pianocat
Lead Service Attendant
Returned on Sunday, Aug. 10 from my 2 week trip out west. The itinerary included a middle of the night ride to Chicago from Carbondale, IL on July 28. Rion was the SCA, excellent and as recently mentioned on this site about his vocal admonitions to contact your local congress person about supporting Amtrak, which were included, I absolutely LOVED the addition of the audio of "City of New Orleans" with Johnny Cash singing, as we backed into CUS. I hummed the whole way to station! Guess I never listened to all the lyrics. Great song.
Got a nice meal of comfort foods at Metro Deli before heading back to the Metro Lounge to wait for the SWC to depart. I enjoy 'people watching', and trying to figure out their stories... The EB people left, then the CZ people left, then I knew the folk I was seeing in the Lounge would be my trainmates for the next 2 days. Boarded on time, no incident. I settled into my room easily and was happy to have a lower level bunk for this leg. All went well until we approached the Raton Pass. Sat on a siding while Amtrak maintenance checked out some potential bridge washouts ahead. Turns out, we were good to go, and go we did. I realize now that I was rather fortunate....based on the most recent news of 'lateness' on this train due to weather. Got to Riverside about 3 hours late, but that simply gave my daughter time to sleep in before picking me up - worked out beautifully. Enjoyed my time with her and hubby, but decided especially on this trip that southern California is 'not' for me - for several reasons. Too many people...too busy...and too fast paced life! I'm ok to go visit often, but it's not where I want to retire.
It was iffy whether I would keep my SWC rez to LAUS or not, it'd been running very late....but this particular day, it was only an hour late so I kept the rez. A word about LAUS...... YIKES! Once arriving there, i followed 99% of the people to the underground crossing...but discovered there is NO SIGNAGE for Amtrak!! Lots for Metro, but not Amtrak. I had to ask 3 people in 3 different locations how to get to the Amtrak area, and then to Metropolitan Lounge. Clearly, they don't want to advertise this feature....and I spoke to several people on the Coast Starlight who didn't even know there was a 1st class lounge at LAUS. [who could have had access to it] Got out to the platform for the Coast Starlight north to Portland, no problem. But the train was late. Then, when it rolled in and I didn't see a PPC, I thought - dang, I'm going to miss what everyone is ranting about! Turns out, the standard Amtrak answer was 'it had a flat tire' and couldn't be added to the consist that day. They did add a Lounge car exclusively for Sleeper car ticket holders but it was little more than a glorified SSL car w/working bar and tables available for meals to be taken in this unique vehicle. They offered the wine tasting, but for sleeper pax only. Turns out, they were offering 1 red and 2 whites...an nice gentle man told me...if you don't like white [which i don't] just buy a glass of red for $5. So i did. Sat with a really interesting person who sometimes posts here as a guest, he had some old Rand McNally maps of the non-major lines. He was headed for one of them, himself. Hope he had a great time, he got off the CS train around SFO.
I spent most of the time after lunch in my roomette, having lucked out with a view on the Ocean side. Some incredible scenery there...especially once we hit Vandenburgh AFB. Loved the isolation and lack of RVs on the beach! After that, I pretty much fell asleep after dinner and missed the entire SFO area!
Woke up to some odd smells.... the wild fires in southern Oregon/no. California were really making themselves known. I almost thought the car was on fire, then I figured it out. I have some good photos of the 'haze' out the morning windows. A little creepy, but we passed out of it eventually.
Portland was a wonderful experience!!! Like the LA area, it's too populated for me, and too busy for my tastes. Still - i enjoyed my time in the city center. The Mark Spencer Hotel was top-notch. Being big wine country, had a wine tasting in the late afternoon, and then headed for Powell's books. I spent WAY too much $$ here. And barely covered the place. Incredible store!
Boarded the EB headed to Pasco where my other daughter and son - in law would pick me up to take me to Walla Walla. There are few words to describe the Columbia River Gorge..... just.... amazing. As Jodi Foster says in "Contact"..."They should have sent a poet". Beautiful!!!!
