The flight from PHX to PDX was fine except for the late gate change that has go all the way from gate A25 to B6. Long walk! First class on AA was very nice with a decent lunch served. Picked up our silver Jeep Compass 4×4 – third rental in a row with a Jeep SUV. This one in named Jerry the Jeep. The traffic around and well outside of Portland was horrific. Everyone in Portland must be headed to the shore for the weekend. We stopped in McMinnville in the Willamette Valley for a wine tasting and bought six bottles of pinot noir. After McMinnville the traffic was OK. After a quick bit of essential shopping near Depoe Bay, we arrived at our usual condo, the Beacon. It is as beautiful as ever.
Weather is perfect. Cool but very comfortable in the sun. The whales are here! We watched three or four cavort just of the shore for an a hour or so as we sipped (gulped?) cocktails. Dinner was at Tidal Raves. Elaine had delicious red curry BBQ shrimp and I had the albacore tuna special. Naturally there was a bottle of wine – Monk’s Head Oregon Pinot Noir. The sunset outside was beautiful.
After dinner we went back to the condo and went to bed, tired but happy. The weather forecast is unbelievably good. Hope they are right (for a change).
On Friday we leave for Depoe Bay, Oregon, our third visit there in six years. We will be staying in the same condo, the Beacon, as on our prior two trips. In the past we have driven, three days up, three days back. We love road trips. However, this year we are flying (non-stop PHX to PDX on American Airlines). In Portland we will pick up an Alamo rental SUV and make the two and a half hour drive to Depoe Bay. On the way we’ll probably stop in McMinnville to visit a winery and pick up some good Oregon Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. We’ve seen most of what there is to see around Depoe Bay, so the plan this time is relaxing. Blog posts will be every other day or so.
The View from Our Bedroom in Depoe Bay
Next post: Probably sometime Friday night or Saturday morning
Sunday gambling turned out OK when I hit the last two races including the double. It’s now Monday morning. Weather looks beautiful for my last day at the track. Tomorrow I check out, drive back to Albany and get the train at 7 PM for the long ride back to Flagstaff. This will be my last post until i get home unless something memorable happens today (like I hit the Pick Six – heh).
Beautiful day at the track. Sunny and not too hot. Gambling wise, meh.
Friday
Weather: Continues to be beautiful
Gambling: Blah.
Dinner: Partook of the Marriott Residence Inn happy hour for my dinner.
Who remembers Secretariat? Probably everyone. He was ridden by jockey Ron Turcotte who was later disabled in a riding accident. He’s still around.
Me with Ron Turcotte
Saturday
Weather: A front was due through but it came in the early AM with some showers, but it was sunny by 9:00 AM. HUGE crowd at the track.
Gambling: OK
Dinner: Last pizza of the trip – Margherita – very nice
Mike Shea (the brother of my late great friend Alice) and his wife Rosemary were in town for the weekend. This week is Mike’s 70th birthday. So his entire family showed up for a surprise celebration: sister Kathy, brother Paul with wife Mary, brother Fred, son Stephen with his oldest son (8 y.o.), Fred’s son Ricky, and maybe one or two I missed. It was great seeing them all again. Many Alice stories were told and retold. Stephen, by the way, is chairman of the Mathematics Department at St Anselm’s College and has written highly regarded books about basketball analytics.
Click photos to enlarge
Kathy, Paul, Mary, & Fred
Rosemary and Birthday Boy Mike
The Sheas at the Track
Mike and Rosemary with son Stephen and grandson (one of Stephan’s four kids)
It was raining when I got up, but it stopped about noon. We sat is our usual spot and it didn’t rain again all afternoon, so we stayed dry. Did I mention my friend Bob from Arlington was here? I managed to about break even. For dinner we went to Pennell’s and both had the veal with peppers special.
Here’s an old picture from the Albany Times Union of my dear friend Alice and me at the track many years back in the rain. We were news worthy! (Click to enlarge)
Tuesday
Dark day at the track. Still lots of showers in the area. Bob and I went to the new Bow-Tie Cinema in Saratoga Springs and saw the new Jason Bourne movie with Matt Damon. It was not as good as the older ones, but it held your interest. For lunch we had an ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. Dinner at the Wishing Well was excellent. They have great steaks, and the corn on the cob was delicious.
Wednesday
Ah, sunny day and no humidity. This is how Saratoga is supposed to be. Broke even again, and I remain a few $$ ahead. Bob headed back to Boston after the eighth race. He may or may not return on Sunday for my last two days at the track. Alone for dinner, I ate in. Left over pizza and left over ziti.
Thursday
It’s 8:00 AM now and the weather is perfect. The forecast is good through Tuesday when I leave save for the possibility of showers Saturday morning. Hope the meteorologist are right for a change. Lots of people coming starting today and going into the weekend: Michael from NY, Jeff from Chicago, Jeff and Gilian from CT, Mut from the Red Sox, Mike and Rosemary, Anthony and Rose, Carole, Ron and Pam, Ed the Pharmacist. The Elks from Marshfield are in town. So a few guys from the Shamrock in South Boston. Busy days, quiet nights. Tonight Patty and her daughter Misty are taking me to dinner. I’ll have to leave the track after the eighth race.
