My journey started on March 19th.
DEN-RAT-LAX
I arrived at Denver Union Station about an hour early.
The station is nice but at 4:45 none of the restaurants are open, which I knew.
I headed down to wait for my thruway. There were maybe 7 of us. The arrival time for our bus was 5:45am. No bus so around 6:00 I called the Amtrak 1-800 number. None of us wanted to run up to the ticket counter in case the bus came. Amtrak put me on hold and called the station, the bus would be there in 20 minutes. After 30 minutes had passed an agent from the station came down and told us the bus was on it's way and assured us we had time to make it to Raton in time. I asked what would happen if we missed our connection with the SWC in Raton. She said the bus would take us to Albuquerque.
I need to add the weather, it was raining with a forecast of rain/snow along our route to Raton.
The bus came an hour and a half late.
So glad to see it but we were late! It was a refurbished Greyhound bus, nice! As we were boarding the driver told me she had never driven the route to Raton, she was from California and just flew in. Oh my gosh!!
On our way, one passenger helped her get out of Denver to the highway. We did run in to snow south of Denver but thankfully just wet roads.
Another passenger helped her find her way to the Pueblo station.
Thankfully I knew where to turn at Raton since the driver did not.
At this point me and I'm sure the other passengers had high anxiety about the train being there. :unsure: I had checked the status of the train on the website and it said the SWC was 20 minutes late to Raton but we were way beyond that.
We are pulling up to the Raton station and the train was there, thank goodness. We all breathed a sigh of relief!
I boarded the train, went to my roomette #10, so glad I booked it. It took me a good while to calm down after the bus ride.
I had a pleasant trip on the SWC.
The outlet in my roomette did not work, the attendant let me sit in an empty one to charge my phone.
The attendant was really nice but never emptied restroom trashes, filled paper towels or the liquid soap.
The dining room attendants were awesome, some of the nicest I have every seen. The food was great, burger for lunch, steak for dinner and the chocolate mousse cup. Missed breakfast.
There was a media marketing team onboard taking pictures.
We arrived in L.A on time. I had a redcap take me to the bus terminal to catch the flyaway to the airport.
Arrived at the airport, waited about 20 minutes for my family(mom, son and his friend) to arrive. We stayed at the Embassy Suites LAX South, have stayed there before and I really to like it there.
The next day we headed down to Long Beach to our cruise!
Our cruise was fabulous. Great weather and excursions in Puerto Vallarta and a great day in Cabo. The best day in Puerto Vallarta was Las Caletas, I love it there.
End of cruise, we took Super Shuttle to the airport and my hotel. I hugged the family goodbye at the airport, excited for my next journey.
I arrived at the Travelodge LAX. I loved loved this hotel :wub: I am really glad I chose this hotel over the Metro Plaza. It's old but very well maintained. I think I put this all in a post but will repeat. The hotel has a swimming pool and courtyard with beautiful flowers and trees. I had reserved a poolside view room. The hotel is only two stories high. It was very peaceful sitting on my balcony relaxing, enjoying the view from my room. You could hear the airplanes but didn't notice the noise after a while. The air conditioner was little louder than the planes when it kicked on. This hotel has free breakfast, laundry room, small convenience store and a Denny's attached.
I do recommend this hotel if convenient in your travels.
LAX-NOL
On Sunday March 28th I took the Super Shuttle to LAUS at 2:00pm for my 10:00pm departure.
I had originally reserved a roomette, which was number 20. Two days before my leaving Denver, I checked prices on rooms on the Sunset Limited. I was pretty sure the bedroom price was just a little more than my roomette. Called and for only $26 I had a bedroom! I could not believe it.
At LAUS I was able to use the Metropolitan Lounge. It was really wonderful being able to wait in there for most of the day The rest of the station with the roped off seats looked very crowded. So I was very thankful.
I was going to eat at Philipe's but never made it. I thought the lounge was so wonderful, I opted to buy a sandwich at the bakery and just stay at the station. The time went by quickly and it was time for the redcaps to take us to the train.
This was my first trip on the Sunset Limited.
The bed was ready when I boarded. Kelsey the attendant was wonderful. She was very friendly, did her job, she really was great.
I really enjoyed my bedroom. I used the shower in my room, I am not petite and had no problem with the small space.
The dining car gals had a 'meh' attitude. The explanation was not enough help and super busy, Still had a great dining experience, met a few nice people.
In Tucson had enough time to visit the bakery for a latte.
The lounge attendant was somewhat funny, Johnny's Place. I liked his announcements, another passenger did not think he was funny.
