North America Circle

March 2024

Sunnyvale -> Seattle -> Vancouver, BC -> Toronto -> Chicago -> Sunnyvale Read more

76footprints
2countries
18days
344photos
0videos
6.5kmiles
5.9kmiles
454miles
133miles

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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 3, 2024, 7:30pm
- ☁️ 50 °F
- Altitude: 85 ft
- United States California Santa Clara County Sunol-Midtown San Jose Diridon station 37.329975, -121.90249437°19’48” N 121°54’9” W
Day 1
Starting Out
March 3 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
I arrived at the San Jose train station a little early and the train is a little late. So I have a little bit of a wait.

I know that I'll get dinner as soon as I board, so I am really looking forward to that.Read more
And.... are you traveling a little light? It'll be freezing over the Rockies!! [VQ]
3/4/24Reply
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 3, 2024, 8:30pm
- ☁️ 50 °F
- Altitude: 33 ft
- United States California Alameda County Albrae 37.501056, -121.99502537°30’4” N 121°59’42” W
Day 1
First meal on board
March 3 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Before the train had even left the station, I was in the dining car ordering dinner. Of course I got the steak. It was delicious

Then it was back to my room to settle in for the evening.
Traveler Thanks, have fun.
3/4/24Reply
Oh My!! Plus the salad/brie and dessert!! This meal simply looks delicious! I'm enjoying your blog. Thanks [VQ]
3/4/24Reply
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 7:00am
- ☁️ 21 °F
- Altitude: 4,239 ft
- United States California Siskiyou County Dorris Otey Ridge 42.002238, -121.90374242°0’8” N 121°54’13” W
Day 2
Morning on the train
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 21 °F
I had an OK night. I am not yet acclimated to the motion, so I woke up many times, but I always got back to sleep quickly. Our sleeper car was pretty cold, compared to the other sleeper car, but it wasn’t terrible.

I woke up to snow covered fields with scrub pine trees as we approached Klamath Falls. Evidently this was their first snow of the season so we had fortuitous scenery. It was only a couple inches, but that’s enough to make everything pretty!Read more
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 7:40am
- ☁️ 23 °F
- Altitude: 4,101 ft
- United States Oregon Klamath County Klamath Falls 42.225136, -121.77156442°13’30” N 121°46’18” W
Day 2
Klamath Falls
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 23 °F
I quickly got dressed (kind of a contortionist exercise in the tiny room) so that I could head out and enjoy the fresh air stop. It was bracing
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 8:00am
- ☁️ 23 °F
- Altitude: 4,062 ft
- United States Oregon Klamath County Shady Pine Hanks Marsh 42.315486, -121.81839742°18’56” N 121°49’6” W
Day 2
Rear view
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 23 °F
Our car is the last one on the train so it is convenient to go look out the back window. It is all covered with snow and ice, which makes for artsy photos.

After that I headed to the dining car for breakfast.

I was seated with a young man from Oakland who is even more of a train fan than I am. I got lots more info about “rolling stock” (that’s “train cars” for the uninitiated) and details of routes current and past than I was ever expecting.

Breakfast was yummy (but I forgot the photo!) and soon it was time to head back to my room. I did some online stuff before we lost internet connectivity on the climb through the mountains up to Eugene. Read more
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 10:30am
- ☁️ 32 °F
- Altitude: 3,648 ft
- United States Oregon Lane County Coyote Mountain 43.659194, -122.24973343°39’33” N 122°14’59” W
Day 2
Oregon snow scenery
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F
Once we lost connectivity I headed into the lounge car to enjoy some spectacular scenery. There was only one vacant seat on the good side, but it was occupied by this guy’s backpack. So just sort of stood by a window to take pictures. The guy was eating his lunch (out of the backpack) so I got to see him open a Tupperware container with sticks of butter in it and saw him gnaw off a huge bite of butter. Then he pulled out a dry bread roll and gnawed on that for a while. I guess that’s just as efficient as buttering the roll, but boy did it look odd!

Before too long, we passed through a series of tunnels and voila! We are now on the other side of the mountain and my side of the train has the good scenery.Read more
Very funny..good story for an early start. [v]
3/4/24Reply
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 11:00am
- ☁️ 32 °F
- Altitude: 2,566 ft
- United States Oregon Lane County Doe Creek 43.662128, -122.22888943°39’44” N 122°13’44” W
Day 2
Tall trees
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F
These trees art soooo talll!

I can’t get a good photo since they are tall and we are close, but trust me. TALLL!!!!
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 11:15am
- ☁️ 37 °F
- Altitude: 1,184 ft
- United States Oregon Lane County Oakridge 43.746833, -122.47036743°44’49” N 122°28’13” W
Day 2
Misty Mountains
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 37 °F
The mist rising off the mountains reminds me of Guilin, in China. Except there was no snow on those mountains when we visited them.
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 12:00pm
- 🌧 41 °F
- Altitude: 404 ft
- United States Oregon Lane County Eugene Alton Bakers 44.048867, -123.06615644°2’56” N 123°3’58” W
Day 2
Eugene
March 4 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 41 °F
Before you know it we were in Eugene. We arrived early so we had about a 20 minute stop. Plenty of time to mail my ballot so it will be postmarked by tomorrow. Lucky that the post office was just a block from the train station Nothing like waiting till the last minute!

The water bottle that I opened and resealed in the morning is quite collapsed. I guess we have lost a lot of elevation since this morning.Read more
Every vote counts!! [v]
3/4/24Reply
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Sarah McCabe North America Circle
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- Mar 4, 2024, 3:15pm
- ☁️ 43 °F
- Altitude: 46 ft
- United States Oregon Multnomah County Old Town Chinatown Union Station 45.528943, -122.67592145°31’44” N 122°40’33” W
Day 2
Portland
March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F
We arrived quite early at the Portland station so we had about 45 minutes here. And while the Portland station is picturesque and has lots of amenities (compared to most Amtrak stations) there is not a lot to do around the station so I did not do much besides check out the station.

The first class lounge was cool and even had nice snack boxes for the passengers to take, but I am already full from so much food in the dining car I decided to pass.

The station even has a payphone! Just one, when there were booths for many, but still, it was amazing to see. The newsstand had a total of two books for sale, but really didn't want anyone just standing around readingRead more
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