10 Nov 2007 The Empire Builder
10-11 Nov 2007
The Empire Builder was historically operated by the Great Northern Railroad, with service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, inaugurated in 1929. Although it only makes one trip east and one west per day, its schedule is optimized so that Glacier National Park always passes during daylight hours. This means that when we
arrived in Spokane, it was 2:15 am! Our eastbound train the following day was scheduled for 12:32 am. Fred's uncle and aunt were gracious enough to transport us to and from the train station at such unearthly hours. Leaving Spokane however, the train didn't actually depart until around 3 am. The Seattle and Portland legs join in Spokane and continue together to Chicago. Our significant delay was due to the Portland portion running behind schedule. Who knows why... but nonetheless, we had a spectacular show of late-night characters in the station!
We also walked across the street to a neighborhood dive and had one last taste of the local northwest beers. What a treat before our next 48 hours that would be filled with Amtrak food and our own simple bread and apples, and well, some pretty fantastic cheese from a fromagerie in Spokane. We did also pick up a Vosges chocolate bar at a bistro in Cheney (one of the favorite eateries). This bar was a Mo's Bacon Bar. An entirely new concept to us - the marriage of bacon and chocolate! What a pair.
The Empire Builder was historically operated by the Great Northern Railroad, with service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, inaugurated in 1929. Although it only makes one trip east and one west per day, its schedule is optimized so that Glacier National Park always passes during daylight hours. This means that when we
arrived in Spokane, it was 2:15 am! Our eastbound train the following day was scheduled for 12:32 am. Fred's uncle and aunt were gracious enough to transport us to and from the train station at such unearthly hours. Leaving Spokane however, the train didn't actually depart until around 3 am. The Seattle and Portland legs join in Spokane and continue together to Chicago. Our significant delay was due to the Portland portion running behind schedule. Who knows why... but nonetheless, we had a spectacular show of late-night characters in the station!
We also walked across the street to a neighborhood dive and had one last taste of the local northwest beers. What a treat before our next 48 hours that would be filled with Amtrak food and our own simple bread and apples, and well, some pretty fantastic cheese from a fromagerie in Spokane. We did also pick up a Vosges chocolate bar at a bistro in Cheney (one of the favorite eateries). This bar was a Mo's Bacon Bar. An entirely new concept to us - the marriage of bacon and chocolate! What a pair.Our coach car was pleasantly uncrowded. We each took two seats each to curl up on and wouldn't have complained of the impossibility of laying flat to sleep had we known how crowded the cars would be on other routes, and just how luxurious and quiet was this ride on the continuously welded track beneath us.
We woke up rolling through the flatter part of gorgeous Montana... but there was a problem with a neighbor. "Mommy look - cows!" exclaimed the 3 or 4-year-old boy. "Shut up!" the young mother's scratchy scowling voice replied. A few minutes later "Mommy look, a choo choo train!" "Shut up I said! Didn't I tell you to shut up? Will you ever shut up?!" This went on for some time and it was just too much, too sad and the soundtrack just didn't work with the amazing scenery, so we looked at the tag above their seat. Going to Fargo... that's too long to wait. Without further ado, we gathered our belongings and moved to the next car forward.
We were able to go outside for a few minutes in Whitefish to enjoy the fresh Montana air and spent the day observing landscapes of the great north. We slept through most of North Dakota and Minnesota, woke up the next day for Wisconsin and Illinois, arrived in Chicago in the afternoon.
Chicago Union Station - all trains go to Chicago! This is what I imagine all urban railroad stations must have been like in their heyday. Busy, bustling places with people crisscrossing and darting every which way through the terminal. Commuters with swinging briefcases, Amish with black trunks going long distances, and backpackers like us, just taking in the sites and sounds of a new city!
31 Oct 2007 Next Stop: Seattle
31 Oct 2007 Halloween
Batdorf Bronson Coffee Shop in Downtown Olympia
Walking through town
Port and Marina area
Tug
Tacoma and Museum of Glass
Cupcakes
Made it to Seattle!
Batdorf Bronson Coffee Shop in Downtown Olympia
Walking through town
Port and Marina area
Tug
Tacoma and Museum of Glass
Cupcakes
Made it to Seattle!
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