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American Circle Train Trip
  • Sarah McCabe
  • Sarah McCabe

American Circle Train Trip

San Jose -> Milwaukee (via Portland) -> San Jose (via Denver) Baca lagi
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    26 Mac 2022
    Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    7:45 pm Saturday: San Jose

    26 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    I got to the station early, but the train is late. San Jose station is very quaint, considering this is the third biggest city in California.

    As you can see, I have not mastered the skill of packing light.

    The delay wasn't all bad, because I had time to walk over to the nearby Whole Foods and get a hot dinner.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    10:00 pm Saturday: I have a bed

    26 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    The new Amtrak blankets are very nice but I think I am going to be glad I brought my down throw.

    I had a bit of a packing issue when I realized that my suitcase wouldn't really fit in the room so I had to reshuffle and pull out only what I need for tonight. Tomorrow I will do a full repack before I get on The Empire Builder.

    Going to have a nightcap now. Good thing I pulled out the whiskey as essential for tonight.

    We are running about an hour late. Hope we make up time overnight    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    6:40 am Sunday: Sunrise and Moonset

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Didn't have that great a night. Sleeping on a train is a skill I hope to improve on this week. I woke up just after dawn to an amazing view of a crescent moon setting next to Mt. Shasta. Truly spectacular.

    I couldn't get a good photo, so I just gave up and tried looking harder to remember.

    It looks like we made up a little time in the night and we are maybe only 30 minutes late.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8:00 am Sunday: Breakfast in the dining

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    Got a table to myself again. French toast is a great way to start the day. We crossed into Oregon while I was eating.

    If you are wondering why it took me so long to get to breakfast after waking up, it's because I discovered that the essential stuff that I kept in my room last night did not include clothes for today. So I had to go down to the luggage rack and do some rummaging around. I really really really need to do a full repack today

    Unfortunately, while that was going on, we had to pull over and wait for a freight train so we are back to running an hour late.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    9:40 am Sunday: Exploring the train

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    I walked the train from one end to the other. Two engines (not that I could get inside them, but I counted when I boarded). Following them are two sleeper cars (mine is second). Then the dining car. Next is a coach car (with business seating on the lower level), then the observation car (with a cafe downstairs), two more coach cars (one with business seating downstairs) and finally the private car (which I can only see through the window on the door of the last car. Fun fact: in online forums for train enthusiasts, they call that window the "railfans window.". Normally you can see the tracks behind the train from it.

    I'm hanging out in the observation car for a bit. Crater lLake is coming up soon on the west. My room is on the east. All the seats on the west side in here were taken but a guy got up and I snagged his seat before the cushion had recovered from his butt print.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    11 am Sunday: Traversing the Cascades

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    I see how this mountain range got its name.

    The deepest snowpack I spotted was about 4 ft, going off the markers.

    This scenery is breathtaking. Some might even say "gorge-ous."

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    1 pm Sunday: Lunch in my Roomette

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    This meal I opted for dining alone in my room. I feel like I have enough close interactions with strangers for a while.

    We are cruising along the bank of the mighty Willamette River.

    I took the opportunity to repack my suitcase. I'm sure I will only have to do that once or twice more today.Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    1:30 pm Sunday: Eugene, OR

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    I took the opportunity when we stopped at Eugene to get out and go look at the private car. It turns out it is three private cars. Two with domed observation lounges and the third looks like a sleeper or a dining car.

    The Eugene station isn't much smaller than San Jose's. Fun fact: Eugene is the westernmost station on Amtrak lines

    We are almost back on our way, but I think we are still running about an hour behind.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    4:45 pm Sunday: All aboard!

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    We had about 5 minutes to change trains, so they didn't let us dawdle or diverge. As a result, I couldn't get into the station to take pictures. Kind of a pity because as I recall it's a very nice looking station. So here's a picture of crossing a bridge going into Portland and crossing a different bridge going out.

    We did leave on time, so that's good.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    6 pm Sunday: Roll on Columbia

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    I'm on the right side of the train for the scenery this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I will have to find a seat on the other side to check out Glacier Park.

    Good thing I brought the window cleaning wipes. The windows in my room were pretty cruddy. The outside's not too bad though, which is really good.

    I'm experimenting with using my camera instead of my phone.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    6:30 pm Sunday: Dinner in my Room

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    The Empire Builder is a weird train in that half of it starts in Seattle, and half of it starts in Portland. The two halves meet up in Spokane, Washington in the middle of the night and are then joined together. The train needs two engines to get over the mountains but it doesn't need twp engines to get to Spokane. This way they can have two different starting points. Anyway, our half of the train, has the lounge/observation car, while the other half has the dining car. So for our first dinner they just give us a boxed cold meal in our rooms.

