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kevin_standleeI worked my last day of Day Jobbe before the longest paid vacation I've had in my life. I'm off until January 4.
Our Worldcon train trip will start at Emeryville on Wednesday. It's quite difficult to catch the train at Reno if you can't get someone to take you to the station, because there is no long-term parking. Besides, you miss one of the nicest parts of the trip that way, and I was using points to buy this trip anyway. So we previously arranged to only go as far as Sacramento today, and consequently we weren't particularly rushing. But then the weather changed.
As I'd originally checked the weather, it looked like it was going to be clear today over Donner Summit; however, a faster-than-expected storm started moving in on us, and we needed to get a move on and try and get over the pass before sundown, as the forecast showed a prospect of snow this evening. Fortunately, we've been packing for several days, and after I logged off and shut down the computers, it did not take too much longer to complete the packing. This is more complicated than the Loscon trip, because we don't have the luxury of using the entire minivan, but instead have to fit everything we need for Worldcon and the around-the-country train trip into our (very generous compared to airline) luggage allowance on Amtrak. We've got a couple of items that we will only need at Worldcon, and we'll check those. Things we need on the train (or that we'd rather not check unless forced to do so) can either ride in the luggage rack on the lower level of the Superliners, or in the "attic" of the single-level sleeper cars.
So around 2:15, we completed our secure-the-house checklist, hoped we hadn't forgotten anything, and set off for Sacramento. This drive went mostly okay. There was only light rain most of the way, and we were out of the mountains as darkness fell. Unfortunately, that also meant going through some fog, but it was not as bad as it could have been. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza Sacramento about 6 PM.
My IHG Spire status is still working, and we were upgraded to a two-room suite. That's not bad, and gave us more room to store the bags, but the suite has a strange shape that made it a bit difficult to use. There's a parlor with a sofa, but no table in the parlor. The bedroom has a work table, but they put a microwave oven on it because of there being nowhere to put it in the parlor. Also, the bedroom (with the table where in theory I could work on the computer) has almost no internet connectivity, which is why I'm sitting in the parlor where there's good connectivity composing this. It's a good thing I don't have to do Day Jobbe work tomorrow, or else I'd probably have my computers laid out on the floor in the parlor.
After getting our luggage hauled up to our room on the sixth floor, we got take-out hamburgers. Unfortunately, we didn't check Lisa's before leaving the restaurant, and got all the way back to the hotel before discovering that they'd ignored our instructions and put cheese on her plain burger. Apparently "plain" to them (even when I said, "plain, no cheese") meant "nothing on it but cheese." So we had to drive back and get it replaced, which to their credit, they did do without argument. I'm glad there was a microwave oven in the room (even if it is in an inconvenient place) because I was thus able to reheat my own dinner while Lisa ate hers.
Tomorrow is our last planned driving day until we get back to the west coast, as we continue to Emeryville where we will spend the night before our train trip begins.
Our Worldcon train trip will start at Emeryville on Wednesday. It's quite difficult to catch the train at Reno if you can't get someone to take you to the station, because there is no long-term parking. Besides, you miss one of the nicest parts of the trip that way, and I was using points to buy this trip anyway. So we previously arranged to only go as far as Sacramento today, and consequently we weren't particularly rushing. But then the weather changed.
As I'd originally checked the weather, it looked like it was going to be clear today over Donner Summit; however, a faster-than-expected storm started moving in on us, and we needed to get a move on and try and get over the pass before sundown, as the forecast showed a prospect of snow this evening. Fortunately, we've been packing for several days, and after I logged off and shut down the computers, it did not take too much longer to complete the packing. This is more complicated than the Loscon trip, because we don't have the luxury of using the entire minivan, but instead have to fit everything we need for Worldcon and the around-the-country train trip into our (very generous compared to airline) luggage allowance on Amtrak. We've got a couple of items that we will only need at Worldcon, and we'll check those. Things we need on the train (or that we'd rather not check unless forced to do so) can either ride in the luggage rack on the lower level of the Superliners, or in the "attic" of the single-level sleeper cars.
So around 2:15, we completed our secure-the-house checklist, hoped we hadn't forgotten anything, and set off for Sacramento. This drive went mostly okay. There was only light rain most of the way, and we were out of the mountains as darkness fell. Unfortunately, that also meant going through some fog, but it was not as bad as it could have been. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza Sacramento about 6 PM.
My IHG Spire status is still working, and we were upgraded to a two-room suite. That's not bad, and gave us more room to store the bags, but the suite has a strange shape that made it a bit difficult to use. There's a parlor with a sofa, but no table in the parlor. The bedroom has a work table, but they put a microwave oven on it because of there being nowhere to put it in the parlor. Also, the bedroom (with the table where in theory I could work on the computer) has almost no internet connectivity, which is why I'm sitting in the parlor where there's good connectivity composing this. It's a good thing I don't have to do Day Jobbe work tomorrow, or else I'd probably have my computers laid out on the floor in the parlor.
After getting our luggage hauled up to our room on the sixth floor, we got take-out hamburgers. Unfortunately, we didn't check Lisa's before leaving the restaurant, and got all the way back to the hotel before discovering that they'd ignored our instructions and put cheese on her plain burger. Apparently "plain" to them (even when I said, "plain, no cheese") meant "nothing on it but cheese." So we had to drive back and get it replaced, which to their credit, they did do without argument. I'm glad there was a microwave oven in the room (even if it is in an inconvenient place) because I was thus able to reheat my own dinner while Lisa ate hers.
Tomorrow is our last planned driving day until we get back to the west coast, as we continue to Emeryville where we will spend the night before our train trip begins.
