Also some great views and some Navy ships coming into port.

Around on the Pacific side we went down by the water…

We then grabbed some lunch at Fuddruckers and then headed to the train station. I dropped the family off and then went to return the rental car. I then hopped on a trolley back to the station to await our Surfliner train to Los Angeles.

In a couple of hours we were at Los Angeles Union Station to wait to board the Southwest Chief back to Albuquerque. There was some big photo shoot going on. Someone said it was for a movie, but I don’t know.

We boarded the Southwest Chief and got moved into our rooms. Soon after departure we went to dinner.

After dinner, we were all pretty wiped so we turned down the beds and went to sleep.

Because of time zone shifts, my 6:00 alarm went off on my phone right before it shifted back to 5:00am. So I got up pretty early. Stephen was awake too so we stepped off in Flagstaff where it was really cold.

We all went and grabbed some breakfast in the dining car at 6:30. Then chilled in our rooms. There were only a few stops between Flagstaff and Albuquerque. We took a little time to hand in the lounge car…

Before we knew it, we were getting real close to Albuquerque. But not too close that we could not get one more meal in on the train. So we had a quick lunch as we approached Albuquerque.

We arrived in Albuquerque, collected our checked bags and our car and headed back to Amarillo. We arrived in Amarillo around 6:30.

So, another vacation complete. It was a long time coming. Lots of planning and lots of changed plans. It was a good time and we hope we have the honor to travel again next year.

Until next time…

We rode it down the the Santa Fe station (this is also the station Amtrak uses).

We walked a couple of blocks to the USS Midway and spent a couple of hours checking it out.

After grabbing some lunch, we headed over to the Maritime Museum where we checked out a couple of submarines (one was an old Soviet sub) and some old sailing ships.

Then we went on a harbor tour cruise for an hour…

After grabbing to dinner, we went to Petco Park to watch the Astros take on the Padres.

Here is Stephen watching Lance Berkman and Michael Bourn warm up.

The Astros won 6-3 in 10 innings. The Astros won one for us. I e-mailed Fox Sports where we were sitting and they said they would get us on. It has been reported to us that we were on TV in Houston THREE times and they mentioned my name. I set the DVR to record. Hopefully we got it.

After the game we took the trolley back to Qualcomm and drove back to out hotel. It is now 12:30 so I am going to bed.

We leave tomorrow from San Diego (on a TRAIN this time) at 3:00. I will post as much as I can during the trip.

We then headed to the Wild Animal Park which is part of the San Diego Zoo.

We then had just enough time to run to Carlsbad and stop in the The Museum of Making Music. We were all not too interested in the displays but had a blast on the hands on stuff…

It was a fun day. I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

Until then.

We headed out to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Command Museum. Was a small Marine Corps history museum. I am a World War II history buff so I love military museums. My Dad, having been in the Marines, also gave it special meaning to me.

We then headed to Balboa Park to spend the rest of the day checking out the museums there.

We started with the Air & Space Museum…

The boys took turns flying a flight simulator…

Then we headed to the natural history museum…

They invited us to be in the first group of visitors to try out their new 3D and motion movie theater. It was cool. The seats moved, it blew air in your face, had some tube that would flop around your legs to feel like you were hitting things and also sprayed a bit of water in your face. It is not opened to the public yet but should be very soon.

We then ran by the model railroad museum…

Then to the Automobile Museum…

Then finally the Hall of Champions (Sports Museum)…

After that, we went to the hotel for a little and then off to eat Mexican food with the Mazos who are friends from Harding.

This was mostly an indoor day. It will be our only one.

More tomorrow.

Shark Tank

Beluga Whales

The boys decided to end the day getting wet on a ride.

Before getting wet…

After getting wet…

SeaWorld was very cool. Great place to spend a day and plenty to do. Course, food prices are crazy high as well as everything else they sell. We bought the Go San Diego cards so it was included.

More tomorrow.

We all got up before 6:00 (we will still on Central time). We went to breakfast at 6:30.

We had French toast all around.

After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning hanging in our rooms.

We got to step off the train for a couple of minutes in San Bernardino…

We arrived at Los Angeles Union Station around 11:00.

We missed our connecting train so we were put on another leaving at 12:25. We boarded and rode the train for an hour to Irvine.

There we transferred to a bus for the trip into San Diego.

We arrived into San Diego Santa Fe Station around 3:30. I left the family waiting in the depot while I hopped on a trolley to pick up the rental car. I got it and swung by and picked them up. We then hit the hotel to unpack and got right back out headed for the San Diego Zoo.

Yes, we are wearing jackets. It is really cool here!

After a late night at the Zoo (they are open till 9:00 during the summer) and a cool bird show, we are now back at the hotel getting ready to turn in for the night.

More tomorrow.

Due to tracks being washed out near Las Vegas, NV, Amtrak’s trains (#3 & #4) Southwest Chief could not get through. There solution is to stop the Eastbound train in Albuquerque and bus all passengers East to La Junta, CO. They then turned the Eastbound train around and it became the Westbound train. They stopped the Westbound train (the one we were suppose to be on) in La Junta, CO and bused all passengers to Albuquerque, then turned the train to make it the Eastbound train. Since our stop (Lamy, NM) was so close to Albuquerque, we just decided to drive to Albuquerque to catch the train.

The Westbound train we were suppose to be on left Chicago 4 hours late. That means the buses left La Junta late. The train that stopped in Albuquerque and became our Westbound train then sat around in Albuquerque a very long time. We were suppose to depart at 4:45 but the buses were nowhere close.

So we settled in for a 8 hour wait! The family was fantastic with no complaints.

They backed the train into the station around 4:00.

They allowed us to board the train at 4:15 and we also got to eat dinner at 5:30.

Buses started showing up around 6:30 and we finally pulled out of Albuquerque at 8:02pm.

We then hung out in our rooms enjoying being on the train.

