Our Thanksgiving trip was wonderful.
We started in BC on the Wolverine, which was a half-hour late into Kalamazoo. BC was pretty full, but mostly quiet. There was one guy narrating the whole trip, as in, "That's WMU, right next to K College. WMU is a party school. Now we're passing such-and-such. Now we're going through blah blah blah. Oh, here's the bridge. We're almost to Chicago. Now we're on the South Side. There's Comiskey." Nobody was really listening to him, so it was kind of amusing. We couldn't really figure out who he was talking to - maybe the entire car? I could tell he was just excited, but my boyfriend was a little annoyed.
It was my first time in BC with cloth seats instead of leather, but they were still quite comfortable. The HSR track was fun. I took a video and clocked it on my phone's GPS. I uploaded a screenshot of the GPS and the video to Facebook, and a lot of my friends were impressed and said they might take Amtrak to Chicago from now on. Yay!
We were about 15 minutes late to Chicago, and we knew Pat and her husband were waiting for us so we could get in line at Lou Mitchell's, so we sort of hurried to the Lounge. We were really impressed with the Lounge. It was definitely a world away from the regular waiting area. It was quiet, with nice lighting, heat, outlets, free drinks, muffins, baggage check, and so on. We had absolutely zero issues getting checked in, and the redcap took our bags. We looked around for Pat but didn't see her, so we walked to Lou Mitchell's and got in line.
We were both pretty hungry and needed caffeine, the line wasn't moving, and the girl standing behind us was extremely annoying and wearing an ungodly amount of perfume. I asked Brent if he wanted to go back to the station and get something there. We go to Chicago all the time, so we're going to try Lou Mitchell's on one of our future trips when time isn't an issue.
When we got back to CUS, we ate at the Metro Deli since neither one of us had eaten there (we usually go to Gold Coast Dogs). The food was pretty good but nothing special. I did like all of the old posters and ads. Also, we got to watch them put up Christmas decorations in the Great Hall.
We decided to hang out in the Lounge. A couple hours later, Pat and her husband came up and explained that the LSL was three hours late into CUS. We explained we'd already eaten and told them to go ahead and get some lunch if they wanted. We ended up talking for a while, and then we said our goodbyes. Brent and I had to go to the nearby CVS to get some snacks for the trip, and I assume Pat and her husband went to lunch since they weren't there when we got back.
Boarding was quick and easy. The conductor checked everyone in at the counter before we actually boarded. All we had to do was walk to our sleeper car. Our SCA, Anna Maria, introduced herself at the door and asked everyone if it was their first time in a sleeper. After everyone was on-board, she came to each room individually to introduce herself again, explain her duties, and inform us that she had two cars for this trip so to please be patient if she didn't respond to the call button right away. She was very nice and professional. She told us we were in a car with a bunch of first-time sleeper passengers, and I said we'd be fine and would only call if something needed immediate attention.
Soon, we were on our way. I couldn't get over the difference between sleeper and coach. I can't imagine riding in coach again unless it's a day trip. We were able to close our door to block out ambient noise (the door at the end of the car kept getting stuck open), and I was amazed at how much noise it blocked. It did make the room feel smaller, though, so we kept it open as much as possible. Brent and I had plenty of leg room (we're 5'8" and 5'5" respectively), but I did miss being able to put my feet up. Brent had his feet on the little stairs, so I propped my feet up on his seat. There was lots of room for that, and it was comfortable. We had room for all of our stuff, once we figured it out Tetris-style. The closet had our jackets, my purse, and the small overnight duffel, and then we put his backpack and the laptop bag on the stairs.
Anyway, even with the door open, there was hardly any noise, other than the noise from the open door. The people in the roomette near it kept shutting it, but eventually it was a losing battle since so many attendants and conductors were walking through the car. Other than that, we didn't hear the same level of "people noise" that we heard in coach. Nobody had crying kids or babies, and most people closed their doors while they were on cell phones or watching movies on their laptops. It was definitely worth it. I told Brent that, even if we don't have points to use for the next trip, we're never traveling in coach for an overnight again. We were in room #6, right in the middle of the car.
We did get delayed a bit near Galesburg. Steve, my favorite LSA, came on and announced there was a fire in a building near the tracks and the local authorities had halted all rail traffic since the fire wasn't a safe enough distance away from the tracks. He then explained a bit about how Amtrak talks with local dispatch and law enforcement and how we have to abide by certain rules and so on. It was nice that he explained everything. Steve always makes little jokes; we seem to get him every time we ride the SWC. He calls Mendota "the Las Vegas of the east", Princeton is "perfect little Princeton", and Naperville becomes "the Ville of Napers". He has a dry sense of humor and cracks us up.
From then on, it was smooth traveling. We had dinner with an older mother and daughter who had never been on a train before. They were traveling to Needles to visit relatives and then flying home. We had the steak with mushroom sauce (delicious), and they had salmon and chicken. They said theirs was also very good. For dessert, we had cheesecake with blueberry topping. We didn't speak much. Brent and I aren't very good with small talk since we tend to be quite shy, and they were speaking to each other for most of dinner. Once we exhausted the usual topics, we ate dinner in silence, which was fine with me but pretty awkward.
