We are in sunny Southern California. Rode the Southwest Chief, which winds from Chicago to L.A. we boarded in Albuquerque and stopped at Gallup, New Mexico, [Flagstaff] Arizona, (skipped Winona), Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino...we got our kicks. martinis in the lounge car and a nice brown rice and grilled vegetable salad we'd packed along. Not to mention homemade cookies. I think I have a fetish for not buying food on the road (or rails.) It's an intake control thing. I just like us to know what we are eating. Drinking...well that's another matter, for that is all about losing control in some sense. We stepped off at Union Station in L.A. and stood blinking in the sunlight like a couple of road-weary iguanas. I thought, hmmm...warm for this time of year. Even for So Cal. Could it be... Yes, it was. About 4:15 a.m., we awoke to that freight-train-from-hell feeling. Terramoto. It turned out to be only about ten seconds and registered 4.4. Flashbacks of the Northridge quake (which also happened around 4:30 a.m.); I was frantic. "Kip! did you feel that? Earthquake! Get up! Get dressed! We gotta go outside! Why are you still sitting there?!!" After about five minutes, Kip decided there weren't going to be any more tremors and that I was delirious. So he went right back to sleep. Well, SOMEBODY had to stay awake and make sure there would be no more shakin' going on. We'll see what happens today. I have the ocean, ferris wheel, ice cream, and whack-a-mole on my mind...we're heading for the coast.