We are now on board our train. However, we will not be leaving until 8:30 or so. We are getting dinner at 5:30 while still sitting in the station.

We have arrived at Albuquerque’s Amtrak station. Nice building but NO WIFI.
Normally the train would leave here at 4:45 but due to delays in the train leaving Chicago we will not depart until 7:00. Only 6 more hours to wait.
Our train is actually already here but we have to wait for all the buses to arrive. Hopefully they will let us board early.

It looks as if the track problems are going to last at least a week. I have found out that we can leave FROM Lamy on a bus, but that they might not have a bus BACK to Lamy when we return next Saturday.

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.

Well, got word a little while ago that we will indeed be on a bus from Lamy to Albuquerque. I realize that is not too bad, about an hour and a half train time turned into bus time.

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.

The Mashburns are again headed out on a family vacation. This year we are going West coast to San Diego. Once again I will do a blog during our trip and hope you enjoy it. Here is our itinerary…

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.