Sunday: Rained all day. Sat in the Festival Tent in the back yard where my four friends from Baltimore had a table for six and graciously invited us to use the last two seats. Kept us dry. Had three winners but they were all short prices, so I just managed to break even. Beats losing.
Monday: It’s 6:00 AM and pouring. Rain supposed to end mid-day, but we’ll probably sit in the tent again. Monday is usually a low attendance day, but today is a giveaway – a Saratoga duffel bag sponsored by Foxwoods Casino in CT. So there will be a big crowd of people to get the giveaway who will all go home after they get it. There will be no grass racing again. Rain in Saratoga sucks.
Our pizza last night was good. There are leftovers. Pizza for breakfast?
Catch up. Sorry for no posts – no time. Horse racing is like a job. Up early (5:00 am) to start handicapping process. At 7:00 off to the track to reserve my spot in the back yard. Breakfast at 7:30. More handicapping, make my salad, read the paper. Maybe a 30 minute nap. Off to King’s Tavern at 10:30 to check in. Back to the track at 11:00 to get scratches and eat my salad. Races start at 1:00. Out of the track at about 6:45. Off to dinner somewhere with someone (or getting take out for myself). Time for bed.
Thursday: Did OK on day two with two winners. Small crowd (relatively) and nice and relaxed at the track. Weather was hot but not unpleasantly so. For dinner I had fried chicken from Hattie’s again. Bad me – too much fried food.
Friday: John and Lino from Marshfield arrived as did Michael from New York. Good weather again. Tough day betting wise but I bailed out with a $21 winner in the last race. Dinner was at the Brook Tavern (owned by the Wishing Well) with John and Linda. The Wishing Well owner was there and he sent over complementary deep fried pickles. I had six Duxbury (MA) oysters – small but scrumptious; delicious veal chop with mashed sweet potato; vanilla ice cream. For dessert Lino had a wonderful flourless chocolate cake that was to die for.
Saturday: Weather holding well. Huge crowd, long lines. Hit the first race and then got shut out the rest of the way. First losing day. The oddity of the day was a maiden (non-winner) winning the featured Jim Dandy handicap. Saw some friends from Baltimore. For dinner I cooked up my own pasta (ziti with lines) and Newman’s Sockerooni sauce. Tasty. Early to bed.
Sunday: It’s 6 am and raining steadily. The rain is supposed to continue for two days. Not good. No fun in Saratoga when it’s raining, but we will soldier on. My friend Bob arrives today. I called him and gave him the option to cancel and maybe come next weekend, but he is coming anyway. Pizza is the plan for tonight. Genarro’s.
To catch up, the train from Chicago to Albany was two hours late arriving in Albany. Then I had to take a cab to the airport to get my Alamo rental as that was by far the best deal – $435 for two weeks for an SUV. Well, cabs from the railway station are shared, and I rode with a woman going to Troy for a conference. Infuriatingly, the driver decided it was best to take her to Troy first. I know the area well enough to know that makes no sense whatsoever. And there was rush hour traffic. And she didn’t have the right address for her destination at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy. After the driver finally got her where she needed to go, he took me to the airport. He got a very small tip. Now way late and with a dinner date in Saratoga to make, naturally there is a line of about six people at the Alamo counter. They have a kiosk check-in machine, so I decided to try it despite someone else just giving up on it as not working. Lo and behold, it worked for me! So I got my printout and headed for the garage. My car is a black Jeep Compass SUV (I have named him Gene) – oddly that’s the same car I got from Budget for my ride from Scottsdale to Flagstaff. I drove to my hotel (only 25 minutes), took a quick shower, and went to pick up my friend Patty for dinner.
Dinner was at the Wishing Well, my favorite Saratoga restaurant. I had gimlets, a nice shrimp cocktail, and double cut lamb chops, all delicious. I dropped Patty off and headed home to the Marriott for bed.
Wednesday
After setting up my office at the track, I went to Hannaford’s for shopping to stock the room with supplies: beer, water, diet Coke, makings for salads, snacks, and other various and sundry things. Back to the room to make my salad – I bring my own salad to the track everyday for lunch. Simple salad: romaine, cucumbers, red onion, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and blue cheese crumbles with Newman’s lite Caesar dressing in a separate container. Love it.
The weather was hot but not oppressive. No rain. I stopped in at King’s Tavern to say hello and had a nice chat with Adam, one of the owners. Ed, my pharmacist friend from CT came in – he had the day off and came up for the day, so we sat together at our usual spot in the track back yard. The day at the track went very well. I didn’t bet the first race, a steeplechase. My first bet on the second race got me off to a flying start – $26.60 winner! (Winner, winner, chicken dinner – later I would get fried chicken from Hattie’s to take home my dinner). Then in race five I hit the $34.60 winner. Two winners for the day, but at prices like that it made for a very successful day. I had several other horses run extremely well but not well enough to win.
