My 22 year old son and I caught the Sunset Limited in Ontario, Calif. The train pulled in a few minutes late. I was surprised by the number of folks that got on there at that hour (11 PM). We stayed awake an hour or so and spotted places we know as the train pretty much followed the route of I-10. We awoke before pulling into Tucson a few minutes early. We explored a bit of the Tucson station. 
We continued eastward, passing the continental divide in New Mexico at an elevation of 4,555 feet, probably among the lowest points on the continental divide. I believe we were early into El Paso too where we looked at the station and across the border to Mexico. The station was pretty nice. 
I looked for the burrito lady but didn't see her. We were eating dinner (steak) when we hit Alpine TX. We were so adventuresome with our eating-NOT. We had the hamburger and steak for lunch and dinner every night going and coming home. We did vary some with the breakfast. The station at Alpine reminded me a bit of Powell Library at UCLA. 
Well, it reminded me of it. I see now that it isn't that close.
I recall waking up when we were in San Antonio but it was still dark outside. Not sure why but we left an hour late. We got to Houston and it was pretty warm and muggy.
It did seem odd that the train stopped partially under a freeway. 
Seems like once we left Houston, and perhaps it was before that, there was always water on the ground, be it a puddle, a river or a lake. 
We continued on towards New Orleans. In some small town (New Iberia I believe) somewhere around Lafayette LA or perhaps later, the train goes down the middle of a street. We also saw some above ground or somewhat above ground cemeteries as we got closer to New Orleans. 
Saw some in NOLA while we were on a bus but were not able to fit those into this trip. 
We arrived about 20 minutes or late into New Orleans. Took a cab to our hotel (Place D'Armes) in the French Quarter. It was a lovely room with very cool air conditioning. The place looked just like one would expect that has never been to New Orleans but has been to New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
The next morning we got up and went to Mass at 7:30 at the cathedral which was about a 3 minute walk from us.
It's beautiful inside and out. 
We walked about a mile and a quarter to the WWII museum. My son forgot his student ID but we were still given the student rate. It's well worth the visit. We both enjoy WWII history and learned quite a bit. We could spend all day there easily. We were there about 5 hours. We ate at a small 50's style place that was attached to the museum. Some regiments and towns paid a terrible price on D-Day. 
We saw a lot of public art walking around New Orleans. 
We walked back to the French Quarter to catch the bus to the swamp tour. It was on this bus that we saw a cemetery in New Orleans and some of the devastation of Katrina that had not been removed or rebuilt. We used Cajon Encounters for our tour. Our guide was Ryan who we enjoyed very much. We saw some birds (egrets) that eat baby alligators.
We also saw some feral pigs that are destroying parts of the swamp ecosystem. 
But mostly we saw gators, from small 5 foot ones to a bit bigger 8 foot ones. Saw about 12-15 during the two hour tour.
Must add that it rained for about half the time but the boat was covered and we just got a bit wet. It was well worth it. My son loves gators and he enjoyed this tour very much. The gators liked marshmallows and hot dogs. 
The swamp was beautiful. 
I wouldn't want to live there but it was great to see. We got back to New Orleans and just had a bite to eat.
Next morning we went to Mass again. The cathedral is so beautiful and peaceful. We headed to the Jean Lafitte French Quarter Visitor Center. Looked around that a bit and then went on a ranger led talk along the Mississippi River. The ranger gave info on how the river shaped New Orleans over the years and how New Orleans shaped the river. It was very interesting. We ended up at Jackson Square.
We walked around the French Quarter and visited the Ursuline Abbey, one of the oldest buildings in the Mississippi Valley. 
We had lunch near the French market at an outside restaurant. The food was very good. I had the New Orleans sampler, red beans/rice, gumbo and jambalaya. My son had popcorn crayfish--tasted mostly like breading w/ very little fish. Next we headed to the Creole for a trip down the river to the battle of New Orleans site. It was pretty darn hot after walking around much of the day. 
There was a short ranger talk (too hot to go on for long) about the battle that we found interesting. We weren't there long before we had to head back on the boat. Luckily there was inside seating and we could cool off. When we got back to the French Quarter we walked about looking at buildings using a walking tour map. It was interesting for a bit but after a while all of the historical buildings we were stopping to see looked a lot like the ones to the right and left of them. It was hard to tell them apart if we didn't have a guide. I was totally beat from walking in the heat and probably not drinking enough water. We went back to the hotel for a rest and some ice water. In the evening we went down to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. 
They tasted a lot like the funnel cakes that are sold at amusement parks in California.
The next morning we got up early and caught a cab to the station. We waited in the Magnolia Room. It was nice to be able to avoid the long line getting on the train. We arrived in LA at 5:25 or so and caught the Metrolink to Riverside where my wife picked us up.
