Month: January 2005

We have arrived at Fort Morgan, Colorado. We should’ve been here at 5:40 am, so we’re 4 hours 20 minutes late, just so you know. Doesn’t really affect us, though it may have knocked us out of our window through the freight traffic, perhaps slowing us down more in the future. Now we’ve come 960…

One scrumptious breakfast later… Perfect pancakes with maple syrup, crisp bacon, orange juice. My seatmates were an older couple from Buffalo, traveling to visit their daughter in Berkeley, and an older man from Chicago. Nice talking with them; they’ve taken this train 4-5 times (she suffers from an inner ear problem that prevents flying —…

we just stopped at McCook. It was bright enough to read the station sign. So that means we’re four hours behind schedule at this point, unless I’m misunderstanding the printed schedule. McCook is 783 miles from Chicago. Denver is now 4.5 hours away. Wow. Well, I’m in no hurry. 🙂 Oh, and my posting times…

I think I’ll go for a shower after breakfast — probably less of a hassle. It will be interesting to see how feasible it is to stand in a slippery shower stall amidst the rocking and rolling of the train — I did notice there are handrails inside the shower; I expect I’ll be clinging…

Ok, we’ve just stopped at a small station. I wager that this is, in fact, Fort Morgan Colorado, since the printed timeline for this place is 5:40 am, and that’d mean we’re only 35 minutes behind. The station house was too dark to make out a name, and the citizens seem too shy to promote…

I’m mostly awake. I suspect we’re in Mountain Time now, depending on where we are (and where we are depends on what time it is, of course). Dark outside my window, save for the occasional light in the distance or streetlight or even perhaps a house. When I got up about an hour ago to…

Ah ha… our first real slow-down. The Conductor just informed us that a freight train just ahead of us is “having trouble with a switch” and therefore we’re going maybe 20-30 MPH (it’s hard to estimate, but at these low speeds it’s like we’re gliding… really cool) as we’re stuck behind the freight train. We’re…

We just stopped in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Actually we’ve been very close to the printed timetable so far (other than starting about 15 minutes late). Some stops are just for 2-3 minutes. Mt Pleasant was a little longer, and now I know why. The station was on my side of the train, and I was…

I took a nice little nap and did some exploring on the train. I found how to get from car to car (the sleeper cars connect upstairs only), passed through the Dining Car (being set up for dinner), looked at the Lounge Car, and peeked into a Coach car. Also found the shower in my…

I’m officially riding the rails. I’m settled in my own private roomette, which turns out to be a good size for one tall person. Two people would be very cozy. We’ve left the Chicago station and are currently speeding our way through the neighborhoods of Chi-town. I’m in Car #532, Room #12, on the lower…

Makin’ progress! The flight from Nashville to Chicago was uneventful, other than the piercing pain I experienced when the plane started to descend. Must be some air pressure problem with my head. Oh well. More notes later on the Confusing Array of Signs within O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Still, I managed to find my way…

I rode the Express Shuttle van from Chattanooga to Nashville, and now I’m sitting at Gate C-12, hoping my 9:05 am CST flight isn’t delayed by too much (it’s evidently snowing in Chicago, and half the Chicago flights are delayed, but not mine [yet]). You can watch the realtime progress of American flight 4360 (BNA…

Leaving my house in Chattanooga in a few minutes… here’s my projected train route (map courtesy of Amtrak):

Haaappy New Year! I’m about to embark on my annual pilgrimmage to San Francisco — traveling on Amtrak’s California Zephyr train from Chicago to SanFran. Check back for incremental updates… perhaps even From The Train!