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Roadmap
Intro and Redemption
To start things off, let me brainwash you a bit again. As Chestnut's famous saying goes — either don't make a move at all, or go big when you do!
First, let me explain the difference between the old Chase card and the new card FN: the new card's FN can be thought of as a "value" of 40K, and when redeeming an award night worth more than 40K, the remaining portion can be covered with points; the old card's FN can only be used for award nights under 40K and cannot be topped up with points.
The Mr&Mrs Smith San Luis Creek Lodge featured in this trip was redeemed with the FN from the old Chase IHG card with a 49 annual fee: since IHG now uses dynamic pricing, Chestnut still does the same old routine—search from time to time, then wait for award rates to plunge below 40K and pull the trigger!
As for the redemption with the FN from the other Chase IHG new card, please look forward to the next article.
Journey North
After getting up and washing up in the morning, we grabbed our bags and drove north. Since the drive from LA to SLO is fairly long, Chestnut decided to make a few extra stops along the way, with the first stop being the Danish town of Solvang.
This wall is pretty interesting—it features chibi portraits of Danish monarchs from across the ages.
One thing worth mentioning is Mission Santa Ines, one of California's "21 missions." The church wasn't open when we arrived, but that didn't affect our ability to enjoy the exterior.
Does this angle give you a Windows XP mountain vibe?
After taking a break for a while, we continued on to the next stop—La Purísima Mission State Historic Park.
When we got there, we discovered that not only was it closed, but even the parking lot was closed! Still, that didn't stop crafty Chestnut; we simply street-parked across the road... To be honest, I learned that trick from all of you too... There are really plenty of crafty people out there!
It was about time to keep driving north, and we made one last stop at Pismo Beach to grab something to eat.
Check-In at Mr&Mrs Smith San Luis Creek Lodge
We arrived at our destination, San Luis Obispo, around 3 p.m., checked in first, and as usual, here's the room key shot to anchor the post!
San Luis Obispo Station
After dropping off our luggage, we drove straight to San Luis Obispo station. Because the once-daily Coast Starlight stops here sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., if you're lucky you can even catch the sight of trains from both directions meeting at the station.
The station building at San Luis Obispo station—last time Chestnut was here was back in 2015, and eight years have already passed since then (click here for details)...
A quick look at my phone brought both good news and bad news... The bad news first: when Chestnut got here, we found that the northbound Coast Starlight had already departed fifteen minutes earlier, so there was no chance of seeing the two Coast Starlights meet here today.
The good news was that the southbound Coast Starlight was delayed, so waiting here for a dozen minutes or so would let us see the train!
It was about time, and there were already many passengers on the platform preparing to head to Los Angeles. One Amtrak crewman was also ready to make a connection here.
Here it comes, more than half an hour late.
We were incredibly lucky—not only did we not catch two Coast Starlights passing each other in the station, but we did catch a Coast Starlight and a Pacific Surfliner sharing the station at the same time.
That scene didn't last long, though. The Coast Starlight soon eased out and departed, heading for Los Angeles.
We decided to head up to the overpass to film the departure of the Pacific Surfliner.
Seeing this, Chestnut couldn't help but sigh... U.S. railroads have deteriorated terribly over the past century and more; at least here you can spot the remains of two abandoned lines.
The train also headed south toward Los Angeles. Bye-bye.
Of course, because the Pacific Surfliner stops more often than the Coast Starlight that departed before it, under normal circumstances this train could never catch up to the Coast Starlight (of course, it’s not completely impossible; if the Coast Starlight’s locomotive breaks down, then this feat can be pulled off).
In front of the station there is a sculpture — Railway Pioneer — which tells the story of Chinese laborers building the railroad here 140 years ago.
Room Review
Just to repeat: this stay at Mr&Mrs Smith San Luis Creek Lodge was booked with a free night certificate (FN) from an old Chase IHG card with a $49 annual fee. Since IHG now uses dynamic pricing, I still do the same old routine: check now and then, then wait for award nights to plunge below 40K and jump on it!
As for value, judge for yourselves!
This is roughly what the room looks like, as shown here.
The TV seems a bit small.
The bathroom looks like this; there’s no bathtub... That said, hotels with bathtubs are really rare these days.
I’m not sure whether it was because of the complimentary IHG Diamond status, but they gave me this Premier room, which has a fireplace, and it got very warm once I turned it on at night!
Turn on the fireplace, switch on the TV, and watch a World Cup replay. So relaxing!
Brazil vs. Serbia.
Breakfast offered free coffee and scones, better than nothing, I guess.
Mission San Luis Obispo
After breakfast I went to visit Mission San Luis Obispo; I’m getting closer and closer to the achievement for visiting all 21 California missions.
Entering the Central Valley
It was about time, so after check-out I drove off toward Tehachapi.
Since I was planning to go back to Pismo Beach for lunch, I chose the southern route over the mountains into the Central Valley.
It wasn’t convenient to take photos while driving, so I used dashcam screenshots to pad things out.
First, the mountain section:
Once I got into the western Central Valley, it turned into this Mars-like landscape:
After driving for too long, I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped to rest in an oil town called Taft:
The eastern Central Valley looks like this:
Tehachapi Loop — the legendary train Zuma
As the saying goes — Tehachapi in the west, Horseshoe Curve in the east (in Pennsylvania). These are two of the best-known mountain railroads in the U.S. among railfans.
