Catching Up

[insert blogger's excuse for not blogging here]

During our radio silence, we moved to a house on the peninsula.  Having lived in a house for almost 8 years before moving to California, we were used to having some space and living further away from neighbors.  So we were all too happy to leave our 2 bedroom apartment for a house with a back yard.  As you can imagine, much of our hiatus was comprised of packing and moving and unpacking and getting used to our new commutes.

Normally, I'd write a trite segway like "Speaking of commutes", but I'll spare you that and instead say, "My commute is vastly different than my old one."  Better?  Yes? No? *heh*  My previous commute consisted of a 45 tiresome minutes of stop and go traffic.  But now, I can take a train to get to work.  The drive would be a 76 mile round trip drive, albeit beside a river in a valley along a mountain range.  

I drove to work for the first week in the new place to get my bearings and figure out the transportation options.  The best route consists of a 26 minute train ride and a 7 minute ride on light rail.  Conery and I go to the same station in the morning, leaving my car there.  He goes North; I go South.  We both walk to our respective offices from the stations.  My commute door-to-door is a little under an hour; his is about 40 minutes.

During the 30 so minutes of not driving, I'm either reading or playing games.  I'm on Caltrain for the majority of the time.  They are diesel powered trains with double decker seating.  There is a combo of older and newer trains in the fleet.  Regardless of the train's age, they are pretty well maintained.   The population traveling with me are, for the most part, people going to work or school.  There's rarely any loud talking.  People are reading, sleeping, working on a laptop, or listening to music.

Here are some pictures Conery took on the BART side of the station we use.

From the Front

From 11 o'clock

That's a mini BART train on the top.

Here are a few photos taken during my commute.

Boarding Caltrain

Upstairs on an Older Train

Tiny Aisle

Across From Me

Ticket Checker on a New Train's Lower Level

On the day I decided to film my crossing from Caltrain to light rail, something out of the ordinary happened.

Tagging to Get On Light Rail

While there is occasional excitement, the train is a pretty chill experience.  I have had time to read a few books.  I am saving money by taking the train.  I also have time to decompress and walk in the door relaxed.  Everybody wins!