Day 18!


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North America » United States » Nevada » West Wendover
February 18th 2007
Published: February 19th 2007
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Darius on the platformDarius on the platformDarius on the platform

Awaiting the arrival of the Number 6 California Zephyr
After leaving the hotel this morning we had a 3-minute cab ride to the Amtrak station in Emeryville, CA. As I stated in an earlier entry, Emeryville is the farthest Amtrak goes. From there, there’s a $6 bus connection that continues across the bay into the heart of San Francisco if that’s where you’re heading. To keep things simpler, we avoided having the bus ride by just staying in Emeryville prior to our departure. Check-in and one cup of chai tea later we were homeward bound! The number 6 California Zephyr left Emeryville at 9:15 this morning headed for Chicago. The scheduled arrival is Tuesday afternoon though since things always run behind, we’ve no idea when we’ll actually be there. Our connecting train to Cincinnati leaves 2hrs 45min after our scheduled arrival in Chicago so we’re curious what the arrangements will be if we miss it. We’ve been told by some that Amtrak sometimes puts people on one of their buses which will then catch up to the missed train at one of its stops. That’s easy to believe since the trains tend to stop to let other trains by or pickup passengers at numerous stops along the way. We got
Acacia on the platformAcacia on the platformAcacia on the platform

It's here. All aboard!
some great views of Donner Pass this evening! When we went through on the way out here, it was already getting a little dark for the evening so the pictures weren’t quite as sharp. Today’s came out much better. We settled into roomette #2 in car 631. We quickly requested a room change from the conductor and room steward based on the lessons learned on the way out. Room #2 is right next to the drink station which has orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, ice, and hot coffee all day. The problem with this? It becomes the conversation/meeting place at 6 in the morning as people start to wake up. They might as well be having their conversations right in your room! Arthur, our steward for this trip to Chicago, checked the schedule and was able to give us room #9 which is clear at the other end of the car. Props to him! It’s much quieter at this end. The downside is that we’re right next to the door to the next sleeper car, but I don’t expect that many people will be moving car-to-car once it gets late. We’ll see. We’ll gladly take the gamble as opposed
Roundin' the bendRoundin' the bendRoundin' the bend

The front of our train rounding a bend on Donner Pass
to the guarantee of water cooler-talk at 6:00 every morning. We had lunch with Sue and Alice, two counselors from a school near Grand Junction, CO. They’re returning home after attending a 3-day conference facilitating the meeting of neuro-science professionals with the educational professionals who stand to benefit from their research in San Francisco. It sounded quite interesting from the short description we got from the ladies. After a wonderful lunch and some games/reading, we were lucky enough to sit with Sue and Alice again for dinner this evening. The meals have again been great as Acacia had the cheese ravioli and fresh fruit (the fruit was a little lacking but I suppose that’s to be expected this time of year) for dinner while I had the country-fried steak and cheesecake with strawberry topping. We inquired about the possibility of an open bedroom either of our two nights on this train but the conductor said they’re booked pretty solid. Looks like we’ll be spending the full 2.5 days here in the roomette. Time to take in a DVD and get some shut-eye. Tomorrow morning we should awaken somewhere near the Utah-Colorado border.


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Alice & SueAlice & Sue
Alice & Sue

Our interesting people of the day!


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