All Aboard!!

We made it on the train! After days of rescheduling and not knowing if the train was even going to run... we made it. It was such a sense of relief.

Goodbye's were of course full of hugs, kisses and tears. But Rusty was excited to be leaving Iowa and his parents just wanted to know he would keep in touch.

We had our huge duffle bags with us and my purse which was filled with snacks for our trip. The bags were between 45 - 50lbs a piece. 50 pounds being the maximum amount a carry on bag could weigh; we used his parents bathroom scale to weigh each bag as we were packing them to make sure they didn't go over 50. 

Rusty carried the two heavier bags and I carried the two lighter, although 90 lbs did not feel very light! They made great seats however. The Galesburg train station is very small with seating for olny 20 people and they were all taken. We hadn't eaten anything all day and our train was delayed until 5 PM; we made good use of the snacks we brought.

We were in the last car on the train. Our room was a little bigger than we thought it would be from just looking at pictures online. The ride was more smooth and quiet than we had expected as well. Shortly after we were settled  in our room and the train had pulled away from the station; our attendant came by:

"Miss. Madsen, Mr Brown, welcome aboard. 

My name is Denis and I'm here to help you with anything you might need....".

It felt so official and welcoming especially after what we went though the few days prior just trying to get on the train, He gave us a card with the time of our dinner reservation and explained the controls and amenities of our room and our train car. Included with our fair were all of our meals and at the top of the stairs in our car was a beverage center with ice, bottled water, juice and coffee which we could help ourselves to anytime.

 I loved watching the scenery changed between cities and the open country; and from state to state.  The meal selection was very broad and everything we ate was very good.

Dinner: Green salad & dinner rolls. Fresh steams veggies, garlic mashed potatoes and a tender steak with a horseradish butter sauce.

Breakfast: French Toast, bacon and peach yogurt

Lunch: Bacon cheese burger, pickle spear and chips

Dinner: I ordered the steak again because it was so delicious but we ordered room service and are that meal in our room.

Oh and dessert with lunch and dinner. Cheesecake and fruit crumb cake, both wonderful.

At night, the two seats pull together to make a bed and a bunk folds down from the ceiling. It was quite comfy but we only slept a few hours. We talked and laughed (quietly) till the wee hours of the morning.  Our phones show the weather based on our location, so we kept checking to see where we were. At one point it just said, "current location" so we must have been in the middle of nowhere!

Looking down from the top bunk

It was fun meeting other people on the train. For one of our meals we sat with a very cute older couple in their 90's who had been married for about 60 years. She talked about knowing Al Capone when she was a little girl and how he would buy her and her friends ice cream. Another meal we sat with a very proper couple that we couldn't quite figure out. We didn't know if they were husband & wife or brother & sister. They didn't seem too interested in conversing with us but they did complain to one another about not packing their grapefruit knife for quite a few minutes. It was interesting to say the lest.  On the second day, we shared lunch with a fun young couple on their way to Colorado to ride the rapids. The four of us went to the lounge car after lunch and kept visiting. There, we met another couple who were also going to Colorado and even staying in a same hotel as them. At that point the tracks were running along the Colorado river and the rapids. We kept joking around and wishing them good luck when the water was really choppy. We saw quite a few people riding the rapids as we passed and some were waiving at the train.

This kayaker had tipped over and was in the water. We watched this raft pull him aboard.

Someone in the front raft waiving.

Throughout the whole trip I kept thinking how nice it was to just relax and enjoy the scenery rather than driving the 2,000 miles ourselves. I was so thankful that we were in sleeper car instead of coach so we could really stretch out and kick up our feet. I'm so glad my mom suggested it!

There was no question why the train had been canceled for a week due to flooding. At one point the train stopped so a crew member could get off the train and physically inspect a bridge before we went over it. We were told there are water sensors on all the bridges and it's a requirement that they be inspected if the water is a certain depth. 

The lower portion of this freeway was closed and the bike path below had turned into white water rapids. The water was all the way up to the tree tops!

The flooding was actually intriguing to see although, I felt bad for all the people who lost property from it. We saw miles and miles of flooding. There were, trucks, farm equipment, camping trailers, barns and even an old wooden outhouse standing in feet of water. The rest of the scenery was all different and quite beautiful.

This was just one of the 29 tunnels we went though. We actually had to stop inside one of the tunnels for a few minutes. Some rocks had fallen on the tracks so members of the crew got of the train to move them. Another time a deer was on the track and knocked a brake hose loose so we stopped for about ten minutes while the crew fixed it. I loved that the staff kept us updated on why we had to slow down and few times we had to stop. In the lounge car, they also announced landmarks and interesting history as we passed.

   

The trip almost ended too soon. I had such a great time. We were talking about going again next year and taking the kids. I think they would love it!