Finally on my way on the trip that kicked off the great forced stopover, you have to lay over in Albuquerque AGR debate a few months ago. I am planning to sort of blog it as I go along. Right now I got the attendent in the Pacific Parlour Car to reboot the router so we have wifi back. Sort of. Have a good strong wifi signal, but there is apparently not much of a wireless network out there to connect to. Being well past Oakridge in Willamette Pass probably isnt helping.
Started out at 6:00 am this morning, when a friend picked me up to take me to the Everett station to catch the 6:45 Sounder commuter train to King Street Station to catch the Starlight, so the trip is as exclusively rail as I can get it.
Ive only ridden between Everett and Seattle once before. I usually either go south out of Seattle or north or east out of Everett. The line is quite scenic, running along the Puget Sound to just north of Ballard, although I wasnt in much of a mood to appreciate it. I got up 2 out hours before I usually do, and didnt get to bed until 1, having stayed late at work and still needing to pack. Of course I had to dig up all the components of my Amtrak kit: scanner, Altamont Press timetables (4 this time, long trip), duct tape, off brand multi-tool, power strip, and an assortment of chargers. It wasnt that long ago that travel didnt involve a bunch of gadgets , mp3 player, smartphone, laptop, digital camera, scanner (well, Ive been carrying a scanner for awhile), all accompanied by their requisite chargers. Not to mention books. The friend who dropped me off picked up my backpack to help me and said What have you got IN this thing?!
The North Sounder line has gotten to be a political target because the ridership isnt as good as the south line from Lakewood/Tacoma. While there weren't that many people on it at Everett, by the time we got to Edmonds, my car pretty much full, so people are riding it, even with the mudslide factor.
King Street Station. Its the first time Ive been to King Street since the renovation. While it is recognizably the same place, it is day and night compared to the hacked up, grimy, florescent lit triumph of the Mid-60s Greyhound Grunge school of design it was before. It is really quite a gem now, and it is much more functional, with its entire original waiting room restored to service.
My run of bad Starlight luck appears to be over. We actually have a PPC, the Napa Valley, this trip. And despite some posts here, it still has a steam table across from the stairs, although they arent really using it except for using it to hold the cheese for the wine & cheese tasting. While the PPC attendant, Alexis, is pretty good in most respects, every other time Ive done it theyve done the wine tasting through the whole car. Alexis was determined to only use the tables, and turned some passengers away because it the wine tasting was full. To be completely fair though, every other time one of the SCAs was drafted to help, but this time Alexis was doing it all by herself.
The dining car is one of the best organized ones Ive been on. Reservations are called on time, service is genuinely quick. Maurice, who has been my server for both lunch and dinner is friendly, and professional. He is probably about the best waiter Ive on Amtrak in 42 years of riding Amtrak. I had the bratwurst for lunch and the turkey shank for dinner and both were excellent. No pictures, sorry. Feels too weird to take pictures of food at a communal table.
Weve got 3 Superliner II sleepers, and they are fine. While they dont have the updated bathrooms, they also dont have the glaringly bright white florescent hall lights of the Superliner I rebuilds, but rather have the old warm amber that doesnt get through every ***** in the curtains.
So the trip is off to a good start. We actually have full internet connectivity leaving Klamath Falls (OT), so I am going to try to post quickly before it goes away.
Started out at 6:00 am this morning, when a friend picked me up to take me to the Everett station to catch the 6:45 Sounder commuter train to King Street Station to catch the Starlight, so the trip is as exclusively rail as I can get it.
Ive only ridden between Everett and Seattle once before. I usually either go south out of Seattle or north or east out of Everett. The line is quite scenic, running along the Puget Sound to just north of Ballard, although I wasnt in much of a mood to appreciate it. I got up 2 out hours before I usually do, and didnt get to bed until 1, having stayed late at work and still needing to pack. Of course I had to dig up all the components of my Amtrak kit: scanner, Altamont Press timetables (4 this time, long trip), duct tape, off brand multi-tool, power strip, and an assortment of chargers. It wasnt that long ago that travel didnt involve a bunch of gadgets , mp3 player, smartphone, laptop, digital camera, scanner (well, Ive been carrying a scanner for awhile), all accompanied by their requisite chargers. Not to mention books. The friend who dropped me off picked up my backpack to help me and said What have you got IN this thing?!
The North Sounder line has gotten to be a political target because the ridership isnt as good as the south line from Lakewood/Tacoma. While there weren't that many people on it at Everett, by the time we got to Edmonds, my car pretty much full, so people are riding it, even with the mudslide factor.
King Street Station. Its the first time Ive been to King Street since the renovation. While it is recognizably the same place, it is day and night compared to the hacked up, grimy, florescent lit triumph of the Mid-60s Greyhound Grunge school of design it was before. It is really quite a gem now, and it is much more functional, with its entire original waiting room restored to service.
My run of bad Starlight luck appears to be over. We actually have a PPC, the Napa Valley, this trip. And despite some posts here, it still has a steam table across from the stairs, although they arent really using it except for using it to hold the cheese for the wine & cheese tasting. While the PPC attendant, Alexis, is pretty good in most respects, every other time Ive done it theyve done the wine tasting through the whole car. Alexis was determined to only use the tables, and turned some passengers away because it the wine tasting was full. To be completely fair though, every other time one of the SCAs was drafted to help, but this time Alexis was doing it all by herself.
The dining car is one of the best organized ones Ive been on. Reservations are called on time, service is genuinely quick. Maurice, who has been my server for both lunch and dinner is friendly, and professional. He is probably about the best waiter Ive on Amtrak in 42 years of riding Amtrak. I had the bratwurst for lunch and the turkey shank for dinner and both were excellent. No pictures, sorry. Feels too weird to take pictures of food at a communal table.
Weve got 3 Superliner II sleepers, and they are fine. While they dont have the updated bathrooms, they also dont have the glaringly bright white florescent hall lights of the Superliner I rebuilds, but rather have the old warm amber that doesnt get through every ***** in the curtains.
So the trip is off to a good start. We actually have full internet connectivity leaving Klamath Falls (OT), so I am going to try to post quickly before it goes away.
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(Hope that's not you!) :blink:
