Travel

Riding the Rails, the Challenges and Joys

Our First Vacation in Six Years: The Trip

Amtrak arrives at the Las Vegas, NM historic train depot

Amtrak is a great option for anyone who wants to get from here to there, hates airports and doesn’t want to drive. You can indeed see the country as it lurches by and if you are in a roomette or deluxe room, you get an unending number of meals. Well, not unending, but it seems one meal service is barely over before the steward starts taking reservations for the next one.

In our little corner of the world—Las Vegas, NM—we still have an Amtrak station. When we decided to take a trip to Pismo Beach, Calif., one of our favorite destinations, we decided the rail was the way to go. Realizing there would be challenges, like getting a rental car, we decided to go to AAA Travel in Santa Fe, NM, (thank you Teodora!) for help in planning the trip.

All Aboard!

I’ll say right up front AAA was most helpful. I highly recommend their services.

It had been at least 15 years since we took a train trip, also to Pismo Beach. For that trip we got off the train in Pasadena, boarded an Amtrak bus, and arrived in Bakersfield, where one of our sons was living. Knowing he would pick us up at the bus terminal took care of concerns about getting to the car rental agency located at the Bakersfield airport.

This time we didn’t have that advantage. We had to rely on AAA to make arrangements for us to get from the San Luis Obispo depot, where we got off the train, to the SLO airport car rental agency. On the return trip we had to get the car back and find transportation to the SLO train station before the Pacific Surfliner left at 6:45 a.m. for our connection at Union Station in Los Angeles. Thanks to AAA we got the car rented in advance (of course) and an agreement from Hertz to pick us up at the train station. To make life easier on our return date, AAA located the phone number of a 24-hour cab company that would pick us up at the airport and get us to the train station. Am I making this too complicated? Perhaps, but we are at a point in our lives when things like tight schedules and the possibility of missing our connections makes us nervous, VERY nervous.

The on-board portion of the trip went like clockwork (or as much as train travel can) and I’m pleased to say the trip was flawless. Well, maybe not the part where we had to wait for three hours for the coroner to release the track ahead because someone had been hit by a train coming the other way, but that’s another story.

Travel on the whole—moving down the track—was fine. Sleeping on the train? Yikes. We took a roomette (which we did the last time we went by train) believing this would be more comfortable than going by coach. We were on the train overnight going and coming and it made sense to have the privacy of a roomette and a bed to sleep on. Having a bathroom down the hall was a bit inconvenient (I’m being kind here) but we managed, sort of.

I can tell you my bones still ache. My husband is still recovering from a crack on the head and a fall from the top bunk. It happened when he tried to get up in the middle of the night, forgot there was no head room, and then missed the step on his way to floor level. Between knocking himself silly and a bruised and swollen leg he refused to get back on that precarious perch, and wouldn’t let me get up there either. We spent the rest of the night wedged like two sardines on the bottom bunk. That, my friends, is true love.

Even though there was a shower down the passageway, the idea of using it was pretty off putting when I thought about the jerky movement of the train and a slight discomfort (outright terror?) that the lock wouldn’t hold and someone would walk in on me. Grimy doesn’t begin to describe how both of us felt after getting off the train going and coming.

We had traveled this way before and didn’t remember it being so uncomfortable. It finally dawned on me that the real difference is that we’re both 15 years older and 15 to 20 pounds heavier. Those roomettes are not designed for anyone with any meat on them at all!

Using the toilet was a whole other adventure, and forget brushing your teeth, trying to freshen your makeup (this is where guys definitely have an advantage) and organizing your hair when you’ve been sleeping (more or less) on it all night.

There are options to the roomette of course. The coach cars do have quite comfortable seats that recline. We have friends who have traveled this way and found it perfectly acceptable. Others have said it’s fine as long as everyone in the car agrees to settle down and sleep, but that doesn’t always happen. One friend told us of a trip to Chicago. “At about midnight one family hauled out their sandwiches and wine and made a party of it.”

The other option is a “deluxe” room, which has a bathroom and a foldout bed at floor level that will accommodate two people so no one has to ride the rails suspended on something the size of a half-panel of a folding door.

Would we do it again? Yes. Does that surprise you? It’s an adventure. There is something wonderful about riding on a train, but only if you’re not in a hurry. Maybe that’s it. You are forced to relax and reset you internal mad rush to nice and easy, slow but sure.

What I liked:

• Train travel is affordable.
• You do get to see the country.
• The slower pace (if you’re ready for it).
• The attendants, conductors, red caps, and other staff members affiliated with the train are wonderful.  
• The food is okay and there is no lack of it. (Coach pays for meals; roomette and deluxe travelers meals are complimentary, except for alcohol).
• Seating in the dining car is family style so you get to meet interesting people.
• On the whole other passengers are courteous and respectful.
• The train depots are wonderful, harking back to another era.
• There is no hassle related to terrorist and security issues (ala airport TSA craziness)

What I didn’t like (or wasn’t prepared for)

• The “crossover” from one car to the next
• Beds
• Bathrooms

Overall the experience was enjoyable.

