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!
30 Oct 2007 Columbia River & Cape Disappointment
Southern Washington
at sunrise went to cove with view of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and made oatmeal
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Astoria and Washington
Salt Works
North Head Lighthouse
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Camped at "closed for season" Schaffer State Park... scary
at sunrise went to cove with view of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and made oatmeal
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Astoria and Washington
Salt Works
North Head Lighthouse
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Camped at "closed for season" Schaffer State Park... scary
29 Oct 2007 Tillamook & Astoria
29 Oct 2007
Early morning Cyber Garden Coffee Shop
A beautiful oatmeal morning on the sand of a local surfing beach but I ruined it because I dropped my camera in the sand and became very angry. The camera was messed up but it turned out only temporarily, after the majority of the sand came out, it worked normally.
Drawing cows on the side of the road along Three Capes Scenic Route
Cape Mears Lighthouse
found $5 rubber boots
Tillamook Air Station Blimp Hangars
Pizza and salad bar in Astoria
Sunset at the Port with sea lions
Cape Disappointment Haunted Campground
Early morning Cyber Garden Coffee Shop
A beautiful oatmeal morning on the sand of a local surfing beach but I ruined it because I dropped my camera in the sand and became very angry. The camera was messed up but it turned out only temporarily, after the majority of the sand came out, it worked normally.
Drawing cows on the side of the road along Three Capes Scenic Route
Cape Mears Lighthouse
found $5 rubber boots
Tillamook Air Station Blimp Hangars
Pizza and salad bar in Astoria
Sunset at the Port with sea lions
Cape Disappointment Haunted Campground
28 Oct 2007 Oregon Lighthouses
28 Oct 2007
Early morning coffee & breakfast sandwich at Bandon Coffee Cafe, with internet!
Coquille River Lighthouse
Umpqua Lighthouse
Haceta Head Lighthouse
Seafood dinner at hole-in-the wall place
Camped at Beverly Beach State Park
Early morning coffee & breakfast sandwich at Bandon Coffee Cafe, with internet!
Coquille River Lighthouse
Umpqua Lighthouse
Haceta Head Lighthouse
Seafood dinner at hole-in-the wall place
Camped at Beverly Beach State Park
27 Oct 2007 Oregon Caves & Vortex!!!
27 October Saturday
Again, we woke up ultra early and today headed inland. The Oregon Caves have always been a place I wanted to see, being from the Northwest I had heard about them plenty. We paused at the base of the hill for the Caves visitor's center in addition to a latte and scone from a cofee shack. There was a National Parks fee of $20 or so, but we told our sob story to the ranger and she was kind enough to wave it for us. We were on a track to make up for the lost $80 by not paying when we otherwise would. We were fortunate enough to make just make it into the group that did not include the middle school field trip. Of course we had the obligatory talker in the group; there's always one who can't just listen to the tour guide and must crack jokes at every opportunity rather than take in the experience of being in the unique place. There was also a woman who donned her best fragrance for the cave tour, so pungent that I kept trying to cut in front of her in order to breathe freely. The caves were beautiful and spectacular but Fred and I agreed that we would rather go somewhere unguided. Somewhere we could wear our worst clothes because they would get so dirty, and go sloshing through the watery floor and squeezing through tunnels with carbide lanterns, if there are any caves left in that category. Fred has been in that type in the US twenty years ago, and I have only in Thailand.
The Oregon Vortex is another place I had heard about as a must-see, but yet had not. It certainly was all it is cracked up to be. We bought the scientific notes to try and further understand what we saw, but left the place bewildered and amazed!
Camped at Bullards Beach State Park
Again, we woke up ultra early and today headed inland. The Oregon Caves have always been a place I wanted to see, being from the Northwest I had heard about them plenty. We paused at the base of the hill for the Caves visitor's center in addition to a latte and scone from a cofee shack. There was a National Parks fee of $20 or so, but we told our sob story to the ranger and she was kind enough to wave it for us. We were on a track to make up for the lost $80 by not paying when we otherwise would. We were fortunate enough to make just make it into the group that did not include the middle school field trip. Of course we had the obligatory talker in the group; there's always one who can't just listen to the tour guide and must crack jokes at every opportunity rather than take in the experience of being in the unique place. There was also a woman who donned her best fragrance for the cave tour, so pungent that I kept trying to cut in front of her in order to breathe freely. The caves were beautiful and spectacular but Fred and I agreed that we would rather go somewhere unguided. Somewhere we could wear our worst clothes because they would get so dirty, and go sloshing through the watery floor and squeezing through tunnels with carbide lanterns, if there are any caves left in that category. Fred has been in that type in the US twenty years ago, and I have only in Thailand.
The Oregon Vortex is another place I had heard about as a must-see, but yet had not. It certainly was all it is cracked up to be. We bought the scientific notes to try and further understand what we saw, but left the place bewildered and amazed!
Camped at Bullards Beach State Park
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)