Machaca! - Sunday 4/19/2009

I tried something I'd never had before this morning at Mollie's Original Kountry Kitchen in Victorville : machaca con huevos. I don't think I've ever even heard of shredded mildly-spiced beef in eggs, but I would come back here for this dish any day.

No, it's not all that pretty, but it was out of this world. I wiped the plate with my tortilla, I tell you. The fresh homemade pico de gallo was a perfect complement. Mmmm. Fuel to do all the hitching and unhitching of the trailer that's ahead.




We bid the trains that pass the campground every few hours day and night a fond fairwell.

Yeah, fond. They're kind of comforting, actually.

Adios, ABQ

Albuquerque's plaza, which is at lower elevation, was not as far into fall, so there were still leaves on the trees.
I was impressed with the terra cotta and turquoise freeway ramps.



Some interesting graffiti on the freight train next to my Amtrak car. It was a great trip. It was really amazing spending time with Diver again. In most ways, we fell right back into our old, important friendship like no time had passed at all.

What else did I learn from this trip? After weeks and weeks of relying upon spell checker, I now know how to spell Albuquerque.

My Turn!

This time it's my turn to take the train!

I'm headed for Albuquerque on the Southwest Chief. Same route Kitty took home a few weeks ago. I'll get off at Albuquerque, though, and meet up with my friend, Diver.

She and I took one look at each other in kindergarten, decided we were the cutest kids we'd ever seen--we looked so much alike that our teachers mixed us up--and became best friends. We were very close all the way past high school, and then our paths diverged. She became a nurse and moved to Cleveland, then Florida. I became a theater person and minor league vagabond and moved to California.

We kept in touch. She came for a visit 13 years ago and we drove up the coast to San Francisco together. This year we decided it had been long enough, so we planned to meet up in New Mexico and explore it together.

I was so excited that I hardly slept on the train. Amongst the people in my car were a kooky guy that rambled in two different voices, a couple of brothers on their way to Chicago to get their mother to move to L.A. to be near them, and a woman on her way to a Sound Healing convention in Santa Fe.

I spent quite a bit of the evening in the observation car writing, and then talking with a woman who had lived in L.A. for 30 years and now lives north of Santa Fe. She and I both worked at Skylight theater in the 80s. She as a lighting designer, I as a lightboard operator. Not the same show, but that's pretty close! We had a great time watching the desert go by, glowing under a full moon, and chatting.

I think I'm in love with the train.

Trains, Trailers and Automobiles

Mom's train was supposed to arrive at 8:15 this morning. But it didn't.

First there was an engine problem and they crawled into Albuquerque, NM. Then they had to wait in Kingman, AZ to replace the crew who had been working too long. Then they hit rail traffic as they approached Los Angeles. I learned all this from the nice lady in Amtrak customer service.

So Hydra came home early, and we packed up the trailer and he headed for the campground to meet up with our Songmaker friends. I followed a little way in the Echo and then peeled off to head for downtown L.A. and Union Station.

She's supposed to arrive at 4:04!



I love the seats at Union Station. I'm not so wild about the fact that now they say the Southwest Chief isn't going to arrive till 5p.m.


It was a warm day. Every so often a breeze blew up. There's a nice little public space around this gazebo at the end of Olvera Street.

There are a lot of homeless people downtown. I'd forgotten what that's like. You just have to think a bit about how you engage other people...like, a lot less freely.



This woman was the only person dancing to music played by a flutist who accompanied a recording. It was kind of lovely to watch her spin and dip, her purse and a shopping bag near her feet.


Three friends have their photo taken.

Around this time Mom called to let me know the train wouldn't be arriving until 6 p.m.

Hydra's always thinking about another guitar.

Ooh, I could have had his name painted on one of these--in any color!



This particular specimen does, indeed, look superior. I walked to the far end of Chinatown. Went to the fabulous Wonder Food Bakery for a couple of egg custard tarts. Don't be fooled by their location amid trinket shops, they have wonderful baked goods.


I walked under the dragons on the way out of the district.


Just as I started to cross Alameda at 5:40 I heard something about the Southwest Chief arriving! I went inside and no one could tell me what track it had just arrived on.

We found each other after a few trips up and down the long corridor for me. It's just exciting to see people pouring into the station from all those entrances.


By 6:15 we were seated at a table at Phillippe's! It's only a couple of blocks from the train station. What a nice way to avoid the last of the heavy traffic draining out of downtown. We split a beef dip, a turkey dip and some potato salad.

What's even more amazing is that it only took an hour and fifteen minutes to get all the way to Fillmore. I almost missed the exit to the 126 from the 5, the traffic was moving so well. After traveling more than 48 hours on the train, Mom was gracious about being whisked off to a campground.

We ate the egg custard tarts in the car. Tender and delicately flavored, they flaked all over us.

Gotta say, it was much nicer for Mom to be stuck on a train than a plane, and it was much nicer for me to roam downtown rather than pace the baggage area at LAX.

We win!