S
smooshie
Guest
Christmas 2006 AMTRAK TRIP: NYC-CHI, CHI-SEA; SEA-CHI, CHI-NYC
Intro: This was my first long distance AMTRAK trip since I was 8 years old, and the first ever for my BF. We don’t like long flights and thought this would be a great bonding experience. We are budget conscious travelers but sprung for roomettes for the longer legs because we wanted some comfort. I scoured this forum before my trip, and wanted to report-back on my experiences. What follows are my mildly interesting insights as a first-timer!
6:30pm Wednesday, December 20, 2006—The Journey Begins
I arrived at Penn Station on the 20th at 2:58 pm. After a quick trip to the bank and to pick up lunch and water, I was back at the Amtrak waiting area. It was surprisingly sparse, with most people taking regional trains, or the Acela to Washington, D.C. I met up with my BF at 3:30 and we shifted closer to the gate I had scoped out on Monday when I picked up our tickets. Sure enough they called for train 49, the Lakeshore Ltd at gate 8W. We quickly jaunted down to the platform. I was on a mission to find seats with electrical outlets. I was peeling my eyes for seats 19 and 55 (thanks to all of your expert suggestions), when imagine my chagrin, EACH SEAT HAD ITS OWN OUTLET! Well. This was a treat. The BF and I quickly settled in only to discover that the outlet on our side wasn’t working. After some shrewd negotiation on my part, I got a woman to switch seats with us, as the outlet on her side was working. So here I am. The ride so far is pleasant. I am working on a chapter for my dissertation and my BF is reclining and listening to music. We’ve been warned that this is a sold out train, so not to get too comfortable. I thought I would explore as soon as I got on. But my seat feels so much like home, I think I’ll stay awhile.
Minot, ND 10:37am. Friday, Dec 22, 2006—Big Trouble in Little Minot
So I haven’t written in a few days because things have been going so well. The ‘Late for Sure Ltd.’ was a few minutes early in to Chicago Union Station on Thursday morning. After a terrible night’s sleep (I dozed for a few minutes here and there but couldn’t get comfortable enough in those coach seats)—though the BF seemed to sleep just fine—I awoke to the sounds of incessant snoring and the smell of so many pairs of feet. Having been fully prepared for this, I wasn’t too alarmed. By the time the BF and I pulled ourselves together, put our blankets and pillows up and put our shoes on (of course our feet smelled like roses!), we were arriving at CUS. We de-trained and made our way down a long and uninviting platform to the station. We then made our way to the metropolitan lounge and checked our bags. We walked around the station a bit, and after some quick navigational questions, we headed over to the ‘State Street’ area. BF had to do some shopping and we wanted to get breakfast. It was cold and rainy out, but not nearly as cold as we expected for Chicago in December. We walked around State St. and settled on a restaurant named ‘Beef and Brandy’. I was not excited by this in the least, but my BF’s persistence ran me down, and we went in. Breakfast fare was simple and cheap, so no complaints. After this we headed over to a specialty popcorn place called ‘Garrett’s’. The BF is a popcorn enthusiast so we figured we’d pick some up for the trip. Well, after 40minutes in line I was beginning to wonder what this place was really all about. People were buying popcorn by the 2gallon tin, and waiting quite a while for the privilege! I finally scored a bag of ‘Chicago mix’ –cheese and carmel, and a bag of caramel just for BF. We then headed into a few more shops and back to CUS. We waited in the Metro lounge for about 20 minutes, I had some juice and we finally scored a seat (the lounge was a bit like a shanty town—in the best possible way). Eventually they boarded us and we began our journey.
We found our roomette to be small but pleasant. It has been updated nicely and all the fixtures are in good working order. The power source works, so that’s fantastic. We are on the bottom floor of a Superliner sleeper, room 11. After settling in and saying hi to the neighbors across the hall, I knitted for a while and began doing some work. The BF has a variety of media on his PDA, as well as some reading, so he preoccupied himself with that. We had a 7:00 dinner where we met an excellent couple: Roger and Sandi. I was apprehensive about the dining situation, because I don’t like making small talk with strangers. But it was just fine. BF and I held our own and they were pleasant to talk to. We discussed the politics of slavery and emancipation in the US and the British Empire (they asked about my dissertation), we discussed the state of Amtrak (freebie) and our shared destination –Seattle. I had the lamb shank with mashed potatoes. It was tasty. Not very warm, nor was its presentation restaurant quality. But it was tasty. BF had the ravioli. It felt a bit undercooked, but seemed tasty as he ate it all. Sandi had the turkey dinner which looked delicious. And Roger had the catfish which he seemed less than satisfied with. For dessert I had key lime pie with ice cream. BF shared mine. Sandi and Roger both had the ice cream. It was very good.
