After a nice early Christmas the night before, Mom, Dad and Lisa headed off to Emeryville loaded down with bags of food, presents, and clean clothes. The train left on time - after all this was the Amtrak California Zephyr’s starting point. Mike would be getting on in Davis, a few stops north. He was able to walk to the train station from his house. The plan was for Dad, who had Mike's ticket because he had paid for it, to get off the train and meet him on the station platform of our sleeper car and give it to him so he could board. Dad, however, wasn’t able to find his way down to where Mike was but, luckily, Mike talked his way onto the train and connected with Dad in the aisle headed his ... read more

It was a restless first night for all with the train motion, tight quarters, and “unfamiliar” bedding. Dad was up first, beating the sunrise. He finished yesterday’s blog in the observation car waiting for outside light. The train was moving pretty good across the flats about half an hour outside Salt Lake City when dawn finally arrived. He did not expect to see “the kids” for a long time so he went to breakfast and was engaged in conversation (all passengers have stories to tell) with three other early birds when they arrived at the station. Dad was shocked to see Mike walk by with his coat and hat on, heading back in from an outside break. They reconnected after breakfast in the observation lounge to read the Salt Lake City Sunday paper, kindly left in ... read more

As Lisa and I did after Leg 1, John and I summarized favorites, etc. for the last leg of this cross-country round-trip marathon. Top tier attractions: John • Dealey Plaza • Great music scene in Nashville, Memphis & Austin • Clinton Library • LBJ Ranch • Stax & Sun Records in Memphis • The Alamo • Acoma Mesa • Atomic Testing Museum Vince • Dealey Plaza • Acoma Mesa • Congress Avenue Bridge Bats • Carlsbad Caverns • Threadgill’s - meal plus music • Alamo • Clinton Library • Atomic Testing Museum • LBJ Ranch • Meteor Crater Disappointments: John • Las Vegas • Route 66 Vince • Route 66 • JFK Memorial (Dallas) • Food (plus side is I lost 4 pounds on the trip!) Unexpected Treats: John • Cloud Formations • Waxahatchie • Lincoln, ... read more

We decided we had one priority stop today as an antidote to that extravagant monument to excess that was Las Vegas. We would take the route into California that would enable us to visit the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest on the way to Big Pine and Bishop. CA. This forest, which is well off the beaten path, especially coming from the Nevada side, is the home of the oldest trees in the world. Some date back about 4,000 years! The short growing season and tough soil lead to extremely dense resinous wood that resists insects and disease. As parts of the trees die off, energy is funneled into remaining sections. There is also little underbrush so fires are rare, also supporting these tremendously long lifetimes. We drove through some astounding and really desolate country to reach ... read more

Our first stop today was at Acoma, the oldest continually occupied community in North America. It is the home of a clan of Pueblo Indians that have lived her since around 1100AD. It is a fascinating place. Our guide told us how the Spanish came here, followed by the Franciscans who tried to force the native americans to give up their beliefs in favor of the "one true" Catholic religion. The blending of the two was really interesting and evident in the church and village. The guide was very secretive about the clan's traditional religious beliefs, practices, and rituals, and our attempts to lure more details out of him were mostly unsuccessful. The community is on top of a beautiful mesa on the reservation and can only be visited with a guide. Do it, though, if ... read more