    This train is quite a bit warmer than the last train. That may be nicer when we get into the colder parts of the country, but right now I'm kind of overheating.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8 pm Sunday: 24 Hour Report

    27 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    I've been on the train for a full day now and I think I am settling in. I have discovered things, like a boot makes a really good bottle holder to keep that whiskey bottle from tumbling over as the train wobbles and rolls. I've discovered you can't have too many chapsticks or tubes of hand lotion because it does get very dry in here. I discovered you should really not have more than a large backpack in these roomettes. I honestly can't imagine how two people and their stuff could be in one of these. I guess I'm just really spoiled now. I'm still in the process of discovering what I want to load into my train bag which is the bag I carry with me when I go into the dining car or the observation car. See photo.

    The sleeping car attendant on the first train was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately this one suffers in comparison. He's not terrible, he's just not amazing.. Oh well we have to get along for 2 days so I'm just riding the bumps. I'm just glad I didn't forget to tip her in the hustle and bustle of changing trains.

    All in all I'd have to say there have been no big surprises on this trip. It's pretty much what I expected and wanted.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    8 am Monday: Breakfast in WY

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 34 °F

    I had a much better night's sleep. I guess train sleeping IS a learned skill. I was so zonked out I didn't even get up in the night to watch them join our train to the Seattle train at 1 am. I heard it and felt it but I just couldn't get up.

    I even slept in till 7:30. I kind of wanted to get up and watch the sunrise but that sound good better in theory than it did in practice. Fortunately the train is running a little late and we have not hit the really good scenery yet.

    The lateness it turns out was caused by a combination of freight traffic and a boulder on the rails. I guess boulders are a common problem in this area because it didn't take them long tonight remove it.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    9 am Monday: Freight Traffic Jam

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 37 °F

    There is a confluence of freight trains here. We are parked on a siding behind an east bound freight train waiting for a westbound train to pass us both.

    Then we will back up and go around the train in front of us because we can go faster than they can. All this means we are running about 2 hours late and it will probably only get worse.

    The scenery here is not picturesque, so here's a picture of the Columbia River around sunset yesterday.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    11:30 am Monday: Crossing the Rockies

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    This is the stretch of the Empire Builder with the most spectacular scenery. I spent most of this part in the observation car, because the best scenery is to the north. Once we started getting impressive sights on the south, I retreated to my room.Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    1 pm Monday: Lunch on the Plains

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    No rain or stain on the train mainly on the plain as we gain time. No pain! I'm not vain but I'm kind of proud of my rhymes.

    We have left the Rockies behind and are into the brown flat part of the trip. I was hoping we would have a white flat part, but I doubt that will happen.

    On the up side, cell connectivity went from zeo in the mountains (except near some stations) to excellent on the plains. I could probably stream video the signal is so good.

    My burger took over half an hour to show up because my lunch order literally slipped through the cracks. The waiters on the top level of the dining car take the orders and send them down to the kitchen through a chute. Then the kitchen sends the food up by dumbwaiter. Except my order got stuck in a crack and the kitchen never saw it. Finally the waiters realized I had been sitting there at an empty table for too long. No harm. It was hot and yummy when it showed up.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    4 pm Monday: Afternoon Tea

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    I have been reading all these cozy British mysteries and it has made me realize that adding a fourth meal in between lunch and dinner made up of cakes and starches is a really good idea. So I am turning my left over breakfast croissant and left over lunch dessert into afternoon tea.

    Then I will indulge in another venerable tradition: the afternoon nap.    Baca lagi

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  • Sarah McCabeAmerican Circle Train TripSarah McCabe

    7 pm Monday: Steak dinner

    28 Mac 2022, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    All the food has been wonderful. Tonight I went for the signature combo, surf and turf: lobster cake appetizer followed by steak.

    The meals are all included in the fare but I really don't need to eat two desserts every day so I have been skipping them more often than not.

    I have NOT been skipping the complementary glass of wine, however, so no worries that I have been kidnapped and replaced by a doppleganger.

    And in answer to the question Russell is surely asking: Dark Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon.

    I was hoping for one of those "whole sky painted in color" midwest sunsets, but alas the sky went from blue to grey with just the tiniest hint of pink. Not worth even trying to photograph.    Baca lagi

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