After leaving a tip, BF and I returned to our room and got ready for bed. I took a shower (QUITE the adventure—rocking car, strange water temperatures, etc) and changed into sleeping clothes. We put the bottom bunk down and, as small as it is, we decided to try and share it, at least while we watched movies. It worked out. We watched an episode of ‘24’, and each of us was so tired that we hit the sack. Though the train moved around a lot during the night, I got decent sleep. And there was something comforting about sharing the bottom bunk.
We awoke somewhere around 8am, and decided to skip breakfast. From the announcements, the diner seemed quite full, and we weren’t hungry because of our meals yesterday and all the snacks we brought along. All was going well until we arrived at Minot. Apparently there was a problem with the Portland sleeper, so they moved all the Portland occupants to other cars and had to remove the sleeper. We were detained for over an hour. Though Minot was a major scheduled stop, there was very little to see or do at the station: a few vending machines, restrooms, and pay phones. I quickly returned to our sleeper.
The other mishap involves a strength resistance band and the BF’s top lip. Never to be thwarted form getting a little exercise, he brought along a tool that allows you to use bands to engage in strength resistance. After attaching one end to his foot and propping it up on the wall, he began to do arm curls. Immediately the piece dislodged from his foot and smacked him in his face. He doubled over in my lap. I thought he had hurt his eye (he has a phobia about his eyes) but in fact he had a busted lip. Very busted. Top lip, split down the middle. He looks like a bird with a beak. It’s quite unintended and charming. BF procured some ice and cleaned himself up. Patrick (our attendant) came by and gave us a first-aid kit. The general consensus in the car is that I must have mauled him.
An announcement was just made that they will arrange a bus in Spokane, WA for those displaced from that sleeper. That’s not nice at all. For now I’m going back to my work.
After skipping breakfast we decided to try to order lunch in. After going to the dining car and being told we have to contact our attendant, we return to the room and pulled the call button. After some time Patrick arrived and informed us that after the next stop he would take our orders. I believe he is just a bit overwhelmed with the lack of a Portland sleeper in the back and the predicament it has caused in terms of finding lodging for those folks.
4:20 pm, Dec 22, 2006
Well, all seems to be sorted out. Though I’m sure the Spokane passengers wouldn’t put it quite so gently. We are in Montana now, not quite sure where. What has become clear to me however is that it is near impossible to figure out whether we are running on time if you don’t know where one time zone ends and where another begins. By my calculations we might be three hours late. But I certainly have heard nothing about a delay. There’s a rather loud passenger next to us. I’m not sure when she got on. It’s not too annoying; I just have a pet peeve against being forced to listen to other people’s conversations.
Our attendant let us know that he’s not going to be with us through to Seattle. He has to get off at Sandpoint, ID and head back to Chicago. I think he also wanted to be sure we knew to tip him early if we so chose.
I’ve gotta say the view has been relatively unimpressive so far. Not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for, but I don’t see it at all. Plains, rolling hills, snow, valleys? It’s all just…a little…flat. But I’m hoping the good stuff is still to come. For lunch today I had the Angus burger which came with chips (no French fries I guess). It was decent, garden variety hospital cafeteria fare. For dessert I had the cheesecake with strawberry sauce, very tasty. I’m trying to make sure I try all the desserts at least one. That leaves the Mississippi mud pie for dessert tonight. We’ll see.
7:46 pm. Shelby, MT. December 22nd, 2006.
We are currently running about 2 hrs 20minutes late. Somehow we ‘missed’ our dinner reservation. They say the diner attendant visited every car and room, but we were here the entire time and ‘missed’ her. So we are on a ‘waiting’ list. Truth be told, we would trade dinner in a sec for a couple of bottles of cold water. The car ran out. It’s not a pretty sight. The BF’s lip is getting better. My chapter is shaping up too. Both of us would like a shower so we’re going to head that way (separately) after dinner. We also have an exciting game of “Mancala” scheduled for later, followed up by a couple of episodes of ‘24’ and maybe some ‘Family Guy’. All in all, it should be a blast.
