Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

I was overdue for lab tests, and my doctor is still in the Bay Area. Palo Alto Medical Foundation is part of Sutter Health. The nearest lab to me that is open on weekends is in Auburn, but if we had to go that far, there were a couple of places in Roseville and Sacramento that we figured we could visit on an out-and-back day trip. Today was the first day we had available in a long time that was clear enough that we felt safe making a trip over the mountains and back again in one day. I decided to go to the lab in Roseville, which is open 7 AM - Noon on Saturday. In order to be sure of having plenty of time, I planned for us to leave at 4 AM.

( But First, Breakfast )

After enjoying our breakfast, we got moving at 4:30 AM. The sun doesn't rise until about 7 AM, and I reckon this portion of the trip was probably the most hazardous part, what with potentially icy conditions and some difficult keeping track of the correct lane due to the pavement markings being a little tricky to see due to snow removal having obscured them in places. But on the flip side, there was very little traffic.

( Snow Up Top )

We made it to Roseville about 8 AM, and there was hardly anyone else at the lab. I was in and out in under ten minutes. The presented a quandary: the two places we wanted to which we wanted to go today wouldn't open for another two hours. Lisa made a suggestion, and it led to us doing something we've wanted to do for a long time.

( Waylaid by an Aerospace Museum )

We only spent a couple of hours at the museum, and could have spent more, but we did want to get home (or at least back over the mountains) before dark. We may return to explore in more depth some of the museum's offerings, like their Flight Zone simulator. By now the shops we wanted to visit were open, so we moved on after I got a coffee from the museum's Old Crow cafe, named for and with decor inspired by the aircraft of WWII Triple Ace Colonel Clarence “Bud” Anderson.

There is a Ham Radio Outlet store in Sacramento. It used to be in Oakland, but relocated to Sacramento some years ago. Lisa had never visited this store. She bought a new antenna, but is still searching for the right mount for it. Now that we own the East Lot, she has more ideas for things to do radio-wise, with no danger of annoying the next-door neighbor.

Next is was back to Roseville and Railroad Hobbies. Lisa bought nothing here, but I'm a sucker for books and magazines.

( More About Tonopah )

After Roseville, we headed to Auburn, where we stopped at the Raley's grocery store and bought stuff for lunch. We initially planned to go up to the Gold Run rest area, but I had a better idea that turned out much better as it happens that Gold Run (not the same as Gold Ranch in Verdi NV) is closed for repairs.

( It's a (not very) Secret )

No trains came by while we were there, although we did see several other trains along the line both going to Sacramento and coming home.

We stopped at the Donner Summit rest area eastbound. The contrast between the pre-dawn darkness and under bright afternoon sun is striking.

( Still Lots of Snow )

We made one more stop, this time at Gold Ranch where I cashed my $7 of winning lottery tickets, but then bought $20 more because the PowerBall is up to more than half a billion dollars.

By now, Lisa, who did not get as much sleep as I did and was very fatigued, let Kuma Bear move up to the front seat of the Astro and set herself up to nap in the rear seat as I drove the remaining fifty miles home. We got home while it was still light.

( Not Much Snow Left )

I'd put a lot of wood in the fireplace before we left this morning, and there was still plenty of heat in the fireplace when I got home. I brought in more wood from the main box so that if I wish, I need go no farther than the front porch tomorrow.

All in all, it was a plenty good day, although driving 300 miles is more tiring than it used to be. I'm glad we got to see the museum, and got out for a good day away from home, which is good for our mental health.

For our final full day in Chicago, we decided to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. It has been many years since we visited there, and we could get there easily by train.

( To the Trains )

We spent most of the day at the museum, including having a light lunch we could eat outdoors safely, but around 3 PM we started making our way back to the hotel.

( Back to the Trains )

Returning to Millennium Station, we made one final stop at Bockwinkle's and headed to our hotel room to have some dinner from the remaining food we'd stocked up. There was still some time left to do something after we ate, and Lisa suggested that we might as well use those CTA tickets we bought by mistake.

