So...this weekend was my 60th birthday (March 30). As a gift, my wife bought us tickets to ride the Amtrak Surfliner from Los Angeles Union Station to Santa Barbara, CA. We drove down to LA (We live in the San Francisco Bay Area). We also went down there to visit our son who is senior at UCLA. We stayed at my brother-in-laws (he lives down there). On Saturday we caught the 7:50 am train at Union Station. It was a wonderful 2 1/2 hour trip in the business class section. Our passenger car was right behind the engine. There was a private car at the end. It was an old Burlington dome car...and then another locomotive. During part of the trip the train runs along the shore of the Pacific Ocean. My son, bro-in-law and mom-in-law drove up and met us at the station. From there we drove 30 miles north to Gaviota State Beach. At this location is a famous Southern Pacific trestle that crosses the beach, right at the shore. This trestle is the centerpiece of many famous pics of crossing trains, most notably the SP Coast Daylight! It was a mecca pilgrimage for me. The trestle is till used today by the Amtrak Surfliners and Coast Starlight. Unfortunately no trains rolled by while we were there. But that's OK. I still got to see and photograph this railroad monument! After our trestle photo op, we headed north to the town of Solvang, CA. This is a quaint little town with Danish heritage. The buildings look like the styles right out of Denmark. It has gift shops and they are famous for their bakeries. If I was a Dane living in Solvang, I'd weigh 300 lbs! We had lunch there (with some great beer) and walked through the shops. Finally...the last stop of my birthday adventure was Ostrich Land! Yes...you read correctly! Just down the road from Solvang we saw the sign and decided to go! It is a large ranch that raises Ostriches and Emu's. How many know what an Emu is? It's a large walking bird from Australia. We walked thru the ranch and got to feed the Ostriches and Emu's. These are very big birds...and very aggressive. You have to feed them at arm's length so you don't get pecked (and those are some dadgum big beaks!). They also have a gift shop that has everything Ostrich and Emu! So...that is my birthday story and I'm sticking to it! I want to thank my family for a wonderful day and share some photos. Enjoy! Matt