I haven’t tired of the train so far. Though I wish I wasn’t tied to this computer and outlet, because I might like to explore the spaces of the train a bit more. We declined the wine tasting earlier even though I’d been looking forward to it. I don’t drink wine, but it seemed like the thing to do. I look forward to the trip back where I’ll be unburdened by this chapter.
The BF seems happy, but laments the cramped space and the fact that we have to constant put things ‘up’ as it’s hard to keep track of where anything is. I think it sucks, but it’s a fair trade off for privacy. This trip in coach would have been slightly unbearable.
1:10pm, Saturday, December 23, 2006—It’s always darkest just before dawn
Ok. So we should have been in Seattle 3 hours ago. But we aren’t. Instead we’ve been waiting on a rail for three hours, and we are like 2 hours outside of Seattle. First we were told that the track in front of us needed to be cleared. Then we had to wait for a freight train to pass. Pretty straightforward, right? Well in actuality after waiting all that time it turned out that the crew had maxed out its time. So now we are waiting for a relief crew to come in and take over. They should be here in 10 minutes. I tried to go get some work done in the lounge car, but I forgot that the lounge car leaves at Spokane and goes with them to Portland. So in order to accommodate passengers, the diner crew converted the coach half of the diner so we could socialize there. Not too many people interested in lounging at this point. The dining crew also organized small snacks for the passengers, because they were no longer offering meal service. Stew and a roll for coach. We got PB&J in our room. But I saw much more elaborate meals going to the sleepers so I think we got the shaft. At any rate, this has been pleasant, but is growing a bit old. I hope the EB isn’t this late on the way back. We’d miss our connection in Chicago, or at least we’d miss most of our connecting time.
We were told at around 2pm that we are slated to arrive in Everett at 4pm. This although we were also told that we were ‘just’ outside of Everett. So that puts us in Seattle at 5pm. That’s 6 hours and 40 minutes late. I’m going to grab a quick nap so that I’ll be fresh when we arrive in Seattle. Barring something even more absurd, you won’t hear from me until Wednesday the 27th!
Friday, December 29, 2006. 11:20pm.
Hi there, it’s been awhile! I had fallout from the chapter I finished and mailed off, so I didn’t want to type for a bit. The eastbound Empire Builder trip was very pleasant. We started out rough, as there were mudslides between Seattle and Everett so we had to be bussed to Everett. The train showed up late, and we didn’t leave Everett till after 7pm. By late that evening we were running two hours late.
Our sleeper car was even nicer than the first in terms of amenities and modern comfort. The first class touch was more noticeable, with chocolates and champagne. We enjoyed a late dinner and had dessert to go. We had the turkey special, it was tasty. And for dessert I had a lemon shortbread tart. It is in my opinion the best dessert I’ve had on Amtrak. The cheesecake was good, but the tart had more personality. After dinner we retired to our room, watched a few sitcoms and slept.
On Thursday we woke and decided to skip breakfast. All that eating and no exercise on is murder on my already ample figure! We laid around for a bit and then took an early lunch. I had the Angus burger and BF had the chicken sandwich. Both were good. We went back to the room and watched an old 80s horror movie, “Black Christmas”. Then we went to the wine tasting. It was fun. I still don’t like wine, but it was enjoyable.
We went back to the room and I read and knitted. We also did some Madlibs. Eventually we went to dinner. I was disappointed that they were out of the steak, very disappointed. I had the chicken again.
After dinner we stayed up, played a game or two and then turned down the beds. We watched some episodes of ‘My Name is Earl’, and went to sleep. When we awoke this morning, the crew had made up an hour. We had breakfast and lunch. Both were decent though I’m pretty sure the Railroad French Toast isn’t freshly made.
They ran out of dessert. Bummer.
The only negative aspects of the return trip were: the shower was full with luggage so I had to go to another car and the attendant was none too gracious about it. Also: being on the top floor is nice in the sense that it was a bit quieter, but we were less aware of what was going on (on the bottom we could connect with the world outside when we made stops). Finally, there were kids running around in our car and they seemed to enjoy stopping outside our door.
This brings me to something about our westbound trip. In the roomette across from us, an elderly woman was traveling with her son. They had a larger group of family members in coach and the son frequently went back to visit them, leaving her alone. The attendant wasn’t overly attentive and she often got up to roam. She seemed extremely disoriented. She kept trying to open my luggage, thinking it was hers. And she opened our room door a couple of times. She wasn’t properly attired: barefoot and in a thin, short hospital gown. This made everything more awkward. Someone needs to regulate this type of thing. If someone needs a caregiver, they should be mandated to have one.
