Sorry in the long delay for finally getting this trip report up, but after returning from San Diego, tennis really did seem to eat up most of my free time. And now that school has started, I finally get the chance to report back on my first solo trip to San Diego.
After a month of temperatures in the low 100s and numerous desert thunderstorms, it was finally time for my teammate and I to head west to California for a tennis camp at the University of California- San Diego. We set out on the westbound Sunset Limited train #1/421 leaving El Paso right on-time on July 18th. We were referred to as the Ice teens by the crew since they all knew us as at the ice delivery kids at El Paso Union Depot. We normally roll the bags of ice out onto to platform for the train prior to arrival as part of a volunteering program spearheaded by my own desire to assist the lone ticket agent in El Paso. And with the appropriate permission, and sponsorship from my high school's National Honor Society, this program has helped service the Sunsets every saturday afternoon throughout the year.
Our train ran on-time through the desolate wilderness of southern New Mexico and Arizona, stopping only briefly to let off a few brave souls willing to explore the desert in mid July. Upon arrival in Tucson, we quickly discovered that the station is once again in the middle of big refurbishment project, and having to step off the train onto the platform 3 feet below (even with the stepbox) is not for the faint of heart. Tucson's station was alive and bustling with passengers getting on and off, as well as a newly built restaurant and bar both open and packed to the rim. We retired for the night shortly after departure from Tucson right on schedule.
We awoke to my alarm on my cell phone going off at 5:00am Pacific time, just as we were speeding past the Salton Sea. After fighting for dibs on the shower downstairs (the wonders of what paper, scissors, rock can do for you) we headed to the Diner for breakfast. I should have mentioned this earlier, but we did not have a normal Diner. We had a substitute Cross-Country Cafe. Apparently our Diner had wheels issues in New Orleans so this was robbed from the CofNO. After experiencing these just a month ago on the Eagle and Capitol, I was a bit tired of the layout and small table space. But all was made up by our wonderful steward Alice, and her never ending humorous personality. We pulled into Palm Springs a few minutes early only to discover the same temperature back home, and we quickly re-boarded. The rest of the way into Los Angeles was quick and uneventful, we pulled to a stop on platform 12 at 8:43am about a full hour early. We did want to change to an earlier Surfliner south but we assumed our bags would not since they had tags for our assigned Surfliner. So we waited it out in the slightly warm great hall, passing the time with phone calls home, and simply watching the amount of people circulating through the station.
After our 2 hour wait we finally boarded Surfliner 572 in Business class headed to San Diego. We sped out of Union Station on-time, and made out way down the coast quickly and comfortably. We ended up arriving in San Diego right on schedule and we quickly found our camp counselor sent from the University of California-San Diego to pick us up and take us back to the campus a few miles north of San Diego.
Our time at the camp seemed too short, and with so many new friends to keep in touch with, everyone attacked us with phone numbers and social networking addresses. My overall opinion of UCSD was great but not quite for me, I'm hoping for a tennis scholarship and a division 2 school doesn't exactly make the cut, especially if they don't have the most common major in the system (Business Management). My parents joined me on the trip back since my teammate had to fly home due to time and I had to stay an extra day to do a campus tour. The trip back was uneventful and yet still interesting. We left July 26th on Surfliner 769 once again in Business class transferring back to the Sunset in LA. A broken down freight outside of Palm Springs caused us to back into Palm Springs, a first for my travel experiences. We awoke Monday morning bright and early to find us running on-time once again. We quickly had breakfast after Deming as to prepare for our arrival into El Paso which we did at 8:00am some 15 minutes early putting a terrific travel season and summer to an end. The only thing left was a few weeks to relax and sharpen my tennis skill level as school was due to start on the 24th of August. Summer vacation never seemed so great. Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Well, I guess Kevy is all set to put Roger away in three 6-Love sets at the Open - and had a good train ride in the process.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Thanks for the trip report, Sunset! Glad it went well, and I am glad your namesake train is performing better (more on-time)!
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Great report and very well written. Does my alma mater, UCLA, still have a good tennis program? I remember Arthur Ashe well.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Honor Society = Quality trip reporting!
Good job and hopefully that tennis scholarship will come through for you at the right school.
Posted by amtrak92 (Member # 14343) on :
Nice report, Hope you get the scholarship
Posted by SunsetLtd (Member # 3985) on :
Thanks everyone, for the great comments!!!! Right now my fingers are crossed for either SDSU or USD. UCLA would be great but the financial burden would be too much for my family and i'm not quite sure how the tennis program is there.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
You know, you could just shoot for Duke University! The Amtrak station is only a few blocks from the east campus!
And then there is NC State where Amtrak actually bisects the campus.
Posted by 20th Century (Member # 2196) on :
Excellent report. Good luck with your pursuits.
Posted by railrev (Member # 2640) on :
On the west coast some of the Division lines and even the NCAA/NAIA lines get a little fuzzy (pardon the pun) in tennis. Many of the D2, D3 schools play D1 schools airly evenly. Does USD offer tennis scholarships? They play D3 football and do not have scholarships, I believe.
Anyway, hope you find a good school in this area. Lots of opportunities.
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