30th Wedding Anniversary Trip

Continuing on our quest to see more of America. San Francisco, California Zephyr, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Lancaster & Bird in Hand, Niskayuna, Seattle back to San Francisco Meer informatie

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Het begin van de reis
6 februari 2025
30th Wedding Anniversary Trip Reiziger
Our itinerary
19 januari 2025, Australië ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
Our next amazing adventure’s itinerary
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To Auckland we go
6 februari 2025, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After packing the last minute items into our bag yesterday afternoon, we went out for dinner to the Highfields Tavern with Kenzie and Dennielle, Tommy was still sick so he and Brydie stayed home.

We settled in for a great night’s sleep before getting up at 3.45am to get ready and leave by 5.00am. Kenzie drove us down to the airport and except for lots of traffic on the Ipswich Motorway and then a little on the Centenary Highway it was pretty smooth sailing arriving at 7.00am. When we checked in online the night before it said we needed to be there 4 hours before departure which we were however baggage drop didn’t open until 8.10am so we had an hour to wait.

We had something to eat as we didn’t have breakfast before we left. Can’t believe how much airports charge for food. I got a small apple juice, small fruit salad, an apple and cinnamon muffin and a bottle of water for Dave and it cost $33.00.

Once baggage opened, we dropped our bags off, got the obligatory departure photo before moving through security to our gate. My goodness, Brisbane airport needs a major overhaul especially security as it just can’t handle the amount of travellers it has going through.

Once through, we had about an hour and half wait and it was boarding time, destination Auckland.Meer informatie
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Auckland, New Zealand
6 februari 2025, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Once boarded, it wasn’t long before we were taking off destination Auckland.

What only seemed like about half an hour we were landing in Auckland, such a quick trip to what we are used to. We were a little squished in our seats as this was the only flight I missed out booking exit row but it really didn’t matter as it was such a short flight.

Meals were pretty good, Dave had a chicken dish and I had fish and potatoes which was delish.

Both Dave and I watched the movie Twisters on the way to Auckland which we both enjoyed and an international flight isn’t complete without watching a few episodes of Friends. I watched ‘The One Where Ross Gets a Tan’ and to Dave’s delight I didn’t embarrass him with laughing too loud.

Touch down was a rough one, we slide from side to side as soon as the tyres hit the tarmac but it didn’t last long.

Auckland airport was very small, a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Dave was still hungry so he got some McDonald’s ($20.00 for 1 meal) and we sat and looked out over the bay, people, plane and landscape watching. Then we bought some water for the long flight and again ridiculous price of $14.00 for 2 bottles!

We made our way to our gate, changed into some warmer clothes for me and comfy clothes for Dave and before we knew it, it was time to board again this time destination San Francisco.Meer informatie
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🥰 [Sue Plant]
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Onwards to San Francisco
6 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
Not long after boarding we were taxiing out for takeoff, this time destination San Francisco.

This flight we had exit row seats which was heaven for Dave. We were in a row of 3, and next to us in the middle row, there were 4 spare seats in the exit row so the lady sitting next to Dave, he was in the middle, I had the window seat, went to sit in one of those. Dave then moved into her seat which allow a spare seat between us which was great for our stuff and gave us both a bit more room.

Not long into the flight it was dinner time and this time I had roast chicken and rice and Dave had roast chicken and potatoes. Both really delicious.

Not long after dinner Dave was asleep and I watched about three quarters of the movie ‘2nd Juror’ which was brilliant. I couldn’t keep my eyes open so paused it and had a good couple of hours sleep and woke up and watched the rest. Back to sleep for a few more solid hours of sleep to be woken for breakfast - eggs ….. yuck so I didn’t have breakfast but Dave enjoyed his. I fell asleep again, we were about 2.5 hours from landing and again was awoken to an announcement that we needed to prepare for landing.

There was such a good tail wind that we landed 1.5 hours before our scheduled landing time. We disembarked quickly and made our way through immigration where we were interrogated about our trip. We must have looked very suspicious as I had to show our itinerary, all our paperwork for our accommodation bookings, our airfare ticket to America and our return airfare ticket to Australia, all our tickets for trains and how much money we had! Have never had that done the 4 times before we have visited America. And every other time we come to the States we have had to be finger printed, not this time. After being interrogated, the immigration officer said we could go to which I asked don’t we have to be finger printed and she said no. Both Dave and I were very confused.

