The morning of my birthday, I said goodbye to my gracious hosts Mark and Gretchen and caught the bus back to Oakland, where I boarded the waiting Coast Starlight. As nice and cooshy as the California Zephyr had been, Amtrak's Coast Starlight was even more so. I immediately christened it the "Yuppy Train" because of all its amenities.

This train, which ran up and down the Pacific coast, took into account all of its potential passenger's desires. There was a variety of fine wines to select from. There was also a small library and area for young children to play in. Bearded and balding gentlemen in light-knit sweaters were typing on their crude laptop computers. Ah, California.