Fri Nov 9:
My bus was late. When I arrived at the Metropolitan Lounge in the PDX train station, they told me I could board right away. I made a cup of mint tea in my travel mug, and walked out to the platform to board the Portland sleeper. As the redcap helped the couple ahead of me board, I overheard him tell them that our attendant was “Never-a-dull-moment-Charles.” Was he ever right! Charles immediately made us feel at home, showing us the “spread” in roomette #1. Magazines, toys, games, coolers full of ice, iced water, and iced champagne; juice, a teakettle and teabags. Charles wanted to make sure we had everything to make ourselves comfortable. One of my fellow Amtrak unlimited group members was there (“AKA”), and he said he had never seen anything like it on any of his trips. Me either.
Charles came to the door of the roomettes just boarded, offering us a choice of dinners. When I first heard him down the hall it was chicken-salmon-beef. By the time he got to me and the woman in the next roomette, it was chicken-salmon, and when he brought the boxed dinners back to us, it turned out we had to arm-wrestle for the last salmon. She accepted the chicken (warning: board earliest if you want the salmon, it’s worth it). The dinner consisted of a nice hunk of salmon on a bed of baby greens with a lemon slice and dill sauce; a sourdough roll; a side of tender herbed/roasted vegetables; a cup of fresh fruit salad; and a modest square of pecan pie with dark chocolate bits (big enough to pick out if chocolate isn’t your thing, but it’s definitely mine. Yumm!). I was pleasantly full, but not stuffed, when I finished.
My room was quite warm, and the heat seemed to be stuck on “on”. By the time we left Vancouver, it was getting dark. It was a moonless night, so turning the lights off didn’t help: I still could not see more than the faint gleam of the river and a few lights on the other side as we entered the famed Columbia Gorge. Good thing I’ve seen it from the highway many times, or I would have been disappointed to miss it on my first train trip through.
I’m limited on roaming minutes, so as soon as we got far enough up the gorge to be back in my local calling area, I dialed Hubby and we chatted for about half an hour. He had gotten a lot of work done after dropping me off at the bus, had eaten the dinner I left for him, and was ready to hit the hot tub. I had gotten up at 4am, so when I hung up, I told Charles he could make up my bunk. By the time we got to Pasco, I was asleep. I woke up only when they made the last announcement over the PA to say we might be in Spokane early, and again in the wee hours when we were going in and out of tunnels (I could tell by the sound it was the Idaho/Montana border area).
Sat Nov 10:
I got up at dawn, and went to the dining car as we arrived in Whitefish. The servers were gracious and competent, as was all the staff I’ve seen on this train. The big food revelation on this trip was that the breakfast biscuits are now whole wheat (which I prefer), and quite good! When I got back, I realized I had not pushed the call button, and Charles hadn’t put up my bed, so I sat in the vacant roomette across the hall (the left side being the good side for the views of Glacier Park mountains and river, anyway) until he came back. Charles hummed and sang as he worked.
It was the break between summer tourist season and the holidays, so the train was running about half full and right on time. We ran into some padding in the schedule at Shelby, MT, so had about half an hour to wait at the station. The conductor announced 9 degrees outside with a wind chill of 10 below. The smokers all piled out, puffed their cigs, and piled back in. I did laps, checking out the train consist, and getting some fresh air and exercise. From the back, we had the Portland sleeper, two PDX coaches (one with baggage compartment below), the lounge car, two SEA coaches, the dining car, two SEA sleepers, the staff dorm, the baggage car, an empty sleeper being hauled back to CHI, and three units.
The wine and cheese tasting was great, and I won one of the extra bottles by answering the question “how many support staff are on this train other than train crew.” I guessed 12, at the same time as someone else, and we BOTH got a bottle. I was lucky I got the Cabernet, as I hadn’t cared so much for the Malbec. Guess I have a low-brow taste in wine, the super-dry reds don’t appeal much to me. We had to wait for our sister train to pass westbound. By Malta, we were 10 minutes late, by Glasgow it was 15 minutes, and by Wolf Point half an hour. Still, it was nice to be speeding across the prairie in a warm, comfy train. It was windy, gray, snowy and cold-looking outside.