I already told you about dinner. I woke early after a good night’s sleep, and here I am posting early Thursday morning.
Checked at 11 pm and again at 3 am – the train was running about 50 minutes late. I showered, packed up, and checked out and then started off on the 10-minute walk, luggage in tow, to the Amtrak Station. The train was indeed 50 minutes late. I boarded car #431, and set up shop in roomette #2. The train consists of two engines, a baggage car, three sleeper cars, a dining car, an observation car, and three cars of coach seats.
I had breakfast at 6:30, sitting with two scout leaders and a scout on their way from LA to Raton, NM for a two week hiking adventure. One of the leaders was British although now living in LA. We traded UK/Brexit stories over breakfast. I had a three-egg swiss cheese and veggie omelet, bacon, biscuit, orange juice, and milk. Then I took a nice nap in my room.
The ride through New Mexico and Colorado is beautiful, through the mountains. I brought my GPS for the window, but I brought the wrong cord to charge it. Dumb! Fortunately I have GPS in my phone and a mapping app, so I am able to follow the route as we go as well as monitor time, speed, and elevation. 90 mph is top speed. Lunch was a burger, sharing a table with a couple from Ruidoso, NM on their way to a Lionel toy train convention in Kansas City and a gentlemen returning home to Rockford, IL after visiting family in LA.
At 5:00 pm Star, my sleeping couch attendant, brought me a bucket of ice and I enjoyed a nice gimlet (pre-mixed at home and in a thermos jug in my carry-on bag). Dinner was at the 6:45 sitting with a man from Nevada headed for Chicago and a Rudy Giuliani look-a-like from somewhere or other. Rudy was self absorbed with himself and rarely shut up. Dinner was a surprisingly good steak with mashed potatoes and green beans preceded by a dinner salad. Very nice vanilla ice cream for dessert. I rarely get wines on Amtrak – the selection is minimal and the quality poor. Food, by the way, is all included in the fare although alcohol is extra.
After dinner I tucked in. We were in Lamar, CO when I hit the sack, and I pretty much slept through until we reached Topeka, KS. There were four stops in between, but I only awoke for one of them.
Some Pictures (Click to Enlarge in a New Tab or Window
AZ from the Train
My Sleeper Car at Albuquerque Stop
One of Our Two Locomotives
Albuquerque Amtrak Station
Sleeper Car Door
From My Roomette
Clouds in Colorado
The Locomotives Start Rounding a Curve
Monday – On Amtrak into Chicago
I got up at 5:00 am and was the first one into the shower room on my sleeper car. Breakfast was, as always, at 6:30 am right when the dining car opens. I ate with one gentleman with whom I sat previously and with a mother and daughter on their way home to Detroit from a vacation in Santa Fe. I had the same breakfast as yesterday. Amtrak doesn’t overwhelm you with choices.
The ride for the remainder of the trip was uneventful. The highlight was crossing the Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa. Once cross the Mississippi, the landscape changes dramatically to farmland and small towns. We arrived in Chicago precisely on time.
I will pick up the narrative again when I get a chance, probably when I check in at the Marriott in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday night (or more likely, Wednesday morning. I have big news about the Chicago to Albany leg of the train trip. You’ll have to come back to find out!
More Pictures
The Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa
The Bridge over the Mississippi That We will Soon Cross
Saturday morning Elaine took me to pick up a Budget rent a car (Jeep Compass SUV) in Scottsdale. Then it was back home to finish packing and have a farewell lunch with Elaine. At 1:00 PM I was off for Flagstaff.
Two hours later I checked in to the Flagstaff Drury Inn and Suites, right at the Northern Arizona University (NAU) campus and a short walk from downtown. After taking the luggage to the room, I headed to Flagstaff Airport to turn in the car. A short cab ride later and I was back at the Drury Inn in a drenching thunderstorm. Nice to see rain, actually; we don’t see much in Scottsdale. Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet, but it’s still very warm – over 80 degrees. But it will go in the 50’s tonight and should still be in the 50’s when I leave the hotel at 4:00 AM, luggage in tow, to walk the 1/2 mile to the Amtrak station. The train is due in Flagstaff at 4:31 AM, but it is often late, sometimes hours late. Amtrak is not noted for its on-time record. They do have a very good smart phone app where you can check the status. My train left LA Union Station on-time at 6:10 PM on Saturday, is due to reach Needles, CA at 12:18 AM Sunday, and get to Flagstaff at 4:31 AM.
This will be it for wi-fi for blog updates until I reach in Chicago Monday afternoon. Hopefully I can do a little update from somewhere around Union Station with wi-fi while waiting for the Lake Shore Express which is scheduled to depart Chicago at about 9:30.