Can't say anything really good about the Pasco area. It's a rather basic and non-descript cookie cutter town of fast food and chain businesses. I looked fwd. to Walla Walla, another hour outside this place. We arrived just in time for me to get some much needed sleep at a local hotel. The next morning was extremely meaningful for me - my daughter rode her bike to my hotel to pick me up for a walk of the town center [about 500 ft. from the hotel]. We parked her bike in my room, and started walking. If you have ever fallen in love with a place, a situation....a time....then you will know what I'm talking about - Walla Walla "spoke" to me on a very deep level. It was progressive, but quaint - people were friendly, and minds, open. Only apx. 40,000 people - it's the PERFECT size for me. We had coffee in a local shop, then walked some more...then had lunch at an incredible spot that was attentive to vegetarian tastes, I was enamored from the get-go. The afternoon included a phenomenal winery tour at Reininger winery, a local place. My son in law is a sales rep. for a major wine distributor in the state of Washington, and he's the first to be actually habituated in Walla Walla. So. We got a very personalized tour of the Reininger property from the owner, Chuck....testing everything from syrah, to every variety of red they have in their reserve. Wonderful time! I know you're supposed to 'spit' your tested wines...but we just sort of drank them all
Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good after all was said and done! What I like the most about this winery is that they only use grapes grown in Washington..nothing imported. Awesome wine, if you're ever in market for something small, different, but very good.
Didn't want to leave Walla Walla. Lovely place....Whitman College is there, as well as some other academic feathers but overall...it's a small place where people are very kind and open-minded. Hoping to get out that way permanently in about 2 years... maybe sooner.
I did something I swore I'd never do - after being driven back to Pasco....I took a Greyhound bus back to Portland. I knew the EB going WB would never be reliable, so I booked this. It's only a few hours...what could go wrong? Turned out, Nothing! I loved the ride! As a matter of fact, the views of the Columbia River Gorge were actually better from the Interstate than from the train on the way out. We were on the south side, returning - so that might have made a difference. But the driver was good, amicable, and I was very comfortable for the duration. Spent another night in Portland. Oh, btw...NEVER, EVER stay at the "Quality Inn" downtown. Big thumbs down. I could write a book explaining why...but suffice it to say, it's just BAD. Cheap, but for a reason. Went back to PDX station the next morning asap. The PDX Metro Lounge is really nice. Very attentive to the pax, and felt very secure there.
Caught the CS south, headed to SAC for my trek back to CHI. We had a PPC for this, but I wasn't all that impressed with the car. Guess I like my roomette enough to just bypass all the hoopla. All went well with that, no problems. Sacramento Station is still in flux of remodeling, but I found the 1st class lounge roped-off area right away. At time of boarding, a rep came and took us out to our cars. Loved feeding the pigeons that came right up to me for sunflower seeds. Got some good photos of that, too.
There are few words to describe the CZ route....it is, nothing short of phenomenal. Again, I was at an advantage to have a north view roomette of Donner, Truckee, etc. Wonderful. Slept through SLC and after that...the rock formations were just incredible. Coming IN to Denver from the front range was new to me. I'd gone OUT from DEN, but never this direction. It was just about dark...but could still see the skyline of DEN in distance. Very nice. My ears were in turmoil through this whole leg, though...with tinnitus, lots of issues but I still managed to enjoy the view and the journey.
Needless to say, the scenery after Denver is hardly worth mentioning. It's what I'm used to, flatlands, cornfields, etc.....I did manage to see some interesting storm activity in Nebraska overnight. Usually I'm terrified of this, but not on the train....I was enjoying the 'light' show as we traveled further east.
Got bustituted from GBG to CHM to catch the CONO back to CDL, and even though it turns out the CZ made it in plenty of time to CHI, I'm glad I was set to go at CHM for the CONO. Had some great time with some people I'd met from the Sacramento leg, who really live very close to where I live!
A word about Amtrak food. Umm... YUK. I'm sorry.... It's not just because I'm vegetarian, it's the fact that every route had the SAME menu [with exception of the CS Lounge car...but even that was barely noticeably better] I ate every potential combination that was possible....still was bland and not very interesting. If I never eat another green bean in my lifetime, it will be too soon..... I understand that It was my choice to take so many Amtrak legs/meal portions.... but I so wish they would go back to different menus on the routes. CS/SWC/CZ all offered the "same" thing..... I was tempted to get the kids mac and cheese but never did. Last dinner meal on the CZ, I was seated with a nice fellow from coach and 2 other sleeper pax. I asked 'if i get the steak will one of you eat the freakin' steak' for me?.... I want the baked potato!!!' This guy was backpacking around the country and was very, very grateful for having an alternate source of protein. And I felt good giving it to him.He also got my desert, which i never order. Otherwise, the food is my biggest complaint on this trip. BORING. {yes, I could go to the snack car and get junk food, but I don't eat that crap} Not going to keep me from taking trains, but I'll complain until they change the menus!!
I'm very cold-natured, and didn't even realize that from Sacramento - Chicago, the A/C wasn't working. I thought it was just fine, and slept like a baby the whole way. It became evident near end of trip that there was a problem with the a/c when both the Conductor and SCA came by with phone numbers to call and complain about the temp. I talked to several people who were very, *very* upset about this.... So I thought, what the heck....though I wasn't real uncomfortable, I should let them know there was an issue. I called and got a $300 credit for future travel. Seems adequate considering most of this trip was points generated. I'm planning to head back out to Walla Walla for Christmas this year. It'll go towards that fare.
