Here is my Spring Break trip from 3/12 to 3/22.
Well just my luck to get delayed by the freight derailment west of Minot, ND. I was to board the Empire Builder at Grand Forks, ND at 12:54 AM but it was 5 hours late due to the derailment. I shouldn't complain because the previous days Empire was 17 hours late, and the one before was cancelled. So after sleeping in the Grand Forks station until 6:15 AM, train #8 finally arrived. I had a standard sleeper booked, and went right to sleep. Although I really wanted to see the scenery because this part of the ride you never get to see because it is dark. But I was so tired I went straight to sleep until Fargo. I didn't want to miss breakfast so I got up and had a breakfast in the diner. I talked with a lady while I ate my quiche. I didn't think it was very good though. I returned to my sleeper and slept until we reached St. Paul where my dad and sister were waiting.
They had flown up the night before from Dallas-Fort Worth. Not too many passengers boarded because most of them took a bus to Chicago to make their connections. But since they were with me, they needed to ride the train. My dad and sister joined me in the sleeper room next to mine. It was their first long distance train trip. My sister didnt' seem to excited though. Thats ok though. We went to lunch as we departed St. Paul. It was a quiet lunch as we were all tired. I like departing St. Paul as we go through downtown and follow the Mississippi all the way to La Crosse. It was still quite frozen, but we enjoyed sitting in the lounge watching numerous bald eagles on the river. My dad was quite impressed. He commented that he understood why I was so crazy about riding trains.
Since we would not arrive into Chicago until 9 PM, they served a limited dinner that evening. Since it was 3 months ago, I can't remember all the details of what I had. After dinner we retreated back to our sleeper for the rest of the journey. Apparently some Amtrak service representantives boarded in Columbus, WI, and were going to make accomodations for missed connections. I thought that was impressive. I went down to the diner where they were helping each passenger. Many had missed the Capitol to DC, and just simply were booked on the Three Rivers later that night. Other were going to Michigan and would wait until the next morning. We however would have to wait until the evening for our 7:00 PM Lake Shore Limited to Rochester. They put is in the Holiday Inn and gave us some money for food and taxi.
In Chicago we took full advantage of the city and went down to the museum of Science and Industry. I hadn't been there in a few years and wanted to go back. Soon the museum closed and we returned to Union Station for our 7 PM departure. We boarded into our two standard sleepers. This was my first time in a Viewliner. I liked it better then the Superliner sleeper, because of the video and other things. Our car attendant was very good bringing us towells and linens and anything we needed. I think my sister enjoyed her own room, although she didn't admit it. Soon after departure we had dinner. I sat next to the craziest, most bizare lady I have ever met. She was a little intoxicated too. But she kept saying that I had a heart of gold, my sister was not innocent at all, and my dad was an ****. She also told me how to hold my fork correctly, as I would not make it in the civilized world. (I know how to hold my fork). She asked me if I was ok with what was happening, but I didn't know what was happening, and she would not tell me! She was the most memorable part of the trip.
We returned to bed after dinner. I took the top as my dad took the bottom. It was the most rough ride as I did not sleep at all. Soon at about 7 AM we arrived into Rochester. For the next couple days we walked around my sisters school, the Eastman School of Music and drove to Niagara Falls for the day. It was pretty cool.
A couple days later me and my dad boarded the Lake Shore again and would ride to Schenectady, NY. I was afraid we would miss our connection to the Adirondak, but we made it plenty of time. The new schedule does not allow for a connection to the Adirondak, so we got lucky. About an hour in the small Schenectady station and the train number 69 arrived and we boarded for Montreal. It was a beautiful ride up the frozen Lake Champlain. I was impressed by the remoteness of the little towns we passed by. This was my first time in upstate NY. It was quite a long ride up to Montreal. Our scheduled arrival was 6:30 PM, but we were in our hotel room by that time! Apparently they add lots of time for customs.
Montreal was a very cool city. Our 4 star hotel for $80 wasn't bad either. We enjoyed touring the city on a tour bus and eating at expensive restaurants. We had sushi one night, and I had quail another night, with a $47 CD bottle of wine. hehe. I will definintly be back. Possibly by the VIA from Winnipeg, which is just 2 hours from Grand Forks.
