Planes trains and automobiles - USA summer, are we mad?

[bPeteb]

One other thing I forgot to mention earlier. In front of us in the line at the Pittsburgh Amtrak Station were a bunch of Amish people. I hadn’t seen a parking area for their horses and buggies so just how did they get to the station and why were they catching a train? They must travel I suppose but is train the only way they can? Someone her on AFF will know

 

[drron]

They may have been Mennonites.

What's the difference between Mennonites and Amish? - Third Way

We find that many people asking about Mennonites are actually thinking of the Old Order Amish or Old Order Mennonites. Mennonites and Amish come from a Protestant tradition known as Anabaptism (meaning to be baptized again) begun in the 16th century. The first Anabaptists separated from the...

thirdway.com

 

[bPeteb]

They may have been Mennonites.

What's the difference between Mennonites and Amish? - Third Way

We find that many people asking about Mennonites are actually thinking of the Old Order Amish or Old Order Mennonites. Mennonites and Amish come from a Protestant tradition known as Anabaptism (meaning to be baptized again) begun in the 16th century. The first Anabaptists separated from the...

thirdway.com

Thanks Ron, I knew someone would know!

 

[bPeteb]

The run into Chicago













the huge engines of the Capital Limted



We walked from the station to the La Quinta Inn and Suites Chicago Downtown. It was maybe 15 minutes.

A bin is the only place appropriate for the terrible Courtney Barnett



We didn’t expect a room to be available and it wasn’t, so we asked for our luggage to be stored and walked back out into the already very hot and humid Chicago day. The heatwave we’d first encountered in Boston and followed us since hit hardest of all during the day.

 

[bPeteb]

We’ve been to Chicago before so no need to go out to Oak Park and do the FLW thing, or do another ground-based architecture tour. What we hadn’t done was a river-based tour so that’s what we booked. A number of choices. Although the tour through the Chicago Architecture Center was better rated the boat looked huge and I was worried if it rained we’d all be squashed into the deck below.

I chose the tour with Chicago River Boats. Boat smaller, showed at least an awning on the top deck. The only issue was it departed from a dock much further away from the hotel. Al was keen on trying the train, but I was up for walking, even in the stifling heat. Just like Washington, there was a ‘heat weather’ warning with temps expected close to 100F and ‘feels like’ over 110. It was horrible.

We walked, and we walked.

some of what we walked past



the 'other' architecture tour







I have an ongoing issue with the walking directions Google provides (whereas Al will just follow them) and again it tried to send us on a route way further than we needed to. After some heated words (Google directions was responsible for the majority of heated words that we had) we went in the most obvious direction and it was the right one.

We made the dock with enough time to get onboard and get a seat at the bow under the overhang of the upper deck. Free water, soft drink and cookies. The ‘docent’ (person who does the commentary kept telling people to keep drinking water.

 

[drron]

Amazing the difference one letter makes.

 

[bPeteb]

more of the view from the river

under the bow awning - although it affected the view 'up', it gave us protection from the incredibly hot sun for the whole trip















I'm sure were were told this humungous building had some association with FLW



bridge houses on every bridge in various states of repair

 

[bPeteb]

beautiful classic boat. My pick if/when I visit Chicago again







I can't even begin to imagine how ho it would have been on these fully open boats!

 

[bPeteb]

The tour was ok. The docent’s spiel was more fun than serious and was way too fast but it was informative. The architecture was great. It was Saturday and the river was packed with ferries, private boats and lots of party pontoons loaded with people soaking up the rays, and the alcohol.

We went from ferry straight into the wonder that is air-conditioning at Lizzie McNeill’s Irish pub. My god it was hot outside



There our very charming Irish waiter kept us hydrated with many beers



and fed, with the largest mountain of nachos either of us have ever seen



We couldn’t finish it but beside us were a table of girls and a few of them had a mountain to themselves.

This is the boat we did our tour on



heading back to the station





the Loop from underneath, such an iconic Chicago sight



and another iconic Chicago photo opportunity



Found the loop station and headed back to the hotel before the forecast afternoon thunderstorm and we made it just in time. Room ready, highest floor but view of nothing but into other hotel rooms. Big room, free wifi and breakfast.

 

[bPeteb]

We let the storm do its thing (and it sure did do its thing) then headed back out for a walk in the much cooler evening air

This night was Apollo 50 'night', so out when went, space geeks united



We weren’t too keen on the first couple of pubs Al had found and ended up back down at Millennium Park at an outdoor bar below the silver peanut aka Cloud Gate.





it was still hot enough for kids to be making most of the fountain

 

[bPeteb]

Sunday Chicago – California Zephyr

I went down and asked if we might be able to get a 1pm checkout as the California Zephyr was due to depart at 2 and it was no problem.

The free breakfast was an example of everything that’s bad about eating in America. There were bananas, apples, yoghurt and bran flakes but the plates we saw were all loaded with pancakes and waffles and sugary pastries with a layer of overly cooked bacon laying on top. We went with the former then jumped back onto the loop for the ride to the station closest to Chicago’s museum triangle.