Riding the Sunset Limited was a neat experience. The time went by very fast. I had a couple of movies to watch but never did. Just enjoyed my room and the scenery.
Arrived in NOL I think on time, we might have been a little early. Grabbed a taxi and went to my hotel. In New Orleans I had one day (Weds.) by myself and then on Thursday morning, family arrived, sister and family and my father.
I chose to go to Harrah's casino on my solo day because I knew the family would explore New Orleans/The French Quarter.
After the family arrived Thursday, their plan was to drink(on Bourbon St) and eat seafood. I would have done a different plan but I went along. I thought the drinking would stop after 2 Hurricanes but it did not.
Friday was the same plan as Thursday :huh: I really would have done a different plan this day.
In those two days I had one alcoholic beverage, a frozen Irish coffee(was really good).
We did go to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and walked through the French Market.
Saturday came and we boarded our ship.
The cruise was nice, very good food and more drinks for the family. I didn't realize this part of the family drank so much now. :mellow: I stuck with my virgin drinks and did some activities on my own on the ship. We visited Key West, Nassau and Coco Cay. More drinks at these places. We also went to the casino at Atlantis in Nassau for an hour. Did not get off at Coco Cay.
This part of my journey was odd, I feel I missed out at the ports but wasn't comfortable going solo.
We returned from the cruise to New Orleans on Saturday the 11th. We headed to Harrah's to kill some time before train and flights. I was really ready to board the train and head home.
NOL-DEN
Boarded the CONO and settled in to my coach seat. The ride was good and had to share a seat which was fine. I slept pretty good through the night. I had dinner and met some wonderful gals from England. In the morning for breakfast I was seated with Fran. I really liked Fran. Before leaving the table she put up her hand for a shake, she just held my hand, two women on good journeys. It was nice moment.
Chicago station, my layover went by rather fast. Tried to upgrade but it didn't work out. On the train my seat mates final destination was Galesburg, so I had the two seats to myself to Denver.
My journey ended on April 13th.
On all of my rail trips this journey I met some really great and interesting people in the dining car. I seemed to be in a rut on past rail trips of being sat with people who I didn't enjoy so I started skipping the dining car. So glad on this journey I tried it again.
Thanks for reading!
Next trip Reno!!
DEN-RAT-LAX
I arrived at Denver Union Station about an hour early.
The station is nice but at 4:45 none of the restaurants are open, which I knew.
I headed down to wait for my thruway. There were maybe 7 of us. The arrival time for our bus was 5:45am. No bus so around 6:00 I called the Amtrak 1-800 number. None of us wanted to run up to the ticket counter in case the bus came. Amtrak put me on hold and called the station, the bus would be there in 20 minutes. After 30 minutes had passed an agent from the station came down and told us the bus was on it's way and assured us we had time to make it to Raton in time. I asked what would happen if we missed our connection with the SWC in Raton. She said the bus would take us to Albuquerque.
I need to add the weather, it was raining with a forecast of rain/snow along our route to Raton.
The bus came an hour and a half late.
So glad to see it but we were late! It was a refurbished Greyhound bus, nice! As we were boarding the driver told me she had never driven the route to Raton, she was from California and just flew in. Oh my gosh!!On our way, one passenger helped her get out of Denver to the highway. We did run in to snow south of Denver but thankfully just wet roads.
Another passenger helped her find her way to the Pueblo station.
Thankfully I knew where to turn at Raton since the driver did not.
At this point me and I'm sure the other passengers had high anxiety about the train being there. :unsure: I had checked the status of the train on the website and it said the SWC was 20 minutes late to Raton but we were way beyond that.
We are pulling up to the Raton station and the train was there, thank goodness. We all breathed a sigh of relief!
I boarded the train, went to my roomette #10, so glad I booked it. It took me a good while to calm down after the bus ride.
I had a pleasant trip on the SWC.
The outlet in my roomette did not work, the attendant let me sit in an empty one to charge my phone.
The attendant was really nice but never emptied restroom trashes, filled paper towels or the liquid soap.
The dining room attendants were awesome, some of the nicest I have every seen. The food was great, burger for lunch, steak for dinner and the chocolate mousse cup. Missed breakfast.
There was a media marketing team onboard taking pictures.
We arrived in L.A on time. I had a redcap take me to the bus terminal to catch the flyaway to the airport.
Arrived at the airport, waited about 20 minutes for my family(mom, son and his friend) to arrive. We stayed at the Embassy Suites LAX South, have stayed there before and I really to like it there.
