Ispolkom
Engineer
My wife and I left St. Paul on August 22 on the Empire Builder. Earlier in the day I had stopped by the station to pick up our tickets and check a suitcase. This turned out to be a good idea as they take that 50 lb. limit seriously, and it would have been annoying to other passengers to be repacking our baggage while others waited.
The train was on time and in the station when we arrived that evening, so we spent no time in St. Paul’s Metropolitan Lounge, but gave our tickets to the conductor and walked to the end of the train to the Portland sleeper.
When I booked this trip back in October, I had been surprised to find that the family bedroom was significantly cheaper than a roomette. I'm always happy to try something new, so we had selected the family bedroom. Now we were interested to see how we would take two days in it. William, the SCA, had already made up our beds, but the compartment is so big that there were still two seats (albeit with little leg room) facing each other. We quickly decided that we loved the family bedroom and would prefer in the future always to travel in it. The advantages include windows on both sides of the car, a couch long enough for both of us to nap on during the day, quick access to restrooms and shower, and quiet and privacy. Since the family bedroom is at the end of the lower level, no one goes by.
The train left St. Paul on time. We had a celebratory cocktail and soon went to bed.
We're both early risers, so were up by 6 a.m. I looked out the window and was glad to see that we were west of Grand Forks, proof that the EB was keeping good time. We lingered over coffee too long, and found that we had missed the first call for breakfast. We put my name on the waiting list and returned to the lounge car to wait for my name to be called. The train was packed, with many older travelers who were part of at least three tour groups (at least I saw three different types of name tag). Many seemed to be new to train travel, and had not learned that it's best to walk quickly, that one's momentum helps with balance. This meant that it was a very long way shuffling from our sleeper to the diner. No matter, we chatted with a tour guide until our table was ready. After all, we had nowhere to go, and I had already had that essential first cup of coffee.
My wife and I belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), where we pay a flat rate at the beginning of the season and get a bag of organic produce from the farmer every week. It's an interesting way to learn about different vegetables, and helps keep me from over-buying at the farmers' market. Unfortunately, we were traveling at peak harvest season, and our farmer had given us two weeks worth of produce the day before we left. Rather than let it go to waste, we had brought the veggies along in a cooler, and asked my mother to meet the train when it stopped in Minot, where she lives. We were happy to see her and traded the vegetables for a bag of ice she had brought. This would keep the bottle of prosecco we also had in the cooler chilled during the day. We had a nice visit while the train refueled and had to walk quickly when William warned us that the train was about to leave.
The rest of the day we lazed about, reading trashy novels, listening to our MP3 players, watching the scenery (I like the big skies!), and napping. We both enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting, with Washington wines and cheeses from Faribault, Minnesota. It was nice to talk other travelers at the tasting, at meals, and occasionally in the lounge car, but I was happy also to be able to go to our spacious compartment and shut the door. After the wine and cheese tasting we opened our bottle of prosecco and even my wife (who describes eastern Montana and western North Dakota as an endless procession of brown field-yellow field-brown field-yellow field) had to admit that the landscape was remarkably green and attractive. Maybe it was the wine talking.
We were into Marias Pass by the time we ate dinner, and ready for bed by the time we reached Whitefish. SHMBO had taken the upper bunk the previous night, so I ascended this night.
Boy, do people sleep through the Spokane stop? I'm not a light sleeper, but I woke up grabbing the wall as the car lurched as the Portland section was separated. The power was out, naturally enough, so I went back to sleep, only to wake again as the car lurched when the locomotives were attached. I was glad for the cargo net holding me into the bunk, even though I know I really wasn't at any risk of falling out.
The last morning we trooped up the lounge car for our cold breakfast (a ham and cheese croissant, yoghurt, cut up fruit), and then enjoyed the Columbia River Valley. If you like basalt, this is the place for you. The train arrived in Portland 20 minutes early. All, in all, this first leg was another great Amtrak trip.
The train was on time and in the station when we arrived that evening, so we spent no time in St. Paul’s Metropolitan Lounge, but gave our tickets to the conductor and walked to the end of the train to the Portland sleeper.
When I booked this trip back in October, I had been surprised to find that the family bedroom was significantly cheaper than a roomette. I'm always happy to try something new, so we had selected the family bedroom. Now we were interested to see how we would take two days in it. William, the SCA, had already made up our beds, but the compartment is so big that there were still two seats (albeit with little leg room) facing each other. We quickly decided that we loved the family bedroom and would prefer in the future always to travel in it. The advantages include windows on both sides of the car, a couch long enough for both of us to nap on during the day, quick access to restrooms and shower, and quiet and privacy. Since the family bedroom is at the end of the lower level, no one goes by.
The train left St. Paul on time. We had a celebratory cocktail and soon went to bed.
We're both early risers, so were up by 6 a.m. I looked out the window and was glad to see that we were west of Grand Forks, proof that the EB was keeping good time. We lingered over coffee too long, and found that we had missed the first call for breakfast. We put my name on the waiting list and returned to the lounge car to wait for my name to be called. The train was packed, with many older travelers who were part of at least three tour groups (at least I saw three different types of name tag). Many seemed to be new to train travel, and had not learned that it's best to walk quickly, that one's momentum helps with balance. This meant that it was a very long way shuffling from our sleeper to the diner. No matter, we chatted with a tour guide until our table was ready. After all, we had nowhere to go, and I had already had that essential first cup of coffee.
My wife and I belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), where we pay a flat rate at the beginning of the season and get a bag of organic produce from the farmer every week. It's an interesting way to learn about different vegetables, and helps keep me from over-buying at the farmers' market. Unfortunately, we were traveling at peak harvest season, and our farmer had given us two weeks worth of produce the day before we left. Rather than let it go to waste, we had brought the veggies along in a cooler, and asked my mother to meet the train when it stopped in Minot, where she lives. We were happy to see her and traded the vegetables for a bag of ice she had brought. This would keep the bottle of prosecco we also had in the cooler chilled during the day. We had a nice visit while the train refueled and had to walk quickly when William warned us that the train was about to leave.
The rest of the day we lazed about, reading trashy novels, listening to our MP3 players, watching the scenery (I like the big skies!), and napping. We both enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting, with Washington wines and cheeses from Faribault, Minnesota. It was nice to talk other travelers at the tasting, at meals, and occasionally in the lounge car, but I was happy also to be able to go to our spacious compartment and shut the door. After the wine and cheese tasting we opened our bottle of prosecco and even my wife (who describes eastern Montana and western North Dakota as an endless procession of brown field-yellow field-brown field-yellow field) had to admit that the landscape was remarkably green and attractive. Maybe it was the wine talking.
We were into Marias Pass by the time we ate dinner, and ready for bed by the time we reached Whitefish. SHMBO had taken the upper bunk the previous night, so I ascended this night.
Boy, do people sleep through the Spokane stop? I'm not a light sleeper, but I woke up grabbing the wall as the car lurched as the Portland section was separated. The power was out, naturally enough, so I went back to sleep, only to wake again as the car lurched when the locomotives were attached. I was glad for the cargo net holding me into the bunk, even though I know I really wasn't at any risk of falling out.
The last morning we trooped up the lounge car for our cold breakfast (a ham and cheese croissant, yoghurt, cut up fruit), and then enjoyed the Columbia River Valley. If you like basalt, this is the place for you. The train arrived in Portland 20 minutes early. All, in all, this first leg was another great Amtrak trip.