Around 9:00, we converted our rooms to beds and everyone went to bed (except me cause I am typing this).

SO, I have now decided just to drive to Albuquerque to catch the train. My biggest issue with that is parking. Not real sure where we can park and how much it is going to cost us. I do know they have no free parking like Lamy.

Will update tomorrow from Albuquerque.

However, I will be missing one of my favorite things in train travel. That is waiting for the train to arrive. I just love sitting at the station in anticipation. Waiting to hear the train horn in the distance and finally seeing the train coming around the bend. There is nothing like that in any other form of transportation.

The train will already be sitting at the station when we get to Albuquerque. So we will miss out on that this year. Going to San Diego we will begin and end the trip on a bus.

Bummer.

Saturday, June 26th – Drive to Lamy, NM and catch the Southwest Chief train to Los Angeles.

Sunday, June 27th – Arrive in Los Angeles and board a Surfliner train headed towards San Diego.

Sunday, June 27 – Friday July 2 – Enjoy San Diego

Friday, July 2nd – Board the Surfliner train back to Los Angeles, in LA, board the Southwest Chief.

Saturday, July 3rd – Arrive back in Lamy and drive home to Amarillo.

Couple of last minute issues. Amtrak called and said due to track work being done, the Surfliner going LA to San Diego will be stopped in Irvine and we will be on a bus the rest of the way. Oh, well.

Second BIG issue is there has apparently been some track washed out East of Lamy and the Southwest Chief will be temporarily rerouted through AMARILLO for a few days. This might sound like good news, but we cannot board the train in Amarillo and we would need our car to be in Lamy when we return. If they cannot get repairs done before Saturday, most likely we will be on a bus from Lamy to Albuquerque. I really hate to miss the experience of waiting on our train to arrive in Lamy. We will see what happens.

I hope to have some little blog posts while aboard the trains and even possibly some video. I will then follow up with daily reports.

I hope you enjoy and will follow us on this adventure.

Also, a big “Thank you!” goes out to our good friend James for house sitting for us.

We left Amarillo last Sunday after church. We stopped in Denton and ate at one of my favorite places, Fuddruckers.

We then proceeded to our hotel in the Dallas area.

Monday, we headed out to the Ripley’s Museum.

And we also went to the mirror maze.

And finally, the wax museum.

Okay, is it just me or do these two apostles look like Sean Connery and Mel Gibson?

After grabbing some lunch, we went to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison.

Then on to Medieval Times…

Then back to the hotel for the night.

Tuesday, we parked at a nearby DART light rail station and rode it downtown to Dallas Union Station. We then boarded an Amtrak Train (The Texas Eagle).

We ate lunch in the lounge car.

We arrive in Fort Worth were we got off the Amtrak train and boarded a Trinity Railway Express (TRE) train headed back to Dallas. TRE is a commuter train that travels between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Then, the DART light rail back to our car. We then headed out to dinner in Colleyville with our fiend Caroline and her son Ben. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed catching up.

Then back to the hotel for the night.

Wednesday, we slept in a little. After getting up, we checked out of our hotel. We stopped by Chick-fil-a for breakfast and then drove to the Museum of American Railroad in Dallas.

We then hit the road for home arriving back in Amarillo Wednesday evening.

It was a fun trip.

Next up, San Diego.

This was a great trip. I feel honored to have been able to take this trip, especially with my family.

As last year, I still struggle with really appreciating being in a place like New York. I mean, I am there, but how do you truly appreciate the fact you are in New York. You can go places and enjoy the city, but something seems missing. Maybe it is something that can not be had without actually living in a place.

New York life is totally different than what I have ever known. Things like being able to live without a car and walking or using the subway and trains to get everywhere. It is awesome to get a small feel for a different way of living.

As always, the train travel was awesome. Nothing like sitting back and watching the country go by your window. You just cannot get the same experience from flying. We went through 15 states and the District of Columbia on this trip.

That is all for this trip. Thank you all for sharing it with us. There is something cool about knowing people are keeping track of us.

Until next time…

It has a enclosed bathroom and counter/sink built right in the room so I did the gentlemanly thing and let Vicky have the nicer room. It had nothing to do with the fact I knew the kids would much rather be in that room than the smaller one.

We made 6:00 reservations for dinner. I know, it seems like all we do on the trains is sit then eat, sit then eat, sleep then eat. Well, that is true. What a way to travel!

We went to dinner at 6. Vicky had the beef dish, I had the roasted chicken, Stephen had a hot dog and Michael cheese pizza.

We returned to our rooms where I spent some time visiting with the guy across the hall. It is weird not having Vicky and Michael over there, but cool I finally get a chance to talk with someone. He was only staying on until Kansas City (10:15 that night).

Vicky and Michael turned in around 8:30 but Stephen and I stayed up to step off the train in Kansas City.

After the stop, we boarded and hit our beds. Slept pretty well.

Got up around 6:00 to go shower and get dressed. Someone was using the shower so I decided it could wait till we got home that night.

Everyone else got up and we headed to breakfast around 7:00. Railroad French Toast all around.

After breakfast, the boys and I hung out a while in the lounge car.

We got to step off the train for 15 minutes or so in La Junta, CO.

Then on through the Raton Pass. Some of the best scenery on this route. Michael was really impressed…

After a quick stop in Raton where we stepped off again…

It was time to eat again! Our last meal on the train. I had a pastrami and cheese sandwich, Vicky had a salad, Stephen a hot dog and Michael had chicken strips. We all a slice of Snickers cake for dessert. (Yes, I am going to have a bunch of weight to re-lose starting Sunday)

Then back to our rooms for the final leg of our train trip. We will stop in Las Vegas (NM) and then our stop in Lamy.

Our train arrived into Lamy about 40 minutes late. We arrived into Amarillo at about 9:30 pm.

