At 10:42am yesterday morning, an eruption of excitement came to me in my seat on the Surfline Amtrak heading to Los Angeles. Needing an outlet for the moment’s energy, I began writing this post:

Excuse me!? Nobody told me the Amtrak has 120 volt electrical outlets for every seat! This is nuts! I’m in travel writer heaven! I can write for as long as I’m on the train with no battery budgeting, no turning off my various devices (wifi, usb, etc) to save a measley percentage of power. I can look out the window and write about what I see…I can use the passing surroundings as inspiration for more writings. It is such a fantastic experience to sit in the Amtrak with a word document open, and no fear of losing poewr.

YES!

Getting on with the midway review: Amtrak impressions so far are fantastic. Though we haven’t yet left the station yet, I have a feeling we will be departing on time (scheduled to depart at 10:50 am.

The boarding was tame and orderly. I was slightly confused and dissoriented when I entered the train, and decided to follow the gentleman trooping ahead in front of me up the stairs. This turned out to be a good thing, as I later learned: The bottom floor is reserved for seniors and disabled passengers only. Fair enough.

Just a quick update. While I was writing the last paragraph, the Amtrak left the station. It is now 10:53 am, the Amtrak car left the station at EXACTLY 10:50am. I LOVE it when things are on time.

Well. I’m going to write a review, and sit back to enjoy my paradise.

See you after the jump!

I did indeed make it to Los Angeles.

After a brief mixup about the arranged meeting place, my sister and I were united. We drove to her workplace and chilled out for about three hours.

I wrote three reviews and napped for an hour.

I’m at her house now, and tired as heck (didn’t sleep the night before) so I’m going to go…sleep. Will be wandering around a bit later, and should be able to post some pictures/updates about the city.