( Out and Back on the Loop )

We walked back to the hotel for the last time. Earlier today, I was able to arrange for a 1 pm checkout on Friday. Our train back to Nevada is scheduled to depart at 2 PM Friday, so we should probably get out of the hotel about Noon. As we're in a bedroom, we'll be able to use the Metropolitan Lounge, which is probably the best place in the USA to wait for a train.

I may not do any updates on Friday and Saturday, as I won't have internet access most of that time. You can follow me on Twitter for occasional photos. Although considering how tired I am, maybe I'll just sleep my way back to Reno.

The constant bell-clanging of the BNSF locomotive overnight Saturday drove us out of the house.

( Well, we were planning on this trip anyway... )

I did not take a lot of photos, but Lisa did. We were mainly here doing photographic research for Railway Legends, Myths, and Stories. My job was to keep the too-helpful docent occupied while she took lots of photos of details of equipment in the museum that we'll use in future episodes. At least we know that we own the copyright on our own photos!

After a couple of hours at the museum, we turned north to Reno to go shopping at Raley's, where I also had a 50 cent/gallon gas discount at a Raley's Aisle 1 gas station that was about to expire. Accounting for the fact that the base gas price was forty cents per gallon more expensive than in Fernley, we only saved about $1.30, but we were going to be shopping there anyway, so it wasn't as though we lost money on the deal.

When we got home, the bell had stopped, although the locomotive was parked in the same place, so I guess the little BNSF wasn't called for Sunday after all. Maybe the battery finally ran down on the bell. Lisa, who was disturbed by the clanging more than I was, went to bed as soon as she could. I probably should have gone to bed as well. For whatever reason, I woke up hard an hour early this morning, and once it caught back up with me, I was a wreck for most of the day.

I reckon that we'll try to get to the museum more than once a year. They were promoting a big "steam up" event, but it's July 1-4, and we'll be a little bit busy in Tonopah that weekend.

Working from the hotel room for four hours before heading for Arizona went okay, but Lisa and I got sloppy. We generally are pretty thorough about "lodgecombing" every hotel room, going through the room a final time before we leave to make sure we haven't left something behind. In our zeal to get going today for the longest single day on this trip, we left behind multiple things: some food in the hotel refrigerator, but more importantly, it appears that when packing my CPAP machine, I dropped the mask and it must have rolled under the bed or something like that, because it wasn't in my kit with all of the other pieces when we got to Cottonwood.

While I have spare masks at home, I don't generally carry spares with me on these trips. This is really annoying. I've traveled all over the world and never lost a mask. I checked with the Holiday Inn in Rancho Mirage and they did not report finding a mask (which is why I think it rolled under the bed or in some easily-missed location. I called the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque and confirmed that I could order something shipped to me to catch up to me when I get there on Thursday. I then ordered a replacement mask with express shipping. However, for the next three nights, I'm without my CPAP, which is unfortunate, not only because snoring bothers Lisa, but also because it ruins my sleep. But there's nothing that can be done about it in the short term but to put up with it. I was about due for a replacement mask anyway. Maybe I'll have to start carrying an extra with me.

( Tanks for the Memories )

We pushed onward, crossing into Arizona and refueling at the Flying J Travel Center just over the border. Our policy when traveling in winter in particular is to refuel relatively often and give ourselves lots of reserve.

At Quartzsite, where the snowbirds flock to spend the winter, Lisa (who has stopped here before when she used to drive through here periodically) pulled off the freeway so we could have a look at a monument to an camel driver.

( Part of the inspiration of the movie 'Hawmps!' )

Of course we had to stop at The Other Tonopah.

( You Don't Think We'd Miss This, Do You? )

We could have skirted Phoenix on Loop 303, but we wanted to eat at a restaurant we can't visit in California, Nevada, or indeed anywhere west of Goodyear, Arizona.

( Good Food Fast )

Having left Rancho Mirage CA about 10:30 AM PT, we got to the Super 8 in Cottonwood AZ just after 8 PM MT. We lose an hour having come into the Mountain time zone, but to make up for it, I don't have to get up until 5:40 AM instead of 4:40 AM. Also, tomorrow we are not traveling cross-country, but instead we're going to go ride a train, about which more tomorrow night.