After dinner, we made a quick stop at Cumberland, Maryland where Stephen and I stepped off the train for a couple of minutes.

After than, Vicky and Michael made their beds and turned in. Stephen and I stayed up a bit later.

We all slept pretty well. I woke up a few times to see us stopped at at stations like Pittsburgh and Toledo. We got up a little after 6:00 to get breakfast. Because of our early arrival into Chicago, they do not have very long to serve.

After breakfast, back to our rooms to hang out until our arrival into Chicago. The skies were quite grey and looked like it might rain. which does not effect us on the train, but could effect what we do in Chicago.

We arrived in Chicago about 30 minutes late at 9:00.

Our train to Lamy departs at 3:15 so we had about 6 hours to kill. Fortunately, we have the Metropolitan Lounge to hang out in (lounge for sleeper car passengers).

Six hours seems like a long time, and it is, but it is just not long enough to get out and do anything in Chicago. Just cannot risk missing our train.

Not sure if I will get to make another post before we return home tomorrow. There is a chance, but probably not. I will wrap up tomorrow night.

Our train from NY to Washington DC was running late. At about 10:15, we headed to the platform to board. Soon after, our train pulled in.

We were in coach on this train as it is only a four hour ride.

We arrived in to DC at about 2:00 where we had lunch and settled into the CLubAcela lounge.

About to board right now. Will post again from Chicago tomorrow.

To go up into the pedestal, we had to wait in a line for over an hour. Here is the original torch that was replaced in the 80’s…

We made a quick stop at Ellis Island but did not hang there long. Here is a picture of Michael with some of the buildings. It looks like he is in deep thought, he is really making sure his glasses do not fall off while looking down at the water.

Even though we were really tired, we figured how often do we get to New York, so we walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

We then stopped by the Sony Wonder Labs. Lots of cool tech stuff that the kids really enjoyed.

Then we ran by Mickey Mantel’s Restaurant…

We were going to eat there, but having to spend $60 for dinner was just too much, so we went by Grand Central again and ate in the the food concourse.  Cheap and easy.

We also ended up walking by this place…

After that, back to New Jersey to pack up. We board a train tomorrow morning to return home.

Should be able to make a post tomorrow from DC.

We spent a couple of hours there. Here is the submarine…

Then on the Intrepid…

After grabbing some slices (and Stephen a couple of dogs), we hit the subway and headed to the Bronx. We first went to the Bronx Zoo.

After that, we got back on the subway and headed to Yankee Stadium. We were bummed when the subway left the underground to the elevated track. It was pouring rain.

We hung out in the subway station for a little, then pulled out our umbrellas and got into the stadium.

After an hour of rain delay, the game started about 8:00.

We had to leave after the 4th inning cause it was getting really late.

Old Yankee Stadium right next door…

We took a LONG subway ride back to Manhattan, then transferred to PATH back to Newark Penn Station.

Since rain was predicted for all week, we have been very fortunate that this has been our only run in with rain so far.

Only one more day on New York.

We started this morning by going to the Museum of Natural History. By the way, it is nothing like the one on the movie. Even so, it did have a bunch of cool stuff including a full scale model of a blue whale. The picture does not do it justice. The thing is HUGE. Much bigger than I imagined.

Here are some more pics from the museum…

Dum-Dum. Got any gum-gum?

We left the museum for lunch. Found a local joint called the Firehouse. Pretty good. We went back to the museum after lunch for a little bit, then off to Central Park.

Then to the Central Park Zoo…

After that, we went back to Grand Central to grab some dinner. We were really tired so we just wanted something easy. On our way to the Subway we passed this place.

Picture NOT TAKEN WITH MY iPhone…

And FAO right next door…

We then went to Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock…

Michael checking out Central Park…

And we passed by this place…

This is another night that we are BEAT. Our vacation is now half over. Only two more days of NYC before we get back on the train.

We started off early and got to the World Trade Center site around 9:00. We walked all around. Not much to really see other than that it is a construction site.

I caught Michael trying to make friends with this guy…

We also saw a real interesting parking lot. It makes use of the vertical space.

We then learned something about the New York Subway. Our plan was to get four 7-day passes for unlimited Subway use. Well, it seems that the kiosks you have to buy them from only allow two transaction per credit card PER DAY. AND, there is no way to buy more than one card per transaction. Is that not ridiculously stupid? I have two credit cards, however, PATH tickets to get us from NJ to NYC use the same machines and I had already used one card on those.

We eventually got them all which included using most of the cash we had. Stopped my an ATM and my debit card from my bank was declined and of course it is Sunday so nothing I can do about that until Monday. Of all the things I worried about in making plans, two things I never dreamed would be problems. Oh well.

We then headed out to the New York Fire Department museum.

After that, we took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

We decided to be adventurous for lunch on the island…

Can you believe they have a KFC and Taco Bell in the same place? What the big city folk can come up with. (yes, I am joking)

We then went to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn. A very cool museum showing the history of New York train transit system. They also had a huge inventory of historic subway cars. It is housed in an old subway station. Here are some pics…

We then caught the subway to Grand Central Terminal.

We ate dinner in the food court in Grand Central.

Then, we stopped by Times Square…

Then back the hotel to collapse in our beds (and me to type in this report.

More tomorrow.

We hung out in the lounge Friday night and they took us to the our train around 8:30. We dropped our things in our room and went to the dining car for a welcome reception. Cheese and fruit plates with some sparkling cider.

After that, back to our rooms and we sacked out.

I slept a whole lot more. I set my alarm for 5:00 cause I wanted to step off in Cleveland, but I turned it off and went back to sleep. I got up around 6:15 and took a quick shower. Taking a shower on a moving train is an interesting experience!

At 6:30, everyone else was up and we all went to have breakfast. French toast all around. After, back to our rooms to hang out.

