The Details

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Alright Friends,

We are at less than a month away from the trip so it is time to start writing about this crazy journey. I figured it was time to start this posting of the journey that Jennifer and I are taking.



As you can see on the map with this entry we are taking the train up to the Pacific Northwest where we will be spending time in Vancouver and Seattle before returning to Los Angeles on the train. We will be gone about 10 days and have exciting things like an ATV tour in Whisler, we will be visiting of course Starbucks and the space needle and the Markets of Seattle.



So lets get started...shall we...



The Equipment

We will be traveling in an Amtrak Roomette (See pictures) sleeper. This allows us to have the comfort of a chair by day but the sleeping area of a twin (generous description) bed by night. The roomette is on the upper level of the Amtrak Superliner cars that were built in the late 80's. These are double decker cars unique to routes west of Chicago.

For a virtual tour of the superliner cars visit: http://tour.amtraktrains.com/



By choosing to travel in First Class we have access to the Pacific Parlour car which is a left over from the heyday of railroading. This car comes from the famous El Capitan service that was run by the famous Santa Fe Railroad. This car has been dubbed by many who have ridden on her as a living room on wheels. This is a similar car to the lounge car but restricted to just sleeper passengers. By hanging out here we will have views of the coast or the mountains no matter which side our rooms are on. We also can choose to eat our lunch or dinner in this car which has a different menu than the standard dining car.

For more information on the Pacific Parlour Car see the link : http://www.pacificparlourcar.com/



The Train

We will be traveling aboard the Amtrak Coast Starlight, this is Amtrak's premier route and has all the bells and whistles of train services. The trains consist various depending on the season but is usually made up of 2 locomotives, a baggage car, 1 transition sleeper(allows crew to move from the single level baggage car to the double decker train cars), 3 sleepers, the Pacific Parlour Car, Business Class Car, Diner, Sightseer Lounge Car (closest thing to a dome car on Amtrak), and 3 coaches.



The Route

Warning might be tedious and boring

Our stops on this trip include:




California

Los Angeles Union Station (Terminus)

Burbank/Bob Hope Airport

Van Nuys

Simi Valley

Oxnard

Santa Barbara

San Luis Obispo

Paso Robles

Salinas

San Jose

Oakland (Jack London Square look out for pictures of the train going down the middle of the street)

Emeryville

Martinez

Davis

Sacramento

Chico

Redding

Dunsmuir



Oregon

Klamath Falls

Chemult

Eugene-Springfield

Albany

Salem

Portland




Washington

Vancouver

Kelso-Longview

Centralia

Olympia-Lacey

Tacoma

Seattle (Terminus)



The stops are the same going or coming its the times that change. As we go through these places I will be taking pictures to post with the blog and I plan on writing daily. The route I have described above takes just about 36 hours to traverse with stops assuming everything is on time.



To be continued




There will be more next week as I describe the train and track that we will be taking from Seattle to Vancouver and back. I will then write a pre trip blog for both cities talking about our accommodations and what we plan on doing in each city. As anyone who knows me can speak to I don't stick to plans so don't think I am giving all my secrets away before the trip even starts.

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Photos

Coast Starlight
A view of the Coast Starlight as it runs along the coast between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo

The place to sleep
On the left side is the daytime configuration and on the right side is the night time configuration. This is the sleeping area that Jennifer and I will be sharing for 32 hours.

Pacific Parlour Car
This is a different view of the PPC and its comfy chairs and great windows. This is the closest that you can get to the old dome cars.

Pacific Parlour Car
A different view of the PPC. The PPC is a car that is able to be used by Sleep Class passengers only and affords great views out both sides of the car.

The Dining Car
As sleeper passengers all of our meals will be included this is the dining car of the train.