Okay, now that my trip was over, and having been without the internet for the past five days, this update will be quite long, so I appreciate your patience reading through this update.
December 27 to January 1: Enjoyed some nice days being in Libertyville (a village in Lake County), Illinois, being mostly quiet and relaxed. Because the family friends that I was staying was taking care of three young girls in foster care as arranged by IL DCFS (have responsibilities similar to Oregon's Department of Human Services), things were busy and frantic at times, and I was effectively somewhat a seasonal live-in nanny for the kids (don't get me wrong, I have passed the background check for this reason). However, we went out to some interesting places. One day, me and the family friends plus the three girls that they were taking care of, went to the Brookefield Zoo to see some animals and the holiday zoolights. After that, grabbed a dinner at a nearby Portillo's, and I had a polish hot dog, two helpings of small Coke, and two and a half helpings of fries. When New Year's Day rolled by, started the first day of 2017 at a church, followed by an afternoon shopping at Hawthorne Mall at Vernon Hills (another village in Lake County, adjacent to Libertyville), then the parents of one of my family friends came over, and had a Korean style New Year's Day celebration (these parents are Korean immigrants). Later that evening, I started packing up for a five-day trip back to Oregon, and slept shortly thereafter.
January 2: After packing up the last few things and having breakfast and then showered, my party of family friends headed off to Chicago. My family friend dropped off his parents at their retirement home in one of Chicago's neighborhoods, then me and my family friends plus the little girls went to downtown Chicago to drop me off at Chicago Union Station. After saying farewell to my family friends, I went ahead to check my bags at CUS. After checking my bags, I went to the CUS Met Lounge to wait for my train, the Southwest Chief #3 to Los Angeles. I had a wine tasting while in the lounge, after stowing my small suitcase in the storage room next to the Met Lounge. Soon after the wine tasting, I went up to the Pennsylvania Room (aka the Red Carpet room) for extra comfort. Watched some television news and read some magazines, including the National magazine. While in the lounge, announcements were going off regarding departures. Three overnight trains were scheduled for departure prior to mine: Texas Eagle #21/321 at 1:45pm, California Zephyr #5 at 2:00pm, and Empire Builder #7/27 at 2:15pm. Shortly after the Empire Builder departed, a boarding call for Southwest Chief #3 was made, at which point I picked up my smaller suitcase and gathered my belongings, then headed for the platform to board my train. My sleeper car was right behind the transitional sleeper, and I had a female SCA for a third consecutive sleeper trip. The train departed on time and we were off to Los Angeles. For the first 30 miles until reaching Naperville, my train traveled on the same tracks that the Metra BNSF Line uses. Shortly after departing Naperville, the Metra line diverged from my route but was close-by until Aurora, which was the end of the line for the Metra BNSF Line. For dinner, I had steak with a glass of Cabernet (na zdrowie) and had a dessert of Lava Cake. For my after-dinner snack, I had the beef hot dog with the works (ketchup, mustard, and mayonaisse; since I was no longer in Chicago by then, I felt no shame to put ketchup on my hot dog) and a Jack and Coke in my copper mug (na zdrowie). Split my time in the diner, in the observation car chatting with fellow travelers, and in my compartment watching movies and listening to music. Shortly before arriving in Kansas City I called my SCA, and shortly after that she came over to convert the two facing seat into a bed. When the train pulled into Kansas City, I decided to step off for a few minutes for some fresh air. It was raining slightly in Kansas City, but not too bad. Across from my train was the Missouri River Runner that just finished its evening run from St. Louis. While on the platform, chatted with my SCA, another SCA (who was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, told her that I am from Oregon and that I was a Seahawks fan), and fellow travelers. Shortly after departure, I went to sleep.
January 3: Woke up around Garden City, Kansas, and went to breakfast. Had my usual breakfast (scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuit, and sausage patties) with coffee and orange juice, and my bed was set off for daytime configuration. Again I split my time in my compartment, diner, and the observation car, but I showered as well. Stepped off for a few minutes in La Junta, for some fresh air and chatting with others. While in my compartment, listened to some music and took pictures of the scenery, including those of Raton Pass and Glorieta Sub, at times going to the back window to take those photos, which was rather a long walk from my comaprtment (starting from my sleeper car, through another sleeper car, dining car, observation car, and three coaches). For lunch, I had my usual: Angus Burger with the works (chedder cheese and bacon). Along with it, I had some Corona (na zdrowie) and a dessert of warm date pudding. The scenery between La Junta and Albuquerque is quite outstanding, especially on the Raton Pass and the Glorieta Sub. Stepped off the train at Albuquerque, checking out with the surroundings such as the station building, the Rail Runner commuter train, platform vendors, and the like, and chatted with other travelers, some of the train staff, and my SCA. We were stopped for over half an hour, then departed on time. It was dark soon after we departed Albuquerque. For dinner, I had steak, and for a drink, I had a glass of Merlot (na zdrowie). A cup of water also accompanied my dinner, and for dessert I had sugar-free vanilla pudding. Shortly before Flagstaff, my SCA converted my compartment to nighttime configuration. I again stepped off at Flagstaff for some fresh air, and have chatted with others, and after departure I went off to sleep.
