaches, this being the birthing season for them.

We got into Mendocino at about 1:15 and it was time for lunch, then a bit of sitting around on the ocean facing veranda of the Mendocino Hotel. Now it's time to round up the troops and stroll around town, with stops at the various candy makers, wine tasting rooms and craft shops.

The bloggage, she will continue later.