9/19/18 Our trip started in Lake Charles, LA, on the SL coming from New Orleans. It was 2 hours late getting to LCH and the waiting room had no a/c. The crew made up the 2 hours by the time we arrived in San Antonio. Lisa, our room attendant and Hosea, our dining car attendant , were great.
9/21/18 After we arrived in LAX early, we departed on the Coast Starlight. The scenery was beautiful, as always. I can't say the same for our dining car attendant, who was very rude and disorganized. We detrained in Emeryville. The Hyatt House really is just behind the station. You just have to take an elevator to the pedestrian bridge and walk to the hotel. They upgraded us to an 11th floor suite with a balcony. We didn't have much time to enjoy the room, but they had a wonderful breakfast.
9/22/18 We caught the CZ at 9:10 a.m. We rode along the San Francisco East Bay for about an hour. Our first time to see it in the daylight. The ride across the Sierra Nevada mountains was spectacular with tunnels, waterfalls, lakes and pretty trees.
9/23/18 We continued following the beautiful Colorado River and arrived in Grand Junction, CO. We were excited to see that they are restoring the beautiful station there. We went on to Glenwood Springs. The agent there is super nice and efficient.
We caught the RFTA bus (free for seniors) to Aspen to the Rubey Park stop. Our hotel, the Aspen Mountain Chalet, was right across the street from the bus stop. It's an older hotel, family-owned, very clean and nice, with a great breakfast. Our only problem there was the cable/internet was out for 2 days. Aspen has a beautiful downtown area with several old (1890's) buildings that have been restored. We ate dinner at the Red Onion restaurant. Good, but crowded.
9/24/18 We walked across the street and caught the bus to Aspen Highlands. We bought our ticket for the shuttle to Maroon Bells at the bus station, so we didn't have to at Aspen Highlands. The shuttle ride to Maroon bells was gorgeous. It was cloudy, in fact it sleeted on us at the Bells. We didn't take any of the long hikes. It was cold and drizzly. It is a beautiful area. After our shuttle and bus back to our hotel, we went on a jeep tour with John from Blazing Adventures. He was a little disappointed because I wanted to go to Independence Pass instead of the back-country. He was so friendly and such a great guide. It was very cold at Independence Pass. It had snowed. John had brought blankets for us because we rode in an open-air jeep. He took us to several other places around Aspen.. The Aspen trees were breath-taking.
9/25/18 After the super breakfast at the Mountain Chalet, we caught the RFTA bus back to Glenwood Springs. We had to pay to store our luggage at the Amtrak station while we walked around for about 1 1/2 hours. We walked across the Pedestrian bridge over the river and highway. We saw the Hot Springs and the Sioux Curio Shop, which has tons of souvenirs, etc. We caught the CZ on to Denver. Another beautiful ride with rivers, canyons, mountains and tunnels, including the long Moffat Tunnel. We were delayed for 2 hours between Winter Park and Denver because of track work. So our night at the Holiday Inn Express was nice, but very short.
9/26/18 We taxied to the beautiful Denver Union Station to catch the Greyhound bus to Raton, NM. (4 hours). It was a pleasant ride arriving just in time to catch the SWC. It's a guaranteed connection. There was a group of Amtrak By Rail riders who had all of the early lunch and dinner reservations. The dining car attendant was even ruder than the one on the CS! They made dining a dreaded chore, instead of a pleasure.
9/27/18 We had a limited breakfast on the train. When we arrived in Fullerton, CA, it was announced that we could detrain there, instead of LAX to catch the Pacific Surfliner. That put us in San Juan Capistrano 2 hours early. The staff at the Best Western there even let us have our room at 10:00 a.m.! Their shuttle driver, "Ernie" took us back and forth to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, which was wonderful. Lots of history and pretty gardens.
9/28/18 They let us store our bags and use the shuttle at the B/W, even though we had checked out. Great breakfast, too. We walked around the Historic Rios district and caught the Pacific Surfliner to San Clemente Pier ( about 12 minutes). We loved the pier and the Fisherman's Restaurant. We were advised to order the Mudd pie for dessert. It was delicious, but HUGE. We walked up the hill to the Casa Romantica, a gorgeous home turned into an event center on the bluff overlooking the Ocean. Our day was great until the Pacific Surfliner to get back to San Juan Capistrano was 40 minutes late. This caused us to almost miss our train from San Juan Capistrano to LAX. We had Business Class because I remembered this train is very crowded on Friday evening. The conductor was so nice. He brought us a snack box and water. We left LAX on the SL on time (10:00) p.m.
