I
apologize for the length of this post. I began typing and it just kept getting
bigger.
A
big thanks to our son Daniel for taking us to the train depot last night,
Thursday July 16. Our train wasn’t due out until 11 PM but we didn’t want
Daniel to stay up to late so we got to the depot an hour early or so we
thought. The train was running late, an hour late, so we waited. Our train
arrived and we were able to get into our sleeper bedroom. We had way too much
in our suitcase because it about killed me carrying it up the stairs to our
room.
A
little bit about our bedroom. Our bedroom is not as big as the bedroom we had
in our fifth wheel camper and this one has a toilet/shower combination with the
sink on the wall by the door. The toilet is very tight quarters and nearly
impossible for me but I manage. I did get some sleep last night but not enough.
Sarah says she didn’t sleep well but she also got some sleep. Now Sarah is
sleeping in the top bunk, me in the bottom one, she hasn’t quite mastered
getting in and out of the bunk but I being the great guy I am, I watch her
backside.
As
you can see the room isn’t very big. I am sitting on the lower bunk, the upper
bunk folds down from the ceiling.
This
is the hallway outside of our compartments. Just like in the James Bond movies
they are narrow. I had to stay in our room until others would pass, to large
people had a great deal of intimacy when passing in the hallways.
Larry
and Kathy are with us, they got on the train in Burlington, IA and had to sit
in the Omaha destination car until Omaha and then get their luggage and get off
the train and go to their sleeper car, which was behind our car.
Larry
told me that in order to be sure we got breakfast we needed to be there by 6
AM. So I set my alarm for 5:30 AM, it should have been for Mountain Time not
central time. So when my alarm went off I called Larry as instructed, he told
me then Mountain Time not central time. I was a bit early but since I was up I
got up and since Sarah was awake she got up. So for our first night on the train
it wasn’t too bad.
Breakfast
was pretty good, I had an omelet with cheese and Sarah had scrambled eggs, both
had croissants.
After
breakfast we went to the observation car. This car has half of it with tables
and the other half has big windows with seats which face the windows so you are
looking outside all of the time. I took a lot of pictures there and will take
more as the trip goes on.
Bob
& Jim were in the observation car, they are volunteers for Amtrak, and they
tell all about the tunnels, switchbacks and towns all the way to Grand
Junction, a very nice feature. One of the interesting things on the switchback,
the train cannot go up more than a 3% grade so the railroad uses a series of
switchbacks to get up a mountain. Outside of Denver going up the mountain there
is a certain location where the winds can be strong enough to blow a train off
the tracks. So to counter that the railroad has taken some old hopper cars and
filled them with sand and rock and welded them to a section of track to act as a
wind break. Here is a picture of what the cars look like,
You
can see the weeds growing in the cars.
Lunch
was an Angus Steak Burger & chips, not a bad burger with it being nuked.
The food is good but, I believe, it is reheated type it was still good.
Spent
the afternoon between the observation car and our room, this is the way to
travel if you have no time constraints and the train goes where you want to go.
It is probably the most expensive way to travel but you get to see some
beautiful country.
Dinner
was Angus Steak, baked potato and vegetables with ice cream for dessert. Sarah
had salmon, baked potato and vegetables with ice cream for dessert.
Well
again we had a snafu with the alarm. I had set my phone alarm for 5:30 thinking
we would have crossed over to Pacific Time by 5:30 but that didn’t work out. My
alarm went off at 5:30 which was actually 4:30, so I went back to sleep. We did
get up in time for breakfast at 6:30. The reason we want to be there when the dining
room opens is after the car is full then you go on a wait list and we don’t
want to be on the wait list.
So
far I have taken 2-300 pictures, a lot of them will be deleted but we have gone
through some fabulous country.
When
we were traveling alongside the Colorado River we saw a lot of people rafting.
One of the nick names for this river, or at least this section of it, is Moon
River. I thought that was because Perry Como liked tubing the river and sang
about it, but boy was I wrong. It is called Moon River because the people
rafting on it like to moon the train as it passes them. We saw the biggest full
moon on a very small raft. Another guy almost upset the boat trying to get his
pants down before the train passed them. That was more an interesting type of
scenery than beautiful.
For
the sake of any youngsters I purposefully blurred the photo.(I wish I was that
good of a photographer)
We
are almost to Reno, NV and the landscape is a desert type but one section of it
looked white, I wonder if it is just a type of sand or if it could be salt it
is most likely just the minerals in the ground. Don’t know, I guess I could try
to find out but will have to wait until I have Wifi.
