Vancouver-Bound!

12-5-2012

We are on our way to by Amtrak to Vancouver now to visit Mark and Claire.  We love traveling by train; it is so relaxing and interesting.  Our ticket price included two nights in a "roomette" accommodation (a small private room for two in a sleeper car), three full meals a day in the dining car (not gourmet, but really nice meals, with reasonable choices for each meal) and a porter to tend to the needs of everyone in our sleeper car.  The personality and job-dedication of the porter can make a big difference in the experience, as can that of other personnel such as dining room staff. With one exception, of our 5 US train trips so far those personnel have ranged from good to great; only once did we experience a surly train crew.  This is more important that having good stewards on planes, since on a long train trip like ours crossing the country, you spend a fair amount of time with these folks, and are somewhat dependent on their attention to your needs.  This time, we really lucked out.  Our porter had us situated in our roomette with all our things comfortably stowed and complementary champagne in our hands within 10 minutes of boarding! The following morning after breakfast had been served in the dining room, he passed through our car with complimentary mimosas - twice. That was followed by him delivering the local paper to each of us that he ran out and picked up at a mid-morning train stop each morning. Every night after turning down our beds, he offered really wonderful chocolates (good quality dark chocolate infused with orange). He was unfailingly cheerful, responsive, and helpful, and seemed to really enjoy his interaction with all of us.  The dining room staff seemed to be having a ball, despite the challenge of carrying food for 4 at a time in a dining room with limited space, that rocks and rolls unpredictably underfoot. Because of the limited seating space in the dining room, people are seated at the dining booths with other passengers, 4 to a booth, in the order that you enter the dining room. That is actually one of the things we find so interesting about traveling this way: the opportunity to meet and talk with people from varied backgrounds, different walks of life, and different travel experiences.  On this trip, our dining companions included: 1) two young, fairly heavily tattooed young men wearing "gangsta" style clothing - turned out they were from Milwaukee, commuting to their jobs in the oil fields of North Dakota; they work two weeks on, two off, returning to Milwaukee for their off-weeks, living in "man-camps" at drilling sites during their "on-weeks", during which they work 10-12 hour days, 6-7 days a week.  When the weather is good, the commute by car, when it's potentially bad, they do so by train, to ensure safer travel.  They were disappointed that they were not going to be home with their families for Christmas, but figured they'd at least be back to celebrate the new year together.  2) A dear couple in their 80's, married for 60+ years, who were traveling from Minnesota to visit family on the west coast.  This was their first train trip, and they were as yet unsure if they would travel that way again, finding it difficult to steadily maneuver the narrow aisles of a rocking train, but they had charmed the train crew, one of whom had more or less adopted them and walked them wherever they needed to go so that they could feel comfortable. 3) A couple from Michigan, traveling to the coast to visit family, who were enjoying this first train experience so much they were debating trading in their return plane tickets for return by train instead. 4) A couple traveling to the coast to begin a new mission stint with a church on the coast; they had raised 13 children (his, hers, and several adopted kids), as well as served as foster parents for a number of other children, and talked about the challenges of incorporating these children from backgrounds very different than their own into their own household, talking honestly about their successes and failures in terms of trying to provide these children with a family experience that would stand them in good stead when they were returned to their own families or subsequent adoptive families. These two were also total "techies", each sporting iPhones, ipads, and macs, various interesting audio gadgets and other toys.  Who would have thought....?   There were others, but these folks stood out in my mind.

John in our "Roomette"

Dining Car

Observation Car