This train is not a double decker like the last one (those are too tall to fit into New York City). The sleeper cars are different. They have windows for the top bunk as well as the lower bunk. So instead of converting our room back to seats, I made the seats up on the lower bunk for me and left the bed down on the upper bunk for the boys. They can lay down or play up there with plenty of room.

We got a chance to step off the train in Buffalo. Here are the boys outside our sleeper car.

Here is a picture of me taking a picture of Stephen napping on his bunk.

Stephen watching the world go by…

We continued on to Albany. This is where some interesting railroad stuff happens. The two locomotives and the front 5 cars of our train are disconnected and that train becomes train 448 and goes to Boston. The remaining 7 cars continues to be train 48 and continues on to New York City. They hook a different kind of locomotive up called a dual-mode. This loco can run like any other diesel, however because all the tracks in New York City are underground, they cannot run diesel engines in them. So when we get North of New York City, they shut off the diesel engine and lower a shoe which picks up power from a third rail.

In Albany I found something that reminded me of New York.

The black and white cookie. In case you are not familiar, there was a funny bit on Seinfeld with a black and white cookie. Since Seinfeld was set in NYC, I thought it appropriate. Though Vicky did not get any of the bit I tried to reenact.

Our train followed the shores of the Hudson which is quite a beautiful trip by itself. A great way to finish up our trip to New York. Our train arrive at New York Penn Station about an hour early at 5:30.

A friend of mine I met from an online forum (that discusses, well, trains) who lives in NYC met us at Penn. he showed us around, helped us get our commuter train tickets and even rode with us out to Newark Penn Station (our hotel is across the river in Harrison, NJ). In case you read this, Alan, thanks again. Nice seeing a friendly face in a sea of people!

A hotel shuttle picked us up from Newark Penn and we got settled into our hotel room. It is a NICE BIG room and a fraction of the price of getting a little room in the city.

We have a big day planned tomorrow with many places to go. Should be a long, good day and we are really gonna get our feet wet in the NY subway system.

The video I posted yesterday failed to be converted by youtube. I am uploading it again and will post here if it works.

We got right on and settled into our rooms.

By 4:00, we were all getting real hungry. Our stomachs were on Central time (we were in Mountain time). We got the earliest reservation for dinner at 5:00.

Before dinner, we spent around 30 minutes in the lounge car watching the country go by.

We went to the dining car at about 5:05.

I had a beef dish, Vicky had roasted chicken, Stephen had a hot dog and Michael had pizza. All was really good and we all either had cheesecake or Oreo dream for dessert.

After dinner, we returned to our rooms. After a 20 minute stop in La Junta, Co where we got to step off the train for a bit, we made our beds and turned in.

I did not sleep a whole lot. I usually don’t the first night on the train. Don’t want to miss anything. I did sleep some. I woke up at 5:30 am to find Stephen’s head peeking over the side of his bed staring at me (he said he was looking out the window). Anyway,  no more sleep after that. He and I got dressed around 6:00 and Vicky and Michael got up around 6:30.

At 6:51 we arrived in Kansas City. For those who read last year, this is where we had to get off the train and on to a bus because of flooding. Fortunately this time, we were going to see the route to Chicago on the train this year.

Our train is on the left.

We went to the dining car and had breakfast while still at Kansas City. All the boys had Railroad French Toast and Vicky had something called the “Continental.” Looked a little to healthy for my taste. The trained pulled out of KC while we were still eating.

After breakfast, back to the rooms for hang out time (and a little, very little, dosing off time for me).

Because of the arrival time into Chicago and the time the dining car staff needs to close down shop, they did and early lunch as first come first serve.

Vicky and I split a hamburger and a warm turkey sandwich (we each ate half) and the kids had pizza.

After lunch we had about two hours until arrival into the Windy City (that is Chicago, not Amarillo). We hung out in our rooms until we got close. Then we started packing everything up in preparation of disembarking our first train.

We arrived around 25 minutes EARLY into Chicago. We checked into the lounge for sleeper passengers and then headed out to walk around downtown.

We walked under the El (elevated trains).
Then went to our favorite Chicago pizza place, Giordano’s.

We are now back in the lounge waiting to board our second train, The Lakeshore Limited #48 from Chicago to New York.

Part of the joy of train travel is what we are doing right now, waiting for a train.

There is something especially exciting about when the time for the arrival gets close. You step out to trackside and peer down the tracks as far as you can see.

Then, you hear it, a distant horn followed by spotting the headlight of the locomotive.

There comes the train you are about to board to take you on your journey.

Most do not get to experience anything like this. Air travel just does not have the arrival that a train has.

Just one of the many things I like about train travel.

We will be departing Thursday, June 25th and returning July 4th.

Of course, we again will be using our favorite transport to get us there, Amtrak.

We hope you will enjoy sharing a bit of our journey with us as I will be updating this blog as we travel. If you would like to receive an e-mail whenever a new post is made, put in your e-mail address on the right hand column and press the SEND button.

We are very excited and can’t wait to get started. Here is an overview of our itinerary…

I am going to attempt to add some video clips this year, especially of the train trip since I will have plenty of time on the train to edit them.

Hope you enjoy!

After, we grabbed some lunch a local place called Filipes. Then we headed off to ride the Gold Line of the LA Metro system. We rode it out and back in to Union Station.

At this time, we were getting too close to our departure time of our train, so we said farewell to our new friends who were off to ride the blue line.

Dad and I waiting in Union Station for our train. When it got close to time, I went on down to the platform just in time to see our train being backed in. I was the first to board our coach so I was able to get the best seats. Dad got a ride from a red cap and was close behind.

The train ride was fairly uneventful, but of course, fun. I sat up late in the lower level of the lounge car talking to a guy who lives south of LA. He was using the train for the first time for a trip to Phoenix. Dad showed up wondering where I was and we had a nice conversation with the guy. After he left, Dad decided the benches we were sitting on looked kinda comfortable and decided to sleep there for the night (no one else around!). That left our two coach seats for me to “stretch out” across. Both of us slept better this time that last, but it was still not as good as having a sleeper.