I’d had soup and salad for lunch, so I felt like I could treat myself a little at dinner. Nothing like going overboard! The salmon was absolutely excellent, and the vegetables delicious. The chocolate brownie “pie” I had for dessert was a huge wedge the size of a giant slice of cheese cake. I’d allowed the server to talk me into “a la mode,” and it sure tasted good, but I just could not finish it. They have upgraded the food since the last time I took the EB!
Sunday Nov 11:
Slept really well the second night in my roomette, and relieved to wake up in the morning with no snow outside. The sleeper had practically filled up overnight, the reason for which I figured out at breakfast. A bunch of people had gotten on at Williston and Minot, and I sat at a table with a few of them. They said that the storm had closed the airports and caused their flights to be canceled, and that they were happy to have figured out that they could take the train overnight to MSP to catch their connectors out to Florida and points south! I was happy to see Amtrak get the business.
I’ve been working on my SolWest video logs between meals and socializing, so I went back to my roomette, fired up the computer, and kicked back with a cup of my own organic black tea in my own travel mug. What luxury! It was drizzly and windy at MSP, so I only walked the length of the train a couple of times before re-boarding and checking for a wi-fi network. No open network apparent at the station here. Come on, Amtrak, get with the program! We are still running about 30 minutes late, now through the lovely landscape of MN, where you can see the German influence in the houses and there are streams and marshes between the forested hills.
By the time we get to CHI, there have been a couple more slowdowns, and we’re over an hour late. I am sooooo ready to get off the train! The kids in the family room downstairs are whiney, and though they want to be polite to a gray-haired lady, I usher them off ahead of me. Then I step off the train and stretch my legs along the platform as I haul my bag to check in the Metropolitan Lounge. I ask the check-in lady how late I can return for the LSL, and she tells me 8:00. “But the train does not leave till 9:30,” I say. “How late can I return?” She insists on 8:00, for the wine and cheese tasting on board. “I am having dinner with my nephew,” I say. “How late can I return?” Ahh, that’s different. I must retrieve my checked bag before 8:30, when the attendant goes on break. I promise to be back by 8:30, and beat the escalator by running up the stairs to Canal Street. A green Honda is waiting for me at the corner.
Nephew takes me first to his “Pumping Station One” club where some young inventors are working on a computer-driven 3D printer, others are socializing in the “art room,” and a third is working on a laser cutter project. There is wi-fi here, so I check my email and let Hubby know that I am headed out to dinner in CHI. Then we head around the block to check out a restaurant that Nephew has wanted to try. The dinner is a three-course “prix fixe” menu: noodle dish, drink and dessert. I choose a cold buckwheat soba noodle salad with mustard mayo, green leaves, and burdock root. There are three hot drumettes with a crispy finish on the side, and I let Eric have one. Eric chooses a souplike noodle dish with some of the same oriental vegetables, and a skewer of beef. We both have the sassafras/citrus soda to wash it down, but they also bring at my request a taste of the rum punch. Oh my, if I drank a whole glass of that, I would be very happy -- and under the table! We finish with their standard dessert, a dish of chocolate soft serve ice cream with a sprinkles and some kind of sauce. Everything is absolutely delicious, and for the first time in a couple of days, I don’t feel stuffed.
After a quick visit to see Nephew’s apartment, we head back downtown and I board the train. As I pass the cars, I check the consist from rear to front: NYP luggage, two NYP sleepers, diner, four NYP coach, café car, two BOS coach, BOS sleeper, BOS luggage, two units. My neighbors in the next roomette ask “did you walk all the way out here?” No biggie… I’ll be sitting most of the next 24 hours! My SCA, Kevin, recommends sleeping in the top bunk and leaving my bag in the other passenger seat, and I find it’s good advice. I love the view from up above in the Viewliner sleeper! I discover overnight that being near the front of the train means you hear the horn clearly -- but I sleep well nonetheless.
Mon 11/12:
I get up as the dawn light begins in the east, and head to the diner for breakfast. The service is good, but I am astounded to see several tables with only one person. So why do they seat me by myself, facing backwards, if they are going to seat the next pair to come in at the next table? I wish I had brought a magazine to read, I’ve never had to eat alone on Amtrak before! The dishes are plastic on this train, the food merely adequate. I eat most of the omelette, and all the biscuit, but leave the potatoes (overcooked and underheated). I don’t linger.