January 4: I woke up very early, and headed to the diner sometime after Victorville. For breakfast, I had the continental breakfast of oatmeal, croissant, grapefruit, yogurt, and oranges, and I had a cup of coffee to go with the breakfast. The diner closed when the train reached San Bernandino. The train made its way towards LA as it raced eastward through the Inland Empire and Orange County. The train ended up arriving half an hour early into LAUS. I made my way to the baggage claim area and waited half an hour for my baggage. I also grabbed some spare cash from the ATM just before picking up my bags. After getting my bags, I went to hail a taxicab to my hotel in East LA. Upon arriving at my hotel, I sat in the lobby for a while. The check in time is usually at 2pm, but the hotel manager said that I can check in at 11am if I wished, which I did. After paying for my stay and registering with my hotel, I went into my hotel room and dropped my bags off. I watched some television for a bit then headed my way to downtown LA. I took the LA Metro's Gold Line to LAUS, then changed to the Purple Line to Wilshire and Vermont. Upon getting off at Wilshire and Vermont, I went up to the surface to Wilshire Boulevard, and walked on it and the nearby streets. Sure enough, the Wilshire neighborhood was essentially a Korean enclave within LA, and one of the largest in this country, as many businesses in the area were owned or operated by Korean Americans, and there were two prominent such establishments: The South Korean Consulate and MBC America (MBC is one of the South Korea-based television and radio broadcasters). I eventually had lunch at a grill restaurant owned and operated by Koreans, known as the Kanghodong Baekjeong. I got the pork combo, which comprised of marinated pork collar (essentially a pork equivalent of ribeye), pork neck, and pork belly, and a choice of spiced soup. For drinks, I had a bottle of Soju (a rice-based distilled liquor, essentially a vodka, but much less percentage of alcohol compared to Polish vodka. na zdrowie), and a kettle of ice-cold water. Also had some of the side dishes and a pre-cooked thin pork belly marinated with hot sauce. After paying for my lunch all in cash (It was $100 with the food itself, sales tax, and tip). I carefully made my way to the Wilshire and Vermont Metro station, as I had consumed eight shots of the 36-proof liquor over the course of two hours of dining. I took the Purple Line back to LAUS and then grabbed a cup of iced Peppermint Mocha and the LA Times newspaper, and had a short chat with a LA Metro employee. I also went to a mini-grocery store to pick up a few drinks. I then made it to the Gold Line platform to head back to my hotel in East LA. It was dark by the time I came back up to the surface streets, and since the East LA looked quite sketchy, I promptly headed back to my hotel. Once back in the hotel room, watched some more television and had a warm shower, and slept afterwards.
January 5: I packed up, gathered up my belongings and checked out from my hotel. I asked the hotel manager to hail a taxi for me, and told me that it will be there shortly. When I got to the LAUS, I was directed to the Metropolitan Lounge, where the agent verified my tickets and had my baggage checked. I had a muffin and orange juice for breakfast and read magazines and newspapers, and chatted with fellow travelers. The boarding call was made soon after, and we headed to the platform to board the train. My SCA went over the features of a sleeper, and we soon departed. During the trip, split my time between being in my compartment, parlor car, and the diner. For lunch, I had my usual burger with Pepsi, and had the dessert of lava cake. I stepped off the train in San Luis Obispo. In the compartment I passed time by listening to some music. Inside the Parlor car I chatted with fellow travelers. Shortly after leaving San Luis Obispo, I had the wine tasting with cheese and crackers. We had a white wine, an American red wine, and an Argentinian red wine (na zdrowie). After the wine tasting, I had the Mojito served in my copper mug. For dinner, I had my usual steak, but I had Pepsi instead of wine. While at dinner my SCA converted my roomette for nighttime configuration. I hung out in the Parlor car until the train reached Emeryville, at which point I slept shortly thereafter.
January 6: I woke up shortly after Dunsmuir, and went to have breakfast, and had pancakes and sausage patties with coffee and orange juice. I was informed that my train would be 13 minutes, and my compartment was converted to daytime configuration. When the train was closing in on the California, the train suddenly stopped due to reports of cracked rails. The Union Pacific inspectors soon came and the train again was on the move, but a slow order was issued until the next signal. I spent time in the Parlor car chatting with other travelers. The train ended up arriving in Klamath Falls two hours late, and headed back to my compartment in the last few minutes, and gathered my belongings and detrained when the train came to a stop at the depot. I picked up my checked baggage and was picked up by one of my coworkers, and made back safely back to my university apartment. I was surprised at the amount of the snow and ice that was on the ground.
On a bottom line, this whole trip was great, and I have managed to travel over 6000 miles in a month, and it was interesting to note that all of my four SCA's during my four-week vacation were female. I did what the majority of my fellow college students did not do. The SCA's and other staff members that I came across as well as other travelers were quite friendly. This trip was very remarkable, and I felt very lucky to have such a grandiose trip, and I plan to have another great train travels in the near future. As for now, I have now returned to my college grind, and my classes and my work schedules begin on Monday. Trips coming up next: Sacramento (MLK weekend and then again on Memorial Day weekend), LA/Phoenix (March-April), Portland/Seattle/LA/Korea (August-September), Portland (Thanksgiving), LA/New Orleans/New York/Chicago/Bay Area (December). Stay tuned for future trip reports as they are taken. Feel free to comment on my recent return trip back from Chicago, or for my whole winter trip if you wish.