We were on time the whole way and arrived into Lamy right on time.

It was a fun trip and good to meet new people who have the same interest I do in trains. It was also a good for me and my dad to get to share time doing what we both love to do, ride trains.

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully, I will be back next summer with another Mashburn family adventure.

We started to day at Union Station at 8:30 where we caught a Surfliner train to San Diego.

We arrived in San Diego around 11:30.

We ate lunch nearby and then spent the afternoon riding the local trolley system. That included a line that took us right up to the Mexico border.

We then boarded a return Surfliner back to LA.

The last hour of the return trip was a great time with several of us talking trains.

Tomorrow, something special before we board the Southwest Chief back to Lamy at 6:15 pm. Not sure if I will get to post again before we return to Amarillo. We shall see.

We got on the train in Lamy and grabbed a couple of seats. We inquired about an onboard upgrade to sleeper but there were none, the train was sold out. So, we sat in the lounge and enjoyed the scenery. Here is a shot of dad at the Albuquerque station…

We went and ate dinner in the dining car at 6:00 and it was very good. Then after some more time in the lounge, we hit the sack, I mean seats. We reclined and did our best to sleep.

At around 2:00 in the morning, we were awakened. The conductors were attepting to throw off a passenger for not buying a ticket. He refused and while the conductor waited for the police, the guy went and hid somewhere on the train. They finally found him and the police took him away.

We got up early and ate breakfast in the dining car…

We arrived at LA Unions Station right on time at 8:15 AM.

We stowed our bags at the hotel and hung out until our first meeting with the group. We met at 12:15 and boarded a Metrolink commuter train.

We rode that for a couple of hours. After, Dad decided to go back to the hotel for some sleep, while I met several people from the group. We rode the Subway over to Universal City and had dinner.

Now, I am back at the hotel and very tired. So until tomorrow.

This might very well be my last post before getting to LA on Friday. Not sure if we will get a connection anywhere along the route.

We are getting on in Lamy, NM on October 9th. We are going coach to save money so this will be my first overnight not in a sleeper.

In LA we will be riding trains with my group. (what else do you expect from a bunch of railfans?) We will board the train back to Lamy on Sunday.

Hopefully, I can update this blog with pics during this trip.

1. When visiting another city, I like to not look like a tourist. I like to use public train systems to get around. I like to be prepared and know where I am going so I don’t look lost. I even enjoyed a little bit when we were JAM PACKED into a subway train. I like to feel like I have moved into town and sorta get the feeling I live there. This was what we did in Boston. It is weird, living in a place like Boston and not having a car and using a great public transit system for all transportation is attractive to me. Maybe it would get old after a while, but it still attracts me.

2. I was moved by the Red Sox game. I have only been to Astro’s games and one Rangers game. The atmosphere and fans are nothing like Fenway. The fans are into the game so much they feel they can effect the outcome. Tradition is big there. It was really cool.

3. Traveling by train can be an adventure. This was our first trip that did not go as planned. We had two bus rides and a very long trip home. What was suppose to be a 24 hour train took 37 hours. You have to be prepared to go with the flow. I still think we need more rail options in the US. Flying used to be fun, now it is a nightmare. The ONLY thing flying has over trains is the speed. For me, I would rather take longer on the train and make the transportation a PART of the trip, rather than fly and have it be just a necessary annoyance to get to your destination.

4. I struggle with knowing how to fully appreciate where I am. I was in Boston and I wanted to really just sit back and appreciate that, but I am not sure how. I find it frustrating. I want to "take in" Boston but it is more than just seeing places or doing things. Not only do I not know how to do it, I don’t even know how to xplain what I am talking about!

5. Since returning home, I have been fighting post trip depression. All I want to do right now is get back on a train and go somewhere I have never been before. I love traveling. I love seeing places I have never seen. I love going places I have read about or seen on TV. It is hard to think about waiting until next year for another trip and not even knowing if there will be money for a trip next year. Now let me be clear, I am very thankful for what we have gotten to do. I give all the credit to God for providing us with these traveling opportunities. I pray that we will get more.

That is all for now. Thanks for sharing in our journey. Hopefully there will be more and you will join us again. If anyone is interested in trying out Amtrak let me know. I would be happy to help you out and give you all the information you would need.

I have posted a trip report on a Amtrak forum I am a part of. It deals with just the train parts but has a lot more train details than I posted here. If you would like to ready it you can see it HERE .

It goes from Montreal to New York so there were a bunch of people speaking French around.

Our train, #49 the Lakeshore Limited (LSL) was right on time and we boarded our sleeper. Again, this is a single level train.

One interesting train related note, whenever a train comes into Albany and is headed to New York city, the replace the diesel engines on the train with a special diesel engine that can also run on a third rail electric. That way it can run in the undergrounds leading to New York’s Penn station. This is a picture of them hooking the normal diesels onto our train after taking the special one off (since our train came from NY).

Dining services are more limited on this train than others we have been on. It used to have a full service dining car, but all of Amtrak’s single level dining cars are over 50 years old and they are having trouble keeping them in service. They have not had the full service dining on the LSL for quite a while and are using a special car that is not that great for food service. However, the crews are dealing well with it and we had fantastic crews.

Our train ride was great and we arrived into Chicago about an hour late. We checked our bags into the first class lounge and headed out to the Sears Tower.

Great view, but costs way too much. Oh well, we can say we did it. While waiting in line to come down, I got a message from Amtrak, our next train has been canceled and there is not alternate transportation provided. I think Vicky thought I was about to pass out while listening to that message. We headed straight back to the station. They told us there that we need to hang tight, things were still up in the air.

I was on the internet looking at flights and possible one way car rentals. After I could not take the waiting anymore, I called Amtrak’s 1-800 number. After some checking, they informed me the train will be running on an alternate route and our destination will be served.