We worked out that we need to catch a 6:45 AM bus pm Tuesday morning from Europa Bus Terminal (across the street from our hotel) to be at Dublin Airport for 8:45 for our 11:45 AM flight to Reykjavik. We've won our bid for a Saga class upgrade for this flight, which means we'll have access to an airport lounge, and thus we should be able to get breakfast there. This is good because we have to leave too early to get the breakfast we already paid for at the Holiday Inn. To my relief, the hotel front desk was able to take the £20 off our bill for that final morning.

After checking at Europa about how to book the bus to Dublin Airport, Lisa and I boarded a train at Great Victoria Street heading toward Lanyon Place. As it happens, it was the same train (but one hour earlier) that we planned to take out toward Cultra and the Ulster Transport Museum. We went to the Hilton and waited in the lobby, socializing with fans who were around that morning. I also downloaded the Translink app and while waiting managed to book Lisa and me for the bus on Tuesday morning.

Feòrag NicBhrìde joined us and we headed out to Cultra. The reason Lisa and I bought local bus-rail cards is that they include trains on that line as far as Cultra, which is convenient.

( To the Trains! )

After traversing a gallery about the Titanic and its sister ships, including the class ship Olympic, we moved in to the Bus and Tram Gallery.

( To the Trams! )

We moved on to the Automobile gallery.

( A Natural Display in Ireland )

And almost finally, the Air Gallery.

( VTOL in NI )

I did not get any pictures of the horse-drawn carriages gallery. There is one full-sized ship on the grounds of the museum.

( The Result )

We spend more than four hours here, stopping back in the train gallery for a snack.

( Preserved Cafe )

Returning to the gift shop, we managed to escape buying only two train books. I'm glad I sent a few kilograms of stuff home by mail, so there's no question that there's enough room for a couple of small train and air books.

( Last Trip to the Hilton )

At the Hilton, we said goodbye to Feòrag and sat down in the Eurocon social space on the first floor, socializing with some of the people who had not gone off on the convention's all-day bus tour. When I tweeted out that we'd settled in, Cheryl Morgan headed over from her hotel, having dressed to impress for that evening's Game of Thrones-inspired banquet.

( Cheryl Looking Good )

We hung around for a while socializing as the various bus groups returned and things got busy again. When the doors opened for the banquet, I gave Cheryl a goodbye hug and Lisa and I joined Sharon Sbarsky looking for our own dinner (none of us having booked for the banquet). We headed for Fish City, located about 750 m from the Hilton.

( Door Along the Way )

We've had a lot of fish and chips on this trip, but the ones we had at Fish City, plus the seafood chowder, was among the best of the lot. I'm willing to admit that our exhaustion from all of our walking today (13K steps) may have improved the savor, and that it was improved by the company and by the lack of time pressure. After dinner, we took a taxi back to the hotel and headed back to Lanyon Place.

Trains don't run as often on Sundays and Bank Holidays (like tomorrow), and if the gate staff hadn't radioed ahead to have the crew on the platform hold the train that was arriving just as we came through the gate, we would have had a 40 minute wait for the next one. (Which in practice means that we would have walked "home" instead.)

Unlike most of our friends who have either left already or are on their way home tomorrow, we have one more day in Belfast tomorrow before we move on to our next stop: Iceland. We haven't figured out what we're going do to on Monday, but that's okay. We can't be out that long anyway due to the early morning departure on Tuesday.

Our Christmas shopping is done (although Lisa wanted to get me something). The weather today was forecast to be (relatively) warm. So after breakfast, we headed over to Carson City to the Nevada State Railroad Museum.

( Oh Deer, the Trains )

Lisa shopped the museum gift shop for my Christmas present. (As museum members, we get a 10% discount on most items except used books. OTOH, used books tend to be our most common purchase!) We then returned home, making a couple of desultory shopping stops along the way but not buying anything.

We're not taking a Christmas trip, partially because I have to work on Tuesday, but as I get a four-day New Year's holiday, we keep thinking of doing a short trip away from home. We have made no decisions, though.