On The Road at Last

The train pulled out of Sacramento right on time last night. It was wonderful to get on the train and be in a room in about 3 minutes. Settle in, unpack, and off we went. First leg is to Seattle Wa, a 20 hour trip. The roomette I am in is an excellent way to travel. It is quiet and private and comfortable. You know, imagine a coffin… well, one that is 3’6” wide and 8 feet tall any way. Two comfortable seats face each other, there is a plug in (note 1 plug!!) for the room, I am glad I brought a 3 way outlet with me. Reading light at each seat, overhead light, private air controls, a tiny 6: wide closet, a storage shelf by one seat, and a table that folds out of the wall to between the seats. The glass door can be shut, and the curtains drawn so you can be in your own private cocoon with a picture window of the countryside going by. The seats recline, and at night fold down into a 3’ x 6’6” bed. Above that a bunk folds down if needed for the second person. A nice trip today, over night we went through the Sacramento Valley, and sunrise showed up right around Mt Shasta. After a stop in Klamath Falls, we headed north and west over the mountain range and into Eugene. That was a beautiful trip over the mountains with some long switch backs and multiple tunnels with big canyon views. Then up to Portland, eventually following the Willamette River and then crossing the Columbia as night fell… Into the late evening we went through Washington… reaching speeds of 80_ MPH .. . yes I have a GPS… my favorite toy! Outside of Tacoma, we followed the edge of Puget sound for quite a ways, I wish it was daylight to see the water there.

Questions and Answers from comments

1. Where will I sleep? Kirstyn hopes I will get a bed. . . Nope, In actuality I am not even getting a seat, I am on the standing room only supersaver plan!. I am planning on catching catnaps in the space between the cars, you know, open one door, and it is windy and cold there, yeah, I will be curled up with an old tattered blamket, and a bottle in a bag, and a cup in front of me for meal money. I feel it is a sound, well reasoned plan, after all it is only two weeks. Alternatively, I can hole up in one of the lavatories, and sleep sitting on the floor. . . . . well maybe not. . .
Alright, I am planning on staying in a roomette most of the time. I plan to get the upgrade onboard as I go. If it is too expensive sometimes, I may stay in coach or get a roomette for a short overnight portion.

2. Shawna wants to know how many states I will go through. I counted 34 states, some multiple times, but only counted once. A couple of them are just a corner or a dip in and out, but hey, for numbers sake, it is all legal, in the state is in the state.

3. yes, I am planning on taking a whole suitcase full of books... I will probably have 8-10 with me realistically, along with a camera, laptop, GPS, Itunes music and movies. . . . ready, set, sit!

OK. the trip is planned finally

Alrighty!! off I go.  Please come along on my adventure as I explore America's backyard by train. Here is the map of the route I am taking.  I am departing Sacramento on Oct. 27th, at midnight. I am attempted to ride as many of the major Amtrak trains as I can.  I am starting on the Coast Starlight from Sacramento traveling past Mt Shasta, Hood river, the cascades, Puget Sound and into Seattle.  From there I am taking the Empire Builder through Northern Idaho,Glacier National Park in Montana, the plains of Montana, and North Dakota, Minneapolis, Wisconsin and into Chicago.  Then onto the Lakeshore Limited, which skirts the shore of the Great Lake Michigan, up to Buffalo New Youk (although not quite to Niagra Falls), follow the Erie Canal, down through Albany and into New York City.

There after a 6 hour wait, I am taking a commuter train to Washington DC, where I will spend the day touring before getting on my next train that evening.  I will be riding the Crescent through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Atlanta Georgia, Alabama, and into New Orleans.  After a day in New Orleans, I am heading out on the City of New Orleans (yeah it was made famous by the song of the same name),  through Mississippi, Memphis Tennessee, Kentucky and up to Chicago again??? I thought I was just there?  Yep, but it is a major connector for Amtrak nation wide.  All 4 of the west coast trains end there.  

From Chicago, lets now make a U-turn and take the Texas Eagle down to St Louis, through Arkansas,  Dallas, San Antonio, where it turns into the Sunset limited and follows the southern part of the country going to El Paso, Tuscon, Yuma and into California.  There the train passes through Palm springs and I am stopping in Ontario.  From there I will be hopping on the Southwest Chief,  going through the high desert of California, northern Arizona, Flagstaff, over to Albuquerque NM, through a corner of Colorado, into Kansas city KS, and onto Chicago again??  NO!!  I am going to get off in Galesburg a couple of hours outsife of Chicago, and catch the California Zephyr headed west.  This will take me through Iowa, Omaha Nebraska, over to Denver, through the Rocky Mountains, up to Salt Lake city, across the Nevada desert, through Reno, the high Sierras of California, and home to Roseville!

The entire trip will consist of 16 days, of which only 3 nights will be spent OFF the train at an over night layover.

So, What does one do for 2 weeks on a train?   sit of course!  and watch the world go by, at breakfast, at lunch, after lunch, at dinner, after dinner, in the evening, at night.... the world never stops going by!  I hope I don't lose track of where I am, or maybe it doesn't matter at all if I do.

I am taking my lovely GPS attached to my laptop so I can always see where we are at.  That is a very entertaining thing to do. As a side note, I have done this on a cruise ship and during a "day at sea" I discovered we went in a 10 mile circle, about 15 miles from shore... very exotic!!  now, back to our regularly scheduled show . . . 

I may or may not post again before I depart... stay tuned . . . . . . .