Wow, did God ever answer my prayers. We could finally relax and had a couple of hours before departure.

We ran down the street to the famous Giordano’s Pizza and had a small Chicago deep dish. It was good, but I think I prefer little thinner pizzas.

After returning to the station, we boarded our train about 2:45. This is train #3 the Southwest Chief. It is a Superliner train so doubledecker cars. Our rooms are across the hall from each other in the middle of the upper level.

Our train usually goes straight to Kansas City through Illinois and Iowa, but instead we headed South and went to St Louis. We pulled in to St Louis around 9:30 and it was cool to see the arch and downtown. I don’t think I have ever been there so it was nice getting to go somewhere new. After St Louis, we headed to KC. The normal schedule shows leaving KC at 10:55 PM, but we pulled out around 5:30 AM so we were running around 6 hours late because of the detour. Let me just say that I do not care. Since we are on this train and are not worrying about any connections, it can be as late as it wants. More time on the train!

We passed through Hutchinson, Ks at 10:30 AM. First time I have seen this town in the daylight. Here is a pic (a couple of people will understand the significance of this town).

By the time we stopped in La Junta for a chance to step off the train, we were about 7.5 hours behind schedule. Before we got to the Raton pass, our lead engine went bad so they stopped us to wait for another one. While we were waiting the second unit shut down. They finally got a freight unit hooked up and we pulled out of Trinidad at 8:30 pm, 11 hours late. Things are great, 11 extra hours on the train!

On the outskirts of Las Vegas, NM, after almost everyone else was sleeping on the train, the freight engine shutdown and the train cam to a halt. The only reason I knew what was happening is i was listening in on my scanner. After 45 minutes and a call to the helpdesk, they got going again.

We finally pulled into Lamy, NM at about 3:00 AM Saturday morning. About 12 hours and 40 minutes late. The only problem I had with this is the fact we had a four hour drive back to Amarillo. I felt good but after the first hour I was too out of it. I had not gotten any sleep that night. Vicky took the wheel and drove almost all the rest of the way.

I have written down some random observations and comments I want to make, but I will save them for the next post and after I get some sleep. I hope you will check back for that post later today or tomorrow.

We were on our way down from the Sears Tower when I got a message from Amtrak that our train from Chicago to Lamy was canceled and there would not be any alternate transportation available. I was stunned! My heart sank and I was quite upset.

We returned immediately to the station and they told us to hold tight, that the trains status was still up in the air. As of now, the train is still going to run but on an alternate route, putting us very late into Lamy. Fine with me!!! More time on the train!

Praise God he has taken care of this. More to come.

Our bus ride will be from Boston to Albany where we are suppose to be on trains the rest of the trip. The schedule shows us on a bus for 5 hours, but drive time from Boston to Albany is only like 2. Hopefully, our bus will go direct and not have to make all the scheduled stops. We shall see.

Not a large zoo, but real nice. I love sitting staring at the gorillas close up.

After a quick lunch at the zoo, we headed back to Long Wharf to catch a boat to the Boston Harbor Island called George’s Island. There is a very cool old fort on the island. However, rain would mess things up.

I have to say, it has rained several times this week, however, it has ALWAYS rained while we were inside somewhere. It has never rained when we were outside or wanted to be outside. During the boat ride, it began to POUR. The boat stopped at another island first and it was still coming down. As we pulled up to George’s Island, it totally stops raining!

We walk around the fort for about thirty minutes before a park ranger comes around gathering everyone up because of lightning. They then made everyone take the next boat off, still, we hardly got a sprinkle on us.

We got back to Long Wharf and got dinner at a local restaurant (no not McDonalds). Then we boarded a stinkin PACKED train back to our hotel. Each stop, just when I thought no one else could fit on this train, more would get on.

Now, we are back at the hotel getting our bags organized and the boys are playing restaurant in the other room. As I said before, our first leg of the trip home will be on a bus, from Boston to Albany. However, the other portion we were bussed on coming here is now been restored! So we should be be train all the way after Albany. An answered prayer for sure!

I may try to make a post tomorrow, but it may not be until Thursday in Chicago before I get a chance.

We then hit the Freedom Trail which is a brick trail that leads you to many historical sites.

State House

Cemetery where Samuel Adams and Paul Revere are buried.

Paul Revere’s house.

This is the church where the dude hung the lanterns (One if by land, two if by sea).

We then got a little time to relax back at the hotel before heading to Fenway for a Red Sox game against the Diamondbacks.

It started raining after we got there and the tarp was on the field. Fortunately our seats were under the cover. The rain let up and they got the game started about 7:30. Fenway is a cool experience. It is almost like the fans feel like they can really make a difference on the field. I do not know a whole lot about the Red Sox, but I thought Josh Beckett was a soccer player. Also, someone actually named their kid Coco Crisp. Coco Crisp. They named him Coco Crisp. He plays center field for the Sox.

Anyway, the Sox lost 2-1. It was fun anyway. The park was very full and seemed full of tradition. Very cool.

We did a lot of walking today and have quite a bit tomorrow so I better get to bed. More tomorrow.

Course, since it was Sunday morning, I got on for to them for not going to church.

Stephen even got to drive when we were in the water.

After the tour, we went to a nearby mall and grabbed some lunch in the food court. Then we went and spent a couple of hours at the Museum of Science and Natural History.

We then went over to the Boston Aquarium and saw a bunch of fish. Oh, they also had penguins.

We finished there a little too early for dinner, so we walked around downtown a bit. We ran across a street performing group from New York that was dancing and other cool stuff. They are called Team Breeze (Youtube video )

We then caught the train back towards our hotel and stopped at a local Mexican place for dinner. Now we are back and Vicky is down the street doing some laundry.