More about the journey next time.

Aging Gratefully

Five ways to Find Inner Peace

Beauty is everywhere. When you come upon it unexpectedly it makes your heart sing and brings you a moment of peace. The photo in this blog was taken on my morning walk with friends. I’ve been seeing these lovely flowers for several days, heartened by their purity and surprised by where they were growing. Okay, they’re weeds (wild and invasive morning glories I think) but amid the gravel and dry soil these sturdy plants are flourishing and blooming.    

Finding beauty in life is one way to find inner peace. How do you relax at the end of a harried and hurried day? Here are five suggestions for ways to calm your spirit and put the bloom back in your life.

Walking:

A morning or evening walk is a good place to start. Walking releases tension and helps you relax. Unless we are by nature athletic, we tend to spend entirely too much time indoors. Reports show that people who walk regularly maintain their weight, are healthier and have a more positive outlook.

Prayer:

Whatever form your prayer or spiritual life takes, the oneness with the Creator brings calm in ways nothing else can. Studies indicate that those who attend worship services and meditate regularly are happier and more able to cope with day to day problems.

Friends:

Connections to friends are almost as important as time with family. Those who have a network of people they can call on, even if it’s just to say, “Hi,” are more well-adjusted and less apt to let stress rule their lives.

Family:

Time with family keeps us centered. We have a sounding board for our ideas and dreams. Try to have at least an hour a day when you and your family sit down and share a meal or have a conversation.

Leisure Time:

We tend to think we have to be busy, busy, busy. That only works until you run out of time and energy, and then what? Make time to do what you like to do, whether it is reading, watching television, listening to music… whatever allows you to relax your body and get outside your head now and then.

When you bring peace into your chaotic life, you – like those wild morning glories – will blossom.

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Rambling Prose: Writers Write

To Blog or Not to Blog

I've been dithering. Not uncommon for me, just ask my husband. I have a gazillions things I want to do and not enough time in the day to get them done, not because I can't but because I dither. That isn't to say I don't get things done, it's just that I must wade through the litter of dither to get there.

I haven't  always been that way. I am by nature a take-charge woman, and not always a sensitive one, so Katie-bar-the-door or I'll run over you. I don't mean to, but focus at some point becomes obsession. An agenda is meant to be followed.

I've written about this before, so I won't go into detail here, but a to do list at this point in my life is essential. (Check here for prior post). There are days when even a to do list doesn't help. Sometimes I stare at it, my eyes glaze over and I turn to my iPad and play Word W.E.L.D.E.R. Work? You're kidding, right? Who am I trying to impress? What do I think will happen to the thousands of words I've written and published over the years? 

So begins procrastination and self-doubt. I have to give myself a swift kick in the posterior to get off the pity pot and move on.  

 

So What?

 The dither deal today is that I'm seriously thinking about going back to publishing an e-zine. I did on off a year or so ago, but I didn't have the patience to give it time to build a readership, and I couldn't figure out how to make money at it. This is nothing unusual. I've done a fair number of the things in my life that either lost money or never made a dime. I guess getting and being and maintaining a rich lifestyle isn't a driving factor behind my choices.

So the dilemma is this. I've been working diligently at building a web presence with the idea of selling my books: Tiger Lilly, Not Just Another Day, The Ballad of Bawdy McClure, and Future Imperfect. Why I believed creating three blogs and maintaining a website would accomplish this I'll never know. To my knowledge not one single book has been sold as a consequence of all this effort. It doesn't help that two of them are sci-fi, one is daily devotional and another is contemporary fiction about family relationships. Does anyone see the problem here? Try creating SEO protocol for that mess.

Back to the Topic 

I stopped publishing the e-zine about eight months ago. For the effort I was putting into it, I saw no measurable indicators that any but a handful of family and friends were actually reading it. I'm doing the blogs because... Well there you go, I'm not sure why I'm doing the blogs. I THINK it's building my web presence and my author platform, however I'm seeing no measurable indicators to prove that it is.

Bear with me folks, I'm on a ramble here, not to mention a dither.

One of the blogs is tied to my radio show, Writer's Block, which airs each Tuesday morning at 9 a.m MST. It is a program about writing and writers. I invite authors (published and want to be published)  to be interviewed in-studio or as call-in guests. Following the program I summarize the discussion and do a review of the program in my Writer's Block blog.

Joy inthe Morning is a blog of brief inspirational readings or poems. It is tied to my spirituality and will likely lead to a second book of daily devotionals.

The blog you're reading is the third blog. Rambling Prose is about what ever strikes my fancy, kind of like my now dormant e-zine, Happenstance, life happens. Even so, it doesn't have the flexibility of an e-zine, or if it does I haven't figured out how to make it work.

Still with me?

And then there is the Sharon Vander Meer website, which remains fairly static with general information, only updated once a week with links to Writer's Block program summaries.

Coming from print media I still think in terms of graphic design, popping pix and writing to section demands. Is it food and lifestyle? Does it fit in features? Sports? Trends? Books? Travel? Commentary?

