Train Trip Across America Part 2

The interesting thing about traveling by train across the north western United States is the different terrain that you cover. Going through Washington, we saw mostly snowy mountains. Somewhere after Spokane, I recall us climbing through the mountains again. My window faced the mountain side at night, so all I could see was snowy trees by the lights of the other windows on the train.

By the time the sun came up, we could see snowy landscapes with mountains in the background. This was a good time to be in the observation car, because you could see out of both sides of the train. I found myself there because I had a hard time sleeping the first night. It worked out, as I was able to see some spectaular views as the sun came up.

Sleeping in the Roomette was interesting. I liken it to sleeping in a small mountaineering tent. You collapse the two chairs in your room into a flat platform and place a sleeping mat over it that already has a sheet on it. This covers most of the room, so I left the upper bunk down and placed my backpack and other stuff up there (I would later learn that my stuff fits up there when it is closed).

As we left the mountains, we also left the snow for a while. We went across the plains of Montana at a rapid pace. You can really see why they call this Big Sky Country as the plains seem to stretch forever on both sides of the train.

A lot of the stations where we stopped were small towns. Some of the larger towns, like Shelby, MT and Havre, MT had enough services that Amtrak made stops to restock and unload refuse. Havre had a sign facing the train that explained the origin of the town name. I found it amusing, and as such, included a photo here.

There’s still a lot of time to kill on the train when you’re not staring out the window. I watched movies like Violent Night, A Christmas Carol (the one with Patrick Stewart), It’s a Wonderful Llife. Those last two, I watch every Christmas. Then to break away from the Christmas theme, I watched Totally Killer, Let It Ride (one of my favorite travel movies), and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanimo Bay. I read a book on packing lightly, and a book about writing. I even took some time to create a Christmas playlist of my favorite songs.

It was a bit surreal watching Christmas movies while I saw houses outside my window with their Chirstmas lights reflecting off the snow.

There were a lot of picturesque views that I didn’t bother trying to photograph, simply because the pictures wouldn’t do them justince or they’d just come out blurry because I’m on a platform moving at high speeds in low lighting.

And, of course I got time to type into my blog.

Now, I’m entering the eastern US, having awoke this morning in St. Paul, MN. I expect a lot more cell service, as the cities are closer together. By the end of today, I’ll have changed trains in Chicago from the Empire Builder to the Capitol Limited.