Trip wrap up and Where NOT to stay in Hayward

We traveled from Reno to Tuloumne via Carson City.  We had breakfast at Mom and Pops Diner, and each of us had hearty breakfast  I am paying the price of eating too many plates of biscuits and gravy and this place was no exception.  The waitress asked me if I could wait, as they had JUST put the biscuits in the oven.  Fresh biscuits?  Could I WAIT???   YES. The food was good and the service was friendly.

I fell asleep on the ride over the mountains.  I missed the treetops, but frankly I was exhausted.  Pain is no joke and it has been taking it's toll on me.  I had to take much more of the pain meds than I am used to in order to cope.  NOT more than the recommended dose, just more than I usually take, as I take the minimum.  There was snow on the trip over the mountain back into California.

Black Oak Casino is a kind of new facility, they just opened the hotel three years ago, nice but blah.  The food in the casino was good, not as great as I remember from last time, but pretty good for casino food.  Maybe I was just tired and somewhat irritable.  I hope I was not a "pill"

We made reservations at the La Quinta Hotel in Hayward for our last night.  It was near enough to the Amtrak station that Anna would not have to get up at the crack of dawn to take us; we could catch a cab.

We did not stay there.

The first room had a strong smell of mold and when we looked at the ceiling we could see where there had been a leak that was just painted over, no mold abatement.  We trooped back to the reservation counter and were given another room.

I found two VERY long black hairs on the bed and when we pulled back the coverlet, it was OBVIOUS that someone had had a romantic encounter on the bed and remade it.

We fled.

We went back to the counter and told him we were leaving.  Chris called booking.com to get a refund, they had already charged us, and we were given the ok.

Now that my card has been refunded, I will be posting on their website,

We wound up staying at the Days Inn, or as I call it, the Roach Motel.   The smell of disinfectant cleaner was omnipresent, but we were tired and it was clean.  The next morning I saw a roach climbing the wall in the bathroom.  YUCK, but what did I expect?

We got a taxi ride from a weird guy who was smoking when he got out and wanted to argue with us as to where we wanted to go.  He thought he was getting a huge fare to the OAKLAND station when we wanted to go to the Hayward station.  He was pissed off.  He chanted all the way there.  We did give him $10 , which was probably twice what it cost, but he hadn't started the meter (probably cheating his employer anyway)

We caught the Capitol Corridor.  Remember I asked the Amtrak person about this train?  Her answer was if we could get the luggage on the rack above the seats we could take it.  She was wrong.  There was a luggage area near the door and we were able to stow our gear easily.  We did help out another confused rider, who was unsure as to which station he was at, He needed to get off at the station AFTER ours.  I hope he did.

We made the Amtrak heading for home.  It was running late.  Apparently the southbound train has that issue.

Once again we needed to eat on the train and I discovered that the CAFE CAR had tables that could accommodate Chris!  YEAH.  The food was still bad, but we were able to watch the ocean going by while eating a meal at a TABLE. While it did not feel like the old time elegance I had desired, it was nice to feel somewhat human as we ate our meal.

We arrived about an hour late, bedraggled and ready for home. It took forever to get a taxi, but once he arrived it was a nice trip back to the car.  We left our car at Chris' work, leaving it in Van Nuys for that long would have been an invitation to disaster.

Home again, I collapsed in our bed and I had to get u at 5:30 for work.  Remind me to build in a rest day next time.

 I am STILL tired!