Mobile Phone in USA

If you are travelling to the USA you may be thinking about a mobile phone.   Whether to take your own and hope there are no surprise bills when you get home or  buy one when you get here.
I don't have a mobile phone in Australia but if I did I would bring it, not use as a phone but because it would have all my contact information in it.  I decided to buy one in USA as I would need it to contact my daughter and other people I would be likely to meet.

There are a few companies offering mobile phones on a "No Contract" basis,and believe it or not I found a good range in Radio Shack.
They have a wide range of  "No Contract" Phones  from most phone companies and from cheap to expensive however for my purposes I only needed  a cheaper model.


I finally decided on TRACPHONE and picked the LG440S, normally $19.95 but on special at $9.95 which also included a deal that doubled whatever minutes I buy for the life of the phone.
The shop staff did all the work of setting up the phone for me, I purchased 60 minutes for $20.00 and 10 minutes later I had a phone with 120 minutes and good for 120 days.
I like the phone it is very user friendly,  however  it is perhaps a little retro for some people.
I should add that I am not a big phone user
RADIO SHACK

Los Angeles International Airport - Union Station - Oceanside

I traveled from Brisbane  Australia to Los Angeles and as I was travelling alone I decided to find out how to use Public Transport in California.   I searched the net but couldn't find what I was looking for; not just timetables but a guide by someone who had actually done it. What follows is a description of one trip.
I hope you find time to look around Union Station as it is quite beautiful..


V-AUSTRALIA arrived 25 minutes late, setting the tone for the rest of the day,  It doesn't do you much good getting through an understaffed immigration quickly when  the luggage doesn't surface until the luggage hall is full of expectant passengers.   Customs were thankfully quick but with only 3 agents there was still a delay.
   Eventually emerging from the terminal all I had to do was find the Flyaway Union Station shuttle pickup under the green logo - Just in time to see the bus pulling away.  There are a lot of hotel pickups in front of the terminal and there are 2 other destinations for Flyaway.  35 minutes later I caught the next shuttle for Union Station  When you arrive at Union Station you have to pay the cashier (7.00) before they will let you collect your luggage.
  Down a slight incline and you are in the station although you have to walk to the other end to find the ticket office.  On the way enjoy the Spanish/ Art Deco styling.
There are 2 types of service to Oceanside,  Metrolink ($15.00) and Amtrak Surfliner($28.00).   The metro seems to run during the busy period and Amtrak at quieter times  Amtrak costs more  but is more comfortable and has a dining car.  To me it got down to "catching the next train".   We left Los Angeles on the Surfliner at 11.10AM arriving at Oceanside at 1.05PM..


I then had to travel inland, catching the SPRINTER which left at 1.33PM  ($2.00) arriving at College Street Station 15 minute later.  It was only a 10 minute walk to my daughters house but as it was starting to rain I was happy to meet her along the way.

UNION STATION - LOS ANGELES
AMTRAK Home Page
 METROLINK Home
SPRINTER