So about 6 weeks ago, before we'd made travel arrangements for this long-planned trip to southern California, there was going to be a PBS special called "Trains of North America" that was to air on a Friday night. We made a 'date' to watch it and we were both looking forward to it. Okay, I'll admit it: the mystique and romance of train travel may have certain 'contagious' elements about it. I mean, how can you spend this many years with someone who loves trains and not be 'drawn in' just a bit, huh?
So on the Thursday night before our Friday night PBS train date, as we were drifting off to sleep, I said, "You know, watching that show about trains tomorrow night is gonna make us wanna take a train trip, for real." He replied with, "Well, I haven't made our flight reservations yet......" And somehow I knew that the next day would play out just as it did: researching costs, schedules, connections......and by the end of that day, we'd secured our passage on Texas Eagle Train 421 Car 2130 Roomette 008 and the connecting Surfliner from LA to San Diego that delivered us safely and happily to where we are today.
So we rented a car at the Tulsa airport last Sunday, drove to Dallas Monday and enjoyed the Hyatt Regency Reunion Center (and hiking around the West End) for a day and a half before boarding the Texas Eagle just before noon on Wednesday.
control panels for reading lights, 110 volt outlet, vents and air control.......
a locking door and drapes to draw for privacy...shelving also served as steps up to my 'bunk'.
A seemingly endless supply of bottled water, coffee and juice was available just a few feet from our roomette.
Wish we'd brought some checkers, cuz look what we found on our tray
table!
We spent a while in the observation car on the second evening (I think we were near El Paso). It was much more crowded than this, as you can imagine! The view was wonderful!
For a good portion of the trip, we were the last car, so this was our view when we took a walk to the back of Car 2130.
The food was good and the menu was varied. The cost of our meals was included in the price of our tickets and the service was great. We started out with soup and salad for lunch the first day, because we'd enjoyed an ample breakfast at the Hyatt that morning. The second day we skipped lunch altogether because we 'breakfasted' late and there was plenty to eat. At various meals we enjoyed the company of Art and Bev from Saginaw, Michigan, Paul, an Air Force Colonel from Mississippi. and Major and his wife (can't remember her name) from Lufkin, Texas on the way to see their granddaughter and her husband, a marine, at Camp Pendleton.
Crossing the Colorado River during late afternoon in Austin was particularly beautiful!
The train stopped for a little more than four hours in San Antonio (10pm-2:30am) to change crews, do maintenance, etc. so the first part of our first night was periodically interrupted by some noise and some movement of the car, but was not bad at all. It's always important to remember that some pretty amazing things seem to come to those who are flexible;)
The first night our car steward came and made up our beds for us, but once we saw how it was done, Rob took care of that the second night. The facing seats flattened and joined to form the bottom 'bunk' and a lever, above our heads, released to reveal the top 'bunk'. The mattress, sheets, and blanket for the bottom bunk were stored on the top bunk. There was a heavy duty cargo-strapping arrangement which I secured to a couple of hooks in the ceiling, once I was in the top bunk to prevent and unfortunate tumble out of my 'perch' that would have definitely disturbed my sweet dreams. They think of everything!
Once we left San Antonio at 2:45a.m. we were lulled back to
sleep by the rhythmic motion of the rails, which was sometimes smooth and
sometimes like bumpy ‘in-flight’ turbulence. Nevertheless, we had a pretty good
night's sleep.
Thursday morning
dawned with more of Texas to cover and we enjoyed listening to the AMTRAK
podcast that Rob/your dad had downloaded that told us about the history,
topography, and even cultural trivia of the areas through which we were
passing. Who would know that among the pecan groves of south Texas an entrepreneur
has built a resort with a sound studio to which famous musicians flock to do
their recording sessions in an isolated, peaceful get-away?
One of the main stops on Thursday was at Alpine, Texas, at an altitude of over 4,000 feet. Alpine is the home of Sul Ross State University, made famous when Dan Blocker, 'Hoss' of 'Bonanza' fame was a student there. Our conductor was quite a good tour guide and kept coming on the intercom with bits of this and that about the areas through which we were passing. He even challenged us to name the member of the 'Bonanza' cast who made this place famous and I 'nailed' that one! Now, if I could just remember where I put my keys!! (Just kidding, kiddos;))
Some of the beautiful murals that grace the outer walls of buildings near the Alpine Depot.
Our next stop was El Paso and although the food aboard was good and plentiful, the conductor really promoted a little local entrepreneur who would be selling her homemade burritos for $2 each 'trainside' on the platform during our 20 minute stop (betcha he always got a free burrito or two). Sure enough, his description of her delicious fare resulted in an immediate line near her cart when we pulled into the station.
Later we would go over the Continental Divide which would occur near Demming, New Mexico. There was no shortage of spectacular scenery as we traversed this amazing landscape.
We'd brought along a deck of cards and plenty of reading material to wile away the time, but we never tired of drinking in the scenery. Those books and opportunities for sweet victory at gin rummy (won't divulge who usually wins) will have to wait!
We wondered, before we took this inaugural rail adventure, what the profile of the typical train traveler might be and also what we might learn about ourselves during this experience. What we DID notice is that there is probably not a 'typical' profile, as we saw, and met, many different kinds of people. What we concluded, among other things, is that 'successful' long distance rail passengers MUST be patient and must be about 'enjoying the journey'......and we definitely are thankful to fall into that category. Mealtime in the dining car, gave us an opportunity to visit with other passengers and it was always interesting to share stories and learn about their motivations for traveling by rail. Art and Bev, as well as Paul, travel by train extensively and were able to whet our appetites for future adventures by describing some of their favorites trips from the past.
We did conclude that we're accustomed to much more walking and stretching than this type of travel affords, so we made trips to the back of our 'sleeper car' (when it was the last car) to stand for a awhile and just look out at where we'd been. And on the second day we made sure to get out at every stop and walks 'laps' on the train platform, making sure we stayed within ear shot of the conductor's call of "ALL ABOARD!" Yeah, that would be a bad call to miss, huh?
To quote Paul Simon, "There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and notstalgic and hopeful." We certainly experienced that firsthand.
No comments:
Post a Comment