So this weekend, I did something very very stupid. My sister needs the car for church events on every Friday. So when my friends called me to hang out with them in LA this weekend, I decided to take that little trip on Amtrak.
Now, I have great memories about taking Amtrak. Itook many trips from Santa Barbara to LA with my best friend Karen, or to go see my ex boyfriend in Irvine. I met a cool dude who works as music PR agent who introduced me to a Loyola law graduate entertainment lawyer. Great great memories.
I got to the Santa Ana station as scheduled... And about 10 minutes before my scheduled departure time, a train came to the station. I was like, wth? so early? I got on. Passed the Orange station. But then, something felt different... Everything looked different inside and even though it's been 3 years since I got on amtrak, I just felt like asking around. I turned to the person next to me, and this lady was.. KNITTING. Ok, a good sign.
"Excuse me, but do you know if this train goes to the LAX Union station?"
"Oh dear~~ No, this goes to the valley~"
I showed her my ticket and and she goes, "Oh~ You have to get on AMTRAK. This one is METROLINK"
OMYGOD*(#Y%IHG HOW STUPID AM I? DO NOT TELL PEOPLE THAT I GO TO LAW SCHOOL. OMG OMG OMG THIS IS TOO EMBARRASSING.
Fighting really hard not to scream or cry, I smiled, said thank you, and got off at the next station, which was Anaheim Metrolink Station. Oh great, AMTRAK doesn't even COME to this station. And this station looked a LOT like the one in Goleta. No ticket office, just one dude walking around to check schedules. He told me to take a bus to Fullerton Transit Center and then take the next train at 6:30 (it was 6:00 already), or the next one at 8 something.
#(*YTIG(U3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After two long walks, a 10-minute wait, and a 15-minute bus ride, I got to the Fullerton station. The Good News was that, at least I could use the same ticket to get on the train.... The Bad News was that the next train to the Union Station is at 8:20pm. Arrival time at 8:55pm. Such a LONG wait for such a short trip!
I called all my friends and warned them, "you guys are NOT going to bed tonight. You'll ALLLLL stay up and keep me entertained."
I got to LA safely.. and talked, drank, ate, went karaokeing, until 5AM. My loyal friends.. =)
The best part of that trip was, when I was waiting for the train, I started knitting. The sun went down and bugs started noises in the bushes. The weather cooled down a lot. I was knitting and knitting. People came by to ask me what I was making. Ah, the zen of knitting. I calmed down and started enjoying this accidental trip to Fullerton. =)
It was a long trip but it was so worth it. I can't remember the last time all of us from UCSB got together like that.
Yeah, it's fun to go out and stuff with new people. But I miss those nights at a friend's house with all your friends there, playing video games, or watching movies, eating popcorn, drinking beer, listening to random music, talk about new trends, politics, about other friends, new relationships...
The next day, my friend's niece was born. =)
P.S.: Swimmer Tae Hwan Park won the gold medal in 400m! Yay~