Onwards to Chicago

We had breakfast with an amazing snowy view just outside of Afton, Iowa. It had snowed all night from when we left Denver. The temperature we woke up to was -11 with a feels like of -20. We hadn’t been outside since last night in Denver so it was really warm on the train.

We had a fantastic night sleep last night with a sleep in this morning, so much so we nearly missed breakfast. We are 2 hours ahead of what we got used to in San Francisco.

First fresh air break was from Ottumwa, Iowa. It was so good to get out and breathe that amazing cold air. It was 12.30pm Chicago time with a temp of -5 with a feels like of -13. Even with these temps I still only had my Rockwear 3/4 tights on with snow boots as you don’t have much time to dress warm to head off the train. I survived quite comfortably for our 10min break.

Due to the snow storm that went through Iowa last night all the way to Chicago, there has been major delays due to the tracks freezing over and the train unable to change tracks. We were now running 3 hours behind, we were to arrive in Chicago at 2.30pm but estimate now is 5.30pm. As it was still snowing and has been since Denver last night, there could still be more delays. We are in Chicago until next Tuesday (it is Wednesday) so the delay doesn’t really bother us, but I do feel for all the people who have missed their connections. Though if they did their research they would have seen that the California Zephyr, due to the vast distance it travels, is prone to many delays, some major.

We had a very quiet last day on the train, just soaking up all the views and relaxing. For someone like me, I have a very hard time relaxing until it’s forced on me so this was the best 3 days, for both of us really, to recharge our very low batteries.

We arrived into Chicago at around 5.45pm and by the time we got our bags and ordered an uber it was 6.15pm. We were at the River Hotel at 6.30pm.

We did a quick drop off of our luggage and headed out to find something for dinner - Five Guys won. As it was snowing and very slushy out, we didn’t do much walking around, instead headed back to our room unpacked, showered and had an early night.

Adventure awaits tomorrow.Les mer