Saturday,
July 18
We
made it to Sacramento, CA. We got off the train and took a cab to our hotel the
Delta King.
This
is an exact copy of the Delta Queen. The bedrooms were dated but ok, best part
is we got to shower. Now our bedroom on the train had a shower but there is no
way I could take a shower in it, way to small, my shoulders touched wall to
wall.
I
did not know the Delta Queen had a twin, according what I found in the above
article and asking question of the personnel on the Delta King the two boats
did operate together in California.
Rusty,
Sarah’s nephew, came to the boat, he is a traveling operating room nurse and is
working in Sacramento. We walked around for a bit and since we were all hungry
we went to Fat Bar and Café or something to that effect. The food was good with
good size portions. We were all tired, except for Rusty, so the old people went
back to the King and went to bed, Rusty went home.
Sunday,
July 19, Sarah and I got up early to go to church. I found one, Cathedral of
the Blessed Sacrament. It didn’t look to far from the King but we still took a
cab. It was less than a mile. This is a beautiful church, it is the home of the
bishop and therefore a bit bigger than most of the other churches in the
diocese.
After
mass we decided to walk back to the King and did so. We walked by a park with quite
a few homeless in it. We saw a line of people and figured it was most likely a
church ministry for the homeless and they were feeding them breakfast. What a
nice way to start a Sunday morning.
We
got back to the boat, called Rusty, and went for breakfast, it was free in the
restaurant.
Rusty
showed up about fifteen minutes after we finished eating. We drove over to the
State Capital building and looked around inside. A very nice building, took a
few pictures and bought a couple items.
From
the capital we went searching for food for Rusty. He wanted to try a pizza
place he had heard about. The pizza was very good, I had a piece or two.
Then
we drove back to Old Sacramento and parked the car, the car is Rusty’s.
We
went into a candy store that had every type of candy you would ever want. They
had a jaw breaker candy as big as a softball, it was $15. I didn’t buy
anything.
Then
we were looking for something to do and Larry suggested a boat tour on the
Sacramento River, we did this and it was very nice.
Afterwards
it was time for ice cream, so we found a shop that sold ice cream, candy, and
brittle of many different flavors or types. Have you ever heard of bacon
brittle? Didn’t try it but I wish I had now.
We
walked around the area and had a drink at the Firehouse Restaurant, nice place
but dinner cost a bit more than we wanted to pay and we weren’t very hungry.
We
walked over to a park and parked ourselves on a couple of benches. There was a
singing group, kids from San Diego, performing under a big tent, they were
pretty good.
We
decided to get something to eat before we had Rusty drop us at the Train Depot.
Joe’s Crab Shack was no more than 100 feet away so that is where we went. Sarah
and I split a meal, I wasn’t very hungry.
Rusty
dropped us at the train depot about 8:30, our train was scheduled to leave a
midnight.
Rusty
thank you very much for spending the day with four old fogeys. We enjoyed being
with you sorry we couldn’t walk around as much as you wanted.
Kathy,
Sarah and Rusty.
The
wait in the train depot wasn’t bad except it was hot. They are doing a
renovation to the depot and so no air conditioning. The train was thirty
minutes late, not too bad.
We
got on and our bedroom was all made up into sleeping quarters so we went to
bed.
I
don’t know what time I finally went to sleep but I was awake at 5:30 and with
breakfast at 6:30 we got up.
After
breakfast we went back to our rooms and relaxed. With luck we will be on time
into Portland.
We
arrived on time in Portland, very nice Amtrak station. They have several trains
in and out each day, all commuter type or short haul except for the once a day
Amtrak north to Vancouver or south to San Diego.
We
called Enterprise to get our car, they came and picked us up and we headed to
Colleen & Darrius’ house.
Now
Colleen & Darrius have a two bedroom condo, so Sarah and I stayed with them
and Larry and Kathy stayed in the guest house. It is a one bedroom apartment,
very nice and plenty of room.
Had
a great dinner and walk down to the river. There is a very nice park by the
river. They have concerts there on Wednesday nights.
It
turned into a late night, went to bed at 11:15.
Tuesday,
July 21
Up
early, couldn’t sleep I had congestion so I couldn’t use my CPAP, so I got up
and did some reading and dozed on the couch.
Darrius
grilled chicken breasts for lunch, it was excellent.
Darrius,
Colleen, Sarah, me, Kathy and Larry
The
ladies did a bit of shopping this afternoon. Us guys did our own thing.