Loved my trip, still Love Amtrak...and will continue to ride the rails as I'm able to in the years to come.
Got a nice meal of comfort foods at Metro Deli before heading back to the Metro Lounge to wait for the SWC to depart. I enjoy 'people watching', and trying to figure out their stories... The EB people left, then the CZ people left, then I knew the folk I was seeing in the Lounge would be my trainmates for the next 2 days. Boarded on time, no incident. I settled into my room easily and was happy to have a lower level bunk for this leg. All went well until we approached the Raton Pass. Sat on a siding while Amtrak maintenance checked out some potential bridge washouts ahead. Turns out, we were good to go, and go we did. I realize now that I was rather fortunate....based on the most recent news of 'lateness' on this train due to weather. Got to Riverside about 3 hours late, but that simply gave my daughter time to sleep in before picking me up - worked out beautifully. Enjoyed my time with her and hubby, but decided especially on this trip that southern California is 'not' for me - for several reasons. Too many people...too busy...and too fast paced life! I'm ok to go visit often, but it's not where I want to retire.
It was iffy whether I would keep my SWC rez to LAUS or not, it'd been running very late....but this particular day, it was only an hour late so I kept the rez. A word about LAUS...... YIKES! Once arriving there, i followed 99% of the people to the underground crossing...but discovered there is NO SIGNAGE for Amtrak!! Lots for Metro, but not Amtrak. I had to ask 3 people in 3 different locations how to get to the Amtrak area, and then to Metropolitan Lounge. Clearly, they don't want to advertise this feature....and I spoke to several people on the Coast Starlight who didn't even know there was a 1st class lounge at LAUS. [who could have had access to it] Got out to the platform for the Coast Starlight north to Portland, no problem. But the train was late. Then, when it rolled in and I didn't see a PPC, I thought - dang, I'm going to miss what everyone is ranting about! Turns out, the standard Amtrak answer was 'it had a flat tire' and couldn't be added to the consist that day. They did add a Lounge car exclusively for Sleeper car ticket holders but it was little more than a glorified SSL car w/working bar and tables available for meals to be taken in this unique vehicle. They offered the wine tasting, but for sleeper pax only. Turns out, they were offering 1 red and 2 whites...an nice gentle man told me...if you don't like white [which i don't] just buy a glass of red for $5. So i did. Sat with a really interesting person who sometimes posts here as a guest, he had some old Rand McNally maps of the non-major lines. He was headed for one of them, himself. Hope he had a great time, he got off the CS train around SFO.
I spent most of the time after lunch in my roomette, having lucked out with a view on the Ocean side. Some incredible scenery there...especially once we hit Vandenburgh AFB. Loved the isolation and lack of RVs on the beach! After that, I pretty much fell asleep after dinner and missed the entire SFO area!
Woke up to some odd smells.... the wild fires in southern Oregon/no. California were really making themselves known. I almost thought the car was on fire, then I figured it out. I have some good photos of the 'haze' out the morning windows. A little creepy, but we passed out of it eventually.
Portland was a wonderful experience!!! Like the LA area, it's too populated for me, and too busy for my tastes. Still - i enjoyed my time in the city center. The Mark Spencer Hotel was top-notch. Being big wine country, had a wine tasting in the late afternoon, and then headed for Powell's books. I spent WAY too much $$ here. And barely covered the place. Incredible store!
Boarded the EB headed to Pasco where my other daughter and son - in law would pick me up to take me to Walla Walla. There are few words to describe the Columbia River Gorge..... just.... amazing. As Jodi Foster says in "Contact"..."They should have sent a poet". Beautiful!!!!
Can't say anything really good about the Pasco area. It's a rather basic and non-descript cookie cutter town of fast food and chain businesses. I looked fwd. to Walla Walla, another hour outside this place. We arrived just in time for me to get some much needed sleep at a local hotel. The next morning was extremely meaningful for me - my daughter rode her bike to my hotel to pick me up for a walk of the town center [about 500 ft. from the hotel]. We parked her bike in my room, and started walking. If you have ever fallen in love with a place, a situation....a time....then you will know what I'm talking about - Walla Walla "spoke" to me on a very deep level. It was progressive, but quaint - people were friendly, and minds, open. Only apx. 40,000 people - it's the PERFECT size for me. We had coffee in a local shop, then walked some more...then had lunch at an incredible spot that was attentive to vegetarian tastes, I was enamored from the get-go. The afternoon included a phenomenal winery tour at Reininger winery, a local place. My son in law is a sales rep. for a major wine distributor in the state of Washington, and he's the first to be actually habituated in Walla Walla. So. We got a very personalized tour of the Reininger property from the owner, Chuck....testing everything from syrah, to every variety of red they have in their reserve. Wonderful time! I know you're supposed to 'spit' your tested wines...but we just sort of drank them all
Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good after all was said and done! What I like the most about this winery is that they only use grapes grown in Washington..nothing imported. Awesome wine, if you're ever in market for something small, different, but very good.Didn't want to leave Walla Walla. Lovely place....Whitman College is there, as well as some other academic feathers but overall...it's a small place where people are very kind and open-minded. Hoping to get out that way permanently in about 2 years... maybe sooner.