Quick trip to the amenities and while I loaded our US sims into our phones, Dave grabbed our bags and then we headed to grab an Uber to our accommodation. Before too long we were on our way to Fisherman’s Wharf. We got to our hotel and booked in before we were even supposed to have landed (and it takes half an hour from the airport to Fisherman’s Wharf).

As we were early, our room wasn’t ready so we checked our luggage into storage and went for a walk to grab some food. And what better place to buy food than Trader Joe’s and what better stuff to buy than my Gluten Free Cinnamon Coffee Muffins.

Not long into our walk around San Francisco, we got a call to say our room was ready, so headed back and unpacked, had a shower, video chatted with Tommy (well Dave did as Nanny answered and I wasn’t the one he wanted to speak to) and while Dave was chatting to Tommy, Cathy video chatted with me.

To warn off the jet lag, we headed out for another walk around the piers.Meer informatie
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Our room
6 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Our room at Marriott Vacation Club
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Our first taste of the City by the Bay
6 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Our afternoon stroll around rainy Fisherman’s Wharf
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Sunny San Francisco
7 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
For dinner last night we each had a salad from Trader Joe’s and they hit the spot perfectly.

We pushed through our tiredness until 9.30pm hoping for an amazing night sleep. Well it was the best night sleep we have ever had travelling overseas - not sure if it was travelling and arriving during the day instead of night, the melatonin we both now take or the night time cold and flu I took to try and stop the cold that is coming on. We both fell asleep at 10.00pm and except for shaking Dave twice to stop him from snoring I woke up to what I thought was half hour sleep and it was 4.30am. I went back to sleep until 8.30am and slept on and off until 9.00am.

We both got up and ready for a day exploring. We set off on a walk this morning at 10.00am and got back to our room about 3.30pm. We walked the waterfront from Pier 45 up to the South Beach Harbor near Oracle Park home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. We stopped and had the most amazing pizza for lunch, I actually got deep pan gluten free base!! We walked nearly 14kms taking in all the amazing views!

We stopped off at Trader Joe’s and Walgreens to get some food for dinner and breakfast tomorrow before heading back to our room. We had a quick drink and afternoon tea before heading out again walking the hills around our hotel ending up at Fort Mason which took in some amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and the San Francisco Bay. We walked back along the waterfront, along the beach, through Fisherman’s Wharf back to our hotel.

God we love San Fran ❤️

Tomorrow we are walking along the waterfront all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge to walk the Golden Gate Bridge to the other side.Meer informatie
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Walking the waterfront
7 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Photos from walking the waterfront from Pier 45 to South Beach Harbor
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Bay Bridge
7 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Photos of Bay Bridge
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Walking the hills of San Francisco
7 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
Photos from our afternoon walk taking in sights of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay
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Golden Gate Bridge
8 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
After another pretty good night’s sleep and a bit of a sleep in, we got up and had breakfast before heading out the door Golden Gate Bridge bound.

The plan was to walk to and over the bridge and head down to a town called Sausalito for lunch and get the ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf. When we planned out our trip last night we realised that to get to Sausalito it was another over an hours walk up and down hills so we decided not to do that.

Lucky we decided not to do that bit of extra walk because with walking to and from the Golden Gate and out again to get dinner, we walked over 22 kms today. So needless to say our legs and feet are hurting!

It is so beautiful walking everywhere, as you get to take in some much beautiful scenery which you would miss if you were driving everywhere.

As we arrived at the bridge, we had lunch at the Roundhouse Cafe. Dave had a chicken and salad sandwich with a cappuccino and I had Greek yoghurt, fruit salad and gluten free muesli (wasn’t many gf options).

Then it was time to tackle the bridge. It was quite a busy day at the bridge, people and bikes everywhere. The beach was also full of people.

We set off at 9.30am and got back to our room at 4.30pm.

Another fantastic day all round.Meer informatie
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More photos from Golden Gate
8 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
More photos from our trip back from Golden Gate
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2
Sunday wanderings
9 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
What a perfect way to start our trip, 4 amazing days exploring San Francisco. Today is our last full day in San Fran, we head off early in the morning getting a bus to Emeryville to catch the California Zephyr train heading to Chicago over 3 days. We will head back to San Fran for 4 days before we fly home.

Today was always going to be a relaxing day, getting things organised to go on the train. We had a sleep in, had some breakfast before heading out the door to search the souvenir shops for a request from Tommy.