This
evening we met Brad & Suzanne for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. You
might remember them from our first winter in Mesa. Suzanne taught a class, I
don’t remember about what and Brad worked on the Décor team with us. Brad spent
most of that time working with John Cline and myself. John and I spent most of
our time eating ice cream and supervising. Brad took a lot of ribbing from us
but he was a good sport and at times gave back as good as or better than he
got.
Anyway
we had a great visit with them and learned all about what they have been up to
for the last couple of years. They have gotten off the road and have returned
to Portland and their old jobs. Thank you for taking time out of your busy
schedule to visit with us.
Me,
Sarah, Brad and Suzanne
Wednesday,
July 22
This
morning we were up fairly early, had a great breakfast got ready to go to visit
Brian, nephew, who works at Nike. (I tend to tease my sister Colleen a lot but
she has achieved a lot in her life and I admire her for that. Plus she is one
fabulous gourmet cook and Darrius is a master of the Weber grill. So all the
meals were great.) Enough of that, now on to Nike. This is the second time
Sarah and I had been there. Nike has a square mile campus and are building more
and adding to their current campus. While we were there the top 100 lacrosse
players in the country were there for training and learning more about their
sport. I would also think Nike is listening to them about the equipment the
players use to be able to develop a better product.
Brian
gave us a tour of the grounds and we had lunch in one of the several dining
rooms on the campus. We did get to the employee store and Sarah and I got new
shoes and she got a jacket. The one complaint I do have is the store cares
nothing in the FAT man category. In fact, now this is an unscientific
observation, but I believe I was the oldest and fattest person in the store the
whole time we were in there. But hey, I still enjoyed looking at all the stuff
in the store.
Later
Brian, his wife April, their kids Ethan and Amelia came over for a cook out.
Darrius cooked on his grill and we ate at the outdoor patio by the club house,
it was a mere fifty feet from their door. Again a great meal.
During
dinner Ethan sat next to me and he told me about his track camp he was
attending that week. He said they learn a new event each day, sometimes two, I
believe today he was learning the javelin. I had a great visit with him, he is
a very intelligent young man who will grow into a very intelligent adult.
After
dinner it was time for Ethan and Amelia to hit the hay so with hugs all around
we said goodbye.
Later
the rest of us walked down to the river park to listen to a band I never heard
of and can’t remember the name but it was fun. It was amazing to see the number
of people attending the concert. They bring blankets, chairs and picnic baskets
full of food and wine. There are a few vendors there also. It is like a big
party.
Brian,
April, Amelia and Ethan and Moxie
Thursday,
July 23
This
morning the ladies went shopping and Darrius, Larry and I went to the golf
driving range. Darrius bought some new golf clubs and wanted to give them a
swing. Larry wanted to try out the new clubs also, I went along to give
unwanted advice. The guys were hitting away at the balls when I noticed two
youngsters down the line from us. These boys must have been 6-8 years old and
they were hitting the ball straighter than I ever had in all my years of
playing golf.
Anyway,
the guys got to where they figured they hit enough balls so I gave it a try.
Even though I am not a good golfer I do miss getting out on the links and
whacking the ball around. I tried and I felt the hit in my right hand to the
point I don’t believe it would be worth the pain and frustration of trying to
golf again, let alone the pain in my hand.
Our
time in Portland has come to an end way to soon. We had a great time with
Colleen and Darrius, wish it could have been longer but it was great visit. We
thank you both for being such gracious hosts and can’t wait to see you again.
Hopefully you can make it to Burlington this fall, Sarah and I will gladly come
over to see you.
Our
train was due out at 4:45 pm so we headed to the depot about 1:30, I dropped
everyone off at the depot and took the rental car back to Enterprise. A nice
young lady took me back to the depot and we planted ourselves in the
Metropolitan Lounge, this is a place for passengers with sleeper accommodations
on the train. It was nice in that it had cushioned chairs and free beverages.
They also provided red cap service to put our luggage on the train and in our
compartments, which really helped me in that the stairs in the train car are
very narrow and steep.
As
per Amtrak’s reputation we were told the train would be late leaving Portland
because it had arrived late that day and the cleaners were still working on
cleaning the cars. The cleaners do okay, but they need to do a deep cleaning in
the cars and in the case of some of the cars Amtrak needs to either refurbish
or get new cars.
We
did finally board about 5:30 and got under way shortly after that.
