A Golden State Quickie
Tour of Duty 26th to 27th January 2010
Got word of a truck that needed to be moved from Santa Fe Springs, CA to Fresno, CA. I ended up hiring a taxi to Santa Fe Springs and made the pickup during the rain.
Trip: Santa Fe Springs, CA to Fresno, CA Actual distance 399km
Routes: Interstate 605 to Interstate 5 to California 99
Maximum elevation: 4,144 feet at Tejon Pass on Interstate 5 in CA one mile south of the Los Angeles/Kern County Line.
No fuel purchased on this trip
Permits required: none
This was a short trip and I had the expectation that I would be going to get another truck at the same shipper going to Stockton, CA. I got started in the rain and the rain quit while I was stuck in traffic in the Los Angeles area. It took 3 hours driving to get from Santa Fe Springs to Castaic where I made a pit stop and had evening rations. I spent the night in Bakersfield, CA
Next day was cool and mostly cloudy with a little sun late. I stopped in Traver, CA for a Tri Tip sandwich then up to Fresno where I made delivery. I found out the truck for Stockton was not released. I hired a taxi to the Amtrak station in downtown Fresno and purchased a ticket for Anaheim.
Amtrak San Joaquin #716 Fresno-Bakersfield Scheduled departure 17h20,
actual 17h22 Scheduled arrival 19h26, actual 19h12
I had no problems checking two bags in Fresno. This train was late arriving to Fresno. Intermediate stops were made in Hanford, Corcoran and Wasco. I purchased a Cheeseburger from the Snack Car. We arrived early into Bakersfield.
Amtrak Bus Thruway #5816 Bakersfield-Los Angeles Union Station
Scheduled departure 19h30, actual 19h31 Scheduled arrival 21h50, actual
21h30
This bus was not full with only a handful of passengers. I was summoned as Amtrak personnel had a conniption that one of my checked bags had tools in them. The personnel took my claim checks and baggage tags and I had to put the bags under the bus and claim them and carry them on the next train. There was some rain on the north side of the Grapevine and a warning sign said "Dense Fog Advisory" but there was no fog. We made good time into Los Angeles.
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner #796 Los Angeles Union Station-Anaheim
Scheduled departure 22h10, actual 22h13 Scheduled arrival 22h49,
actual 22h52
This train made one intermediate stop in Fullerton. As mentioned earlier I carried on bags I otherwise would have had to check. I purchased a Cheese/Crackers snack tray and a Pepsi from the Snack Car. We arrived three minutes late and I hired a taxi to get home.
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