California, here we blog

As mentioned in my last post, we had planned, and now have taken a cross country trip by rail (mostly) to California.  It ended up being a great trip, and for the next few posts, come along for the ride.  All Aboard!!!!

Day One - The Odyssey Begins

Memo to Amtrak: Five O'clock in the morning is way too early to board a train.    This will get us into Chicago having a 4 hour layover before boarding the Southwest Chief. Supposedly because we have a bedroom, we are considered "Premier" passengers meaning we get use of the “Metropolitan Lounge.” Nice room with comfortable seating, but for the love of God, can someone provide a remote control to get rid of Fox daytime talk shows??

When booking a trip such as this, there is no way that one should try and do the booking themselves.  Since bedrooms fill up first, and there are multiple changes along the route, it's better to go through the friendly people at Amtrak.

To try to compare the first day travel on the Southwest Chief to that of the Empire Builder is not a fair comparison.  The Builder went north through the Chicago suburbs, then through Milwaukee and on to Minneapolis.  The Chief, within an hour of departure out of Chicago is traveling through farms and small towns with a much different landscape.

Once out of the Racetrack and on to the double track, it seems like a rougher ride than what we had before.  Or, maybe since it’s been 6 years we might have forgotten what the first ride was like.

Corn, beans, graineries, silos and farms as far as the eye can see, of course with a cell tower thrown in here and there. The route followed US-34 for a while, but that is far gone now. Darkness seemed to come earlier than usual and once the room was turned down sleep came quickly – most likely because we were exhausted after the eventful day (ear plugs helped.)