(Ty Barbour/Staff File Photo)
People wait for the train to arrive at the Chico train depot on Sept. 22, 2010.
Unexpected bumps in the road along life’s journey — Part III
By JAMMIE SALAGUBANG – Buzz Editor
Thanks to help from a man named John, and after one long and bumpy airport bus ride (with said bus breaking down in Sylmar), my fiance and I finally arrived in Los Angeles.
Injuries were looked at and fussed over (my man had a burn on his forearm, I had some gnarly bruises), ice cream was demanded and given, and we settled into a whirlwind weekend of family activities and site shopping.
And then it was time to go back home.
We needed another mode of transportation as ours, sadly, had been crushed. We decided to fly, then take the bus from Sacramento airport to the Amtrak station, and then catch a cab from the station (yes — a plane, train and automobiles were all involved).
We arrived in Sacramento at 10:10 p.m. By the time we exited and got our luggage it was 10:30 p.m. Unfortunately, the last bus had left at 10 p.m. The last train left at 11:50 p.m.
SuperShuttle guaranteed they could get us to Amtrak by 11:30 p.m. Plenty of time, we thought. Our shuttle departed at 11:10 p.m. Still time, we thought … until an unscrupulous passenger waved money in the air (literally) and “convinced” the driver to drop him off first. We got to his stop at 11:30 p.m. After some irate conversations with the driver, my man convinced him to drop us off next. We got to Amtrak at 11:40 p.m.
The lady at the ticket counter informed us that in the last half hour, the price of tickets had doubled. She then told us that we were to cross to a certain track — unless we couldn’t; then we were supposed to go through a tunnel and what sounded like a rabbit warren maze until we reached our desired track.
We made it on board and chugged for home — but only after much confusion about which car we should be in, some rude comments from a conductor and after watching a cadre of security guards kick a man off the train who refused to wake up.
The conductor came and woke us up (which we did readily) at our stop. It was 2:30 a.m. Luckily, taxis were waiting, and we managed to snag one with the nicest driver, a man named Ruben, who filled us in on all the raucous partying, shenanigans and hijinks that had occurred, even with the pouring rain, that weekend in town.
It was good to be back.
Jammie Karlman is the entertainment editor for the Chico Enterprise-Record. Contact her at buzz@chicoer.com. Follow her on Twitter @JammieKarlman
Do you happen to know if there are any trains leaving Chico for Sac at 7:30 AM?
Actually, I think it leaves even earlier than that. The train seems to operate on a very weird schedule, leaving only once a day from here or something crazy like that.