Two days on a train - but glad not to be driving through Oklahoma.

As I left town the Missouri River was still rising but the tracks were still dry. The route west from Jefferson City only follows the river for a few miles and then heads into farm land but the eastbound route stays close to the river for close to 100 miles so flooding could be a problem.  It has in the past.

We were 45 minutes late getting out of Jefferson City and the Southwest Chief was already at the station when we got there.  I climbed aboard and got the nickel tour of the sleeper and then retired to my roomette. I read for a while and then tried to sleep as we rumbled and tooted through Kansas.

I "woke up" at about 6:15 Monday to a sunny morning. Once again, it was difficult sleeping.  If you can sleep while someone is jumping on the bed and blowing a horn you should be able to sleep on the train.  I'm not good at that. They say the 2nd night is easier but I only have one night. The sleeper car attendant is Peggy --  a nice lady who keeps everyone happy. She says she sees it like a family.  There were fresh flowers in the rest rooms....thanks Peggy, nice touch.  The train is running late. Had breakfast with a mom and daughter out of southeast Kansas (an hour west of Ft. Scott) going to see relatives in the San Joachim valley of California.  A farm family --Dad stayed home to work the farm. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage patties, whole wheat biscuit/jelly, coffee and OJ.

We were already seeing deer and antelope near Lamar CO plus geese and some huge hawks.  Morning scenery is flat alfalfa fields and the creeks and rivers have water. The jack rabbits are about 4 foot tall and look like kangaroos...maybe they are jackalopes.   Los Animas looks like an oasis in the desert - it's greener here near the junction of the Purgatory River and Arkansas River.  The town looks bigger than when we were stranded there way back in 2002...more substantial.

La Junta was our first smoking stop and crew change.  La junta smells like Russian Olive trees.  In Kansas City they picked up three private cars at the rear of our train. These are privately owned rail cars ...owned by individuals who use them like a private yacht only on the rails. I talked to Peggy and she said they are all refurbished like homes. Some have grand pianos. They have their own staff and don't mingle with us riffraff on the Southwest Chief.  Peggy said she had an offer once to serve as private car staff person but turned it down in favor of steady Amtrak work. Private cars might sit idle for months.

If you ever get to La Junta with time on your hands, visit Bent's Fort NHS...old trading post and way station on the Santa Fe Trail.  Go early when they just open up...they have peacocks on guard duty.  Reenacters man the fort...trader and his wife...so they have to do the morning chores...get fires started, tend the fur presses, etc. It is an impressive place...restored to what it was like 150 years ago.

They say you can see the mountains from La Junta.....I can't. I have to wait about a half hour and then there they are...a gray ridge on the horizon...the front range. First the steep-sided foothills of the Sangre de Cristo's then the outlier Spanish Peaks appear to the north and behind them there is plenty of snow on the higher peaks.  Pikes's Peak is up there somewhere.


We kept getting higher and our ears started popping. You start to see some substantial hills and broken topography west of La Junta...and more trees...scrubby junipers.  Pretty soon everything is much greener and we are pulling in to Trinidad. This coal mining town always looked like it had one foot in the grave but it is looking better. They even have a greenway/bike path alongside the river.

I went to sit in the observation car as we crossed Raton Pass. I took some pictures and chatted with a young woman on her way to CA and then to Las Vegas for grad school. She spoke of plans to open a counseling and rehabilitation center in Europe...maybe Italy...once she gets her masters in Criminal  Justice. She is in the military and was based in Italy while on a NATO security assignment...about a half hour from Venice.  She wants to go back.

Lunch was salad and a bowl of clam chowder with blood orange sorbet and a dinner roll.   I feel that I eat my way across country....my blog title should be  "Ken Eats  Across America".  Lunch companions were from Connecticut and Washington DC. A lady was on her way from CT to CA for a graduation. The young man was just out enjoying the trip and taking pictures.  Those are long trips.

