OK, time to head home. We agreed to meet my sister in law Kathy for coffee in the morning and we headed up to Starbucks (4 bucks?). Dave texted me that he was riding his bike around Portland so I gave him the Starbucks address and he met us there. I did a lap around downtown with his bike to get the bike challenge mile in, then we headed back to pack up for the train. The wedding party was having breakfast at the hotel so we joined them for our last goodbyes. Most looked pretty ok, but many had had a late night and many were never to be seen this morning before we left. Again, Beverly married into a wonderful group and will be well taken care of out here.
So we packed, dropped off the tux with Brett (the groom) and headed to the train station which was only a mile away, but we had a lot of heavy bags so we went to the Max station (their mass transit) and as we waited, along came a beautiful old restored trolley car. A woman on the sidewalk said it was a car they do not run often (only 8 times a year as it turns out, budget cuts, etc) so we asked and they said no charge, all aboard and we were treated to a couple of fun guys narrating the city history on the short trip to the train station. The train station was newly renovated and because we were sleeping car subscribers, we were treated to the "special" lounge separate from the "coach" travelers (hoity toity indeed). This was to be the theme the next couple days as Amtrak and "our" crew worked really hard to make us feel special. It is certainly cheaper and quicker to fly, but where else can you eat dinner with a moving panoramic view of the Cascade Mountains, waterfalls and roaring mountain rivers going by and fall asleep with the full moon illuminating a vast prairie with remote twinkling lights in the windows of distant ranch houses.
An energetic guy named Tanner was our go to guy and his job was to take care of us. He popped by every hour or so to see if all was well, explained how everything worked and made sure everyone under his watch got off at the right place (some stops were in the wee hours). After a couple days we appreciated how much the crew was a team of folks who had worked together over many years (Tanner was new a 2 years but Fran had been their 37 years). They seemed to really enjoy working on the train and working together. They made it fun for us as well. They must weave down the street on their days off after living on the moving train day after day. Very impressive to see the host with big trays of food walking through a car full of people bobbing back and forth.
There are 2 room choices and we opted for the smaller one with single bunks top and bottom. I am guessing that when NASA designed the space station, the called Amtrak and asked them how to cram the most number of people in the smallest space. These rooms are about 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 6 feet high. But it all works. The upper bunk folds down at night and the 2 opposing seats recline / slide together to make the lower bunk. The bathroom is down the hall and a bit bigger than an airline bathroom, except for the shower. The shower seems big and luxurious relative to everything else. Showering on a moving train is tricky but doable (hang on to the soap!!). They come to your room and get your reservation for dinner which is very relaxed and never hurried. Breakfast and lunch you make reservations for as well. The observation car is beautiful and you can sit and watch everything go by. It was surprisingly not crowded considering the coach cars were full and anyone can go to the observation car. I always got a seat and it was a pleasant place to read my book.
OK back to the schedule. We took the 3 hour train from Portland to Seattle up the coast and saw the ocean and a lot of the inner waterways around Seattle. We transferred to the Empire Builder, found our sleeper compartment, Tanner went over how everything works and they came by to set up the dinner reservations. I would say that a day or two and a night is about right for taking Amtrak. We asked the crew what the best Amtrak routes were and the answer all around was California Coastal Starlight and Empire Builder.
The scenery is great and we converted the compartment to sleep mode and crashed after a long relaxing picturesque dinner. The car was very quiet considering what was going on underneath us and I woke around 5am and got coffee (a pot is always on in the hallway) and enjoyed the sunrise in the observation car. Breakfast starts at 6:30 and the rest of the day was enjoying the scenery, naps, chatting with fellow passengers and listening to talks by the on-board Trails and Rails guys who are retired guys that give talks all day in the observation car (broadcast through the intercom throughout the train) about the history and features of the passing sites and places.
We set our alarms the second night to make sure we got up for our 7:15am arrival in Minneapolis (Tanner stopped by anyway to make sure we didn't miss it). The train was a little over an hour late which was fine since we still had a couple hours to catch the flight home. Taxi to the airport, flight to Philly and then flight home. Air travel is faster but the train is a whole other experience with continuous moving landscape.
So now we are home with a month or more to get back to the normal routine and then back to Portland for the second part of the summer adventure.
Great trip..
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