Now, as you may know, sports have become my life and I take advantage of it by writing about it every chance that I can get. Travel does get in the way, however, and sometimes I have dozed off before I even put the pen to paper. But as I've been traveling and have had to find new ways to travel and watch sports, I discovered the reliability and the importance of two major transportation systems: planes, particularly Southwest Airlines, and trains, particularly Amtrak's Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin (or San Joaquins, as it's now called, though I tend to use the former), and the Pacific Surfline. No doubt that traveling by plane and train has become easy and an affordable way for me to keep up on all the sports that I go to all the time.
Since I have been a member of Southwest Airlines since 2009 (recently got A-List status), I have been able to take advantage of low fares all over the West Coast, from going to Seattle to see my favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks, to visiting LA and San Diego to see baseball teams like the Dodgers, Padres, and Angels, to going out into the Central Valley to places like Stockton, Bakersfield, and Sacramento to watch AHL games or minor league baseball games, or even to Las Vegas just to relax and take a break from it all, or to watch the Las Vegas 51s.
No doubt that sports has become something of more than just a lobby, it's become a lifestyle and a living that I've tried to niche out for myself, and that wouldn't be possible without the affordability of these public transportation services. Now, they can start to get expensive if you constantly do it on a daily basis, no doubt about it, and while I work in a housekeeping job that doesn't pay as much as I would like it too, I have found a way to be able to do what I love doing and be able to keep some money coming in.
Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Southwest Airlines have been the two most used modes of transportation that I have used, primarily because I spend some time traveling between the two regions of California for sports. Southwest Airlines has reasonable prices between LA and the Bay Area so I can travel back and forth with some ease. Plus, who wouldn't love free peanuts and/or pretzels? Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner takes over the next portion of the next trip. I usually fly into Burbank Airport because of the Surfliner. There is a train station just south of the station where I can immediately hop onto the train and continue the journey from there. Mostly, I go into downtown LA from there to either check in to my Airbnb or to hop on Metro and go into Hollywood and check into an Airbnb that I have there.
The Pacific Surfliner has also been relatively easy in getting down to San Diego to go watch Padres games, usually Wednesday day games. I just hope aboard a train, usually Train 566 and it gets into San Diego around 11:30 AM. I spend most of the day in SD watching the Padres play whoever the opponent is, then hop back aboard Train 591 and head back up to LA. As you can see, the Pacific Surfliner has been relatively simple in getting me from Point A to Point B in no time at all. And it's also been helpful in when I don't go to sports games, I usually go to Disneyland and I can easily go to Anaheim Station then hop aboard ART or a Lyft and go straight to Disneyland. I spend all day there, then hop back aboard Train 591 and then back up to LA. As you can see, Pacific Surfliner has been my primary mode of train travel down around Southern California and has been great in providing service along my journey (in the form of too many cookies).
The Pacific Surfliner doesn't get all the credit, however. Whenever I can't go to LA, I'll just go see the Giants' affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, and that's where Capitol Corridor comes in. Now, to be fair, I have not used it much because of my travel to Southern California, but when I do, it is also helpful and a great mode of transportation to bypass sometimes-congested Interstate 80. Capitol Corridor combines the ease of commuter rail and a great way to travel between two great cities. I just hop aboard a Capitol Corridor train at Richmond Station (because I take BART over from the Peninsula) and I just get off right at the Sacramento Station, right near Old Town and Raley Field. From there, I just check-in to my hotel room, then spend time in Old Town Sacramento before it's time to go to the River Cats game. Then, the next day, same great service just in the opposite direction back to Richmond, and ultimately BART and Caltrain back to my home in San Carlos.
So, as you can see, sports is my life and I always try to find a way to get there in a cheapest and more efficient and convenient way possible. So I say thanks to these great providers for letting me enjoy sports and for getting me there. I'll probably be working at one of these providers one day (hey, I take them a lot) so I gotta take advantage of great public transportation when I can. Sports is something I care deeply about and I want to make a living out of it (if that's even possible) So congrats to Southwest Airlines, Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor, and San Joaquins (I actually prefer it without the S, but I don't handle their marketing strategy). Keep up the good work and looking forward to being back aboard for another adventure (whether sports or just a day off from it to the beach or such). Keep me in mind!
Note: I do not own any of these pictures. They are credited to the respective photographers or people who own that. I would name them but one of them I don't know, so if it's your photo, credit to you. You took a great picture.
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