At Buffalo, it’s warm and windy, and I walk the train length twice over. When I re-board, Kevin is chatty because he has less than half a sleeper-full. I mention that Hubby and I had wanted to take the Oregon Pioneer, but they took it down the year before we started our travels. He says that it was all set to be put back in: equipment found, funding committed; but that Union Pacific foiled the plan by demolishing the platforms along the route because they did not want it. He says Burlington Northern is very supportive, but UP did themselves a disfavor by trying to foil Amtrak, and it has cost them big dollars. I must say that I hope it costs them more than that if the economy does not favor a return to our old consumer habits and lots of freight!
I must say, it’s nice to have double-track everywhere, as we just gallop right past the freights. There’s been some track work which we had to slow down to go past. Border Patrol has been prominent at most every stop. One at Rochester walked past my sleeper with a dog on a leash, presumably headed to sniff the checked bags in the car ahead. At lunch, I decline to order until I have company at the table, and soon I have a lovely couple to converse with while I eat. The soup and salad is again delicious, and this time I finish my chocolate fudge brownie “pie” a la mode!
After the train splits in Albany, we are on time again, but get about 15 minutes behind by Worcester. I am still working on the video editing, but I am already mentally getting off this train! Dinner is served at 5pm in the far half of the Café car. There are only four of us from the sleeper that are eating dinner, so we share a single table. The beef medallions are served with slices of fresh ricotta and tomatoes, a few spinach leaves, some orzo salad, and a little cup of pesto on the side. Very good! The chocolate peanut torte for dessert is absolutely outrageously delicious, moist rich cake with layers of whipped stuff, fudge, caramel, and crunchy peanut. It will take several days of light eating to make up for the way I’ve been fed on this trip. Karen from upstate NY and I find we have a lot in common (natural food and farming), and stay at the table talking long after the other couple has left. We exchange cards before she detrains at Back Bay. A few minutes more, and I am standing in the court at South Station, calling my sister and figuring out how to catch the “T” to Central Square.
My bus was late. When I arrived at the Metropolitan Lounge in the PDX train station, they told me I could board right away. I made a cup of mint tea in my travel mug, and walked out to the platform to board the Portland sleeper. As the redcap helped the couple ahead of me board, I overheard him tell them that our attendant was “Never-a-dull-moment-Charles.” Was he ever right! Charles immediately made us feel at home, showing us the “spread” in roomette #1. Magazines, toys, games, coolers full of ice, iced water, and iced champagne; juice, a teakettle and teabags. Charles wanted to make sure we had everything to make ourselves comfortable. One of my fellow Amtrak unlimited group members was there (“AKA”), and he said he had never seen anything like it on any of his trips. Me either.
Charles came to the door of the roomettes just boarded, offering us a choice of dinners. When I first heard him down the hall it was chicken-salmon-beef. By the time he got to me and the woman in the next roomette, it was chicken-salmon, and when he brought the boxed dinners back to us, it turned out we had to arm-wrestle for the last salmon. She accepted the chicken (warning: board earliest if you want the salmon, it’s worth it). The dinner consisted of a nice hunk of salmon on a bed of baby greens with a lemon slice and dill sauce; a sourdough roll; a side of tender herbed/roasted vegetables; a cup of fresh fruit salad; and a modest square of pecan pie with dark chocolate bits (big enough to pick out if chocolate isn’t your thing, but it’s definitely mine. Yumm!). I was pleasantly full, but not stuffed, when I finished.
My room was quite warm, and the heat seemed to be stuck on “on”. By the time we left Vancouver, it was getting dark. It was a moonless night, so turning the lights off didn’t help: I still could not see more than the faint gleam of the river and a few lights on the other side as we entered the famed Columbia Gorge. Good thing I’ve seen it from the highway many times, or I would have been disappointed to miss it on my first train trip through.
