M
Mjo
Guest
This summer we are taking our 7 and 10 year old kids on an epic train adventure! We have an annual family reunion in Clayton/1000 Islands in upstate NY, and we usually bring our pop up and camp in VT or Canada on the way home as our family vacation. This year we’re seriously shaking things up instead. We are doing this over 16 days, using a 15 day rail pass and paying separately for one leg since it’s a 16 day trip, and still incorporating hitting up the family reunion. I’ve been planning this out since November.
The federal government also instituted this “Every Kid in a Park” initiative this year to drum up interest in our national parks and monuments (and I suppose because it’s the 100th birthday of the NPS). The parameters are that every family with a 4th grader present and carrying their pass, gets free admission to all national parks and monuments, from Labor day 2015 to this coming labor day 2016. And wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got a 4th grader. So we’re spending several $K on train tickets to save a couple hundred bucks at the parks, ha ha. Still, the kids are the perfect age for it and it’s a great excuse to get to several parks and have them see the country. Great idea.
Here’s the itinerary. I know many of you suggest never having an Amtrak connection depart the same day, but that would put us well past the amount of time we can take off from work. We just aren’t in a stage of our lives where we can operate like that. I think the riskiest connections have the most time built in, so hopefully this will be okay. Please let me know if you think otherwise!
We leave NH by C&J bus bound for South Station in Boston.
We take the Lakeshore Limited from Boston to Syracuse, arriving an 9:49pm and taking a taxi to the airport for a rental car. This leg is our one leg in coach. I’m a little worried about making it to the airport in time to rent our car. There’s a slight possibility we might have to stay over. Then we drive up to Clayton NY (1000 Islands) for our 2 day annual family reunion. After the reunion, we drive up into Canada, through Toronto and down to Niagara Falls (park#1). At midnight, we get back on the Lakeshore limited in Buffalo, headed to Chicago. We are in roomettes, so hopefully kids get some sleep. Do you think the Amtrak attendants will see that we have kid passengers boarding at midnight and already have beds pulled down? In Chicago (arriving at 9:45 am), if Amtrak isn’t too late, we’ll spend a few hours with my cousin, walking around downtown a little. Then it’s on to the Southwest Chief to Williams JCT AZ (departing at 3pm), where we take the Amtrak shuttle bus to Williams.
We arrive at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel fairly late even if on time, and then the next morning take the Grand Canyon Railway up to the south rim. None of us have been to the Grand Canyon before, so REALLY looking forward to this. We spend one night at the South Rim at the Maswik Lodge. The next day we catch the train back down to Williams and take an Amtrak shuttle coach to Williams JCT (which arrives only 13 min before the SWC departs, which worries me but the Amtrak agent told me not to worry, this is normal. We have no checked luggage, for what it’s worth- does this sound crazy?).
We get back on the SWC, still headed west and again in roomettes. It’s a late hour again when kids get to sleep, and we arrive in LA at 8:15 am, so not sure how much of this stretch the kids will see. Once in LA, we again rent a car and go visit my sister in Oxnard. She is very close to the beach, and the hope is that the kids can swim in the Pacific, if it’s nice weather. They’ve only ever swam in the ocean in Maine (which they love), so this should be a great treat and hit the spot after all the busy train stuff. Check off seeing the Pacific Ocean. We depart by rental after dinner, making progress toward Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
The next morning we enjoy Kings Canyon and Sequoia, and make our way to Yosemite. We spend one night in Yosemite valley at the Yosemite Valley Lodge. The next evening we return the rental again in Merced, and get on Amtrak’s San Joaquin train to Emeryville/SF. We spend two nights in SF, and then leave bright and early on the California Zephyr, bound for Chicago. We have roomettes on this leg as well. REALLY looking forward to this part of the journey, we’ve heard such good things about the CZ views.
Hopefully the CZ isn’t more than 6 hours late into Chicago (arrival should be 2:50 pm), as we visit downtown again and then hop the Lakeshore Limited back to Boston at 9:30 pm), again with roomettes. I REALLY don’t want to get bumped on this leg. I hear the CZ is a lot more on time now than it used to be- hoping this is true! This is the only time our roomettes aren’t directly across from each other, they are offset by one (3 and 6 vs 3 and 4) but at least they are on opposite sides so we have either view. If roomette passengers in either 4 or 5 are also going from Chicago to Boston and were agreeable to swap rooms when we board, will Amtrak allow this? Not a big deal either way, but it would probably be better for everyone, so why not?
It will be 8pm when we get to Boston, but we then hop a bus up to Dover NH, grab our car, and drive home. If the LL is very late, we might miss our bus window, in which case we might be able to stay at my brother’s till buses resume the next day, not sure.
So that’s our epic adventure planned out. Like I said, been planning since November. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I think I’ve seen every Amtrak Youtube that’s ever been made, more than once. We had to wait a few months to book, but got everything we hoped to, except for roomettes across from each other on that last stretch. The rail passes are really very reasonably priced, but WOW do they get you with the sleeper pricing! I definitely don’t want to do this whole trip coach with a 7 and 10 year old, though.
I took the LL and SWC from NYC to LA as a kid, went from LA to Springfield, MA as a teen, and have done NYC to D.C. and the Downeaster as an adult so I have some idea what we are in for, but aside from the Downeaster, it’s been decades. The kids have only ever done the Downeaster. I’m a total noob to this site, but very glad I found it!
