October 2024 - Western States Train Journey

11 States in 5 Days!  In order to enjoy the beautiful Fall weather, and to get out of the house and enjoy without the pressures that driving brings, Mom and I booked a roundtrip (well, almost) on Amtrak.

For our first leg, we rented a car and on Sunday morning headed up the Highway (North on I29 for 6.5 hours) from Omaha to Fargo where we would catch our Amtrak (Empire Builder) at around 5:00 Monday Morning.

The trip (hitting our first 4 states -Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota) was uneventful and pleasant with plenty of sunshine!  It truly is a straight shot once you get on I29 – just keep going North until you hit Fargo.

We checked into the Radisson Blu Fargo (a lovely hotel, with exceptional service – we will absolutely stay there when we’re next in Fargo) and headed to a diner for dinner before going through the machinations of returning the car to the airport, then catching the shuttle back to the hotel.  We turned in for an early night, given we had a 3 AM shuttle to the train station booked.

Our journey took us across North Dakota, through Northern Montana and Idaho, then along the Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington where we made our first train transfer.  From there we caught the Coast Starlight to Sacramento.  Our last train was the California Zephyr from Sacramento to Omaha.

We were surprisingly impressed with Amtrak.  The Stations were neat and clean, and the only people in them were train travelers – no homeless turning the stations into an overnight lodging.  We felt safe and secure at each station.

After traveling on airplanes so often, it was a wonderful relieve to enjoy the anxiety-free adventure that train travel affords.  No arriving hours early, no taking off your shoes for security, and no waiting in lines.  The train pulls in, you walk up to your car and show the conductor your ticket and he welcomes you, shows you to your ‘cabin’ or seat, and within minutes you’re off!  Easy peasy!

Our ‘cabin’, labeled a “Bedroom” by Amtrak, was a small cabin with a sink and a bathroom.  During the day, it was set up with a couch and chair (a fold down table was available).  At night, the couch transforms into a bed, and there is a top bunk that folds down from the ceiling…don’t think spacious, when the beds were out, you could barely squeeze out of the door.  It was, however, very functional, and pleasant.  There was also a Lounge Car (with panoramic windows and a small café in the basement), and a Dining Car that served Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  The meals were included because we had purchased the Bedroom Accommodation.  The food was good, and, if we preferred, our steward would bring us our meals into our cabin, which we did for lunch a few times.

The other states that we traversed were, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and then back to Nebraska.  The only unfortunate part about traveling by train, is that invariably, you miss some of the scenery because of the dark!

Photography from a train is a challenge – you’re almost always moving, and the windows can’t be clean all the time, not to mention the glare and reflective nature of the glass – but I tried.

We had some lovely sunrises, and sunsets.

We especially enjoyed the views along the Columbia River.

As we travelled through Northern California, it was lovely to see forests, and evergreens - - something we don’t see much of in Nebraska.

The Red Rocks of Utah were awesome.

We followed the Colorado River from Utah, into Colorado, and it was strikingly beautiful.

We also passed through a couple of towns that seemed like places we’d like to go back to.

Truckee, California

And, Glenwood Springs, Colorado...Yes, that is a roller coaster hanging off the edge of that hill!!

We also found that the Northeastern part of California was lovely!

All in all, it was a spectacular trip, and I’m so glad we did it!  There very well may be more train trips in my future!!