When I think about going to Hollywood, I forget to imagine the pressure and the masses; the constant flow of people; the steady sound of traffic; the ease with which someone will lay on his car horn at 6:45am; the look and feel of dirt and grime that is part of lower income city life. No one scrubs the sidewalks and catches the spills as they happen.

But all those things take a back seat to the flowers everywhere and the view of the Griffith Park Observatory from the top floor of the apartment on Edgemont; the full moon above the palm trees; the golden sunsets blazing toward the east on Sunset Boulevard; the panorama from Barnsdall Park; the interesting array of ethnic food at Jon's; the buzz of the Los Feliz neighborhood; standing on the Santa Monica Pier waiting for that Asian guy to start his act; walking around Union Station and the downtown area.

Ashes and Snow exhibit in a temporary museum in the Pier parking lot.

Great trip.

The ride turned out to be delightful and quick. We got the sleeper, the good side of the train, tasty meals included in the upgrade, beautiful weather. Now we are experiencing true cold weather in Hollywood, rain, some sleet and a tiny bit of snow in the western mountain peaks. In spite of that, the birds are singing, azaleas, camellias, and all sort of other plants are blooming. Nice to be here.

Amtrak :::sigh:::

I love to travel by train but Amtrak is so uneven in its presentation. Sometimes it's a great trip and sometimes it's dirty, stinky and slow as molasses. If someone has a heart attack in the middle of nowhere, the train stops and waits a couple of hours for an ambulance. Some of the back country scenery is staggeringly beautiful. The food is way overpriced. The club car has terrific 360º views. The seats are nice and wide but if you have a crabby old lady from Back East next to you complaining all the way, well, that's no fun. You have to remember to take a jacket or a blanket because it gets chilly at night.

I roped Sugar into travelling with me to LA by train for this trip. Looking forward to it. We were offered a cheap upgrade to a sleeper with meals included so this trip should great!

LA, here we come.