On Friday, Nanny video chatted Tommy when we saw a San Francisco Fire Boat and ever since then he has been asking me to buy him one. Well we have searched every store and we have not been successful in finding one.

We then headed to Boudin Bakery for lunch. Dave had a sourdough pizza and a bakery isn’t the best for a gluten intolerant person to eat so I had a salad.

From here we headed over to the sea lions and enjoyed a delicious gelato. Before we knew it, it was 1.30pm and we still needed to do some washing and go to the supermarket to buy snacks for the train trip. We headed back to our room, got some shopping bags and headed off to the supermarket. When we stayed near here in 2023, the supermarket was just down the street. That one has now closed and a big new one opened about half an hour walk away. Always a good excuse to take in the amazing sights of San Francisco.

Back from shopping, we did our washing. Where we are staying they have complimentary laundry complete with laundry powder and dryer sheets which is very uncommon when you travel. While the washing was on, we came and pack our bags. We can only take a small bag each into our bedroom on the train and our big bags are checked in and we can’t access them for 3 days so we had to make sure we had everything we needed especially medication.

With the washing and packing done, it was time to head out for dinner. We headed towards the wharf and decided on Applebees. Dave had pasta and I steak and it was amazing. And even better, it had an awesome view.

For a relaxing day, we still walked 13.2kms!

Early start in the morning for an amazing train trip.Meer informatie
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Did you leave one? [Jo]
10-02-2025ReagerenVertalen
ReizigerNot yet, we visited San Fran again on our way home so will hopefully put one on there then.
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From San Francisco, CA to Elko, NV
10 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ⛅ -5 °C
We started our morning with an early rise at 4.45am to have breakfast, shower, get ready and pack the last few things before heading out the door to meet our Uber at 6.10am.

We were out the front at 6.00am and our driver was there right on 6.10am. We had to meet our connecting bus at 401 Mission Street which is in downtown San Francisco for a 7.00am departure to Emeryville.

We were on the bus at 6.30am and right on 7.00am we pulled out Emeryville bound along the Bay Bridge. Dave was super happy as he always wanted to drive over the Bay Bridge. It was such an easy commute and we were at the Emeryville Amtrak station at 7.20am. We checked our bags and took a seat waiting for our boarding call at 8.10 for a departure at 8.25am.

Once on board, the train pulled out even before we got to sit down, it’s amazing how quick they load passengers and luggage.

Today has been absolutely AMAZING. Perfect gift to each for our 30th wedding anniversary. It has definitely surpassed our expectations. We have seen so much beautiful scenery and so much more to come tomorrow and Wednesday. We have gone through coastal, snow and desert.

As I sit here typing this entry, it is 8.30pm, 12 hours since we left Emeryville and we have just stopped in Elko, Nevada. We will reach Salt Lake City at 3.00am tomorrow. Dave said he was going to get off the train at every major stop but when he heard it would be 3.00am and -7 degrees he thinks he might change his mind.Meer informatie
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More photos from today
10 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
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More photos
10 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ -5 °C
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Elko, NV to Denver, CO
11 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ -9 °C
As I finished our post last night we had just stopped in Elko, NV. We sat up for another hour before deciding to go to bed.

I conquered showering on a moving train last night and Dave today. The toilet and shower in our room is all in one and not really built for a 6ft7 guy and a 5ft10 girl, but we have made it work. The whole room including bathroom is 6ft8 square and 6ft7 high. There is no way Dave would be able to sleep on the top bunk. I got up this morning as we got into Salt Lake City at 3am and when I went to get back into the top bunk I got myself stuck. Didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to get myself out of it and Dave was sound asleep but I eventually did 😂

Dave slept solidly all night and I know this as he didn’t make a sound moving around all night and he was snoring. I slept on and off but had the best sleep from 3.30am to 7.00am.

Today we had breakfast in the dining car but ordered room service for lunch and dinner. Being both introverts we didn’t want to expel too much of our inner energy making small talk today 😂

Today has been another amazing day filled with such beautiful scenery, sitting back and taking it all in from the comfort of our room and the observation car.

We are running about 1.5 to 2 hours over time but that doesn’t worry us at all as we don’t want it to end.

