Amtrak Part 2 Seattle to Chicago

Part 2 – Amtrak Empire Builder Seattle to Chicago – Sunday Jan 20 to Tuesday Jan 22, 2013

After picking myself up off the ground and with no apparent injuries I returned to the station and waited to board the Empire Builder – before heading for lunch I checked my smaller bags at the baggage check – my big bag weighed in at 44.5 lbs which is below the 50 lb max – I brought a luggage scale at the $$ store before the trip and when I weighed it at home it matches what the digital weigh scale came up with.

I thought something was familiar with our car steward – his name is Steve and when we got to talking about questions for tomorrow's wine and cheese and trivia contest opened only to those in the sleepers I remember I had him last year when I was returning from my Panama Canal cruise – this will be the last time I will see him as he is retiring at the end of February 2013 after more than 35 years with the company.

After getting settled in and given my small compo bottle of bubbly I am asked by the dining room guru which dinner time I would like – took the first one available – I choose the herb chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and veggie medley and had a chocolate brownie creation for dessert which I found to hard to chew with the dentures – I did attempt to eat the salad but the lettuce sticks to the dentures so didn't have salad the remainder of the trip. The chicken was alright – I have had it before – always find it a little dry but in comparison to some of the chicken dishes I cook at home and which leave a lot to be desired.

A couple on the train from Langley BC are doing a 50 some day cruise on the Pacific Princess from Fort Lauder dale to Sydney Australia – we would be joined by a number of other cruises to various destinations as I made my way east and south.

I always like the Empire Builder – it is the most profitable long inter-city route in the system and it's on-time record is good.

While we made good time the first day as we headed into the cold northern tier states – North Dakota and Minnesota we started falling further and further behind schedule – while some can be attributed to track work being done why we continued to lose time I can't answer.

I didn't sleep well the first night but was much better the second night.

Monday and Tuesday's brekkie's were a bust – while I am not a big egg eater you aren't given many choices – my favorite is French Toast but apparently it is now only offered on the west bound trains.

The scrambled eggs tasted like they came from a powdery mix and the potatoes were cold most mornings.

The weather was fine - cold but dry as we climbed over Maries Pass in Glacier National Park – I did get some pictures from the train but the quality is always impaired because you are taking them through the window.

After lunch on the second day the Empire Builder puts on a wine and cheese session – a chance to promote local US west coast wines – we only had 12 people p participate as the train isn't very busy – not uncommon during the winter months although we did have a fair number either get off or on at Whitefish Montana as most were going skiing in the region.

How the wine tasting works – they pour a wine and then play trivia – asked question and if you get the answer right you get the remains of the bottle – well with only 12 of us they were only giving out full bottles – one of the questions was geared for the Pacific Northwest people among us – Steve is from Seattle and his question was does any one know the name of the incident that almost caused war to break out between Canada/Britain and the US in the Pacific Northwest – I shout out the Battle of the Pig – that was the correct answer and that relates to an incident when a Britisher killed an American pig on San Juan Island – at that time the boundary through the Gulf and San Juan Islands hadn't been determined and both countries had troops on the island – i believe it was the Spanish King who mediated a settlement and the boundaries that exist today were drawn.

Finally made it into Chicago with 40 minutes to spare for the catching the Capitol Limited to D.C. - didn't even have time to catch a quick break in the lounge at Chicago's Union Station – they had us go straight to the train so they could make our dinner reservations.

We also got delayed because we had to follow a commute train into the Chicago station.

I haven't mentioned that it was cold – actually frigid at many of the stops so I didn't waste a lot of time getting on and off the train at some of the stops.

Up next Part 3 – Chicago to Washington D.C.