Amtrak called me today. They said some track construction is going on between Boston and Albany so we will have a bustitution. DOH!!! On a good note, chances are good the train we were bussed for on the way here will be running again by Thursday. Its not yet, but I have read is should be.

This train is different from every other train we have ridden. Instead of the two level Superliners they use on western routes, this is a single level train.

The sleeper rooms are very similar to the superliners with a few differences, most notable the inclusion of a toilet and sink in every room.

All sleeper passengers are invited to a wine and cheese tasting in the diner before the train leaves the station. Vicky and I got hammered and went to bed to sleep it off. Okay, not really, just Stephen and Michael got hammered. Okay, for real we all just had the non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider.

After, we had our rooms converted for sleeping and hit the pillows. Everyone slept real well. I did not sleep too much, but more than last night. I decided to get up early, shower and be ready to step off the train in Cleveland for a few minutes. We arrived into Cleveland about 15 minutes early (5:50 am). I stepped off for about 20 minutes while the rest of my family was still hung over, er, I mean sleeping. The station is right next to the Cleveland Browns stadium.

After getting back on, I enjoyed quietly watching America roll by. Stephen finally woke up and I went with him down the hall to get a shower. By the way, this was our first times to take showers on the train. Interesting experience showering on a moving train.

Vicky and Michael finally got up and we all went to breakfast. The dining car on this train ain’t near as nice as the others. Like I said, it is single level so there is not near as much room.

After returning from breakfast, our attendant changed my room back to seating and left Vicky’s with the beds down. The kids laid down and we sat in my room as we rolled through Pennsylvania and on into New York. We stepped off again in Buffalo.

We got a late lunch time of 1:30 and Vicky and I had hamburgers and the kids ate mac & cheese. After lunch, we did not have much more time on that train as we would soon arrive in Albany to catch our final train to Boston.

We got to Albany about 40 minutes early and watched them unload our luggage and put it on the next train in the pouring rain. I am was sitting there just hoping we would have something dry in them.

This is a pic of the train we got off (on the right) and the one we were getting on (left) for our final leg.

We boarded train 448 at about 4:00 and went to our seats in Business Class. This train is very short. It consists of 3 engines, 1 baggage car, 1 Café car that is half café half business class, then two additional coach cars. This is not an overnight train so no sleepers. I opted for business class because then you are guaranteed really nice seats and I knew by this time in our trip we would want to get some sleep.

We got to Boston early, around 9:30. We found our local trains and got to our hotel room and in bed before 11:00.

We got up early Saturday and left the hotel at 7:30. We traveled by train to Boston Long Wharf and got a harbor boat to Quincy, MA.

Right next to the boat stop in Quincy is the World War II era USS Salem. It is a heavy cruiser. We spent about an hour touring the boat.

We took the harbor boat back to Long Wharf where we grabbed some lunch at a famous local restaurant (McDonalds). We then grabbed another boat and road over to the Charleston Navy Yard. There we toured the USS Constitution, the oldest sailing ship in active duty.

The USS Cassin Young which is a WWII destroyer.

We also checked out the USS Constitution Museum.

After taking the boat back to Long Wharf, we rode the train back out to our hotel where we grabbed dinner at Fast Eddie’s Pizza & Subs (local color).

Boston Day 2 coming tomorrow.

We found are rooms quickly. They were a lot roomier than we expected (we are in smaller rooms than we did on previous trips). Our attendant seems like a really nice guy.

After a couple hours, we got our dinner reservations for 5:30. We went to dinner as we pulled into Raton, NM. Vicky had Roasted Game Hen (fancy words for chicken), Stephen had a hot dog (one of the best I have ever tasted), Michael had pizza and I had steak. We were all happy and retired back to our rooms around 6:30.

Around 8:00 we arrive in La Junta, Co where we got off the train for close to 20 minutes.

After leaving La Junta our car attendant came by and converted our room to beds. All that space we had before went away real quick! There was about 1 square foot of floor space with the beds converted.

I, of course, did not sleep much. I do not say that “I did not sleep good,” because I did not mind. I was on a train! When not sleeping, I enjoyed looking out the big window and watching the country go by. I would also listen in on the train crews radios. A common railfanning thing to do is to bring a scanner along and listen in to all the train crew chatter and business. It has been cool! I know know why we are stopped when stopped or why the electricity is out in our car.

Because of our detraining in Kansas City at around 8:00 AM, breakfast was served early. We were up and in the dining car at 6:00. It was packed and we spent a good 45 minutes in there. We all had French Toast with sausage. It was excellent.

We went back to our rooms and our attendant had already converted them back to seating. We waited about an hour until we pulled into KC. They have a really nice station there.

The plan now is everyone going to Chicago will be bussed from KC to Chicago. So we left the station and boarded a bus. Unfortuantly, our bus was the last to leave and we did not get away from KC until 9:30.

After stopping for lunch around 1:00, I took charge of the entertainment on the bus. I pulled out a couple of DVD’s and played them on the buses tv system. I also arranged for the US Navy Blue Angels to put on a brief performance for the whole bus.

We arrive via bus into Chicago around 7:00 and we are now in the lounge waiting for our train to Albany. Praise God! We made it and did not have to be bussed anymore. He answered my prayers.

More to come.

The good news is Lamy has a wireless internet connection (probably shared by the whole town). However, we got some bad news last night.

Due to the flooding in Iowa and Illinios, the train we are getting on here is being stopped in Kansas City. The plan now is to ride a bus (woo hoo) from KC to Galesburg, Il then a short train from there to Chicago. However, yesterdays passengers that were making connections East (like us), were bussed all the way to Toledo to catch the connecting train. That would be one long bus trip that I am not looking forward to.

So that means we may not see Chicago until our return trip. We shall see. I am just hoping we make it in a timely manner and with all of our luggage.

More to come whenever I can.

