Thu Oct 20, 7:00 am: Delta sunrise

The night went pretty well. We didn't fall behind the schedule at all overnight, which may have been a first for me on a train.

I don't know if the cupholders in this old style room are slightly different, or if the tracks were bumpier or what, but I did manage to spill my drink both right before I went to bed and again in the morning. The night drink was whisky and water, all over the width of the bed, but I managed to sop it up and use towels to make a dry spot to sleep in. The coffee in the morning was a smaller spill and happened right before I was going to have the bed put up, so that was no big deal since nobody will sleep in those sheets again.

When I woke up, it was dark and we were in Sacramento. I was on the west side of the train, so I didn't see the sunrise, but I did get to watch the light gradually change as we rolled through the Sacramento River delta.Read more