Riding that train...

kevin_standlee will be so proud.

In my ongoing attempt to experience Burning Man without actually going to Burning Man (I've being on the Playa, eaten at Bruno's, seen mutant vehicles and the whole living in the desert and dealing with white-out sandstorms was taken care of while in the Army) I am taking the next step:

I shall take part in Exodus. Not the "sitting in a line of 20,000 cars all trying to access the same two lane road to Get The Hell Out of Here" part, but the civilized part, spending a little time in Reno and driving back home.

To this end, I shall be meeting up with kshandra in Reno in the early days of September. I'll be taking the California Zephyr, arriving in Reno in the late afternoon, and meeting up with my lovely but dusty wife. While this is very cool, and will make for a nice little break, it requires me to be at San Jose Diridon Station at 0415 at the latest to catch a bus that will take me to Emeryville, where my train departs.

So, Kevin, any advice for a first-time Amtrak rider?