Roadfool
Train Attendant
*sigh*...back on the San Joaquin. When we were getting close to SAC on the CZ, I realized that I could just hop off there and take the 4:55 SJ and make it home tonight instead of laying over in SF for the night. I had originally intended to grab a few more AGR segments up north before heading back to Fresno, but I'm just not interested right now. After 5 days in a sleeper, riding around on the CC/SJ didn't seem too exciting, especially with my big bag full of (now dirty) clothes.
Here's a catch up of the last few meals I had on the CZ:
Lunch: Daily special (pork stew over rice, veggies). It was ok, but nothing special.
Dinner: Finally had the steak, which was excellent, along with the conversation. This was probably the most fun meal I had. The dining car wasn't very busy, so we hung out and talked for about 2 1/2 hours. I was sitting with an Air Force flight instructor, his wife, and a retired lawyer who was also ex-military and had gone on to specialize in federal Indian law. I could have sat there listening to them tell stories all night.
Breakfast: Daily special (breakfast quesadilla with tomatoes and peppers). This was my least favorite of all the meals, mainly because half of it was cold. The other half was ok and I wasn't that hungry anyway, so I didn't send it back or anything. Other than that, it was ok, but again nothing spectacular.
Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken. This was a pretty good-sized salad and it had a decent amount of chicken thrown on top. Again I had fun with my table-mates, a woman and her daughter and granddaughter from Salt Lake City who were on their way to a family wedding in California. The granddaughter was about 3-4 years old and was just loving the train. Every time we went through a tunnel, the kid would get all excited, which was adorable (and I'm not really a kid person).
Overall, this was an awesome trip (as if I even need to tell you guys that after all my excitable postings). I went through 12 states, 7 of which were new to me. I got to ride the entire Texas Eagle route and most of the California Zephyr, for a total of around 4,000 miles.
As much as I'll miss the train ride and watching the scenery, I think I'm going to miss the people more. On the train, everyone is having a good time and is nice and friendly. Back in the "real" world, I get a bunch of bitchy, rude Californians...ick. Or even worse, boring people. Other than the grumpy couple at that one breakfast, I had interesting conversations at every meal. Even the racist Texan was interesting in his own way.
So now I see why you guys are so hooked on this train thing...time for some Hanford runs to earn me some points for the next trip.
Here's a catch up of the last few meals I had on the CZ:
Lunch: Daily special (pork stew over rice, veggies). It was ok, but nothing special.
Dinner: Finally had the steak, which was excellent, along with the conversation. This was probably the most fun meal I had. The dining car wasn't very busy, so we hung out and talked for about 2 1/2 hours. I was sitting with an Air Force flight instructor, his wife, and a retired lawyer who was also ex-military and had gone on to specialize in federal Indian law. I could have sat there listening to them tell stories all night.
Breakfast: Daily special (breakfast quesadilla with tomatoes and peppers). This was my least favorite of all the meals, mainly because half of it was cold. The other half was ok and I wasn't that hungry anyway, so I didn't send it back or anything. Other than that, it was ok, but again nothing spectacular.
Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken. This was a pretty good-sized salad and it had a decent amount of chicken thrown on top. Again I had fun with my table-mates, a woman and her daughter and granddaughter from Salt Lake City who were on their way to a family wedding in California. The granddaughter was about 3-4 years old and was just loving the train. Every time we went through a tunnel, the kid would get all excited, which was adorable (and I'm not really a kid person).
Overall, this was an awesome trip (as if I even need to tell you guys that after all my excitable postings). I went through 12 states, 7 of which were new to me. I got to ride the entire Texas Eagle route and most of the California Zephyr, for a total of around 4,000 miles.
As much as I'll miss the train ride and watching the scenery, I think I'm going to miss the people more. On the train, everyone is having a good time and is nice and friendly. Back in the "real" world, I get a bunch of bitchy, rude Californians...ick. Or even worse, boring people. Other than the grumpy couple at that one breakfast, I had interesting conversations at every meal. Even the racist Texan was interesting in his own way.
So now I see why you guys are so hooked on this train thing...time for some Hanford runs to earn me some points for the next trip.