I’m limited on roaming minutes, so as soon as we got far enough up the gorge to be back in my local calling area, I dialed Hubby and we chatted for about half an hour. He had gotten a lot of work done after dropping me off at the bus, had eaten the dinner I left for him, and was ready to hit the hot tub. I had gotten up at 4am, so when I hung up, I told Charles he could make up my bunk. By the time we got to Pasco, I was asleep. I woke up only when they made the last announcement over the PA to say we might be in Spokane early, and again in the wee hours when we were going in and out of tunnels (I could tell by the sound it was the Idaho/Montana border area).
Sat Nov 10:
I got up at dawn, and went to the dining car as we arrived in Whitefish. The servers were gracious and competent, as was all the staff I’ve seen on this train. The big food revelation on this trip was that the breakfast biscuits are now whole wheat (which I prefer), and quite good! When I got back, I realized I had not pushed the call button, and Charles hadn’t put up my bed, so I sat in the vacant roomette across the hall (the left side being the good side for the views of Glacier Park mountains and river, anyway) until he came back. Charles hummed and sang as he worked.
It was the break between summer tourist season and the holidays, so the train was running about half full and right on time. We ran into some padding in the schedule at Shelby, MT, so had about half an hour to wait at the station. The conductor announced 9 degrees outside with a wind chill of 10 below. The smokers all piled out, puffed their cigs, and piled back in. I did laps, checking out the train consist, and getting some fresh air and exercise. From the back, we had the Portland sleeper, two PDX coaches (one with baggage compartment below), the lounge car, two SEA coaches, the dining car, two SEA sleepers, the staff dorm, the baggage car, an empty sleeper being hauled back to CHI, and three units.
The wine and cheese tasting was great, and I won one of the extra bottles by answering the question “how many support staff are on this train other than train crew.” I guessed 12, at the same time as someone else, and we BOTH got a bottle. I was lucky I got the Cabernet, as I hadn’t cared so much for the Malbec. Guess I have a low-brow taste in wine, the super-dry reds don’t appeal much to me. We had to wait for our sister train to pass westbound. By Malta, we were 10 minutes late, by Glasgow it was 15 minutes, and by Wolf Point half an hour. Still, it was nice to be speeding across the prairie in a warm, comfy train. It was windy, gray, snowy and cold-looking outside.
I’d had soup and salad for lunch, so I felt like I could treat myself a little at dinner. Nothing like going overboard! The salmon was absolutely excellent, and the vegetables delicious. The chocolate brownie “pie” I had for dessert was a huge wedge the size of a giant slice of cheese cake. I’d allowed the server to talk me into “a la mode,” and it sure tasted good, but I just could not finish it. They have upgraded the food since the last time I took the EB!
Sunday Nov 11:
Slept really well the second night in my roomette, and relieved to wake up in the morning with no snow outside. The sleeper had practically filled up overnight, the reason for which I figured out at breakfast. A bunch of people had gotten on at Williston and Minot, and I sat at a table with a few of them. They said that the storm had closed the airports and caused their flights to be canceled, and that they were happy to have figured out that they could take the train overnight to MSP to catch their connectors out to Florida and points south! I was happy to see Amtrak get the business.
I’ve been working on my SolWest video logs between meals and socializing, so I went back to my roomette, fired up the computer, and kicked back with a cup of my own organic black tea in my own travel mug. What luxury! It was drizzly and windy at MSP, so I only walked the length of the train a couple of times before re-boarding and checking for a wi-fi network. No open network apparent at the station here. Come on, Amtrak, get with the program! We are still running about 30 minutes late, now through the lovely landscape of MN, where you can see the German influence in the houses and there are streams and marshes between the forested hills.
By the time we get to CHI, there have been a couple more slowdowns, and we’re over an hour late. I am sooooo ready to get off the train! The kids in the family room downstairs are whiney, and though they want to be polite to a gray-haired lady, I usher them off ahead of me. Then I step off the train and stretch my legs along the platform as I haul my bag to check in the Metropolitan Lounge. I ask the check-in lady how late I can return for the LSL, and she tells me 8:00. “But the train does not leave till 9:30,” I say. “How late can I return?” She insists on 8:00, for the wine and cheese tasting on board. “I am having dinner with my nephew,” I say. “How late can I return?” Ahh, that’s different. I must retrieve my checked bag before 8:30, when the attendant goes on break. I promise to be back by 8:30, and beat the escalator by running up the stairs to Canal Street. A green Honda is waiting for me at the corner.