The next day we headed down to Long Beach to our cruise!
Our cruise was fabulous. Great weather and excursions in Puerto Vallarta and a great day in Cabo. The best day in Puerto Vallarta was Las Caletas, I love it there.
End of cruise, we took Super Shuttle to the airport and my hotel. I hugged the family goodbye at the airport, excited for my next journey.
I arrived at the Travelodge LAX. I loved loved this hotel :wub: I am really glad I chose this hotel over the Metro Plaza. It's old but very well maintained. I think I put this all in a post but will repeat. The hotel has a swimming pool and courtyard with beautiful flowers and trees. I had reserved a poolside view room. The hotel is only two stories high. It was very peaceful sitting on my balcony relaxing, enjoying the view from my room. You could hear the airplanes but didn't notice the noise after a while. The air conditioner was little louder than the planes when it kicked on. This hotel has free breakfast, laundry room, small convenience store and a Denny's attached.
I do recommend this hotel if convenient in your travels.
LAX-NOL
On Sunday March 28th I took the Super Shuttle to LAUS at 2:00pm for my 10:00pm departure.
I had originally reserved a roomette, which was number 20. Two days before my leaving Denver, I checked prices on rooms on the Sunset Limited. I was pretty sure the bedroom price was just a little more than my roomette. Called and for only $26 I had a bedroom! I could not believe it.
At LAUS I was able to use the Metropolitan Lounge. It was really wonderful being able to wait in there for most of the day
The rest of the station with the roped off seats looked very crowded. So I was very thankful.I was going to eat at Philipe's but never made it. I thought the lounge was so wonderful, I opted to buy a sandwich at the bakery and just stay at the station. The time went by quickly and it was time for the redcaps to take us to the train.
This was my first trip on the Sunset Limited.
The bed was ready when I boarded. Kelsey the attendant was wonderful. She was very friendly, did her job, she really was great.
I really enjoyed my bedroom. I used the shower in my room, I am not petite and had no problem with the small space.
The dining car gals had a 'meh' attitude. The explanation was not enough help and super busy, Still had a great dining experience, met a few nice people.
In Tucson had enough time to visit the bakery for a latte.
The lounge attendant was somewhat funny, Johnny's Place. I liked his announcements, another passenger did not think he was funny.
Riding the Sunset Limited was a neat experience. The time went by very fast. I had a couple of movies to watch but never did. Just enjoyed my room and the scenery.
Arrived in NOL I think on time, we might have been a little early. Grabbed a taxi and went to my hotel. In New Orleans I had one day (Weds.) by myself and then on Thursday morning, family arrived, sister and family and my father.
I chose to go to Harrah's casino on my solo day because I knew the family would explore New Orleans/The French Quarter.
After the family arrived Thursday, their plan was to drink(on Bourbon St) and eat seafood. I would have done a different plan but I went along. I thought the drinking would stop after 2 Hurricanes but it did not.
Friday was the same plan as Thursday :huh: I really would have done a different plan this day.
In those two days I had one alcoholic beverage, a frozen Irish coffee(was really good).
We did go to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and walked through the French Market.
Saturday came and we boarded our ship.
The cruise was nice, very good food and more drinks for the family. I didn't realize this part of the family drank so much now. :mellow: I stuck with my virgin drinks and did some activities on my own on the ship. We visited Key West, Nassau and Coco Cay. More drinks at these places. We also went to the casino at Atlantis in Nassau for an hour. Did not get off at Coco Cay.
This part of my journey was odd, I feel I missed out at the ports but wasn't comfortable going solo.
We returned from the cruise to New Orleans on Saturday the 11th. We headed to Harrah's to kill some time before train and flights. I was really ready to board the train and head home.
NOL-DEN
Boarded the CONO and settled in to my coach seat. The ride was good and had to share a seat which was fine. I slept pretty good through the night. I had dinner and met some wonderful gals from England. In the morning for breakfast I was seated with Fran. I really liked Fran. Before leaving the table she put up her hand for a shake, she just held my hand, two women on good journeys. It was nice moment.
Chicago station, my layover went by rather fast. Tried to upgrade but it didn't work out. On the train my seat mates final destination was Galesburg, so I had the two seats to myself to Denver.
My journey ended on April 13th.
On all of my rail trips this journey I met some really great and interesting people in the dining car. I seemed to be in a rut on past rail trips of being sat with people who I didn't enjoy so I started skipping the dining car. So glad on this journey I tried it again.
Thanks for reading!
Next trip Reno!!
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