The Coast Starlight arriving at Union Station (2026). Photo taken by the author.
We waited until the final 30 days, to begin using our Amtrak USA Rail Pass.
You can take up to 10 trips with it, within 30 days. We bought it in January, but did not want to travel that early in the year.
So here we are, taking a day trip to Oxnard, to have lunch with a former work colleague.
We thought it would be an easy trip, hey, we are pros.
Not so fast, train rider, we are going to put a few things in your way, on this trip.
We bought our unlimited day pass for Metrolink, and spent an incredible $7.50. A great deal.
We arrive at Union Station an hour ahead of our Coast Starlight trains departure. Great, so we use the restroom, and sit down to wait.
We then see there is an long line to check in for the train, so I finally get up and check it out. Yes, we needed to get our seat assignment.
We then walk up to the track, and wait for the train. Glad we found out that we had needed to do that, though it seemed that they would also check you in on the platform.
The trip was going well, when all of a sudden, we hear that there is a hold, due to a train in front of us.
We passed the train at Camarillo thinking that we would not be seeing it again, on our return trip. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.
We ended up about 15 or so minutes late, but our friend picked us up at the station, and we had a lovely time catching up, and eating at Andrea’s Seafood in Ventura.
He brought us back to the station in plenty of time, and so we used their restroom, and looked around.
What a beautiful station it is. Murals depicting historic events in Oxnard. The train comes about 10 minutes late, no big deal to us, but then they announce that we will be hooking up the disabled train from earlier, when we get to Camarillo.
They say it should not take too long. Yeah, right. 1 hour later we are finally on the move again.
So we missed an early train, and instead, ended up on a rush-hour train.
No biggie, but it was a 6PM arrival at home. Total time: 11 hours for a trip to Oxnard, for lunch.
