In the next few days Traveling Well launches its second Reality Tour. Join us on a virtual journey as we return to a bygone era and ride four of California’s most historic trains. From San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Warf to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and beyond, adventure awaits. All aboard!
Highlights of this tour include:
Two nights in [...]
Welcome to Traveling Well’s second Reality Tour. This post comes to you almost live from 34,000 feet. I am drafting this just as our Airbus A320 has reached its cruising altitude. Sitting next to me is Chad Litchfield, a graphic designer at Collette. Together we are riding the Historic Trains of California tour.
Chad and I [...]
It is not down in any map; true places never are.
- Herman Melville
I can’t help but feel literary in San Francisco. Many of my heroes have come through here – Jack Kerouac and Mark Twain especially. It’s a great American city. The end of the line (railroad allusion intended). We are on the fringe – [...]
On this night, Chad and I had dinner with Dave Mitchell, the Tour Manager. I wanted to head up to North Beach, San Francisco’s “Little Italy.” After a long day in the air, I was looking for some real pasta and a chance to dine outside. This is one of my favorite places in the [...]
This is Chad’s first time on the West Coast. He’s anxious to put his feet in the Pacific. So, early in the morning of day 2 we head down to the waterfront. The sun has just come up and now I know I am in San Francisco because fog covers the bay, obscuring the towers [...]
It’s time for our San Francisco city tour. The passengers are starting to fill the motorcoach. They look like a good group, upbeat and ready to start the day.
David, the Tour Manager, is milling about. He’s making sure everyone is aboard and introduces us all to Jane, our step-on guide.
What an opportunity. Jane is [...]
With our city tour complete, Chad and I took some time to gather some images and video of this wonderful city. We started with a cable car ride down to Union Square. Some of the other passengers did the same, some stayed in Sausalito to enjoy the shopping and fine restaurants.
Chad and I work right [...]
Since I first met her, Cathy Donahue, Collette’s west coast Product Manager has been telling me that the dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf is something the passengers just love. Well, she was right. Neptune’s Palace was fantastic.
This was my first chance to get to sit down and talk with some of the other passengers. Chad [...]
On day 3 of Historic Trains of California we travel east out of San Francisco and over the Bay Bridge.
Drew, our driver, calls this the “working bridge.” The orange one is nice to look at but this one handles the heavy load.
Already, just from helping him put the luggage onto the motor coach, I [...]
Now for our first historic train. We climb aboard the Sierra Railroad at its historic western terminus in Oakdale. This railroad, founded in 1897, was built to connect California’s Central Valley to the Gold County.
After pulling out from the old fashioned depot the Collette group remain pinned to the windows of our car. Everyone [...]
It’s lunch time! But where is Chad?
As we start a wonderful lunch, the other passengers keep asking, “where’s Chad?”
Let me back track. Before we boarded the train, Chad and I tracked down one of the owners – Chris Hart. We needed his okay to take some pictures. Part of our job while riding the [...]
Welcome to Day 4.
Last night we stayed in the historic gold rush town of Sonora, tucked in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s. There will be time later to talk about this sleepy place and its famous Red Church.
This is the day I’ve been waiting for ever since I first found out I’d be riding [...]
There are so many great pictures and video of our time in Yosemite. Here’s a wonderful shot that captures a nice moment between two Collette passengers – Bill and Loretta from Pittsburgh.
And some Yosemite video…
After a whirlwind of days on tour, I planned to chill out at the hotel. Spending the day at Yosemite had left me a little tired.
I called home and then decided to jump in the pool. Several of the passengers were doing the same. There’s not a lot of poolside time on a “historic trains” [...]
Day 5 of Historic Trains of California is jam packed.
We open in Jamestown to visit Railtown 1897 Historic Park. The peaceful ride out of Sonora brings us into Gold Rush country and it feels like we are really beginning the trains part of the tour.
David, the Tour Manager, keeps everyone entertained with bits of trivia. [...]
The trip from Railtown to Sacramento gives everyone a chance to relax. I think most of us are looking forward to unpacking just once for the next three days. We’ll be using the hotel in Sacramento as our base to visit Lake Tahoe, ride the River Train and to explore the California capital.
Our step-on guide [...]
Day 6 is all about Lake Tahoe.
Let’s skip the ride there and get right to the good stuff.
Resting on the border of California and Nevada, Lake Tahoe is a massive freshwater lake – America’s second-deepest. It’s also a huge tourist draw.
This place was never on my to-do list. But now I would recommend the lake [...]
To cap off day six, Chad and I joined a few of the passengers downstairs at Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza. This hotel is centrally located and allows us to walk to Old Sacramento or into downtown. There’s also a nice mall right nextdoor. So if you are like me and maybe forgot to pack something [...]
Put your hands up and keep them up because we are about to travel through time – back to the old west. And once aboard the Sacramento River Train anything can happen.
Before we set out on this adventure, nearly everyone took advantage of the included breakfast at the hotel. After that we gathered up in the lobby [...]
The train pulled out with a pair of cowboys on board. One handed out “money” to the passengers, sharing the wealth we thought he was trying to protect. (no one said the story had to make sense) And he’s posing for pictures, mugging for the camera. Everyone is eating it up. Even a cynic like [...]
Upon our return to Sacramento, Chad and I head over to the California State Railroad Museum. It’s on our list from Collette HQ of things to see.
Other passengers are heading over there as well. Mr. Davis and Mr. Ruehle are milling about.
The place is fantastic. What an amazing collection they have. Located right in Old [...]
It was sad leaving Sacramento behind. I’d grown fond of California’s capital. But as always, today we had something to look forward to.
I wasn’t sure what to expect on Day 8. Would the Napa Valley Wine Train live up to the hype?
Now I enjoy a glass of red wine now and then but it’s not [...]
Today Drew – captain of the motorcoach – more than earned his paycheck.
On a trip carefully crafted to keep the rides on the short side, the drive up from Napa Valley to Ft. Bragg felt long. I have to admit I was wondering why would we go up so far. Couldn’t we meet the Skunk [...]
We are on the home stretch of our Reality Tour.
As the sun comes up, Chad and I help to load the luggage and then we head down to the Ft. Bragg cliffs again.
They look different in the morning. The horizon seems further off and the sea angrier.
Yes, we are at the end. Near the [...]
This was my favorite historical train of the tour.
The Skunk Train was a short drive from our hotel. After David secured the tickets we had some time in the gift shop. I bought a Redwood burl – from which tiny redwood sprouts are already growing.
The train left Ft. Bragg, our jumping off point. We slid [...]
Last night we drove down from Ft. Bragg. Dave, our tour manager, conspired with Drew to change up the route to ensure that we would travel over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way through San Francisco.
It was a nice touch. It had been too foggy to see much of the bridge on the first [...]
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