Again
we had a sleeper with toilet and shower. A bit more on the toilet
accommodations, the toilet in our sleeper was smaller than that in an airplane,
I could stand in it and my shoulders just about touched the walls. Forget
sitting down, I tried and I couldn’t get back up without opening the door. You
had better like who you are traveling with because if you are an adult you
won’t be taking a shower in you compartment. I did find toilets and showers on
the lower level of the car that were a tad bit bigger. At least you don’t have
to open the door to stand up, which could be a bit embarrassing if there was a
line up outside the door to use the toilet.
Enough
of that, we enjoyed the scenery as we headed to Spokane, WA. Now part of our
ticket price included meals on the train. I can, from memory, tell you every
item on the menu and the menu was the same on each train. I will tell you this,
in my opinion the French toast, omelet are the best for breakfast. Lunch would
be the hamburger and hotdog. Dinner the steak was the best, although I didn’t
try anything else for dinner. Sarah had salmon one night and I had a taste, it
wasn’t too bad.
However
our train from Portland did not have a dining car, the train out of Seattle and
the Portland train merge in Spokane.
Private
cars attached to our train in Spokane.
So
Amtrak gave us a box dinner but nothing to drink with it, not sure what that is
all about but that is what they did. You could have chicken, beef or salmon, I
chose wisely, I chose beef. The other meals weren’t all that good and they ran
out of the beef so I would think there were a lot of half eaten dinners thrown
out that night.
With
a sleeper you don’t make up the bed at all the car attendant, or porters a name
they don’t use anymore, make up the bed for you. Our attendant, Courtney,
wanted to know if we wanted the top bunk made up, I said yes. Sarah and I
aren’t newlyweds anymore and for me at least I get closterphobic and would
probably keep Sarah awake all night, she slept on the top bunk. They do keep
the trains cool day and night, I had to get a second blanket a couple nights.
Friday,
July 24
We
are headed across Montana and the scenery is breath taking.
Here
is some mountain we saw, I believe as we were leaving Portland.
So
we didn’t do much but watch the scenery and sleep, did do some reading and of
course we ate all three meals, I won’t go into that again, suffice it to say
Amtrak should expand their menus and have less microwavable food but we all
know that probably won’t happen.
Saturday,
July 25
I
slept all the way across North Dakota except the times I woke up either due to
a long wait in Williston or the roughness of the ride. This section of the
track had to be the worst ride we had been on since we began the journey. I
think I did get off the train in Fargo, not sure. My aunt who is from ND asked
me where the depot was in Fargo, I told her it was right next to the tracks.
Once
we started across Minnesota and Wisconsin the landscape was not new to us, it
looked a lot like Iowa and Nebraska, so I read a lot.
Somewhere
along the way we lost four hours and arrived in Chicago at eight thirty, Larry
had made reservations at the Hampton on Wacker, in fact they called him to see
if we were in fact going to be needing the rooms, he said yes but we were on
Amtrak and the guy said ok he understood. I guess Amtrak has the reputation of
being late everywhere.
Our
rooms were nice but small, I thought maybe this was like a boutique hotel but
Larry said no this was the size of all hotel rooms downtown, unless you want to
pay out an arm and a leg for a bigger room.
Sunday,
July 26
We
were supposed to leave today at 2:00 pm but Larry and I both received calls and
text messages telling us the train was leaving early, noon, no other
explanation. I figured they knew they would lose time and figured this would
help them along the way.
We
were at the depot by eleven and waited in a special area for seniors, military
or people who had children under ten with them. We had coach seats from Chicago
to Omaha and they were not too bad. They had two electrical outlets and they
reclined. I used the outlets but declined on the recliner idea.
We
were on time in Burlington so Larry and Kathy got home before we did but we did
get home on time, 9 pm.
We
were in the second car from the engine so when the train stopped in Omaha it
seemed like a mile and a half walk to the depot. I went looking for a cab and
there were none outside so I called the first one to come up on the search on
my phone. I got the company’s voice mail box and the recording said it was
full, this was a company with four stars. I tried another and was told there
should be taxis there but they would send one down. Finally a yellow cab showed
up and we headed home. We arrived about ten and our journey was over.
Post
Script:
We
all enjoyed the trip but will probably never ride the train for this length of
time again. I am glad we had the sleeper but you still don’t get much sleep, I
would imagine though you get more than if you are in coach. The meals leave a
lot to be desired, they aren’t that good, except for a couple of items. The
Amtrak personnel were all very nice and tried to do as much as humanly possible
to make sure you had a pleasant trip. We met a couple of interesting
individuals and overheard some very interesting conversations.
A
big thanks to our traveling companions Larry and Kathy, it made the ride that
much nicer.
As
I said we enjoyed the trip and don’t regret the train ride. But we all agreed
the next time we will fly.
