We all played that game as kids, I’m sure. But here in this day and age it portends a plethora of possible disasters. More possibilities than just who is holding the button. At this point in history, all it takes one click of the WRONG button and, oooops!! There it goes . . . you can watch your whole life pass from the face of the screen in one swell foop!!!
Now I’m as tech savvy as the next middle age (76-year-old) person. I text and take pictures with my phone, I use a Kindle, I do my banking on line, etc., but just let one of my tech devices take a left turn at the corner of Disbelief and Confusion, and that’s all she wrote. I can frantically poke buttons and frantically drag and post and click and cuss right along with the best of ‘em.
I know whereof I speak. Just last week, I had spent several days putting together a blog in response to Doni’s train/bucket list blog, In my usual modus operandi, I would write a paragraph or two, let it age for while, then coming back to it, and add another paragraph or two. My writing seems to go on like this for a couple of weeks. As you can see, self discipline is not one of my strong suits either!
So, over the span of a week or so, I had put together a blog with which I was comfortable enough to send on over to a girlfriend for proofing. AND THEN THE BUTTON GOT ME. You highlight. You hit COPY . . . do NOT hit PASTE at this juncture!!! I knew that. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. SHEESH!!!
So, back to the drawi – – um – – computer screen and see if I can remember anything I said!
To the train business – and I’ll see if I can stay on track. Oh, stop moaning!
First of all: MINDSET!!! You do not take the train because you are in a hurry to get somewhere. Trains are not allowed to travel over 45mph when in the mountains. This means that a train north out of Redding is speed limited most of the way to Eugene.
So, take the train for relaxation, for comfort (plenty of leg room) and being able to take in the scenery without the driving hassles. Kick your shoes off, put your seat back and leg rest up and enjoy.
Someone, either in response to Doni’s article or Doni herself, lamented the fact that northbound trains leave Redding around 2:30 a.m., thus missing most of the Sacramento Canyon in the dark. Here’s my solution: book your trip as close to June 21 as possible (summer solstice) then pray the train is running late. Even if it’s on time (and it’s close more than it’s not), daylight starts oozing into the canyon around Lakehead and is full sun by the time you reach the Cantara Loop. This means you circumnavigate most of the west and north sides of the mighty Shasta itself in broad daylight.
Next, ask your conductor about what time you’ll be getting into Chemault, OR., Then make a lunch or dinner reservation for about a half hour to an hour after you leave Chemault. The dining car steward will come through the car asking if anyone wants to make reservations for the dining car for whatever the upcoming meal is scheduled. That will put you in the dining car as the train travels up over the spine of the Cascade Mountains. If you can score a table on the right hand side of the dining car, you’ll have a ring-side seat for one of the most spectacular views you can imagine!!
Then there’s all the usual stuff. Bring your own pillow or neck roll. If you have a small lightweight blanket, that would be good. Bring plenty of snacks. Bring plenty of reading and/or puzzles. There is a snack bar (down the stairs in the middle of the Observation car) where you can get drinks and food. Get up and walk around. The aisles are wide on the train. Hint: run your hand along the overhead bin as a hand rail to keep you from landing in someone’s lap going around a curve.
O.K., now kiddies. There’s a ten point quiz at midnight on this stuff, so make sure you’re prepared. And I promise . . . or threaten, (your point of view) . . . to report, in the near future, some more fabulous train trips up and down the west coast.
Adrienne Jacoby is a 40-plus-year resident of Shasta County and native-born Californian. She was a teacher of vocal music in the Enterprise Schools for 27 years and has been retired for 11 years.
A musician all her life, she was married to the late Bill Jacoby with whom she formed a locally well -known musical group who prided themselves in playing for weddings, wakes, riots, bar mitzvas and super market openings. And, oh yes … she has two children, J’Anna and Jayson.