Wednesday, June 18th
Drive to the metropolis of Lamy, NM where we will catch the train, Amtrak’s Southwest Chief

Thursday, June 19th
Arrive in Chicago where we will spend a few hours before catching another train, the Lakeshore Limited

Friday, June 20th
Arrive in Albany, NY where we will switch trains again that will take us to Boston. We are scheduled to arrive in Boston at 9:45 pm

Saturday, June 21st through Tuesday June 24th
Four days to explore Boston (Yes, this includes a Red Sox game)

Wednesday, June 25th
Depart Boston to Albany where we will switch trains again. Leave Albany on the Lake Shore Limited bound for Chicago

Thursday, June 26th
Arrive in Chicago and have a few hours before boarding the westbound Southwest Chief

Friday, June 27th
Arrive back in Lamy and drive back to Amarillo.

We hope you will enjoy reading about our little adventure. Don’t forget you can subscribe on the top right of this page to receive e-mails when there are new posts.

This has been a fun trip. We hope you enjoyed getting a small taste of what we did. Thanks for sharing our journey with us.

Craig, Vicky, Stephen & Michael

After returning from the museum, we hit Benihana’s for lunch right next door to our hotel. We then headed out to the big tent downtown to attend Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo.

This is my third Cirque show and as usual, it was stinkin incredible. It is amazing what these performers can do, and never see any mistakes. If you have not been to a traveling Cirque show, you really should. You will not be disappointed.

We will be checking out in the morning and heading back to A-town. We went through New Mexico on the way here. I decided to go 287 going back which will take us through the Oklahoma panhandle instead.

I will make one more post concerning this trip when we get back tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

That took us to Emeryville across the Bay Bridge where we boarded Amtrak #6, the California Zephyr.

We moved into our rooms and settled in for the trip.

I have had some friendly conversations with the conductor, which is always cool. He keeps us up to date on what is going on.

We past the moth ball fleet (bunch of old Navy ships in mothballs). The most notable ship there was the USS Iowa battleship. We could only see the front end (numbered 61), but I snapped a shot. It is the curved front end.

About an hour after departure, they announced breakfast was being served so we went to the dining car and ate French toast.

This train is notoriously late. Our first delay is having to stop just west of the Sacramento station. There were two other Amtrak trains in the station and we had to wait for one to leave. We pulled in and got to step off the train for a few minutes.

Later on, we got stuck behind a freight train that went into some emergency stop. That delayed us 2.5 hours into our
next station (Truckee, CA).

For lunch I had a grilled chicken sandwich. Vicky had a salad, Stephen mac & cheese and Michael a hamburger. For
dinner I tried the lamb shank, not too good, Vicky had the roasted chicken (it was good), Stephen and Michael had
the same as lunch.

We all went to bed about 9:00 Pacific time. Everyone slept real well. This was the first time on a train I slept
real good. The past times I wanted to look out the window the whole time, but last night I was stinkin tired. I have
heard it said that sleeping on a train really stimulates dreaming. Well, that is totally true for me. I had very
vivid and interesting dreams. I don’t remember them, but I remember having them.

We got up this morning just as we were pulling into Salt Lake City at 6:37 Mountain time. We dressed and headed to
breakfast where we again all had French Toast. (if you cannot tell, train travel seems to be eating times with
short breaks between). This is the life! Seriously, we spend the time enjoying our country passing us by out the
window. This is the same places we flew over just two days ago and really did not appreciate it at all. Now, we get
to see it all up close and personal.

So after breakfast, we were told we were 2.5 hours behind schedule. That means a 10:30 arrival into Denver unless we
make up some time. They do pad the schedule in places so it is possible.
We entered Colorado around 12:45 (MT) while we were in the dining car eating lunch. Vick and I went with the burger
this time and the kids both did mac & cheese.

As side note about the dining car. Meals used to be cooked to order on board. Because of federal cutbacks, an
attempt was made to save money by offering pre-cooked meals that are heated up on board in convection ovens.
Obviously, the food is not as good as it used to be, but is is okay.

When Amtrak was started back in 1971, it basically replaced all the private railroads who did not want to run
passenger service anymore. They were losing too much money. For some reason, the federal government thought that
Amtrak should be a profit making company without federal subsidies, which is impossible. There is not a public
transportation in the world that is profitable without subsidies. Airlines have airports, FAA and air traffic
controllers all subsidized. Buses and even personal car travel is subsidized by all the roads that have been built.
All this to say that Amtrak does not need less subsidies, they need MORE. In this day and age, rail service should
be increasing. But this will not happen if our federal government does give Amtrak the money they need.

Back to the trip. We got slow orders before Glenwood Springs, CO to 50 mph because of heat. Because of welded
rails, when they get too hot, they have no where to expand . This can cause heat kinks so they have to slow trains
down. Who would have thought Colorado would be so HOT. This is not looking good for an on time arrival into Denver.

We ate dinner at 5:00 and enjoyed our last meal on a train for a while. After, we retired to our room to enjoy the
Rocky Mountains before it got too dark. The train snakes along the Colorado river all the way to Winter Park, CO.
Great scenery!

Here we are off the train at a couple of stops…

Somewhere in California:

Reno, NV:

Glenwood Springs, CO:

Here are a few pics from around the train…

In our adjoining rooms:

The passageway out side our rooms:

The passage between cars:

Stairway to the lower level of our car:

In the Sightseer Lounge car:

In our room watching the GPS on our laptop:

Around 8:00, we went through the Moffett tunnel. This is a very long 6 mile tunnel. Before it was built, the route
went OVER the mountains. It was 33 miles and took 5 hours. The tunnel takes 12 minutes!

Here is a picture of the inside of the Moffett Tunnel!

They announced we would arrive in Denver two hours after the tunnel. We arrived into Denver at 10:00 pm, two hours late. We then jumped on a light rail train that took us back to the station where our van was parked. Then the to hotel.

That is all for now. More tonight.