2006 November trip to Southern California Day 7 

     We started out very early today because Caltrans was supposed to shut down the interchange of Interstate 15 and 215 at 9:00AM which has been causing extreme traffic problems in the area. After saying goodbye to my brother and his wife we started off on our journey. We did briefly stop at Burger King for breakfast before making a bee line over CajonPass and past the interchange that is causing the traffic nightmare.

      Once past the interchange we got off and started following old Routes 66 and 91. While are back tracking a little today we are getting the opportunity to follow the tracks of the Santa Fe plus get pictures that we could not on Tuesday. Once past Foothill Blvd we loose old Route 66 and now are just following old Route 91. In Colton we passed a sign for a Fedco store which have been out of business for something like 20 years.

       I tried to get some pictures of the old train station in Colton but it was blocked by train cars so no picture was possible. Once we got into Riverside we jumped on Interstate 215 and headed toward the RiversideNationalCemetery. My Uncle George was one of the early people buried in this military cemetery. I had not been to his grave site in more than 20 years so the place had changed a lot. When Uncle George passed away there were no trees or anything but now there are a large number of mature trees. I got directions to my Uncle and Aunt’s graves so we headed over to the area. I did not recognize the area but after figuring finally figuring out how they number the graves I was able to find the grave marker.

      We are just a couple of days away from Veterans Day so the cemetery was getting everything prepared since they would have special events all weekend. We took some pictures of the area and then started to heading out.

      We took Interstate 215 back to Riverside were we started driving down old US Highway 91 which from Riverside to Corona is actually Magnolia. We crossed the BNSF tracks and I saw a Metrolink train head toward the crossing but I was able to find a safe place to stop to take a picture before it roared through.

      Our intention was to drive old US 91 all the way to Interstate 605 except for the short stretch that no longer exist between Corona and Yorba Linda. However, traffic on the Riverside Freeway (California 91) was stopped dead in this section so by the time we got through the traffic, I decided to just head directly to my Uncle’s house in Whittier. Traffic was bad on 91 and once again became a stand still on Interstate 5 where they are expanding the freeway. It took us nearly an hour in a section that should take no more than 20 minutes.

      By the time we got to Whittier and to my Uncle’s apartment we were about 30-minutes late. To top it all off we could not find a place to park in front of his apartment so we ended up parking around the corner on a side street. We spent some nice time with my Uncle John then all three of us went to a little coffee shop for lunch. We spent an hour in the coffee shop before dropping off Uncle John and saying our goodbyes and heading back to OrangeCounty.

      Our next goal was to ride a Metrolink train. We headed down Wittier Blvd but traffic was bad even by this area’s standards possible because of all the construction on Interstate 5. By the time we got close to the Fullerton train station we would have missed the train so we decided to just go and check into our motel which was the Extended Stay America at the AnaheimConvention center which is a short walk to Disneyland.

      After we checked in and got settled in I checked the Metrolink schedule and saw that I could take a train from the nearby Anaheim station down to Irvine and back and still be back at the motel before we would want diner. Elsa was feeling pretty worn out after sleeping on by brother’s hide away bed for two nights and our early start today so she stayed while I headed to the Metrolink station.

      I purchased my ticket and within a few minutes the Metrolink train arrived. The train was only about half full so I was able to find a seat on the upper level and watch the scenery go by. The trip to Irvine did not take that long and once their, I crossed over the tracks on the pedestrian bridge and headed over to the station.

      This station not only serves Metrolink, it serves Amtrak with an Amtrak ticket counter, Greyhound and Orange County Transit. I was actually very impressed with the over all station. I went over and took a picture of an OCTA bus. Then I took a few more pictures and when I heard a call for a security guard and I saw a Amtrak employee watching me. Well with all the harassment of photographers these days, I decided just to walk back to the platform, and catch the train I came in on. This train would actually head to Riverside but I took it to Santa Ana, and then waited about 10-minutes for the train back to Anaheim. Both of these trains were standing room only. Once back in Anaheim I drove back to the motel, picked up Elsa and we looked for a place to eat.

      We thought being in the Disney are it would be pretty easy finding a place to eat which it was. Except for all the places close to Disney including Denny’s had lines out the door and down the street so we took a little drive. Even though I lived in Southern California for many years we only came to Orange County to either see the Angels play or go to Knott’s Berry Farm so I didn’t know this area that well. Well we drove around and we found a Norm’s, an old style coffee shop but once again they had a long line. After filling the Torrent with gas we found a Carrow’s restaurant that was not busy so we had dinner there. For those not familiar with Carrow’s it was part of the Santa Fe railroad empire until the merger with BNSF and is now an independent company. Think of it as a high end coffee shop but the food and the service is usually excellent.

     After a nice dinner we found our way back to the motel and head off to sleep because we had a very early day tomorrow.