Anyway, we got to Chicago Union Station around 5:35pm, 1 hour and 35 minutes late. Not bad! The BF and I were able to check our bags in the metropolitan lounge again. We stood on line at Garrett’s again and got popcorn for his dad and sister, and a little for us! Oh the shame of it all. Then we grabbed sandwiches and headed back to the station. It was 7pm when we got there. We claimed our luggage and sat down in the general boarding area only to realize that the long snaking line we saw was for boarding the LSL. We joined the line around 7:12. The departure was for 7:55. As it was, we barely got a seat together. It’s a packed train. We settled into our seats, realizing that we had lost the ‘hustle’ mentality of coach. We’d gone soft in 1st class all those days. We hadn’t been prepared for a line or the seat shuffle. And we certainly weren’t prepared for the crowd and the noise. On the way out our train wasn’t very populated, and was VERY quiet. At any rate, we are on. We’ve eaten, we watched the remaining episodes we had of ‘My Name is Earl’ and now the BF is sleeping. I’m going to read a bit and go to bed. In less than 24 hours, we should be back in NY! And I will have more to reflect upon.
Sometime later, Brooklyn, NY
Addendum: The ride home was arduous, but not because anyone was behaving badly. It was simply a result of being on a packed train in coach after having been in a sleeper for two legs! We couldn’t deal with all the chatting. People were striking up friendships, building religious community, and sharing snack recipes. All we wanted was peace and quiet. But we did arrive back in NYC safely and no more than 40 minutes late. All in all, this was a trip I will never forget. I loved every minute of it, and am SO glad we did it. We will probably do all of our travel by plane next year, but I find that now I’m always checking to see the time/cost on AMTRAK service as well. Thanks to all of those on this forum who gave invaluable advice for the trip. The number one piece of advice I received was to RELAX.
P.S. A word to the wise: if you are perpetually dieting (like myself), and have little willpower (like myself), 3 square meals a day plus dessert will wreak havoc on your regimen. This may seem obvious, but it bears re-iterating!
Intro: This was my first long distance AMTRAK trip since I was 8 years old, and the first ever for my BF. We don’t like long flights and thought this would be a great bonding experience. We are budget conscious travelers but sprung for roomettes for the longer legs because we wanted some comfort. I scoured this forum before my trip, and wanted to report-back on my experiences. What follows are my mildly interesting insights as a first-timer!
6:30pm Wednesday, December 20, 2006—The Journey Begins
I arrived at Penn Station on the 20th at 2:58 pm. After a quick trip to the bank and to pick up lunch and water, I was back at the Amtrak waiting area. It was surprisingly sparse, with most people taking regional trains, or the Acela to Washington, D.C. I met up with my BF at 3:30 and we shifted closer to the gate I had scoped out on Monday when I picked up our tickets. Sure enough they called for train 49, the Lakeshore Ltd at gate 8W. We quickly jaunted down to the platform. I was on a mission to find seats with electrical outlets. I was peeling my eyes for seats 19 and 55 (thanks to all of your expert suggestions), when imagine my chagrin, EACH SEAT HAD ITS OWN OUTLET! Well. This was a treat. The BF and I quickly settled in only to discover that the outlet on our side wasn’t working. After some shrewd negotiation on my part, I got a woman to switch seats with us, as the outlet on her side was working. So here I am. The ride so far is pleasant. I am working on a chapter for my dissertation and my BF is reclining and listening to music. We’ve been warned that this is a sold out train, so not to get too comfortable. I thought I would explore as soon as I got on. But my seat feels so much like home, I think I’ll stay awhile.
