OUT IN THE WORLD WITHOUT YOUR CAR: Getting to the California desert without driving 10 hours



By Janet Byron
When Steve and I decided to head to Southern California to visit family and friends to see the wildflowers at Anza-Borrego State Park, we relied on a variety of modes of transportation: train, bus, car, foot, plane, BART, and Lyft.



To get from El Cerrito to Los Angeles Union Station, we took a Lyft to the Amtrak station in Emeryville and boarded the Coast Starlight train. At 10 to 12 hours it's a long ride, but virtually every moment is enjoyable and stress free. The only holdup was a delay to remove a tree on the tracks up ahead — comparable to a backup on I-880 or the 405 but minus the traffic anxiety. We were able to read, catch up on email, and, mostly, look out the window at the incredibly green and verdant hills, waterlogged farms in Monterey County, swollen sloughs (with otters!), and dramatic coastline at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Above, I caught Steve just as we were passing a ghost town in wetlands south of the Dumbarton Bridge.

We walked a few blocks from L.A. Union Station to our (minimalist but clean) hotel. After spending a few days in L.A. (the historic Greene & Greene Gamble House, Huntington Library, the Museums of Natural History and Contemporary Art, and a stairway walk in Echo Park), we took a FlixBus to UC San Diego; we had wanted to take the Pacific Surfliner, but it was sold out. Near San Diego we stayed with Steve’s family friends in Del Mar, then at the HI hostel downtown, which we both highly recommend. Highlights of this leg included the 7 Bridges hike (above, Virginia Street bridge) and Ethiopian food in North Park with an old friend from college.


At last, Steve took a street car to the San Diego Airport to rent a car, and we drove 2 hours to Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest state park in the state — and the country. We had 4 days in the desert, taking in an explosion of wildflowers during several days of hiking. Steve brought along his telescope, and we had two nights of spectacular stargazing in the International Dark-Sky Park. Finally, we drove back to the San Diego Airport, flew back to San Francisco, and took BART to El Cerrito Plaza. It was raining pretty hard when we got there, so we sprung for a Lyft home.


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