Our morning plan pretty much came unstuck from the moment we got off the train. It took much longer to walk to the Shedd Aquarium then we decided to keep walking with an aim to visit the Adler Planetarium



It was a long walk out there and it was expensive and we decided to just visit the aquarium. At least the view cross the bay to the city covered in a layer of cloud was good as we walked back to the Shedd.

 

[bPeteb]

Great building, packed of course because it was Sunday. Very old so some of the tanks were small but beautifully set up. A brief glimpse of some sea otters in a very deep tank with what looked like long living kelp but I guess was not.

Some sad looking penguins and then some even sadder looking beluga. I had to walk away from the pool/tank.

the terrible pictures reflect the terrible lives these poor animals live





You go down two levels where the big tanks are viewed. Aquariums are such and a quandary for us both. We love them and hate them. There was a staff member asking questions so I asked the two on my mind – where does the salt water come from and why the beluga.

Salt water – it was originally brought in via tanker train. That was both uneconomic and also environmentally unfriendly so they have changed to converting the limitless water resource that is Lake Michigan into salt water.

Beluga – this was an interesting answer. They have eight! With a new born baby (born May). The baby apparently indicates they are happy. WTF? They swim around in a series of concrete tanks that would have no more volume than six Olympic pools. I was told they have plenty of room for more. WTF? They are happy because they are social creatures and they are always socialising. WTF? I asked of they were all born at the aquarium and was told apart from the original two they started with they were. Wiki tells a very sad story of the medical history of Shedd’s beluga.

After that conversation I just wanted to get out. Unfortunately that meant we had to walk out into the torrential rain we hadn’t really planned for. Our little umbrella provided little shelter as we waited for our Uber.

Slightly drenched we got back to the hotel with enough time to dry off before we needed to check out and go back to Union Station to catch our first leg of the California Zephyr.

We found the lounge at the station (crowded) with hilarious food selection (carrot and celery sticks, cauliflower and broccoli flowers, some cheese, sour cream kind of stuff)



plus coffee, tea, soft drinks. Thinking we would need some nibbly stuff for the train we went in search of a shop at the station. Donuts and muffins plus loads of lollies were all the sop offered. No thanks.

We were in the same compartment, 02, in the same car, 531, on both legs of our Zephyr journey.







Jay the car attendant met us at the door of the car and directed us upstairs. We pulled away at 2pm, right on time.

We were asked to stay in our compartments until the conductor had checked our tickets but after our dinner preference was taken by the lovely restaurant manager (she had a really funny delivery over the pa) we gave up waiting and went straight to the observation car and set ourselves up for the afternoon with beers from the downstairs café/bar.





I’m now going to express my only gripe with the train. It’s a gripe that reeks of privilege. The Zephyr is scheduled to take 34 hours to get to Salt Lake City. I understand that sitting in a seat in coach would be pretty ordinary but you pay a lot for a sleeper berth and you have no priority for seats in the observation car, seats at lunch or seats at breakfast. You just have dinner priority.

Gripe over.

Donut holes - delicious!!



the empty dining car

 

[bPeteb]

Sat and chatted with a lovely couple of ladies, one a democrat, one a republican. Must make their lifelong friendship interesting. As soon as Connie (the dem) got up Mary Anne (the Republican) started on about fake news, how great America was doing blah bah bah. I just nodded my head and held my tongue.

The view out of the windows was more of the same from the perspective of (usually) very poor small town, rural America. Corn fields as far as the eye could see.







I think that was canola we just passed



At one point we came to a stop and just sat there. Eventually the conductor came onto the pa and advised we would be going backwards to move into a siding to allow a freight train to pass. That was the first of many ‘pauses’ on our journey to Salt Lake City.

the coal train we pulled over for



the unloved Burlington Amtrak station



crazy classic RV



We had dinner at 7:30, the latest time available. The tables are for four and it’s repeated many times over the pa by the dining car manager that you will be sat with other people. I’m guessing some people want to sit on their own. Meeting people over a meal is part of the fun of train travel. Three courses – salad, entrée (main) and dessert. Alcohol is extra. Tip on table as per value of meal.

Dinner menu - the menu is common on every Amtrak long distance train. One couple we sat with who travel long distance regularly said it does get a bit boring...





I had land and sea combo - steak that was perfect medium rare (picture has taken the pink out) with a crab lump cake (not too keen on the crab)



and I think Al had chicken, or maybe salmon. Tony our server was a hoot. We both asked for jacket potatoes, both asked for Sierra Nevada beer, both got mash and the IPA. No idea who we sat with but it was a really nice night.

The compartment was converted to bunks when we eventually moseyed on back to car 531.

 

[bPeteb]

Monday California Zephyr

The temp was much better controlled in our compartment so a better sleep by both of us. Better for me than Al due to how narrow Al’s upper bunk is.

Curtains back and more rural small town. Love watching the world go by from bed.





Breakfast is ‘open’, as in no reservation, so if it’s full you’re put on a waitlist. We had a shower first and then walked straight in and given a table.



We were seated with more interesting people, again can’t remember who. Breakfast was delicious – Al the quesadilla



me the three-egg omelette



Al’s breakfast was missing its sausage. What’s with potatoes with breakfast? I left mine on the plate. At some point during the meal a roadrunner was pointed out to us but no sign of a coyote.