Minot, ND 10:37am. Friday, Dec 22, 2006—Big Trouble in Little Minot
So I haven’t written in a few days because things have been going so well. The ‘Late for Sure Ltd.’ was a few minutes early in to Chicago Union Station on Thursday morning. After a terrible night’s sleep (I dozed for a few minutes here and there but couldn’t get comfortable enough in those coach seats)—though the BF seemed to sleep just fine—I awoke to the sounds of incessant snoring and the smell of so many pairs of feet. Having been fully prepared for this, I wasn’t too alarmed. By the time the BF and I pulled ourselves together, put our blankets and pillows up and put our shoes on (of course our feet smelled like roses!), we were arriving at CUS. We de-trained and made our way down a long and uninviting platform to the station. We then made our way to the metropolitan lounge and checked our bags. We walked around the station a bit, and after some quick navigational questions, we headed over to the ‘State Street’ area. BF had to do some shopping and we wanted to get breakfast. It was cold and rainy out, but not nearly as cold as we expected for Chicago in December. We walked around State St. and settled on a restaurant named ‘Beef and Brandy’. I was not excited by this in the least, but my BF’s persistence ran me down, and we went in. Breakfast fare was simple and cheap, so no complaints. After this we headed over to a specialty popcorn place called ‘Garrett’s’. The BF is a popcorn enthusiast so we figured we’d pick some up for the trip. Well, after 40minutes in line I was beginning to wonder what this place was really all about. People were buying popcorn by the 2gallon tin, and waiting quite a while for the privilege! I finally scored a bag of ‘Chicago mix’ –cheese and carmel, and a bag of caramel just for BF. We then headed into a few more shops and back to CUS. We waited in the Metro lounge for about 20 minutes, I had some juice and we finally scored a seat (the lounge was a bit like a shanty town—in the best possible way). Eventually they boarded us and we began our journey.
We found our roomette to be small but pleasant. It has been updated nicely and all the fixtures are in good working order. The power source works, so that’s fantastic. We are on the bottom floor of a Superliner sleeper, room 11. After settling in and saying hi to the neighbors across the hall, I knitted for a while and began doing some work. The BF has a variety of media on his PDA, as well as some reading, so he preoccupied himself with that. We had a 7:00 dinner where we met an excellent couple: Roger and Sandi. I was apprehensive about the dining situation, because I don’t like making small talk with strangers. But it was just fine. BF and I held our own and they were pleasant to talk to. We discussed the politics of slavery and emancipation in the US and the British Empire (they asked about my dissertation), we discussed the state of Amtrak (freebie) and our shared destination –Seattle. I had the lamb shank with mashed potatoes. It was tasty. Not very warm, nor was its presentation restaurant quality. But it was tasty. BF had the ravioli. It felt a bit undercooked, but seemed tasty as he ate it all. Sandi had the turkey dinner which looked delicious. And Roger had the catfish which he seemed less than satisfied with. For dessert I had key lime pie with ice cream. BF shared mine. Sandi and Roger both had the ice cream. It was very good.
After leaving a tip, BF and I returned to our room and got ready for bed. I took a shower (QUITE the adventure—rocking car, strange water temperatures, etc) and changed into sleeping clothes. We put the bottom bunk down and, as small as it is, we decided to try and share it, at least while we watched movies. It worked out. We watched an episode of ‘24’, and each of us was so tired that we hit the sack. Though the train moved around a lot during the night, I got decent sleep. And there was something comforting about sharing the bottom bunk.
We awoke somewhere around 8am, and decided to skip breakfast. From the announcements, the diner seemed quite full, and we weren’t hungry because of our meals yesterday and all the snacks we brought along. All was going well until we arrived at Minot. Apparently there was a problem with the Portland sleeper, so they moved all the Portland occupants to other cars and had to remove the sleeper. We were detained for over an hour. Though Minot was a major scheduled stop, there was very little to see or do at the station: a few vending machines, restrooms, and pay phones. I quickly returned to our sleeper.
The other mishap involves a strength resistance band and the BF’s top lip. Never to be thwarted form getting a little exercise, he brought along a tool that allows you to use bands to engage in strength resistance. After attaching one end to his foot and propping it up on the wall, he began to do arm curls. Immediately the piece dislodged from his foot and smacked him in his face. He doubled over in my lap. I thought he had hurt his eye (he has a phobia about his eyes) but in fact he had a busted lip. Very busted. Top lip, split down the middle. He looks like a bird with a beak. It’s quite unintended and charming. BF procured some ice and cleaned himself up. Patrick (our attendant) came by and gave us a first-aid kit. The general consensus in the car is that I must have mauled him.
An announcement was just made that they will arrange a bus in Spokane, WA for those displaced from that sleeper. That’s not nice at all. For now I’m going back to my work.
