We Made It

 

The last time you saw us, our Amtrak train was pulling into beautiful Everett, Washington. It has taken me way too long to finish our story!

We came to visit my two brothers and their families. Tim is the youngest and we're all showing our age, because he became a grandfather a few years ago.

Ben is next and his son Alex has also produced 3 grandchildren.

A birthday picnic at a park on Puget Sound was the perfect opportunity to get to know the 5 little ones born since we were there in 2019. As you can see, it was not raining in Seattle!

Later that day we took a short ferry ride with Ben and Kathy, just for fun.

And spent the evening with nephew Kelly, who renovates wooden boats in Olympia.

The next day Tim and my nephew J.C. brought 3 year old Owen for a visit.

He's a big fan of fire trucks (photo courtesy of his dad).

And garbage trucks. 

As well as playing in the dirt. It was fun to get to know him.

More nice weather on a walk along the river.

 

We spent one day at Alex and Hannah's country place in Bellingham.

We had a great visit. Sam was also able to meet his distant cousins, Joan and Moose, in Bellingham!

All too soon, we packed up and took the commuter train to downtown Seattle, to catch Amtrak for the final leg of our journey. 

As in other big cities, Seattle has plenty of interesting sights to see.

Plenty of walking and hauling our stuff around. 

And plenty of food! Near Pioneer Square we found coffee (for Sam) and chai (for me) at Piroshki on 3rd, a Ukrainian eatery featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

The train wandered south through Washington into Oregon, past beautiful countryside. 

Then the tracks took a surprising turn inland,  climbing through remote mountain valleys that still had snow on the ground in mid-May.

By the following morning, we had reached Oakland and the California hills.

A few hours later we passed through towns that are the old stomping grounds of the Staley family. My dad's family had reunions near here for years, and we still have family in towns nearby.

Then Amtrak surprised us again by giving us miles and miles of southern California coastline.

We even went right by the California SpaceX facility, a thrill for Sam and for me, too. We have watched many of their launches.

It was evening by the time we arrived at Union Station in Los Angeles. Seeing these beautiful and historic railroad buildings all around the country was a highlight of our journey. 

After a rejuvenating night in a real hotel bed, we began a day of exploration as we waited for our evening train. We are so thankful we were able to stay with family, friends and in a few hotels along the way. Our railcar coach seats reclined and were more comfortable than airline seats, but frankly, nights on the train were exhausting with very little sleep. Daytime hours were often tedious and restrictive, too. With almost full trains, it was difficult to find a roomy spot in the observation car, so we spent hours with very little exercise. But now that we have recovered from these negative aspects, we are still so glad we made the trip!

In L.A. it was a beautiful day and we were only 2 or 3 miles from the station, so we decided to try to walk. And drag our luggage again. And find interesting food. 

We found many of Sam's favorite flowers, the Bird of Paradise. 

Echo Park near Sunset Blvd. with swan boats and a view of downtown.

Interesting and quiet neighborhoods to walk through. And Sam is a genius at finding fun places to eat. Lunch was at Eastside Italian Deli, which has been there since 1929. Hours later we had a light supper at another deli, the original Philippe near Union Station, established in 1908.

In between we found ourselves traipsing through Los Angeles' Chinatown. 

Pretty, fascinating and fun!

Afternoon treats were awesome at Phoenix Bakery, and evidently have been since 1938.

Finally it was time to return to Union Station for our final ride home to Benson, Arizona. We saw the sunrise in Tucson and half an hour later passed by our crossing in Mescal. Home at last. Many thanks to our new friend Joseph, who gave us a ride home at 6:30 a.m.!

It was a fun trip...but it was SO good to be back at the ranch.

And especially to see our buddies, Dingus Magee and Frankie, who were wonderfully cared for by a new friend from Rover.com. 

Later, my friends!

The Long, Long Train (Ride)

After a couple of suspenseful days in Rhode Island waiting for my passport card to arrive, we were finally able to board an Amtrak train. 

The train ran west through Connecticut, with nice views of water, spring greenery and many towns.

Soon we spotted the New York skyline.

And arrived at Penn Station in Manhattan. It's an amazing modern space. 

We had a three hour layover, so we walked around a few blocks and saw Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and much more.

We found a cute Irish pub for lunch, with a waitress who was really from Ireland.

From there, the train headed north through the Hudson River Valley and even more beautiful scenery. 

We got off the train in Syracuse, New York, rented a car and drove to Kingston, Ontario.

Where we were welcomed by our good friends, Gord and Linda.

They have an amazing home they built themselves. 

It's on a lake north of Kingston and it was warm enough to take a tour on their pontoon boat.

We also toured downtown Kingston and the locks.

Ate some awesome poutine and crammed a lot of fun into two days! I'm so glad we were able to visit. 

On the way back down Lake Ontario, we found a cute lighthouse and walked along the beach. 

We took the train overnight across Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

Ending with a layover at Union Station in Chicago, a gigantic and gorgeous building. 

Once again, we walked around on a quiet Sunday morning and found a busy home-cooking restaurant for breakfast.

The Sears Tower was a few blocks away. It was the world's tallest building when I lived in a Chicago suburb in the 1970s, and I have been to the top. It's now called the Willis Tower.

After Chicago, the train went through Milwaukee and Wisconsin farm country, arriving in St. Cloud, Minnesota at 2 a.m.

Our friend picked us up later that day and had a rough few days ferrying us around because he also still works full-time! What a guy.

My friend and I talked and pulled carrots from the garden. We walked the dogs and went to visit her mom. It was a wonderful visit. 

There's still ice on the lakes that far north. 

Late Thursday night (actually, 1 a.m. Friday morning), we boarded the train for our longest stretch of the journey. By morning (with very little sleep), we were in North Dakota, which was pretty in spots, and a lot of open plains.

Eastern Montana was more of the same open country and we saw a lot of huge farms and fields. We also met some pretty cool people on the train and everyone was wondering if we would reach the mountains before dark.

We made it! At East Glacier, Montana the rail cars began snaking up through deep river valleys surrounded by towering peaks, and we enjoyed an hour or so of changing scenery before night descended.

We spent hours in the observation car, with views in every direction. 

Saturday morning we were halfway across eastern Washington and were soon following the Columbia River and other tributaries west and northwest.

Until we finally reached the apple orchards around Wenatchee and the mighty Cascades!

By 10 a.m. yesterday, we were safely delivered to Everett, north of Seattle, and look forward to a few days with family. 

Gotta go. To be continued!