crescent2
Conductor
Hi AU friends,
My CZ trip is on hold for now due to the possibility of adding a travel buddy, but I'm still working on plans. You may recall that we couldn't figure a way to take the wb CZ and connect with the sb CS as one AGR reward for a bedroom.
Today I was playing around on the Amtrak site, and decided to click on a "visit Yosemite" link. I tried a multi-city trip to go from Denver to Los Angeles, with a visit to Yosemite. At first no luck re the CS, but then I tried adding Sacramento as a segment after Yosemite, and, voila, the first option it offered included the CS!
I'm not sure the rather complicated itinerary will work or will be worth the expense of all the overnight hotel stays. Please tell me if you see problems of any nature, or if you have alternate suggestions. Problems might include difficult or iffy connections, unpleasant surroundings, or any others. Remember, I'm a female in my 60's possibly traveling solo (first time solo), and if I wind up with the travel buddy, she's a little older. We are both in good health but are safety-conscious.
My/our sole purpose for the trip is for the scenery (CZ mountains and CS coastline) and for the train rides. We don't need to get from/to any specific cities other than what is required for the trips on the CZ and CS. I didn't want complicated connections or bus segments, but this itinerary (on paper) seems to be tolerable. Just not sure it's practical in total or cost-effective. It is important that we not be rerouted to less scenic routes and that the CZ and CS not be substituted with buses or cancelled. (I've just been made aware of possible rerouting by another thread--thanks, AU!!) I'm sure each city has lots to see and do, but the scenery and trains are what are important to us. We don't want to rent a car or do much exploring in each place.
Not sure of my/our real dates, but I plugged in May 8 just to see what I'd get. Here's what amtrak.com finally came up with:
(May 7 would fly ATL-DEN, overnight in Denver.)
Segment 1:
May 8 depart DEN #5 CZ 8:05a, overnight on CZ
May 9 arrive DAV 2:44p
overnight in Davis
Segment 2:
May 10
depart DAV #520 Cap Corr 7:02a, arrive SAC 7:28a
depart Sacramento bus #3712 7:45a, arrive 8:40a SKN (could do DAV-SKN on just a bus, but we like trains)
depart Stockton #712 San Joaquin 9:17a, arrive 10:31a. MCD
depart Merced bus #8412 11:00a., arrive YOS 1:25p
overnight in Yosemite
Segment 3:
May 11
depart Yosemite bus #8413 10:00a, arrive MCD 12:17p
depart Merced #713 SJ 1:08p, arrive SKN 2:14p
depart Stockton bus #3760 2:25p, arrive SAC 3:15p
overnight in Sacramento
Segment 4:
May 12
depart Sacramento #11 CS 6:35a, arrive LAX 9:00p
overnight in Los Angeles
(fly home LAX-ATL next day)
The positives to this would be hopefully getting the whole trip as a single AGR reward and adding the short visit to Yosemite. The negatives include 5 (five!) nights in hotels and a lot of connections, some close. By my reasoning, it sort of boils down to (hopefully--find this hard to believe) getting the trip as one AGR and a Yosemite visit for the price and aggravation of adding two hotel nights and a lot of connections.
I'm assuming that since this is Amtrak's routing, the connections would be guaranteed, and that the CC, SJ, and buses aren't usually late, and that all the buses depart from the train stations. ?? What would happen if a connection was missed? Changing the remaining hotel reservations and airline ticket would be a pain that I want to avoid. I'm a ducks in a row type person and don't like sudden major changes of plan. I go with the flow on minor things.
Thoughts?
I apologize for the long post, but the itinerary is long! Thanks so much, all input is appreciated!
My CZ trip is on hold for now due to the possibility of adding a travel buddy, but I'm still working on plans. You may recall that we couldn't figure a way to take the wb CZ and connect with the sb CS as one AGR reward for a bedroom.
Today I was playing around on the Amtrak site, and decided to click on a "visit Yosemite" link. I tried a multi-city trip to go from Denver to Los Angeles, with a visit to Yosemite. At first no luck re the CS, but then I tried adding Sacramento as a segment after Yosemite, and, voila, the first option it offered included the CS!
I'm not sure the rather complicated itinerary will work or will be worth the expense of all the overnight hotel stays. Please tell me if you see problems of any nature, or if you have alternate suggestions. Problems might include difficult or iffy connections, unpleasant surroundings, or any others. Remember, I'm a female in my 60's possibly traveling solo (first time solo), and if I wind up with the travel buddy, she's a little older. We are both in good health but are safety-conscious.
My/our sole purpose for the trip is for the scenery (CZ mountains and CS coastline) and for the train rides. We don't need to get from/to any specific cities other than what is required for the trips on the CZ and CS. I didn't want complicated connections or bus segments, but this itinerary (on paper) seems to be tolerable. Just not sure it's practical in total or cost-effective. It is important that we not be rerouted to less scenic routes and that the CZ and CS not be substituted with buses or cancelled. (I've just been made aware of possible rerouting by another thread--thanks, AU!!) I'm sure each city has lots to see and do, but the scenery and trains are what are important to us. We don't want to rent a car or do much exploring in each place.
Not sure of my/our real dates, but I plugged in May 8 just to see what I'd get. Here's what amtrak.com finally came up with:
(May 7 would fly ATL-DEN, overnight in Denver.)
Segment 1:
May 8 depart DEN #5 CZ 8:05a, overnight on CZ
May 9 arrive DAV 2:44p
overnight in Davis
Segment 2:
May 10
depart DAV #520 Cap Corr 7:02a, arrive SAC 7:28a
depart Sacramento bus #3712 7:45a, arrive 8:40a SKN (could do DAV-SKN on just a bus, but we like trains)
depart Stockton #712 San Joaquin 9:17a, arrive 10:31a. MCD
depart Merced bus #8412 11:00a., arrive YOS 1:25p
overnight in Yosemite
Segment 3:
May 11
depart Yosemite bus #8413 10:00a, arrive MCD 12:17p
depart Merced #713 SJ 1:08p, arrive SKN 2:14p
depart Stockton bus #3760 2:25p, arrive SAC 3:15p
overnight in Sacramento
Segment 4:
May 12
depart Sacramento #11 CS 6:35a, arrive LAX 9:00p
overnight in Los Angeles
(fly home LAX-ATL next day)
The positives to this would be hopefully getting the whole trip as a single AGR reward and adding the short visit to Yosemite. The negatives include 5 (five!) nights in hotels and a lot of connections, some close. By my reasoning, it sort of boils down to (hopefully--find this hard to believe) getting the trip as one AGR and a Yosemite visit for the price and aggravation of adding two hotel nights and a lot of connections.
I'm assuming that since this is Amtrak's routing, the connections would be guaranteed, and that the CC, SJ, and buses aren't usually late, and that all the buses depart from the train stations. ?? What would happen if a connection was missed? Changing the remaining hotel reservations and airline ticket would be a pain that I want to avoid. I'm a ducks in a row type person and don't like sudden major changes of plan. I go with the flow on minor things.
Thoughts?
I apologize for the long post, but the itinerary is long! Thanks so much, all input is appreciated!
Enjoyed my visit!