This loop looks like the diagram below — Bakersfield is on the left, Mojave on the right. Because the track layout resembles the game Zuma, and the train cars moving along it look like the little balls in Zuma, I and some railfan friends nicknamed this section — Train Zuma!
Unfortunately, by the time I drove here it was already after 5 p.m., and the sun was about to set.
I kept thinking — come on, train, come on, train, let me squeeze out a few shots with the little light left... but sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be...
After waiting for more than half an hour, a train finally came, but the sun had already set and the light was terrible... To get the shot, I had to go all in... A true warrior dares to use ultra-low ISO 50 and a 30-second long exposure to trail the headlights in the faint light.
Also daring to use ISO 6,400 and a 1/6s shutter speed!
The Canon 6D Mark II can just barely manage ISO 6,400; at 12,800 it is all noise. I wonder what its successor will be like... That said, has Canon basically given up on its DSLR line and switched to mirrorless? The 6D Mark III looks like it has been stuck in development hell, and a release still seems a long way off...
Tehachapi Holiday Inn Express
This Holiday Inn Express (abbreviated below as HIE) was booked during that one evening a few months ago when the IHG system reverted to the old setup and awards were priced by CAT, and it cost 20,000 points.
That said, even with a system bug, this redemption really has nothing worth showing off... To borrow a famous line from an anime: mediocre, way too mediocre!
If you had the guts, you would make a system bug that lets me one-shot that over-USD-1,000 Mr & Mrs Smith property in SD with a single FN...
I have to say, I really am too greedy!
As usual, here is the key card shot to kick things off. Their standard IHG key card is about as generic-looking as it gets—nothing much to say.
This HIE even has a bathtub, so I quickly soaked in a bath to wash away the fatigue of the day...
A shot of the view outside the window, then off to sleep!
The next morning I took another shot of the view outside—same place, same angle, different time, different scenery.
HIE offers free breakfast, so just head down to the lobby to fill up.
The tableware is rather minimalist, which prompted some negative reviews online, but I did not really care.
After breakfast I checked out and went to take a look around Tehachapi Downtown.
Tehachapi really does have deep ties to railroads—the city logo is even a locomotive!
The roadside bench is quite distinctive; it has been converted from a train wheelset. Sit down and take a photo!
I remember someone once argued with me that train wheels are small... no need to say anything else; they must have been hallucinating...
Then I drove east along Highway 58, and there were cows by the roadside.
Does anyone still remember Big Windmill?
The big windmill goes squeak, squeak, squeak as it turns; the scenery here is really beautiful! The sky is beautiful, the land is beautiful, and there are happy little friends together.
The big windmill turns and turns; happy companions hold hands, holding your hand and my hand. Today's little friends, tomorrow's good friends—come on, good friends!
Then I made a right turn onto Highway 14 and headed south into Mojave, where I happened to catch an Airbus A380 that China Southern has stored here.
Palmdale Blackbird Airpark
The last stop of the trip was Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale. There are lots of exhibits, and most importantly—it is actually free!
Just a couple of random shots to pad things out—first up, a 747-SR that was once used to carry the Space Shuttle.
Next, a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
Not far to the west, Lockheed's Skunk Works is the birthplace of this aircraft, so I guess this counts as coming home to retire.
Seeing this, does it make you think of the stories of the Black Cat Squadron and the Black Bat Squadron... and of course Andy Lau's rap song Black Bat Squadron...
Finally, a shot of the U-2 with the Blackbird.
On the way out, I took one more photo of the railway here; the hangar to the right of the tracks in the distance is Lockheed Martin's famous Skunk Works.
Joshua trees by the roadside + Skunk Works in the distance.
Finally, I took Highway 14 to I-5 and headed home. This big road trip ends here!
Summary
First, a quick summary:
First, a lucky FN redemption from an old Chase card for a Mr&Mrs Smith property was excellent value; one FN got me more than USD 300 in value. Breakfast also came with free coffee and scones, which was not bad at all.
Second, even with that day's system bug, the Tehachapi Holiday Inn Express still cost 20K points (now the flexible award minimum is apparently 25K, seriously), and all I can say is—mediocre, way too mediocre. If it were not for going to Tehachapi Loop to watch the trains and to Palmdale to see the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, I probably would not have made this redemption.
Since this is my post, let's end with a dose of my signature mantra:
- Don't forget why you started—don’t forget why you applied for the card in the first place, and the FN you earned. You should have a little ambition; otherwise, making casual redemptions is, to borrow a line from a famous anime, really just—mediocre, far too mediocre!
- When redeeming, no matter what catches your eye, you need to have the drive to act; if it’s within what you can accept, spare no effort to redeem it.
- You also need decisiveness; hesitation can sometimes make you miss an opportunity. Don’t assume there will be another chance. A lot of the time, when someone says, “let’s wait until next time,” it’s either to comfort you (high EQ) or to fool you (low EQ). More than 95% of the “next times” in life never come around again—one goodbye, and it’s goodbye forever!
Off-screen voice—Chestnut, what blunt truths are you spouting again!