After skipping breakfast we decided to try to order lunch in. After going to the dining car and being told we have to contact our attendant, we return to the room and pulled the call button. After some time Patrick arrived and informed us that after the next stop he would take our orders. I believe he is just a bit overwhelmed with the lack of a Portland sleeper in the back and the predicament it has caused in terms of finding lodging for those folks.
4:20 pm, Dec 22, 2006
Well, all seems to be sorted out. Though I’m sure the Spokane passengers wouldn’t put it quite so gently. We are in Montana now, not quite sure where. What has become clear to me however is that it is near impossible to figure out whether we are running on time if you don’t know where one time zone ends and where another begins. By my calculations we might be three hours late. But I certainly have heard nothing about a delay. There’s a rather loud passenger next to us. I’m not sure when she got on. It’s not too annoying; I just have a pet peeve against being forced to listen to other people’s conversations.
Our attendant let us know that he’s not going to be with us through to Seattle. He has to get off at Sandpoint, ID and head back to Chicago. I think he also wanted to be sure we knew to tip him early if we so chose.
I’ve gotta say the view has been relatively unimpressive so far. Not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for, but I don’t see it at all. Plains, rolling hills, snow, valleys? It’s all just…a little…flat. But I’m hoping the good stuff is still to come. For lunch today I had the Angus burger which came with chips (no French fries I guess). It was decent, garden variety hospital cafeteria fare. For dessert I had the cheesecake with strawberry sauce, very tasty. I’m trying to make sure I try all the desserts at least one. That leaves the Mississippi mud pie for dessert tonight. We’ll see.
7:46 pm. Shelby, MT. December 22nd, 2006.
We are currently running about 2 hrs 20minutes late. Somehow we ‘missed’ our dinner reservation. They say the diner attendant visited every car and room, but we were here the entire time and ‘missed’ her. So we are on a ‘waiting’ list. Truth be told, we would trade dinner in a sec for a couple of bottles of cold water. The car ran out. It’s not a pretty sight. The BF’s lip is getting better. My chapter is shaping up too. Both of us would like a shower so we’re going to head that way (separately) after dinner. We also have an exciting game of “Mancala” scheduled for later, followed up by a couple of episodes of ‘24’ and maybe some ‘Family Guy’. All in all, it should be a blast.
I haven’t tired of the train so far. Though I wish I wasn’t tied to this computer and outlet, because I might like to explore the spaces of the train a bit more. We declined the wine tasting earlier even though I’d been looking forward to it. I don’t drink wine, but it seemed like the thing to do. I look forward to the trip back where I’ll be unburdened by this chapter.
The BF seems happy, but laments the cramped space and the fact that we have to constant put things ‘up’ as it’s hard to keep track of where anything is. I think it sucks, but it’s a fair trade off for privacy. This trip in coach would have been slightly unbearable.
1:10pm, Saturday, December 23, 2006—It’s always darkest just before dawn
Ok. So we should have been in Seattle 3 hours ago. But we aren’t. Instead we’ve been waiting on a rail for three hours, and we are like 2 hours outside of Seattle. First we were told that the track in front of us needed to be cleared. Then we had to wait for a freight train to pass. Pretty straightforward, right? Well in actuality after waiting all that time it turned out that the crew had maxed out its time. So now we are waiting for a relief crew to come in and take over. They should be here in 10 minutes. I tried to go get some work done in the lounge car, but I forgot that the lounge car leaves at Spokane and goes with them to Portland. So in order to accommodate passengers, the diner crew converted the coach half of the diner so we could socialize there. Not too many people interested in lounging at this point. The dining crew also organized small snacks for the passengers, because they were no longer offering meal service. Stew and a roll for coach. We got PB&J in our room. But I saw much more elaborate meals going to the sleepers so I think we got the shaft. At any rate, this has been pleasant, but is growing a bit old. I hope the EB isn’t this late on the way back. We’d miss our connection in Chicago, or at least we’d miss most of our connecting time.
We were told at around 2pm that we are slated to arrive in Everett at 4pm. This although we were also told that we were ‘just’ outside of Everett. So that puts us in Seattle at 5pm. That’s 6 hours and 40 minutes late. I’m going to grab a quick nap so that I’ll be fresh when we arrive in Seattle. Barring something even more absurd, you won’t hear from me until Wednesday the 27th!
Friday, December 29, 2006. 11:20pm.