I did something I swore I'd never do - after being driven back to Pasco....I took a Greyhound bus back to Portland. I knew the EB going WB would never be reliable, so I booked this. It's only a few hours...what could go wrong? Turned out, Nothing! I loved the ride! As a matter of fact, the views of the Columbia River Gorge were actually better from the Interstate than from the train on the way out. We were on the south side, returning - so that might have made a difference. But the driver was good, amicable, and I was very comfortable for the duration. Spent another night in Portland. Oh, btw...NEVER, EVER stay at the "Quality Inn" downtown. Big thumbs down. I could write a book explaining why...but suffice it to say, it's just BAD. Cheap, but for a reason. Went back to PDX station the next morning asap. The PDX Metro Lounge is really nice. Very attentive to the pax, and felt very secure there.
Caught the CS south, headed to SAC for my trek back to CHI. We had a PPC for this, but I wasn't all that impressed with the car. Guess I like my roomette enough to just bypass all the hoopla. All went well with that, no problems. Sacramento Station is still in flux of remodeling, but I found the 1st class lounge roped-off area right away. At time of boarding, a rep came and took us out to our cars. Loved feeding the pigeons that came right up to me for sunflower seeds. Got some good photos of that, too.
There are few words to describe the CZ route....it is, nothing short of phenomenal. Again, I was at an advantage to have a north view roomette of Donner, Truckee, etc. Wonderful. Slept through SLC and after that...the rock formations were just incredible. Coming IN to Denver from the front range was new to me. I'd gone OUT from DEN, but never this direction. It was just about dark...but could still see the skyline of DEN in distance. Very nice. My ears were in turmoil through this whole leg, though...with tinnitus, lots of issues but I still managed to enjoy the view and the journey.
Needless to say, the scenery after Denver is hardly worth mentioning. It's what I'm used to, flatlands, cornfields, etc.....I did manage to see some interesting storm activity in Nebraska overnight. Usually I'm terrified of this, but not on the train....I was enjoying the 'light' show as we traveled further east.
Got bustituted from GBG to CHM to catch the CONO back to CDL, and even though it turns out the CZ made it in plenty of time to CHI, I'm glad I was set to go at CHM for the CONO. Had some great time with some people I'd met from the Sacramento leg, who really live very close to where I live!
A word about Amtrak food. Umm... YUK. I'm sorry.... It's not just because I'm vegetarian, it's the fact that every route had the SAME menu [with exception of the CS Lounge car...but even that was barely noticeably better] I ate every potential combination that was possible....still was bland and not very interesting. If I never eat another green bean in my lifetime, it will be too soon..... I understand that It was my choice to take so many Amtrak legs/meal portions.... but I so wish they would go back to different menus on the routes. CS/SWC/CZ all offered the "same" thing..... I was tempted to get the kids mac and cheese but never did. Last dinner meal on the CZ, I was seated with a nice fellow from coach and 2 other sleeper pax. I asked 'if i get the steak will one of you eat the freakin' steak' for me?.... I want the baked potato!!!' This guy was backpacking around the country and was very, very grateful for having an alternate source of protein. And I felt good giving it to him.He also got my desert, which i never order. Otherwise, the food is my biggest complaint on this trip. BORING. {yes, I could go to the snack car and get junk food, but I don't eat that crap} Not going to keep me from taking trains, but I'll complain until they change the menus!!
I'm very cold-natured, and didn't even realize that from Sacramento - Chicago, the A/C wasn't working. I thought it was just fine, and slept like a baby the whole way. It became evident near end of trip that there was a problem with the a/c when both the Conductor and SCA came by with phone numbers to call and complain about the temp. I talked to several people who were very, *very* upset about this.... So I thought, what the heck....though I wasn't real uncomfortable, I should let them know there was an issue. I called and got a $300 credit for future travel. Seems adequate considering most of this trip was points generated. I'm planning to head back out to Walla Walla for Christmas this year. It'll go towards that fare.
Loved my trip, still Love Amtrak...and will continue to ride the rails as I'm able to in the years to come.
