A Day With the Folks
Aug. 30th, 2008 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeThe train trip to Sacramento was pretty uneventful. We were twenty minutes late because the drawbridge at Benicia had to open to let not one, but two ships pass while we were approaching Martinez, and marine traffic has the right of way. The train was pretty much full up, with nearly no available seats. We'd secured one of the four-seat tables when we boarded at Fremont/Centerville so that Cheryl could work, but at Richmond we had to put our extra stuff away and make room for others to sit at our table. My eye still won't focus sufficient when we're moving for me to enjoy reading, so I just sat listening to the railroad radio and enjoying the view and trying to find my focus, literally.
At Sacramento, we picked up the dedicated phone for Hertz Local Express and they said they'd send a van for us. Ten minutes later or so, they van turned up and took us to the agency. It took a while for them to get our car to us because they were pretty busy. They were quite efficient, though -- someone turned up with a car he was returning, and that's the car they gave us after about ten minutes of cleaning and fueling. We learned that they will close at 1 PM tomorrow, so if we want a ride back to the station, we need to be there by then. (If we are late, we can still drop off the car, but we'll have to walk the twelve blocks from the HLE location to the station.) With me navigating, Cheryl drove us north.
As I thought we were going to first see my mother up in Dobbins, I navigated us onto CA-70 north of Sacramento. I tried to call my mother but got her answering machine. I figured she was outside -- it's a hot day up there, and cooler out in their gazebo than in the house. As we neared Marysville, I got to thinking about possible miscues and decided to call my grandfather's house in Sutter. My mother answered. I'd confused our arrangements and she'd gone out to his place and was cooking a meal for us. Fortunately, this was not a problem; we just turned west at Marysville (after a short stop at Jamba Juice) and went out to Sutter.
We spent a pleasant afternoon with my grandfather and mother. Mom had fried up some wonderful fish and made creamed potatoes along with a fresh vegetables platter that had some stuff I'll eat like cucumbers and mushrooms. Not all of the fish went inside us, however, as there are four adorable little kittens -- half-feral, actually -- in the back yard. We got our respective cameras and committed many Cute Kitten Photos while my mother fed the cats fish. I haven't downloaded the photos yet, so you'll just have to wait for them. Cheryl will probably have something before I do.
After a nice long visit, Mom headed home and we decamped to our usual haunt when in Yuba City, the Holiday Inn Express. As I've mentioned, this hotel doesn't have any suites, or else I would have possibly had an upgrade, but the rooms are as spacious as the mini-suites in some hotels in which I've stayed. It's a fine, warm evening here in California's Central Valley, and assuming the pool doesn't have too many screaming children in it, we're going to go take advantage of it. I spent two weeks in hotels going to and from Denver and never had sufficient time to relax and use the pool facilities, so tonight we relax.
At Sacramento, we picked up the dedicated phone for Hertz Local Express and they said they'd send a van for us. Ten minutes later or so, they van turned up and took us to the agency. It took a while for them to get our car to us because they were pretty busy. They were quite efficient, though -- someone turned up with a car he was returning, and that's the car they gave us after about ten minutes of cleaning and fueling. We learned that they will close at 1 PM tomorrow, so if we want a ride back to the station, we need to be there by then. (If we are late, we can still drop off the car, but we'll have to walk the twelve blocks from the HLE location to the station.) With me navigating, Cheryl drove us north.
As I thought we were going to first see my mother up in Dobbins, I navigated us onto CA-70 north of Sacramento. I tried to call my mother but got her answering machine. I figured she was outside -- it's a hot day up there, and cooler out in their gazebo than in the house. As we neared Marysville, I got to thinking about possible miscues and decided to call my grandfather's house in Sutter. My mother answered. I'd confused our arrangements and she'd gone out to his place and was cooking a meal for us. Fortunately, this was not a problem; we just turned west at Marysville (after a short stop at Jamba Juice) and went out to Sutter.
We spent a pleasant afternoon with my grandfather and mother. Mom had fried up some wonderful fish and made creamed potatoes along with a fresh vegetables platter that had some stuff I'll eat like cucumbers and mushrooms. Not all of the fish went inside us, however, as there are four adorable little kittens -- half-feral, actually -- in the back yard. We got our respective cameras and committed many Cute Kitten Photos while my mother fed the cats fish. I haven't downloaded the photos yet, so you'll just have to wait for them. Cheryl will probably have something before I do.
After a nice long visit, Mom headed home and we decamped to our usual haunt when in Yuba City, the Holiday Inn Express. As I've mentioned, this hotel doesn't have any suites, or else I would have possibly had an upgrade, but the rooms are as spacious as the mini-suites in some hotels in which I've stayed. It's a fine, warm evening here in California's Central Valley, and assuming the pool doesn't have too many screaming children in it, we're going to go take advantage of it. I spent two weeks in hotels going to and from Denver and never had sufficient time to relax and use the pool facilities, so tonight we relax.
