Back on the road!
We have arrived in the Chicago area after our wonderful train trip! We boarded the Empire Builder at the King Street Station in Seattle. Rod and Linda gave us a ride down and were able to come on the train to see our digs! It was so relaxed - not at all like the airport. You could arrive just before boarding and get right on the train. No baggage search, shoe removal or anything. They don't check tickets until the train is well underway. It left late, but no one seemed to care.
We had a small bedroom which is 2 seats by day and 2 bunks at night after porter, Tom works his magic. It is small, but still comfortable during the day. We were in the very best location for a room of our size. It was downstairs where there are 5 rooms, 3 toilets and 1 shower. (We never had to wait to use anything.) The same size rooms upstairs are along the walk through hallway and much less private. People are constantly going to the dining car, observation car, or taking a walk. Our little corner of the world had a couple similar to us across the hall and we both had our doors open most of the time so we could see the scenery on both sides. The others in our area were: an elderly man who had owned a New York Deli for years and now lives in Concrete, WA on his son's property and often takes the train to visit other relatives, and a young couple from Japan on their honeymoon who did not speak English well.
We left on a beautiful day and we were on the Puget Sound side of the car with great views. When we passed Monroe, Carlee brought the kids to the tracks to wave at the train. We put a sign in our neighbors window as our room was on the wrong side. We saw them waving and hopefully they spotted our bright orange sign with their names on it! Cell phones made this rendezvous work!
The beginning of the ride was smooth and quiet. There were patches later that were much bumpier and rougher. Many of them at night! Bob had lots of fun with his GPS tracking.
The dining car was 3 cars away. The meals were quite good with about 8 choices. Menu was the same for both days. Dinner was by reservation and breakfast and lunch were first come first served. You gave your name and came back when called. Meals came with the fare - anything on the menu. Drinks and snacks in the club car were extra. We enjoyed everyone we met at meals. Many were part of a "cult" of people who take the train often. One of our table mates was a Sue from Oregon who turned out to be the mother of one of Jean's friends from work at Nintendo. We had actually met her son at the Nintendo house nextdoor in Hawaii! It really is a small world.
Our porter knew our neighbor, Bob, who had been a porter for many years. Bob's brother, Bill Murray (who said he was the original Bill Murray) had answered questions for Linda at the King Street Station.
It was such fun to see the world go by your window! There were many very short stops and some a bit longer. We frequently got off to stretch our legs. They always warned us to stay close as the train does not wait. The mountains and Glacier National Park were stunning. The plains were less beautiful, but still interesting.
Our main problem was with the beds. They are not very comfortable. The bottom bunk was definitely preferable. The top bunk was shorter, narrower, windowless, harder, and there was not enough clearance to sit up. Linda hardly slept, Bob did a little.
When we arrived in Chicago 46 hours later it was rather cold out! Bob got the rental car and we proceeded to drive to the motor home about 2 hours away in Michigan. Happily things were good in the coach. No bugs, mildew, or odors. The 6 moisture absorbers were nearly full and everything inside felt dry. It survived a hot humid summer. Our thermometer read that the highest temp inside had been 124! Linda slept 11 hours that night and unpacking and grocery shopping completely wore us out the next day.
We are now at the Leisure Lake resort, the nearest motor home park to Chicago. We will stay here several days while getting to know this area.
We have arrived in the Chicago area after our wonderful train trip! We boarded the Empire Builder at the King Street Station in Seattle. Rod and Linda gave us a ride down and were able to come on the train to see our digs! It was so relaxed - not at all like the airport. You could arrive just before boarding and get right on the train. No baggage search, shoe removal or anything. They don't check tickets until the train is well underway. It left late, but no one seemed to care.
We had a small bedroom which is 2 seats by day and 2 bunks at night after porter, Tom works his magic. It is small, but still comfortable during the day. We were in the very best location for a room of our size. It was downstairs where there are 5 rooms, 3 toilets and 1 shower. (We never had to wait to use anything.) The same size rooms upstairs are along the walk through hallway and much less private. People are constantly going to the dining car, observation car, or taking a walk. Our little corner of the world had a couple similar to us across the hall and we both had our doors open most of the time so we could see the scenery on both sides. The others in our area were: an elderly man who had owned a New York Deli for years and now lives in Concrete, WA on his son's property and often takes the train to visit other relatives, and a young couple from Japan on their honeymoon who did not speak English well.
We left on a beautiful day and we were on the Puget Sound side of the car with great views. When we passed Monroe, Carlee brought the kids to the tracks to wave at the train. We put a sign in our neighbors window as our room was on the wrong side. We saw them waving and hopefully they spotted our bright orange sign with their names on it! Cell phones made this rendezvous work!
The beginning of the ride was smooth and quiet. There were patches later that were much bumpier and rougher. Many of them at night! Bob had lots of fun with his GPS tracking.
The dining car was 3 cars away. The meals were quite good with about 8 choices. Menu was the same for both days. Dinner was by reservation and breakfast and lunch were first come first served. You gave your name and came back when called. Meals came with the fare - anything on the menu. Drinks and snacks in the club car were extra. We enjoyed everyone we met at meals. Many were part of a "cult" of people who take the train often. One of our table mates was a Sue from Oregon who turned out to be the mother of one of Jean's friends from work at Nintendo. We had actually met her son at the Nintendo house nextdoor in Hawaii! It really is a small world.
Our porter knew our neighbor, Bob, who had been a porter for many years. Bob's brother, Bill Murray (who said he was the original Bill Murray) had answered questions for Linda at the King Street Station.
It was such fun to see the world go by your window! There were many very short stops and some a bit longer. We frequently got off to stretch our legs. They always warned us to stay close as the train does not wait. The mountains and Glacier National Park were stunning. The plains were less beautiful, but still interesting.
Our main problem was with the beds. They are not very comfortable. The bottom bunk was definitely preferable. The top bunk was shorter, narrower, windowless, harder, and there was not enough clearance to sit up. Linda hardly slept, Bob did a little.
When we arrived in Chicago 46 hours later it was rather cold out! Bob got the rental car and we proceeded to drive to the motor home about 2 hours away in Michigan. Happily things were good in the coach. No bugs, mildew, or odors. The 6 moisture absorbers were nearly full and everything inside felt dry. It survived a hot humid summer. Our thermometer read that the highest temp inside had been 124! Linda slept 11 hours that night and unpacking and grocery shopping completely wore us out the next day.
We are now at the Leisure Lake resort, the nearest motor home park to Chicago. We will stay here several days while getting to know this area.
posted by Bob and Linda at
5:08 PM
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