Just a brief clip as we approached the Rockies westbound.

This was just the beginning of a full day of amazing vistas … one after another after another after another.

Photos from our trip are here (in case you didn’t notice the links to the right) — just click on the photo below:

Our late arrival in Cleveland last night was due to the fact that the rails used by Amtrak are owned by the freight trains, so the freights have the right of way all the time. Several times on our trip from Chicago to Cleveland we were forced to sit and wait for 10+ minutes (and once for about 30 minutes) for a freight train to barrel by: not such a bad thing, I guess,  when you consider a head-on collision with another train going 80 mph is the alternative to politely waiting for the big guys to pass. It just becomes tiresome when it’s 2 a.m. and You. Just. Want. To. Be. Home.

But I sort of think that waiting patiently for the freights to pass is symbolic of Amtrak travel: it’s scenic, leisurely, friendly, laid-back, comfortable, and requires patience.  We rode coach class between Cleveland and Chicago and I was amazed by the leg room and general comfort of the seats as compared to an airline seat, and we didn’t even take advantage of the lounge car. And, as we’ve said, we were blown away by the scenery we enjoyed throughout the trip and hope to take more train trips.  It suits us.

But I guess you have to know yourself and your travel requirements to decide if you’d like to try train travel.  It’s comfy, but can be cramped at times (check out Amtrak’s virtual tours of the sleepers); it’s certainly a slower way to travel between points A and B; it’s prone to delays (but then so are airlines); it’s a rocking and rolling means of travel, so I guess motion sickness could be a problem. The part I was really dreading was that Amtrak practices communal seating in the dining car: parties of 3 or less are seated with other riders at the tables for 4.  Strained conversation with strangers is not my favorite thing to do.  But I found our dining companions at all meals to be interesting, diverse  and fun to talk to, from a lovely couple from Vermont who’d raised sheep as pets and used the wool for clothing & accessories and told us about the “Elder Hostel” program, to the Zales Jewelers salesman-turned evangelical Lutheran minister who tried to convince me that woman’s subservience to men was “written in our hearts” and is the natural order. While I was polite and quietly listened to his earnest bag of  b.s, I just may have offered to write on his heart communicated a speck of disagreement with his patriarchal, smug, chauvinistic viewpoint. Larry did get a little worried. All in all, we really enjoyed our meal companions.

But I still think that it’s cruel and unusual punishment to force social interaction at breakfast. Just sayin’.

If you’re really interested, call me and I’ll tell you all about showering in a train. For this blog? TMI.

Our 1 AM arrival in Cleveland actually happened about 3 AM. We were a little late leaving Chicago, had fallen an hour behind by Toledo, and got stopped to allow two freight trains to pass within 10 minutes of the Cleveland station. Our checked bag was retrieved, and, despite 7 degree F temperature, the car started without hesitation. Very little snow had to be cleared. We arrived home around 4 AM, and expect to sleep soon. It was a GREAT trip.

We woke up this AM in Lawrence Kansas and had breakfast under the Kansas City, Missouri skyline (it was nice to eat while the train was not moving). Now we continue on through Missouri, Iowa and Illinois to Chicago, then we make a train change and finish up in Cleveland at about 1:00 AM tomorrow. It’s been a great trip going, in LA, and returning. We had a great time with Jeff, Anna-Marie and Sebastian, we were treated really well by the Amtrak crews, and we found we can enjoy each other’s company for as long as  two days living in a 3.5 ft by 6.5 ft roomette!

Last night we witnessed a southwestern sunset to remember. The day had been filled with great New Mexico high desert landscapes, but the grand finale came at sunset.

We are pacing around the motel room, just sort of biding our time ’til we hop on the shuttle for Union Station to begin the trip back home, after a wonderful visit with Jeff, Anna Marie, Sebastian and Shep. (And Itchy and Scratchy the parakeets, but frankly, they really weren’t all that much company) I think what I liked best about this brief visit was that we didn’t do anything! We watched Jurassic Park with Sebastian (his first time!), we watched him build his diorama for school, we played “War”, we played Lego games, we went to a couple great restaurants, and we just enjoyed each others’ company. It was great! Today everyone is back to work and school after the long weekend, but we are so happy that Jeff is going to try to get off work a little early and meet us at Union Station/Old Pueblo, as will Anna Marie and Sebastian after they get out of school (early dismissal day! Score!) so we were able to delay our goodbyes until then. I’m also holding out a slim hope that we can get permission for them to get on board the train to take a look at our roomette, but I sort of doubt it.
We’ll be boarding the train sometime after 5:30 pm local time for a 6:15 pm departure, and I’m looking forward to seeing a different part of the country on the route back. While it’s still exciting to travel again, it’s lacking the anticipation that the trip out here had: it’ll be a long time until we see the CA family again. But it will be good to get home again– ‘cuz wow, this sunshine and balmy weather is just so hard to take. It will be totally great to see gray skies and snow and ice and experience the bone-chilling temperatures that are normal for January.
Sigh. Guess we’re ready for the tiny train room and the rocking and jolting two day ride back to Ohio!

Sebastian REALLY likes our hotel. I think he’d be happy to spend every minute just hanging out in our room. Yesterday was a nice lazy Sunday … brunch, a walk through the Japanese garden at the hotel, naps, a tour of the Japanese-American Museum, and dinner at Loteria Grill in Hollywood. Only downside, was Sebastian’s distress over being short a meal — he chowed down at brunch but insisted it only counted as ONE meal.

To add to Larry’s effusive post about the stunning scenery we’ve seen (including an EAGLE really, really close to the train!!) I must say the accommodations aren’t awful. We totally collapsed last night immediately after dinner, having had only about 2 hours of sleep before we started our trip: we could barely say goodbye to our dinner companions before we brushed our teeth in the miniscule bathroom and changed into our jammies (no small accomplishment in a postage stamp sized room) and Larry clambered up into the top bunk and I crawled into the bottom one. Now, train travel is jiggly and bumpy, and occasionally swaying. Sleeping was a little like being rocked in a cradle by a prankster uncle (*cough* Tom *cough*) who’d occasionally jerk the cradle just for shits and giggles. Fortunately, Larry had a sling to put up to keep him in bed in the event of a violent jolt (not that he’d really have room to fall, since the room was too small for him to really tumble. I would’ve slept thru a fall. The rocking and jolting were no problem whatsoever. When we both got up at 4, I decided to try the shower. The water was hot, the shower room was adequate, but between the adventure of showering in a rocking train and drying off with a hand towel, I am looking forward to the motel shower. Forget about washing my hair: I brought headbands and hairspray. They’ll have to do.

We are having a blast. This has ruined me for plane travel: I’ll really feel deprived if I have to go anywhere on a plane again.

It’s been fantastic today. Not only are we running on 8 hours sleep (7:30PM to 4:00AM still counts), but the scenery since Denver has been indescribably wonderful. Denver was snowy, so pictures from there are near white-outs, but as we climbed the Rockies the snow lessened and during the downhill trek (we crossed the Continental Divide today!) blue (REALLY blue) skies became the rule. The camera has been close to melting as we attempted to capture the experience. Unfortunately, our success rate is probably rather low shooting on the fly, but we keep trying. As soon as we decide we’ve taken enough pictures, a new vista has us grabbing (sometimes fighting over) the camera. It just gets better and better and better.

Wish you were here.

PS — Cellular is spotty so just a few phone pictures have been posted … a teaser to keep you tuned in.