Well I will the report to this and make a separate return trip report from Burlington, VT on the Vermonter, to Springfield and all the way back to Grand Forks. Stay tuned
Well just my luck to get delayed by the freight derailment west of Minot, ND. I was to board the Empire Builder at Grand Forks, ND at 12:54 AM but it was 5 hours late due to the derailment. I shouldn't complain because the previous days Empire was 17 hours late, and the one before was cancelled. So after sleeping in the Grand Forks station until 6:15 AM, train #8 finally arrived. I had a standard sleeper booked, and went right to sleep. Although I really wanted to see the scenery because this part of the ride you never get to see because it is dark. But I was so tired I went straight to sleep until Fargo. I didn't want to miss breakfast so I got up and had a breakfast in the diner. I talked with a lady while I ate my quiche. I didn't think it was very good though. I returned to my sleeper and slept until we reached St. Paul where my dad and sister were waiting.
They had flown up the night before from Dallas-Fort Worth. Not too many passengers boarded because most of them took a bus to Chicago to make their connections. But since they were with me, they needed to ride the train. My dad and sister joined me in the sleeper room next to mine. It was their first long distance train trip. My sister didnt' seem to excited though. Thats ok though. We went to lunch as we departed St. Paul. It was a quiet lunch as we were all tired. I like departing St. Paul as we go through downtown and follow the Mississippi all the way to La Crosse. It was still quite frozen, but we enjoyed sitting in the lounge watching numerous bald eagles on the river. My dad was quite impressed. He commented that he understood why I was so crazy about riding trains.
Since we would not arrive into Chicago until 9 PM, they served a limited dinner that evening. Since it was 3 months ago, I can't remember all the details of what I had. After dinner we retreated back to our sleeper for the rest of the journey. Apparently some Amtrak service representantives boarded in Columbus, WI, and were going to make accomodations for missed connections. I thought that was impressive. I went down to the diner where they were helping each passenger. Many had missed the Capitol to DC, and just simply were booked on the Three Rivers later that night. Other were going to Michigan and would wait until the next morning. We however would have to wait until the evening for our 7:00 PM Lake Shore Limited to Rochester. They put is in the Holiday Inn and gave us some money for food and taxi.
In Chicago we took full advantage of the city and went down to the museum of Science and Industry. I hadn't been there in a few years and wanted to go back. Soon the museum closed and we returned to Union Station for our 7 PM departure. We boarded into our two standard sleepers. This was my first time in a Viewliner. I liked it better then the Superliner sleeper, because of the video and other things. Our car attendant was very good bringing us towells and linens and anything we needed. I think my sister enjoyed her own room, although she didn't admit it. Soon after departure we had dinner. I sat next to the craziest, most bizare lady I have ever met. She was a little intoxicated too. But she kept saying that I had a heart of gold, my sister was not innocent at all, and my dad was an ****. She also told me how to hold my fork correctly, as I would not make it in the civilized world. (I know how to hold my fork). She asked me if I was ok with what was happening, but I didn't know what was happening, and she would not tell me! She was the most memorable part of the trip.
We returned to bed after dinner. I took the top as my dad took the bottom. It was the most rough ride as I did not sleep at all. Soon at about 7 AM we arrived into Rochester. For the next couple days we walked around my sisters school, the Eastman School of Music and drove to Niagara Falls for the day. It was pretty cool.
A couple days later me and my dad boarded the Lake Shore again and would ride to Schenectady, NY. I was afraid we would miss our connection to the Adirondak, but we made it plenty of time. The new schedule does not allow for a connection to the Adirondak, so we got lucky. About an hour in the small Schenectady station and the train number 69 arrived and we boarded for Montreal. It was a beautiful ride up the frozen Lake Champlain. I was impressed by the remoteness of the little towns we passed by. This was my first time in upstate NY. It was quite a long ride up to Montreal. Our scheduled arrival was 6:30 PM, but we were in our hotel room by that time! Apparently they add lots of time for customs.
Montreal was a very cool city. Our 4 star hotel for $80 wasn't bad either. We enjoyed touring the city on a tour bus and eating at expensive restaurants. We had sushi one night, and I had quail another night, with a $47 CD bottle of wine. hehe. I will definintly be back. Possibly by the VIA from Winnipeg, which is just 2 hours from Grand Forks.
Well I will the report to this and make a separate return trip report from Burlington, VT on the Vermonter, to Springfield and all the way back to Grand Forks. Stay tuned