One of the marvels of travel is the time dilation effect. I left my home last Tuesday about 1 p.m., and returned Friday night around midnight. Staying at home, those few days would have passed in the blink of an eye. Returning, however, I was almost surprised that the seasons hadn't changed during my absence.
I speak, of course, of my first-ever ride on the California Zephyr. I flew to San Francisco on Tuesday, and stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport, a hotel selected largely because of its furnishing a free airport shuttle. Up early Wednesday morning, back to the airport by shuttle, and caught a BART train from a station located inside the International Terminal. For those keeping score, the fare was $9.65 plus another $3 for a rechargeable Clipper card (like Seattle's Orca) -- BART apparently doesn't sell individual paper tickets.
I got off downtown at the Montgomery Street station, and walked a couple of blocks to Amtrak's unimpressive bus stop, in front of a Chase Bank at 555 Mission Street. I arrived over a half hour early, because of my extreme caution, and after having mentally gone over every detail in this series of moves to avoid any miscalculation. Some folks would have simply taken a cab from the hotel, but they miss out on the sense of adventure.
The bus left promptly at 8 a.m., and carried me and fewer than ten other passengers across the Bay Bridge to the Amtrak station at Emeryville. The day was beautiful, as was every day on the ensuing trip. The view of San Francisco from the bridge was fit for a travel poster, glittering in the morning sun.
The train that awaited me was not long -- three sleeper cars, two coaches, a dining car and a lounge/café. The diner -- as we were often reminded in the days to come -- was exclusively for sleeping car passengers. The café provided take-out food and drinks for both classes.
I had a roomette, the same accommodation I've had on the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder. All of Amtrak's sleepers west of Chicago are identical in design. I sleep very comfortably in roomettes, and always enjoy the experience.
The train left promptly at 9:10 a.m., with surprisingly few passengers. We picked up considerably more, however, at various California stations, especially Sacramento. Shortly past Sacramento, we began crossing the Sierras. I had been looking forward to the views of the Rockies in Colorado, but had overlooked how impressive the Sierras might be from the train. It began getting dark not long after leaving Reno, and was light again by the time we reached Helper, Utah.
Amtrak's meal service has improved considerably, as I discovered at Christmas heading to Southern California. The dinners especially -- the menu offers a choice of four Appetizers, four Main Courses, and three desserts. Choice of drinks includes complimentary wine, beer, or limited mixed drinks. The food is apparently cooked in the kitchen, below the dining area. I ordered steak the second night, medium rare, and it was cooked to perfection.
Amtrak has abandoned its temporary pandemic practice of not mixing groups at tables. But because of a rather small number of passengers on this run, I found myself with only one other person each meal. Everyone I talked to at these meals expressed displeasure with the plans of the former Amtrak CEO to eliminate diners, and serve sleeper passengers only in their rooms. We all agreed that the people you meet at meals is one of the more memorable parts of the trip. Nevertheless, I have to admit that a surprisingly large number of sleeper passengers on this trip opted for room service, rather than come to the diner.
Thursday was devoted to crossing Colorado, and climbing over the Rockies. I got some spectacular photos, even though they were taken from a moving train with an older model iPhone. We had a half hour stop in Denver, where I walked around the impressive station, a station that was hosting some sort of black tie reception while we were there. (No, we weren't invited.)
I can't tell you much about Nebraska. I woke up very briefly in Lincoln, and totally slept through a longer stop in Omaha. By the time it was light, we had passed into Iowa. As I wrote on Facebook, Iowa reminded me of parts of Western Washington -- the farm areas, not forests -- except for the fact that every pond, lake, stream, or river was solidly frozen over. An impressively strange sight for a West Coast guy.
Finally, we streaked across northern Illinois, arriving in Chicago at 2:07 p.m. -- 43 minutes ahead of schedule. Don't believe the claim that Amtrak is always late.
My flight home didn't leave O'Hare until 8:35 p.m., so I checked my bags -- free of charge to sleeper passengers -- and walked out into the Big City. It was 25 degrees out, accentuated by a strong, chilling, Chicago wind. I first walked a couple of blocks south to the nearest CTA station, at Clinton, to make sure I knew where to go when the time came. I then walked across the Chicago River and down Adams Street -- a straight shot from Union Station to Chicago's art museum, the Art Institute of Chicago. I stopped for a snack and a bit of warmth on my way, but was quite cold by the time I reached the museum. Admission was $25, and I decided I didn't have enough time or energy to make it worthwhile. But no fee was required to wander around the museum gift shop, which was almost a mini-museum in itself. Last time I was there, in 2008, I bought a souvenir t-shirt, one that I still wear. This time, I just looked.
Back to Union Station, picked up my bags, and caught the CTA to O'Hare at Clinton station (fare just $3 -- N.B. BART!). Chicago's rapid transit is far older, obviously, than Seattle's light rail, but very serviceable. It was gratifying to watch ourselves shoot past the stalled rush hour traffic on parallel I-90.
Plane left and arrived on time, and the great California Zephyr adventure is history. A fairly inexpensive adventure, although I did lose my Kindle somewhere along the way. It needed replacing, anyway.
Will I ever do a similar trip on another long-distance Amtrak route? Need you even ask?
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Photo -- Rocky Mountains from train window.
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