Hi there, it’s been awhile! I had fallout from the chapter I finished and mailed off, so I didn’t want to type for a bit. The eastbound Empire Builder trip was very pleasant. We started out rough, as there were mudslides between Seattle and Everett so we had to be bussed to Everett. The train showed up late, and we didn’t leave Everett till after 7pm. By late that evening we were running two hours late.
Our sleeper car was even nicer than the first in terms of amenities and modern comfort. The first class touch was more noticeable, with chocolates and champagne. We enjoyed a late dinner and had dessert to go. We had the turkey special, it was tasty. And for dessert I had a lemon shortbread tart. It is in my opinion the best dessert I’ve had on Amtrak. The cheesecake was good, but the tart had more personality. After dinner we retired to our room, watched a few sitcoms and slept.
On Thursday we woke and decided to skip breakfast. All that eating and no exercise on is murder on my already ample figure! We laid around for a bit and then took an early lunch. I had the Angus burger and BF had the chicken sandwich. Both were good. We went back to the room and watched an old 80s horror movie, “Black Christmas”. Then we went to the wine tasting. It was fun. I still don’t like wine, but it was enjoyable.
We went back to the room and I read and knitted. We also did some Madlibs. Eventually we went to dinner. I was disappointed that they were out of the steak, very disappointed. I had the chicken again.
After dinner we stayed up, played a game or two and then turned down the beds. We watched some episodes of ‘My Name is Earl’, and went to sleep. When we awoke this morning, the crew had made up an hour. We had breakfast and lunch. Both were decent though I’m pretty sure the Railroad French Toast isn’t freshly made.
They ran out of dessert. Bummer.
The only negative aspects of the return trip were: the shower was full with luggage so I had to go to another car and the attendant was none too gracious about it. Also: being on the top floor is nice in the sense that it was a bit quieter, but we were less aware of what was going on (on the bottom we could connect with the world outside when we made stops). Finally, there were kids running around in our car and they seemed to enjoy stopping outside our door.
This brings me to something about our westbound trip. In the roomette across from us, an elderly woman was traveling with her son. They had a larger group of family members in coach and the son frequently went back to visit them, leaving her alone. The attendant wasn’t overly attentive and she often got up to roam. She seemed extremely disoriented. She kept trying to open my luggage, thinking it was hers. And she opened our room door a couple of times. She wasn’t properly attired: barefoot and in a thin, short hospital gown. This made everything more awkward. Someone needs to regulate this type of thing. If someone needs a caregiver, they should be mandated to have one.
Anyway, we got to Chicago Union Station around 5:35pm, 1 hour and 35 minutes late. Not bad! The BF and I were able to check our bags in the metropolitan lounge again. We stood on line at Garrett’s again and got popcorn for his dad and sister, and a little for us! Oh the shame of it all. Then we grabbed sandwiches and headed back to the station. It was 7pm when we got there. We claimed our luggage and sat down in the general boarding area only to realize that the long snaking line we saw was for boarding the LSL. We joined the line around 7:12. The departure was for 7:55. As it was, we barely got a seat together. It’s a packed train. We settled into our seats, realizing that we had lost the ‘hustle’ mentality of coach. We’d gone soft in 1st class all those days. We hadn’t been prepared for a line or the seat shuffle. And we certainly weren’t prepared for the crowd and the noise. On the way out our train wasn’t very populated, and was VERY quiet. At any rate, we are on. We’ve eaten, we watched the remaining episodes we had of ‘My Name is Earl’ and now the BF is sleeping. I’m going to read a bit and go to bed. In less than 24 hours, we should be back in NY! And I will have more to reflect upon.
Sometime later, Brooklyn, NY
Addendum: The ride home was arduous, but not because anyone was behaving badly. It was simply a result of being on a packed train in coach after having been in a sleeper for two legs! We couldn’t deal with all the chatting. People were striking up friendships, building religious community, and sharing snack recipes. All we wanted was peace and quiet. But we did arrive back in NYC safely and no more than 40 minutes late. All in all, this was a trip I will never forget. I loved every minute of it, and am SO glad we did it. We will probably do all of our travel by plane next year, but I find that now I’m always checking to see the time/cost on AMTRAK service as well. Thanks to all of those on this forum who gave invaluable advice for the trip. The number one piece of advice I received was to RELAX.
P.S. A word to the wise: if you are perpetually dieting (like myself), and have little willpower (like myself), 3 square meals a day plus dessert will wreak havoc on your regimen. This may seem obvious, but it bears re-iterating!