9/30/18 We arrived back in LCH.
9/21/18 After we arrived in LAX early, we departed on the Coast Starlight. The scenery was beautiful, as always. I can't say the same for our dining car attendant, who was very rude and disorganized. We detrained in Emeryville. The Hyatt House really is just behind the station. You just have to take an elevator to the pedestrian bridge and walk to the hotel. They upgraded us to an 11th floor suite with a balcony. We didn't have much time to enjoy the room, but they had a wonderful breakfast.
9/22/18 We caught the CZ at 9:10 a.m. We rode along the San Francisco East Bay for about an hour. Our first time to see it in the daylight. The ride across the Sierra Nevada mountains was spectacular with tunnels, waterfalls, lakes and pretty trees.
9/23/18 We continued following the beautiful Colorado River and arrived in Grand Junction, CO. We were excited to see that they are restoring the beautiful station there. We went on to Glenwood Springs. The agent there is super nice and efficient.
We caught the RFTA bus (free for seniors) to Aspen to the Rubey Park stop. Our hotel, the Aspen Mountain Chalet, was right across the street from the bus stop. It's an older hotel, family-owned, very clean and nice, with a great breakfast. Our only problem there was the cable/internet was out for 2 days. Aspen has a beautiful downtown area with several old (1890's) buildings that have been restored. We ate dinner at the Red Onion restaurant. Good, but crowded.
9/24/18 We walked across the street and caught the bus to Aspen Highlands. We bought our ticket for the shuttle to Maroon Bells at the bus station, so we didn't have to at Aspen Highlands. The shuttle ride to Maroon bells was gorgeous. It was cloudy, in fact it sleeted on us at the Bells. We didn't take any of the long hikes. It was cold and drizzly. It is a beautiful area. After our shuttle and bus back to our hotel, we went on a jeep tour with John from Blazing Adventures. He was a little disappointed because I wanted to go to Independence Pass instead of the back-country. He was so friendly and such a great guide. It was very cold at Independence Pass. It had snowed. John had brought blankets for us because we rode in an open-air jeep. He took us to several other places around Aspen.. The Aspen trees were breath-taking.
9/25/18 After the super breakfast at the Mountain Chalet, we caught the RFTA bus back to Glenwood Springs. We had to pay to store our luggage at the Amtrak station while we walked around for about 1 1/2 hours. We walked across the Pedestrian bridge over the river and highway. We saw the Hot Springs and the Sioux Curio Shop, which has tons of souvenirs, etc. We caught the CZ on to Denver. Another beautiful ride with rivers, canyons, mountains and tunnels, including the long Moffat Tunnel. We were delayed for 2 hours between Winter Park and Denver because of track work. So our night at the Holiday Inn Express was nice, but very short.
9/26/18 We taxied to the beautiful Denver Union Station to catch the Greyhound bus to Raton, NM. (4 hours). It was a pleasant ride arriving just in time to catch the SWC. It's a guaranteed connection. There was a group of Amtrak By Rail riders who had all of the early lunch and dinner reservations. The dining car attendant was even ruder than the one on the CS! They made dining a dreaded chore, instead of a pleasure.
9/27/18 We had a limited breakfast on the train. When we arrived in Fullerton, CA, it was announced that we could detrain there, instead of LAX to catch the Pacific Surfliner. That put us in San Juan Capistrano 2 hours early. The staff at the Best Western there even let us have our room at 10:00 a.m.! Their shuttle driver, "Ernie" took us back and forth to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, which was wonderful. Lots of history and pretty gardens.
9/28/18 They let us store our bags and use the shuttle at the B/W, even though we had checked out. Great breakfast, too. We walked around the Historic Rios district and caught the Pacific Surfliner to San Clemente Pier ( about 12 minutes). We loved the pier and the Fisherman's Restaurant. We were advised to order the Mudd pie for dessert. It was delicious, but HUGE. We walked up the hill to the Casa Romantica, a gorgeous home turned into an event center on the bluff overlooking the Ocean. Our day was great until the Pacific Surfliner to get back to San Juan Capistrano was 40 minutes late. This caused us to almost miss our train from San Juan Capistrano to LAX. We had Business Class because I remembered this train is very crowded on Friday evening. The conductor was so nice. He brought us a snack box and water. We left LAX on the SL on time (10:00) p.m.
9/30/18 We arrived back in LCH.
