Meanderings: August 30, 1999

Monday,
August 30, 1999

Oh, my overies and underies, darlings, but I'm pooped. We started out the morning with a brisk mile walk to the nearest IHOP with Kytte for some nummy pancakes (they do something called a Country Griddle cake that's regular buttermilk pancake batter mixed with cream of wheat. It has kind of a cornbread texture, and MAN is it good!), then back to work off the mongo calories we consumed. Checked out of the room, Lyndon wandered off to find a post office so that he could mail all the books I bought 'n' brought (there's no way I'm lugging 15 books around San Francisco for ten days if I don't have to, and mailing them back to Sweden by surface mail only cost about $30. As far as I'm concerned, it's worth the savings on muscle strain.

Kytte finally had to run for her plane, so we hugged and did all that stuff, and eventually Lyndon and I were in a cab ourselves, heading for the Anaheim Amtrak station with two big bags, a big laptop, an overnight bag, my purse and my carrier bag of crocheting. Oy. Getting that up onto the train was an exercise in leverage, I can tell you.

But I do like traveling by Amtrak -- much as I'm addicted to driving, just sitting in a comfortable seat and watching the passing scenery is a great tonic for the soul. Lyndon kept peering out the window with this dreamy look on his face, then turning back to me and saying, "Clever Mellie, to think of this." And best of all, the train track went right by Vandenberg Air Force Base, the place where they launch the Shuttle for military missions. Unfortunately they didn't have a shuttle rolled out, but I think we spotted the launch pad, along with other pads from where they can launch satellites, and there was this cool arrowhead-shaped structure that Lyndon said was a launch pad for the SSO (I think that's the acronym -- it's the wedge-shaped single stage orbiter vehicle that they've been testing for the past few years. Lyn said that the shaped landing pad was so that the descending craft could nudge up against it as it landed). This, plus the gorgeous seaside scenery, was definitely worth the price of the trip.

And now, we are in a small Travelodge in San Luis Obispo (or as Lyndon has been pronouncing it, "San Luis Episcopo"), with a lovely deep dish pizza digesting in our tummies, and ready for bed. Ta, all.

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