We continued speeding across the continent towards the Rockies





Fracking wells EVERYWHERE



and pulled into Denver about an hour late

the timetable that just got more and more unrealistic



On the way in through the outer suburbs we saw dozens of prairie dogs sitting up next to their burrows in the sandy land between tracks and road



They looked a bit like meerkats.

 

[bPeteb]

We got off and stretched our legs at Denver Station.





Compartment 2 above and to the right of the door



It was another example of a beautifully restored train station





The old station building was full of fancy shops, cafes and restaurants with a hotel above it all. I bought my first donuts of the trip here – mocha cold brew – to take back on board along with a couple of large cold brew iced lattes.



They were a little doughy but delicious nevertheless.

The conductor welcomed the new passengers onboard and then explained the observation car rules for the next few hours – limit of 1.5 hours, no bag on seats, no holding seats. The reason – we were about to start the climb up into the Rockies.

Climb we did. Not far out of Denver we started to zig zag up the rolling hillsides before hitting the first of 31 tunnels. It was spectacular. The pictures tell the story.

 

[bPeteb]

More climbing scenery







We made a couple of stops – Fraser-Winter Park and Granby.

Fraser-Winter Park







At some point in the early afternoon I got an email letting me know check in was open for our flight from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole. As our fare didn’t include earlier seat selection, or bags, I jumped on and checked in, snagging the last two seats together. Bags were US25 each.

We put our name on the waitlist for lunch and somehow our number, 39, plus 40, were missed. When we went and asked if we’d been missed we were told we’d been called a number of times. We were sat with people the whole time and we knew we had been missed but it was no big meal. We got lunch, and luckily avoided starvation

The burgers were both great

 

[bPeteb]

After reaching the highest point of the climb we followed the Colorado River as it flowed westwards with us.

I think I saw something move. Maybe not...



even retro beer cans!



the perils of driving in the Rockies









One of the highlights of the afternoon was Moon River. It has become a tradition for rafters on the river to moon the Cali Zephyr as it passes. And they did. Many, many full moons. Hilarious.

All a bit blurry cos that darn train driver did not slow down!









Enough with the many moons of Jupiter

 

[bPeteb]

We were due to arrive into Glenwood Springs, 1223miles from Chicago, at 1:53pm but it was just after 6pm when we eventually pulled into the station. Salt Lake City was sure not going to be an 11pm arrival. A surprising number of people got off the train and we took the opportunity t stretch our legs.







check your skis!



Some stops were leg stretchers (aka smoking stops -neither of us are smokers!) whereas others were stops just to let people off or for people to board.

The Zephyr then continued along the Colorado River canyon towards Salt Lake City. The canyon sides were at times crazily close to the tracks. In these places there were set ups of powerlines/wires that I presume are some kind of warning system – if a line is broken or damaged by falling rocks an alarm is raised.

At some point we slowed to a stop. The conductor came onto the pa and told us we were letting another train through but would then proceed very slowly past a golden eagle next. Nothing in the nest but one of the eagles was soaring overhead.

A couple of very blurry photos of the eagle and its next





more of the scenery as we headed towards Utah









We chose 7:30 again for dinner by which time we were down into a much broader and flatter valley. It was quite a nice sunset.

 

[bPeteb]

Before we’d gone to dinner Jay had asked if we wanted the cabin made up as beds or if we’d just sit and sleep. I said seats but I hadn’t been thinking about how late we’d be into SLC.

We tried sitting and snoozing but it didn’t work so we turned the seats into the lower bed (without a mattress) and then top and tailed it for a few hours of shut eye. Al said afterwards it was the best sleep he’d had on the train.

Jay knocked on the door 20 minutes out from SLC. I would have much preferred to keep sleeping but we had a date with Yellowstone later in the day.

At just after 3am we wandered off the train and across the tracks to a sleeping Salt Lake City. A few tired souls, who were joining the Zephyr to continue the journey west, were wandering towards the train. Hopefully we’d be joining it much earlier in the night in four days.



We called an Uber and were picked up by our second female Uber driver of the trip. She liked driving early mornings because there was no traffic. That was certainly true of what we saw. I’d emailed the Holiday Inn Express Airport East earlier in the day to let them know we were still coming, but that we’d be arriving as soon as the Zephyr got us there. They responded and said thanks for letting them know.

It was 3:30am as we walked in the door. The reception told us he’d changed us to a room away from freeway and that it should be very quiet. He even offered us some breakfast to go as it had already been set up but we declined. The room was literally around the corner from reception on the ground floor. Nice view of the carpark but we didn’t care. We just needed sleep. Set our alarms for 7:30 and hit the very comfy pillows.



Didn't even dawn on us until we went to use the shower in the morning that this was an accessible room, not that it mattered



In his sleep deprived state all saw this and thought it said Mormon coffee!

 

[zig]

Before we’d gone to dinner Jay had asked if we wanted the cabin made up as beds or if we’d just sit and sleep. I said seats but I hadn’t been thinking about how late we’d be into SLC.

Would love to see some photos of the sleeping / seating arrangement if you have them