In California we sometimes exhibit something of a “Go Big or Go Home” approach.
For example, earlier this month we did the “Go Big” thing with a recall election.
This was no small-time school board member recall.
This recall was aimed at Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, and financed in large part by rich, disgruntled Trumpian Republicans who wanted to get rid of him.
The 46 candidates running against Newsom all got to Go Home.
Newsom supporters defeated the recall by a two-thirds majority – a serious Go Big – and the word “landslide” was used a lot:
This farce cost California taxpayers almost $300 million – definitely a Go Big.
Here’s another way we Go Big:
We’re big on promoting our beaches as THE place to sunbathe, surf and swim, an all-around great reason to visit California:
From Pelican State Beach near our northern border:
To Imperial Beach near our southern border:
And the hundreds of beaches in between.
But what no one’s thought of promoting – until I, myself, recently had the inspiration – is that California is the ONLY place where you can ride a train…
And swim at the same time:
Talk about Go Big!
No need to get sand in your shorts like you do when you actually get into the Pacific Ocean to swim – now you can sit back and relax on the train because the Ocean comes to you.
Your ride-and-swim destination is the San Clemente area, south of Los Angeles:
You’ll notice the proximity of the train to the beach:
Recently, that proximity was much closer:
However…there is a catch.
It seems that sometime during the second week of September, there was an unexpected “ground movement” beneath the railroad tracks in San Clemente, according to this and other articles:
“Unexpected” because we all know the ground never moves in California.
The result was a “shutdown of passenger service on San Diego’s only railway link to Los Angeles and the rest of the United States.”
There are 43 passenger trains a day that go through that area, leaving many people wondering where their next ride was coming from:
A spokesperson for one of the train companies said the mitigation work on the train tracks would “be ongoing for the next two weeks, or maybe a little bit less or a little bit more.”
Good to know they’ve got this down to an exact science.
So you may have to wait just a bit to Go Big, and ride the train and swim at the same time.
But don’t wait too long.
Because when a future California earthquake decides to Go Big – you may have an extra-long way to Go Home:
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