Overall the trip was fun. New Orleans was super hot which was not a big surprise. We would have stayed a day or two longer had the Sunset Limited been less limited and ran daily. But had we waited for the next train my son would have been late getting back to school.
We continued eastward, passing the continental divide in New Mexico at an elevation of 4,555 feet, probably among the lowest points on the continental divide. I believe we were early into El Paso too where we looked at the station and across the border to Mexico. The station was pretty nice. I looked for the burrito lady but didn't see her. We were eating dinner (steak) when we hit Alpine TX. We were so adventuresome with our eating-NOT. We had the hamburger and steak for lunch and dinner every night going and coming home. We did vary some with the breakfast. The station at Alpine reminded me a bit of Powell Library at UCLA. Well, it reminded me of it. I see now that it isn't that close.I recall waking up when we were in San Antonio but it was still dark outside. Not sure why but we left an hour late. We got to Houston and it was pretty warm and muggy.
It did seem odd that the train stopped partially under a freeway. Seems like once we left Houston, and perhaps it was before that, there was always water on the ground, be it a puddle, a river or a lake. We continued on towards New Orleans. In some small town (New Iberia I believe) somewhere around Lafayette LA or perhaps later, the train goes down the middle of a street. We also saw some above ground or somewhat above ground cemeteries as we got closer to New Orleans. Saw some in NOLA while we were on a bus but were not able to fit those into this trip. We arrived about 20 minutes or late into New Orleans. Took a cab to our hotel (Place D'Armes) in the French Quarter. It was a lovely room with very cool air conditioning. The place looked just like one would expect that has never been to New Orleans but has been to New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
The next morning we got up and went to Mass at 7:30 at the cathedral which was about a 3 minute walk from us.
It's beautiful inside and out. We walked about a mile and a quarter to the WWII museum. My son forgot his student ID but we were still given the student rate. It's well worth the visit. We both enjoy WWII history and learned quite a bit. We could spend all day there easily. We were there about 5 hours. We ate at a small 50's style place that was attached to the museum. Some regiments and towns paid a terrible price on D-Day. We saw a lot of public art walking around New Orleans. We walked back to the French Quarter to catch the bus to the swamp tour. It was on this bus that we saw a cemetery in New Orleans and some of the devastation of Katrina that had not been removed or rebuilt. We used Cajon Encounters for our tour. Our guide was Ryan who we enjoyed very much. We saw some birds (egrets) that eat baby alligators.
We also saw some feral pigs that are destroying parts of the swamp ecosystem. But mostly we saw gators, from small 5 foot ones to a bit bigger 8 foot ones. Saw about 12-15 during the two hour tour. Must add that it rained for about half the time but the boat was covered and we just got a bit wet. It was well worth it. My son loves gators and he enjoyed this tour very much. The gators liked marshmallows and hot dogs. The swamp was beautiful. I wouldn't want to live there but it was great to see. We got back to New Orleans and just had a bite to eat.Next morning we went to Mass again. The cathedral is so beautiful and peaceful. We headed to the Jean Lafitte French Quarter Visitor Center. Looked around that a bit and then went on a ranger led talk along the Mississippi River. The ranger gave info on how the river shaped New Orleans over the years and how New Orleans shaped the river. It was very interesting. We ended up at Jackson Square.
We walked around the French Quarter and visited the Ursuline Abbey, one of the oldest buildings in the Mississippi Valley. We had lunch near the French market at an outside restaurant. The food was very good. I had the New Orleans sampler, red beans/rice, gumbo and jambalaya. My son had popcorn crayfish--tasted mostly like breading w/ very little fish. Next we headed to the Creole for a trip down the river to the battle of New Orleans site. It was pretty darn hot after walking around much of the day. There was a short ranger talk (too hot to go on for long) about the battle that we found interesting. We weren't there long before we had to head back on the boat. Luckily there was inside seating and we could cool off. When we got back to the French Quarter we walked about looking at buildings using a walking tour map. It was interesting for a bit but after a while all of the historical buildings we were stopping to see looked a lot like the ones to the right and left of them. It was hard to tell them apart if we didn't have a guide. I was totally beat from walking in the heat and probably not drinking enough water. We went back to the hotel for a rest and some ice water. In the evening we went down to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. They tasted a lot like the funnel cakes that are sold at amusement parks in California.The next morning we got up early and caught a cab to the station. We waited in the Magnolia Room. It was nice to be able to avoid the long line getting on the train. We arrived in LA at 5:25 or so and caught the Metrolink to Riverside where my wife picked us up.
Overall the trip was fun. New Orleans was super hot which was not a big surprise. We would have stayed a day or two longer had the Sunset Limited been less limited and ran daily. But had we waited for the next train my son would have been late getting back to school.