Another amazing day! Tomorrow is our last day arriving into Chicago in the late afternoon. Chicago is predicted to have a 2 to 3 day snow storm the day after we get there. May not be much sight seeing going on but will be an amazing sight to see.Meer informatie
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More photos from today
11 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ -10 °C
Photos are from just outside Glenwood Springs and coming into Winter Park where we were served dinner after coming back onto the train from seeing amazing snow.
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And even more photos
11 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ -10 °C
Snow ladened pine trees - nothing more beautiful

Denver -10 with a feels like of -13, quite chilly indeed especially being at night and no sunshine
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Onwards to Chicago
12 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ❄️ -3 °C
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.Meer informatie
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River Hotel, Chicago
12 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ❄️ -3 °C
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Another amazing day …..
13 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ -7 °C
We, well Dave, had an early night last night, being sound asleep at 9.00pm. I, on the other hand, was too wired to sleep so watched a bit of tv before finally turning the light off at around 11.

The first time I looked at the clock it was 5.30am and thought way too early to get up so shut my eyes again and before we knew it was 8.00am. As we are in downtown Chicago we are surrounded by skyscrapers and our unit only has one window which isn’t in our bedroom so the room is very dark.

We eventually got up, had a quick bite to eat before rugging up warm as the temps were showing -7 with a feels like of -13.

As today, by the weather forecast, is the only day we get where the sun will be shining (they are predicting snow the next few days) we knew we wanted to get in quite a bit of sightseeing today.

But first we had to do some grocery shopping. As we have a kitchenette in our room, we wanted to get some food to cook for dinners and some breakfast food. When you are travelling for 6 weeks you do crave just to sit and eat in instead of eating out all the time (well we do).

So off we headed towards Jewel-Osco grocery store to get some food. After getting the food we needed, we still needed to get a toaster (we thought our kitchenette would have a toaster but it didn’t). We looked at Walgreens but they had sold out and as we were walking back to our unit we found a Target and got a toaster. THE best purchase on any long trip.

With everything we needed, we got back to our unit to make lunch before rugging up again, this time sightseeing. We walked all of Navy Pier, sat along the shores of Lake Michigan (frozen in parts), survived the wind chill coming off the water though I think my lips froze a few times. After exploring Navy Pier, we headed to Millennium Park before making our way back to our room stopping at a few shops along the way.

Today in Highfields it reached 29 degrees - it is surreal that we were experiencing 36 degrees difference in temps with a 42 degree difference in the feels like! I know which temps Dave and I prefer ❄️

We walked 15.8kms today!Meer informatie
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Navy Pier
13 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌬 -7 °C
Photos from our wandering around Navy Pier
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Millennium Park
13 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☀️ -7 °C
Photos from Navy Pier, Millennium Park and our walk back to our room
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Valentine’s Day 2025
14 februari 2025, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ☁️ -8 °C
As it was Valentine’s Day we decided we would have a slower day. First we both loved the sleep in, this room is so easy to have a sleep in as it’s so dark.

We lazed around until about 9.30 before getting ready and we were out the door around 10.00am.

We really didn’t have a plan, we wanted to check out some souvenir shops for some gifts for Tommy. We found a couple and thought we would come back to them after we had some lunch for Valentine’s Day.

Well we just kept walking The Loop and before we knew it we were near Lake Michigan in the Chicago Harbour section. As we were so close, we thought we would keep walking and go to The Shedd Aquarium.

As it was a work day we thought it would be quiet at the aquarium, how wrong we were, it was super busy with line ups everywhere.

We first had lunch and then went to learn about and watch the Beluga Whale show. So glad we did, they are amazing mammals. So cheeky and vocal hence why they are known as Sea Canaries.

After watching the Belugas, we tried to get in to see other exhibits but there were so many people it was too hard to see anything and both of us don’t do crowds very well. A funny thing I did notice today was when Australians look at exhibits we go left to right. Everyone today was going right to left which I found very hard to get used to. It goes against how you read.

We went down and watched the belugas underwater and they were being so cheeky playing peekaboo with the crowds.

It was time to leave and take in the beautiful crisp weather outside which was a welcome change to the heat in the aquarium.

It was good to see we weren’t the only crazy ones walking in -14 feels like temps along the shoreline taking in the beauty of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago.

We walked the shoreline until just before Navy Pier where we took the Riverwalk to near our hotel. Before getting back to our room we stopped off at the souvenir shop and bought some little things for Tommy. Yes I’m a sucker for anything that says Tommy.

We walked 11kms today.Meer informatie
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