For some reason we (the train) seem to be the center of attention. I counted no less than seven individuals or groups stopped along the route taking pictures of the train. I didn't know we were celebrities. Maybe that's Bill Gates in the private cars.

We have  helpful Amtrak narrator that points out things we should see. He has been spot on most of the time but the three buffalo near Lamy were camera shy today.  I know they are there because I've seen them before.  I have seen more wildlife on this trip than on earlier trips.

There is a large forest fire burning out of control in the Pecos National Forest and the smoke is clearly visible as we went by.  Apache Canyon is another interesting spot with rock walls close to the tracks on both sides. It is slow going because they have to watch for fallen rocks on the tracks.


The train is full with people climbing on and off at each stop. Lamy, the station for Santa Fe was very busy.  On this trip I saw more people plugged in to their electronic devises than before.  It seemed more like an airplane trip with fewer people making an effort to visit or talk.  I hope that's not the way of the future for train travel. In the end, we picked up all of our lost time and reached Albuquerque ahead of schedule.

I picked up my car (Dodge Avenger) and checked into my hotel. The rest of my day was supper and a couple beers at Kelley's and grocery shopping at Walmart.  I'm beat.

Riding the Rails....Again

Well, here I go again.  I need to get back down to Albuquerque to do some serious house hunting. I was thinking about driving but decided to take the train again. I enjoyed the Amtrak trip in March and the cost comparison between taking the train and driving is a reasonable trade off. The train costs a little more but takes less than a day while driving...at my pace...is a lengthy trip with two nights on the road.  The food is better than highway food and the accommodations are not bad. The  cost of renting a car is the main added expense but that still runs less than $200 for the week and I get to drive a new car.  I enjoy the road trip down to NM but if I get this house bought I'll be making a lot of highway trips later this year.

So, on Sunday I catch the local train in Jefferson City at 6:22 in the evening and head to Kansas City where I climb on board the Southwest Chief and we head west at about 11 PM and I'll be in Albuquerque by 4 PM the next day.


I just made this trip in March so my postings might be a little abbreviated unless something comes up.  I have about a half-dozen houses to look at so I might have news on that topic....I hope.

There have been so many storms and tornadoes out in the plains I'm beginning to wonder what Amtrak does under extreme storm conditions.  I'd rather not find out.

Where to next?

Travel options abound right now. I think people are starting to have cabin fever already. It seems early this year, especially since the temperature was in the 70s the last two days. Maybe it is just the time of year. I have some friends who want me to go on a tour to Iceland, Greenland and "some other islands" in the summer. "What other islands?" I asked...but they couldn't say. So how much was this trip? They figured over $10,000 for the two of them. Maybe just $4,500 for me.  Yikes...how bad do I want to go to Greenland? . Another couple is going to the "Spanish Islands". I'm assuming this is the Balearic Islands - Majorca and Ibiza, maybe or the Canaries?

I'm talking up a trip to Ireland with my brother. They went last year and probably don't want to go back so soon so maybe I'll have to wait on that.

My dream trip would be to go to Ethiopia. Sounds odd, right? Look it up. I'm not sure how to work that out. Nobody else I know wants to go to Ethiopia and most have no idea where it is. That's a bucket list thing.

For the time being, I will be content with a rail trip back down to New Mexico. I think I'll go in March by Amtrak and book a "roomette". It would be cheaper to drive but the way I drive I'd spent two nights in a hotel along the way and have to pay for gas and food so the train cost is not so much out of line for me. If two were going it would be much cheaper. The only extra expense would be renting a car in Albuquerque. I've taken this trip twice before and it is enjoyable and you meet some interesting people. The train runs between Los Angeles and Chicago and there are a surprising number of folks who make the entire trip. Some people just don't want to fly. That's a little odd in this day and age but they have their reasons. They all have stories to tell and on the slow transit across the Great Plains there are ample opportunities to spend time with folks you would never meet otherwise.