Thanks for reading. Suggestions and advice very welcome!
The federal government also instituted this “Every Kid in a Park” initiative this year to drum up interest in our national parks and monuments (and I suppose because it’s the 100th birthday of the NPS). The parameters are that every family with a 4th grader present and carrying their pass, gets free admission to all national parks and monuments, from Labor day 2015 to this coming labor day 2016. And wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got a 4th grader. So we’re spending several $K on train tickets to save a couple hundred bucks at the parks, ha ha. Still, the kids are the perfect age for it and it’s a great excuse to get to several parks and have them see the country. Great idea.
Here’s the itinerary. I know many of you suggest never having an Amtrak connection depart the same day, but that would put us well past the amount of time we can take off from work. We just aren’t in a stage of our lives where we can operate like that. I think the riskiest connections have the most time built in, so hopefully this will be okay. Please let me know if you think otherwise!
We leave NH by C&J bus bound for South Station in Boston.
We take the Lakeshore Limited from Boston to Syracuse, arriving an 9:49pm and taking a taxi to the airport for a rental car. This leg is our one leg in coach. I’m a little worried about making it to the airport in time to rent our car. There’s a slight possibility we might have to stay over. Then we drive up to Clayton NY (1000 Islands) for our 2 day annual family reunion. After the reunion, we drive up into Canada, through Toronto and down to Niagara Falls (park#1). At midnight, we get back on the Lakeshore limited in Buffalo, headed to Chicago. We are in roomettes, so hopefully kids get some sleep. Do you think the Amtrak attendants will see that we have kid passengers boarding at midnight and already have beds pulled down? In Chicago (arriving at 9:45 am), if Amtrak isn’t too late, we’ll spend a few hours with my cousin, walking around downtown a little. Then it’s on to the Southwest Chief to Williams JCT AZ (departing at 3pm), where we take the Amtrak shuttle bus to Williams.
We arrive at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel fairly late even if on time, and then the next morning take the Grand Canyon Railway up to the south rim. None of us have been to the Grand Canyon before, so REALLY looking forward to this. We spend one night at the South Rim at the Maswik Lodge. The next day we catch the train back down to Williams and take an Amtrak shuttle coach to Williams JCT (which arrives only 13 min before the SWC departs, which worries me but the Amtrak agent told me not to worry, this is normal. We have no checked luggage, for what it’s worth- does this sound crazy?).
We get back on the SWC, still headed west and again in roomettes. It’s a late hour again when kids get to sleep, and we arrive in LA at 8:15 am, so not sure how much of this stretch the kids will see. Once in LA, we again rent a car and go visit my sister in Oxnard. She is very close to the beach, and the hope is that the kids can swim in the Pacific, if it’s nice weather. They’ve only ever swam in the ocean in Maine (which they love), so this should be a great treat and hit the spot after all the busy train stuff. Check off seeing the Pacific Ocean. We depart by rental after dinner, making progress toward Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
The next morning we enjoy Kings Canyon and Sequoia, and make our way to Yosemite. We spend one night in Yosemite valley at the Yosemite Valley Lodge. The next evening we return the rental again in Merced, and get on Amtrak’s San Joaquin train to Emeryville/SF. We spend two nights in SF, and then leave bright and early on the California Zephyr, bound for Chicago. We have roomettes on this leg as well. REALLY looking forward to this part of the journey, we’ve heard such good things about the CZ views.
Hopefully the CZ isn’t more than 6 hours late into Chicago (arrival should be 2:50 pm), as we visit downtown again and then hop the Lakeshore Limited back to Boston at 9:30 pm), again with roomettes. I REALLY don’t want to get bumped on this leg. I hear the CZ is a lot more on time now than it used to be- hoping this is true! This is the only time our roomettes aren’t directly across from each other, they are offset by one (3 and 6 vs 3 and 4) but at least they are on opposite sides so we have either view. If roomette passengers in either 4 or 5 are also going from Chicago to Boston and were agreeable to swap rooms when we board, will Amtrak allow this? Not a big deal either way, but it would probably be better for everyone, so why not?
It will be 8pm when we get to Boston, but we then hop a bus up to Dover NH, grab our car, and drive home. If the LL is very late, we might miss our bus window, in which case we might be able to stay at my brother’s till buses resume the next day, not sure.
So that’s our epic adventure planned out. Like I said, been planning since November. I AM SO EXCITED!!! I think I’ve seen every Amtrak Youtube that’s ever been made, more than once. We had to wait a few months to book, but got everything we hoped to, except for roomettes across from each other on that last stretch. The rail passes are really very reasonably priced, but WOW do they get you with the sleeper pricing! I definitely don’t want to do this whole trip coach with a 7 and 10 year old, though.
I took the LL and SWC from NYC to LA as a kid, went from LA to Springfield, MA as a teen, and have done NYC to D.C. and the Downeaster as an adult so I have some idea what we are in for, but aside from the Downeaster, it’s been decades. The kids have only ever done the Downeaster. I’m a total noob to this site, but very glad I found it!
Thanks for reading. Suggestions and advice very welcome!
Most passengers and SCAs will be glad to do this.
