Took My Chances on an Amtrak Train, Never Let Them Tell You That They're All the Same

The biggest surprise of the trip had to be California.  I figured it would be pretty, but pictures do it no justice.  It’s prettier than a picture, I tell you.  Prettier…than…a…picture.  Despite is natural beauty ;), I don’t think I could ever be a Californian.  I’m not a traffic fan, and Brad would go crazy with the no gun law, but it’s an excellent state to visit.  So excellent in fact, I’m planning a Spring Break trip there with one of my girlfriends from JMU.

When I was talking to Monongahela, Dr. Smedley, and Australia in the Dining Car, I wanted to know if I would wake up to anything pretty.  So, I asked about California.  From what I could tell, they didn’t seem too excited about the scenery, but maybe it’s because they have seen it before.  I know this entire blog is full of clichés (especially this post in particular), but my sunrise over the California desert was priceless.  Getting pictures of the colored sky was kind of difficult, though.  It took standing on multiple sightseer lounge chairs to capture the moment.  I don’t know if the lady who I leaned over in order to take the pictures appreciated my touristey-ness, but c’est la vie.

My favorite thing about California—the contrast.  Watching the “industry” spread across the countryside was pretty neat.  Seeing palm trees in front of snow-capped mountains was neat, too.  I also loved the orange trees peppered across yards with candy cane ornaments and fancy holiday lights.  Overall, everything about Cali caught me by surprise.  I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the multi-height skyscrapers, or as I stopped in the middle of busy LA sidewalks to snap pictures of palm trees 5 days before Christmas while I was wearing a t-shirt. 

My only complaint...California cows don’t look any happier than any other cows that I’ve seen.  In fact, they look pretty damn depressed.  That commercial is a friggin' joke.