If you didn’t see the pictures of me in the glass booth at the Willis Tower, go here and see them now.

Drove up to Sue & Jeff’s house in Alton, NH at exactly 10:00 AM as planned.  We sat around and reminisced, snacked, drank, and ate dinner.  I won’t bore you with family stories and gossip.  Here are the pictures for the day (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

The following post tells the story, but the photos weren’t ready.  Here they are!

Definitely, CLICK TO ENLARGE!

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In answer to some comments:

About toilet facilities on the Southwest Chief:  there are sleeper bedrooms that do have en suite toilets; the roomettes do not..  If you have to go in the middle of the night, then you leave your little nest to visit one of the community toilets in your sleeper car.  (You learn to hold it or perhaps concoct your own chamber pot scenario)

No, I didn’t research what might be best side of train for scenery.  I know when you reserve on line, there is no opportunity to choose a particular roomette.  Perhaps you can if you call customer (dis)service.

We did not cross the mighty Mississippi at La Crosse, WI.  Wisconsin is not on the itinerary.  We crossed from Fort Madison, Iowa to a pretty uninhabited part of Illinois (near Nauvoo)

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Breakfast Sunday morning on the train was OK.  I sat with a couple from Wisconsin.  She promptly spilled a full cup of scalding coffee all over the table, but mostly on her husband.  Amazingly, she missed me totally.

After arriving at Union Station just a few minutes late, I went to Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge that is reserved for first class and sleeper passengers.  There I was able to check my bags, keeping just my nifty new Tom Bihn Ristretto messenger bag with my Surface Pro 3 and my camera safely tucked inside.

With six hours to kill between trains in Chicago, I had planned a little adventure for myself.  I decided to go up the Willis Tower (born the Sears Tower) and visit the Sky Deck and the little glass (top to bottom) cubicle located 104 stories up.  I booked in advance and splurged on a Fast Pass admission ticket (which puts you right to the front of the elevator line).  The Willis Tower is just two blocks from Union Station.

The Fast Pass purchase proved wise – the wait to go up was 90 minutes without it.  It costs $20 for normal admission.  The Fast Pass was $45.  Well worth the extra to me.  I entered the Sky Deck lobby and within two minutes was on the elevator going up to floor 104.  At the top they will graciously take your picture in the little glass cube and then, of course, charge you a minimum of $15 for a single print and digital image.  I bought several.  Again, worth it.  I took a few pics of my own, and, fully satisfied with my little adventure, I headed down again to search out sustenance.

Picture Update:  Well, to get the digital images of the pictures they took, I am following their arcane (i.e., stupid) procedure.  The process is underway, and they will email me the links to the files within 72 hours.  so, maybe you will get to see them next time.

Having skipped lunch on the train, I was hungry.  Union Station has a food court with a wide range of fast food choices, but it was crowded and hectic.  So I walked around the neighborhood searching for a place with food and wi-fi.  Not so easy – everything seemed to be closed on Sunday.  But I found Beggar’s Pizzeria & Bar that was open and had wi-fi.  I hate Chicago deep dish pizza, so I ordered a small thin crust with pepperoni and a pint of Green Line pale ale.  The pizza was going to take a half hour – no worries as I used the time to paste the previous blog entry that I had written on the train.  The ale was delicious, and I ordered a second.  And the pizza hit the spot.

Then it was back to Metropolitan Lounge to await the departure of the Lake Shore Limited at 9:30 pm.  Incidentally, the Amtrak sleepers in the eastern US are single level – the taller cars of the West cannot fit through some eastern tunnels.  And the roomettes DO have toilets, rather disgustingly located right next to one of the two seats in the room.  Not a good design choice!

I boarded the Lake Shore Limited at 9:00 pm and met Eugene, my new sleeping car attendant.  I had him convert my room for bed and promptly went to sleep shortly after departing Chicago at 9:30.  Just 50 miles down the track, we entered the Eastern time zone.  I slept well but was awake at 5:00 just as the train pulled into Cleveland.  So I got up and was the first one in the shower down the hall.

At 6:30 I had breakfast in what was quickly a full dining car.  I sat with a guy who as best I could tell has lived everywhere, been everywhere, and done everything.  The other guy at my table was from Pasadena heading to Boston for two weeks with old college friends.  Mostly we listened to Mr. Expert.  The rest of the train ride to Albany passed quickly under clear blue skies.  I skipped lunch on the train – just was not hungry – go figure.

In Albany I disembarked and quickly picked up my Enterprise rental car right in the station.  I drove about an hour and found a Marriott Fairfield Inn for the night. Dinner was next door at Wendy’s.  At dawn I will be on the road north to Alton, NH to visit my sister Sue and her husband Jeff.  I will spend Tuesday night with them, and then early Wednesday morning I will be on the road to Saratoga, arriving well in time for the 1:00 PM post time.

Next likely post here will be on Thursday morning and will have pictures from my mini family reunion in Alton (and maybe the much anticipated “Joe over Chicago” pictures).

It was a brisk 58° at 4:00 am Saturday morning in Flagstaff.  Against all odds, the Southwest Chief was running exactly on schedule, and I boarded car 430 and found my roomette, #4.  Lucy, the sleeping car attendant for my journey to Chicago, greeted me and explained the minimal technical details of the room – lights and air conditioning controls.  Everything worked.  The seats are wide and comfortable, recline nicely, and the seat opposite fits my feet perfectly.