For what I want to do, an e-zine makes more sense because my interests vary and as much as I want to be a writing machine punching out books by the dozens, the truth is my curiosity and dithering eclectic tastes do not contribute to finishing yet another manuscript, and I'm not much good at marketing the books I've already written! Still, I forge ahead.

And – this is a biggie folks – I love talking to writers. I enjoy promoting their work. It tickles me silly to publish words crafted by talented people. I enjoy reading and doing book reviews. 

That doesn't  leave a lot of time for additional writing, but I forge ahead.

Now What?

So, the questions for me are, "Do I continue to maintain three blogs and a website – none of which are doing what I want them to do (sell books), or do I go back to e-zine publishing creating something on the order of a literary journal? And if I do, is it possible to have an income stream?"

The question for you as a follower or reader is, what do you think? Check out the published e-zines at this link and the one above, and give me your feedback in the comments section below. I'm sort of looking for a better understanding of what will work in the web environment we are now living in. To blog or not to blog, that is the question.

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A Healthy Life

Stepping Out With Your Friends 

Photo by Carol Linder, also a walker that day.

If you ask experts to identify the single best exercise you will get a ton of answers, but most agree that if you aren’t into exercise as a discipline, walking is a good alternative. Some even say it’s the best alternative.

In an article in the New York Times by Gretchen Reynolds, she quotes Michael Joyner, M.D. from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “I personally think that brisk walking is far and away the single best exercise.” He based his comment on work done by Hiroshi Nose, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of sports medical sciences at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. 

The article went on to state that, “Walking has also been shown by other researchers to aid materially in weight control. A 15-year study found that middle-aged women who walked for at least an hour a day maintained their weight over the decades. Those who didn’t gained weight.”  

As a gentle, low-impact exercise walking is accessible and can become a companionable social activity. It can also inspire you to become more conscientious out fitness and health. That has proven to be the case for our church healthy lifestyle initiative. We started Getting Fit Together in March opening it up to the public with the idea of establishing small group activities that would provide motivation and support. The idea was to have a weight loss group, nutrition and cooking group and fitness groups across the spectrum, and develop other groups based on need and participation. 

The walking groups have proven to be the biggest draw. It’s something everyone can do and it works. Here are a few reasons why (from the Mayo Clinic website):

Benefits of walking

• Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
• Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol)
• Lower your blood pressure
• Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
• Manage your weight
• Improve your mood
• Stay strong and fit

“All it takes to reap these benefits is a routine of brisk walking. It doesn't get much simpler than that. And you can forget the ‘no pain, no gain’ talk. Research shows that regular, brisk walking can reduce the risk of heart attack by the same amount as more vigorous exercise, such as jogging.”

Motivation

If the obvious benefits don't ring the bell for you, think about walking with a group. It's beneficial in many ways. 

• When you know someone may be waiting for you, you are more apt to get up and get with it. 
• Walking with a group challenges you to increase your intensity or the distance you walk. 
• Group participation may motivate you to walk in marathons or become a runner. 
• You may be inspired to start a cardio program. 

Ultimately it’s about overall fitness and health. That first step is your journey toward a healthier you. These links are great sources of motivation and getting started walking for your health.

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/walking-for-exercise

http://www.thewalkingsite.com/

http://www.walking.org/

Hometown USA, Las Vegas, NM

Lights, Camera, Action!

Filming on Bridge Street, Las Vegas, NM

Once again our little town is undergoing a transformation. One area is being recreated into a '50s version of the other Las Vegas, the one with glitz and glamour, at least on the surface. In the '50s there was a dark force in control of gaming, and prostitution was a way of life for women whose dreams of stardom ended in disillusionment and sorrow. The old-style mob influence is long gone. Corporate flamboyance drives the economy now, but it can still be a tawdry business with gambling addiction stealing people's futures. 

The transformation on Bridge Street in Las Vegas, N.M., is for a television pilot about the '50s in the town that never sleeps. I have no idea what the plot line is, but I don't imagine it is about the sunny side of life.

The bright side – and the down side – for the only Las Vegas that counts for people in business for themselves, is what it does to the bottom line. Some benefit greatly; others wonder if they can survive the unfortunate interruptions in business access. As a small business it is difficult to take a hit of any kind.

Still, there is spin-off from the movie industry that cannot be denied. It opens the doors of Las Vegas, N.M. to people who have never been here before. It brings exposure and opportunity in unexpected ways.

If you are reading this and live in Las Vegas or in the area, make a special trip to Bridge Street/Plaza and see what's going on. It is a fascinating process to watch. While you’re there, pop into one of the stores and drop a few dollars. Restaurants, clothing and shoes stores, book stores, galleries and more, they're all open ready to serve you.

If you are reading this and you don't live in the area, come on down! It's the sweetest little town around, loaded with history and great things to see and do. Las Vegas, New Mexico may not have glitz and glamour, but it does have down-home hospitality, northern New Mexico chic, and many unique shopping experiences, including those which feature local artists.