So, when at the end of my last post we had found out that the train tracks from Glenwood Springs going to the west were closed and Amtrak was bringing up some busses from Denver to shuttle the passengers either to Denver or Grand Junction, CO. I, of course, chose a different option.
I canceled my segment from Glenwood Springs to Sacramento and then took a local bus service to Grand Junction for the evening. My thinking was that I could get there quicker that way and then settle in and use some reliable interweb access to dive into some other options. As it was just a few days before the annual "Elements on the Dragon" event in Bryson City, NC I decided to see just what it would take to get there and back for the weekend. I stared at a ton of weather sites just to be sure the weather would be conducive to a weekend of camping and driving in the mountains, the airline sites to see if I could get flights from Grand Junction to and back from Charlotte and a few other details it would take to sort through if I wanted to go. I spoke with a great American Airlines agent who reserved a reasonably priced ticket and held it until I could get one last weather check and then slept on the idea overnight. When I woke up on Thursday morning the forecast was good and the ticket was still on hold so I scurried to the Grand Junction airport for the flights home. Well, plan as I might - things didn't go as smoothly as I would like as all three DFW to Charlotte flights available were all delayed when I landed in DFW. I began my usual game of "which flight will be cancelled and which will be reasonably delayed" and moved from my original flight to one that would leave DFW two hours later. Suffice it to say I did make it to Charlotte and was only about 15 minutes behind the actual arrival of my original flight...so I consider that a win! After what amounted to just a quick nap I was up and headed out towards beautiful Bryson City in scenic western North Carolina.
Elements on the Dragon has been going on about 15 years and I have attended the previous two. They are a fun time with an eclectic group of people who are very, very fanatical about their cars. Most of the Elements that attend have been modified or setup in ways to camp in by their owners and many talk about spending several weeks a year touring around and camping in their cars. Some of the attendees are somewhat famous (at least in terms of Elements) with Eric the Car Guy being the most famous that I heard of this week. There are people who manufacture accessories for the Element and some who work on them, and they were selling and working all weekend long. One of the highlights of the weekend is the trip from Bryson City up to and through the "Tail of the Dragon" (US 129 as it crosses the North Carolina - Tennessee border). I've been with the Georgia Audi club on the Dragon several times and their approach to driving in the mountains is very different than the Element community.... the Audi group will leave early in the morning and spend the better part of 8 hours driving various routes near and through the Dragon with numerous stops for socializing and lunch, but the Element group leaves out and drives directly to the Dragon and after passing back in the opposite direction, they head straight back to Bryson City for more Element activities at the campsite. I enjoyed our group with the exception of a couple guys who really did not know what they signed up for when one complained about getting car sick and the other worried about his brakes even before we got to the Dragon itself. We did make a quick stop at the Fontana Dam, scene of the dramatic confrontation between Dr Richard Kimble and US Marshal Samuel Gerard back in the day. After our up and back loop through the Dragon I got an obligatory cheeseburger with onion rings and Cheerwine at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort and watched as other Elements, various motorcycles and other cars took their turns at driving the Dragon.Of note is that it was also Subaru weekend but incredibly enough I did not see a single Subaru Outback (insert snide remark here). It is always fun to listen to the motorcyclists talk about their adventures and discuss today's and past wrecks. I refilled my Cheerwine, bought a postcard and sticker and headed out to drive the Cherola Skyway, which is a very scenic drive in the nearby area. After that trip I headed back to Bryson City and a quick beer at the camping store that sells beer (what could go wrong there?) and back to the campground for the festivities of Saturday night. Sunday brought an even more beautiful day and a nice drive up to Wayah Bald, the site of an old fire watching tower. The views from there were clear and very beautiful and went on for miles and miles. After we returned to the campsite the organizer of the event and one of the mechanics there gave a discussion on rust issues that the Elements suffer from...I'm proud to say that Emily was chosen as an example Element, but not proud to say she was not an example of a 'rust free' Element. Oh well, all those years on the Delaware highways are starting to age her, but she's doing fine otherwise with 305,000+ miles now. After the discussion rust shaming (not really) I headed back to Charlotte, took another extended nap and boarded a plane back to Los Angeles to continue my Amtrak voyage. 
I arrived fairly late into a hotel near the Amtrak station in Los Angeles wandered around the area for while, thought about going to the Dodgers game but instead opted to watch it on TV. The next morning I did a little more sightseeing and, with the navigational help of Cousin Mark, located one of the buildings that his dad (my Uncle Paul) was the architect for in the late 1960's. I chatted with the doorman for a few seconds and he offered up a few tidbits of information about the building that I recalled from family lore - it was indeed the first building in Los Angeles that was taller than City Hall (watch the opening of "Dragnet" for a reference to the LA City Hall) and, for a period of time, was the tallest building in the west. It is still very pretty and I also found irony in the fact that his two grandchildren on my side of the family are now both working as Project Managers for construction firms involved in large projects in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
Early Tuesday morning I left LA from the beautiful Union Station on a very poorly researched trip that involved a bus from LA to Bakersfield, the Gold Runner (a commuter like train) from Bakersfield to Martinez, CA where I waited for three hours to catch the Coast Starlight line to Portland OR. The Amtrak website markets the Gold Runner line as a scenic line through California's central valley with stops along the way. One of the stops is marketed as the "gateway to Yosemite" (you people that are familiar with California geography can stop laughing at any time now.). Needless to say, one marketers 'gateway' is another passengers bewilderment at wondering where the tall trees are amongst the high desert that is Merced, CA. OK, lesson learned...do your own research. Nonetheless I enjoyed the layover in Martinez, CA and learned that it is the home of John Muir, Joe DiMaggio and THE Martini - quite an eclectic group! The village is really kind of a cool, small and somewhat preserved place and would probably be worth a return trip if I ever want to go back to the gateway to Yosemite :). The Coast Starlight left Martinez at about 8pm and there was not much to see since it was dark, so I settled into my seat for a series of short naps overnight. I woke as the sun came through my window and gave me a view of what I presume is Mt Shasta as we left California and moved into Oregon. The rest of the morning was filled with beautiful views of mountains, meadows, gorges and all the wonders of southern Oregon...all as dramatic as Colorado, but much more verdant (hey, why use big words when diminutive ones will suffice, right?).
So, as I finish this overdue, and very long, update I'm also trying to plan my last few segments of my trip and hopefully do just enough research to keep me out of another embarrassing story of looking for redwoods in the high desert. Enjoy your travels and remember to be particular.
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