We had a change of plans! But only for the afternoon... so we can join in for the shopping and mission portion but then will have to depart. Looking forward to it!

My view is that I am showing up at Sarducci's and then just rolling with whatever.

Oh hey, I was looking only at the Pacific Surfliner. There's also a Metrolink train that'll get me from Orange to SJC that doesn't get me there as early and is half the price. Score.

I'm in Long Beach so techinically I could do that Blue Line to Union Station route you mentioned up above somewhere. I could even catch a Long Beach bus at the end of my block to the Blue Line Station (if I had three hours to kill.) But I'm always out late on Saturday nights and I want to sleep in on Sunday morning to the last possible moment. So I don't even want to add the Fullerton to SJC leg. I'll drive.

I thought Metrolink didn't run the weekends - glad you saw that.

Are you planning on taking the 9:30 train (654) or the 10:08 train (859)?

The Metrolink added weekends recently. What's also nice is that you can bring bikes on both Metrolink and Amtrak. This means Little Italy and Gaslamp or Balboa Park in San Diego.
I have been meaning to bring my bike to Orange since that stop was recently added to Amtrak. From SJC station, you can bike to Doheney Beach on the bike trail in 20 min. Just a thought for another day.

As was mentioned, the train between OC and Long Beach doesn't make much sense. Although downtown SJC is right off the 5 fwy., it's pretty close to PCH. If you haven't taken the Coast for for awhile, you might consider it, just allow maybe a half hour extra.

I take the train to San Diego every summer. Its a great trip when it's not crowded. On the way home it's usually around dusk and the sun setting over the ocean is wonderful. Great ride.

Oooh, a bike day sounds great! Let's put that on the future swankings list :)

9:30, give myself plenty of time.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend that. I'm constantly traveling up and down PCH for gigs. And now that summer is here, it can be very congested between Newport and Dana Point. Last weekend, just getting from Dana to Newport took me almost 2 hours. Perhaps things will be lighter on a Sunday morning, but if it were me, I wouldn't chance it.