Nephew takes me first to his “Pumping Station One” club where some young inventors are working on a computer-driven 3D printer, others are socializing in the “art room,” and a third is working on a laser cutter project. There is wi-fi here, so I check my email and let Hubby know that I am headed out to dinner in CHI. Then we head around the block to check out a restaurant that Nephew has wanted to try. The dinner is a three-course “prix fixe” menu: noodle dish, drink and dessert. I choose a cold buckwheat soba noodle salad with mustard mayo, green leaves, and burdock root. There are three hot drumettes with a crispy finish on the side, and I let Eric have one. Eric chooses a souplike noodle dish with some of the same oriental vegetables, and a skewer of beef. We both have the sassafras/citrus soda to wash it down, but they also bring at my request a taste of the rum punch. Oh my, if I drank a whole glass of that, I would be very happy -- and under the table! We finish with their standard dessert, a dish of chocolate soft serve ice cream with a sprinkles and some kind of sauce. Everything is absolutely delicious, and for the first time in a couple of days, I don’t feel stuffed.
After a quick visit to see Nephew’s apartment, we head back downtown and I board the train. As I pass the cars, I check the consist from rear to front: NYP luggage, two NYP sleepers, diner, four NYP coach, café car, two BOS coach, BOS sleeper, BOS luggage, two units. My neighbors in the next roomette ask “did you walk all the way out here?” No biggie… I’ll be sitting most of the next 24 hours! My SCA, Kevin, recommends sleeping in the top bunk and leaving my bag in the other passenger seat, and I find it’s good advice. I love the view from up above in the Viewliner sleeper! I discover overnight that being near the front of the train means you hear the horn clearly -- but I sleep well nonetheless.
Mon 11/12:
I get up as the dawn light begins in the east, and head to the diner for breakfast. The service is good, but I am astounded to see several tables with only one person. So why do they seat me by myself, facing backwards, if they are going to seat the next pair to come in at the next table? I wish I had brought a magazine to read, I’ve never had to eat alone on Amtrak before! The dishes are plastic on this train, the food merely adequate. I eat most of the omelette, and all the biscuit, but leave the potatoes (overcooked and underheated). I don’t linger.
At Buffalo, it’s warm and windy, and I walk the train length twice over. When I re-board, Kevin is chatty because he has less than half a sleeper-full. I mention that Hubby and I had wanted to take the Oregon Pioneer, but they took it down the year before we started our travels. He says that it was all set to be put back in: equipment found, funding committed; but that Union Pacific foiled the plan by demolishing the platforms along the route because they did not want it. He says Burlington Northern is very supportive, but UP did themselves a disfavor by trying to foil Amtrak, and it has cost them big dollars. I must say that I hope it costs them more than that if the economy does not favor a return to our old consumer habits and lots of freight!
I must say, it’s nice to have double-track everywhere, as we just gallop right past the freights. There’s been some track work which we had to slow down to go past. Border Patrol has been prominent at most every stop. One at Rochester walked past my sleeper with a dog on a leash, presumably headed to sniff the checked bags in the car ahead. At lunch, I decline to order until I have company at the table, and soon I have a lovely couple to converse with while I eat. The soup and salad is again delicious, and this time I finish my chocolate fudge brownie “pie” a la mode!
After the train splits in Albany, we are on time again, but get about 15 minutes behind by Worcester. I am still working on the video editing, but I am already mentally getting off this train! Dinner is served at 5pm in the far half of the Café car. There are only four of us from the sleeper that are eating dinner, so we share a single table. The beef medallions are served with slices of fresh ricotta and tomatoes, a few spinach leaves, some orzo salad, and a little cup of pesto on the side. Very good! The chocolate peanut torte for dessert is absolutely outrageously delicious, moist rich cake with layers of whipped stuff, fudge, caramel, and crunchy peanut. It will take several days of light eating to make up for the way I’ve been fed on this trip. Karen from upstate NY and I find we have a lot in common (natural food and farming), and stay at the table talking long after the other couple has left. We exchange cards before she detrains at Back Bay. A few minutes more, and I am standing in the court at South Station, calling my sister and figuring out how to catch the “T” to Central Square.
