@porsupah yeah, but the congestion in Portland and Seattle makes me cry

@Chel That's part of what I love about trains, separated light rail, and the like - so much less stressful, gliding right in the heart of cities. Of course, there has to be /planning/ for that to happen.. and financing. Still amazes me the Bay's only now *beginning* to consider a second Bay crossing of some kind.

At least the high speed rail project's finally underway. That'll be *fun* to ride eventually, even if the Coast Starlight will remain way more scenic. ^_^

@porsupah I should really do the Starlight route someday

and yeah, I absolutely adore light rail... buses often give me anxiety (especially in an unfamiliar area), but light rail is always just... weirdly chill for me? I dunno.

@Chel It's quite special. ^_^ Though I've only gone from Oakland to LA so far - once you're past Monterey (before, it's mostly just industrial backlots), you're into some gorgeous vistas.

I'll always remember seeing dolphins frolicking as we approached Oxnard, running surprisingly close to the coast by then. ^_^

Mmm, I always enjoyed the VTA LRT from the southern edge of San Jose to downtown. Even into the early hours, it always felt chill. ^_^

@porsupah that sounds beautiful, tbh.

@Scarly have pondered a trip down in that general area at some point in the next couple years, but aren't particularly keen to deal with air travel at the current moment in time. I wonder if this might make for a decent substitute

it'd just be... really slow 😅

@Chel @scarly Mm, that line is definitely not high speed. ^_^; Still, providing the ticket's good for such, if you were to head all the way down, it'd be a great excuse to call in on Bay friends en route. ^_^

(British train tickets do tend to be fine with getting off and on again, providing they're not for an explicit time)

I love *flying*, but flight "security" these days.. ugh.