The roomettes are for two, but you don’t have to share if you are traveling alone.  You pay a hefty fee for the roomette and a very reasonable coach fare for the transportation.  If someone traveled with you and shared the room, that person would only have to pay the coach fare.  The roomette is perfect for one, tight for two.  The two seats convert into a pretty comfortable bed (long enough, even for me) at night.  And there is an upper bunk that drops from above.  I brought my old portable GPS with me (for use in my rental car in NY), and I hooked it up to the window where it remained for the entire journey to Chicago.  I also turned my cell phone to GPS mode and got a wider view of where we were with that.  There is a single socket for plugging things in the room, but I had my trusty little traveling extension cord so I could have three things plugged in at the same time.  The GPS shows the train speed.  Our best speed between Flag and Chicago was 92 mph.

Breakfast on the train starts at 6:30 and is first come first served.  I had scrambled eggs and bacon with tea, sharing the table with a young girl (30ish) and an older gentleman both of whom were riding in coach.  They weren’t traveling together, but sharing is the norm in the dining car.  She was so hung over, she was shaking, and the only thing she wanted was a Bloody Mary.  He could have passed for homeless just about anywhere, bedraggled and scruffy to a fault.  She couldn’t form words, let alone sentences, and he immediately stared into his food and never said a word.  It was a quiet breakfast.

Lunch was a much more pleasant affair.  For lunch and dinner you reserve a time slot with sleeper passengers getting preference.  An attendant winds through the train before each meal time taking reservations.  Once you arrive in the diner, the matron, who rules with an iron hand, seats you where she thinks best.  I sat with three women, all traveling alone.  One was a hospice worker on her way home to Taos after a San Diego vacation.  One was a high school English teacher headed home to St Louis to get ready for a new school year.  And one was an office worker from LA heading to Pittsburgh to visit family.  We had good conversation, highlighted by the English teacher confirming my long-held belief that Thomas Hardy’s Return of the Native is boring and incomprehensible.  She, like me, hates the book!

I spent the day napping, reading, and taking pictures out the window.  America is a fascinating place from a train.

I had dinner with two old guys on the way home to Philadelphia from a California family reunion. They were real characters.  My Amtrak Angus Steak Special was decent enough, possibly because I had indulged in a large gimlet in my room before dinner.  I brought a small thermos of gimlets with me and Lucy kindly fetched me some ice.  After dinner, Lucy converted my roomette to the nighttime bed and I was soon in dreamland.  I slept surprisingly well and woke at about 5 am – still dark as night.  I reconverted the bed to seats myself – there is barely room to stand when the bed is down.  Then I gathered what I needed and trudged downstairs (it’s a double decker) to the single shower in the car.  The shower is just big enough and the water was as hot as you would want it.

By that time it was breakfast again followed by more America viewing with an anticipated arrival in Chicago at about 4:00 PM.  By this time the train was running about thirty minutes behind schedule.

Tune in on Monday night (late) to hear about my adventure in Chicago and the train ride from Chicago to Albany, NY.

PICTURES FROM A DAY ON THE TRAIN (click to enlarge in new window)

 

 

Saratoga – The Summer Place to Be

By way of Flagstaff, Chicago, Albany, and Alton (NH)

Saratoga used to be the August Place to Be, but the racing season has gradually been extended from four weeks (24 racing days) to over seven weeks, starting in late July and ending on Labor Day (40 racing days).  So now it’s the Summer Place to Be.  My solo adventure to Saratoga began today.

Elaine drove me to Avis on Northsight Blvd where I picked up a rental Ford Edge that I will drop in Flagstaff.  When I was through packing up the car at home, Elaine noticed oil on the driveway.  So, packed up and ready to go, I drove back to Avis.  Fortunately they had an identical Ford Edge SUV that they swapped out for me.  I transferred my bags to the new car and I was off.

The two-hour drive to Flag was uneventful.  No traffic at all.  Flagstaff, on the other hand, is a bustling town with lots of traffic.  I checked in at the Drury Inn, unloaded my luggage, and then drove all of two minutes to turn in my car.  It was a ten minute walk back to the hotel.  From the hotel I will have to walk, schlepping my bags, to the Amtrak station at the ungodly hour of 4:15 am (10 minute walk).  The Amtrak Southwest Chief  comes from LA and is due at Flagstaff at 4:37 am.  I have been monitoring regularly, and it is NEVER on time.  It runs thirty minutes to two hours late.  Timeliness is not Amtrak’s forte.

For dinner tonight I went to Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar in downtown Flagstaff, not far from the Amtrak Station.  I started with a  Don Juan cocktail (Plymouth Gin, Muddled Cucumber and Mint, Habanero Tincture, Lime Juice, Simple Syrup).  For an appetizer I had Tomato and Basil Soup.  Sounds basic but it was delicious.  For my main I had Steak Frites.  No desert.  A delicious glass of Pinot Noir with the main.

After dinner I strolled back to the hotel and hit the sack after setting alarms for 4 am.

There  is no wi-fi on the train.  I have a five hour layover in Chicago (depending on how late the Southwest Chief arrives – normally they are way behind early but catch up some as they approach Chicago).  I have a little adventure planned for Chicago – more about that later.  I may also find some wi-fi in Chicago to do an blog update.  If not, then I will post next on Monday night after disembarking from the train in Albany, NY.