I'd never been in a roomette through Kansas. I should have prepared for the rocking and rolling. I'd untucked my sheets since I hate feeling trapped, but I should have used them to hold me in. I usually sleep on my side, but I was thrown back and forth so much that I switched to my stomach. Our curtains were too short, so there was light coming in from the hallway. I ended up facing the windows so it wouldn't keep me up. Normally, I hate facing the wall, but it was really cozy and I fell asleep somewhere around Wichita.
I woke up shortly before Lamar. We'd turned the PA off, but they were making announcements and I could hear it through the door. I decided to skip breakfast since I didn't feel like getting pretty and meeting new people that early in the morning. I wasn't tired, since the sleep I did get was good sleep. Brent said the upper bunk was comfortable, despite having a thinner mattress, and he liked that it was really dark up there. He was able to sleep for another couple of hours after I woke up. I ended up poking him since I didn't want him to miss the smoke stop at La Junta.
I'm really glad I got off at La Junta. There was a girl with cherry red hair (maybe a wig), her husband or boyfriend, and a kid. They got into a car, as it was their stop. Anna Maria was standing sort of behind their car while smoking. I noticed the car moving and reverse and saw the girl was on her phone, not even paying attention to what/who was behind her. I started yelling and screaming for her to stop and for Anna Maria to move, and that's when she hit her. Luckily, she stopped the car right away, because Anna Maria fell on the ground. She could have been run over!
The girl's husband/boyfriend got out and ran behind the car right away. He asked, "Did you hit this lady?!?" The girl just stood there, and I said, "Yeah, she was on her phone. Maybe she should learn to pay attention," and glared at her. Then I helped Anna Maria up, and the girl was blubbering and apologizing. Anna Maria's knee was pretty banged up and bleeding, but she was otherwise okay (thank goodness). We got her onto the train (she was limping a little), and she said she'd go see the train doctor to get checked out. I haven't been that angry in a long time. I hope that girl never picks up a phone in the car again, and I hope her boyfriend/husband yelled at her all the way home.
We had lunch a couple hours later. We sat with a gentleman who loves train travel. He wasn't very talkative, but he'd been on the SWC many times, so we got to talk about our favorite parts of the trip. He said he'll never travel by air again unless the train doesn't go there.
We all had the Angus Steakburger and agreed it was phenomenal. I liked that they had kettle chips with it instead of regular chips. I had cheesecake again, and the server asked if I wanted topping. I said, "No... oh wait... yes. He always eats the topping," and motioned at Brent. When she brought my cheesecake, it was plain. I started to say something, and then Brent laughed. She'd put a little plate in front of him. On it, she put his cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and then she'd poured the cheesecake topping into a little cup so he wouldn't have to scrape it off my cheesecake. :-D We gave her a big tip.
Since our room was taken at ABQ, Anna Maria asked if we wouldn't mind sitting in the empty roomette across from it while she changed our bedding, emptied the trash, and vacuumed. It only took her a few moments, and we talked about our pets and her history with Amtrak. Once she was finished, we got back into our room, and I made sure we kept it nice and clean so she wouldn't have to vacuum again.
We were talking about the roomette size (Brent felt a bit cramped) and how we might want a bedroom next time, especially for a longer trip. Anna Maria said one of the bedrooms was empty at that point and told us to go check it out. Brent said that was definitely better and that he'd been picturing a bedroom when I told him we had a roomette, hence his surprise over the size. I don't mind the roomette for one night, but it IS rather hard to arrange things and get dressed and such when the beds are still down.
We were a half-hour early into ABQ. It was a smooth departure. I was going to give Anna Maria $20, but I gave her $30 instead since I felt bad about her knee. Plus, since she did have a lot of first-timers, I figured a good percentage wouldn't know a tip is customary. I saw a lot of sleeper passengers leaving the dining car without tipping.
I'll post pictures and the second half of the trip (in this thread) later today.
We started in BC on the Wolverine, which was a half-hour late into Kalamazoo. BC was pretty full, but mostly quiet. There was one guy narrating the whole trip, as in, "That's WMU, right next to K College. WMU is a party school. Now we're passing such-and-such. Now we're going through blah blah blah. Oh, here's the bridge. We're almost to Chicago. Now we're on the South Side. There's Comiskey." Nobody was really listening to him, so it was kind of amusing. We couldn't really figure out who he was talking to - maybe the entire car? I could tell he was just excited, but my boyfriend was a little annoyed.
It was my first time in BC with cloth seats instead of leather, but they were still quite comfortable. The HSR track was fun. I took a video and clocked it on my phone's GPS. I uploaded a screenshot of the GPS and the video to Facebook, and a lot of my friends were impressed and said they might take Amtrak to Chicago from now on. Yay!
We were about 15 minutes late to Chicago, and we knew Pat and her husband were waiting for us so we could get in line at Lou Mitchell's, so we sort of hurried to the Lounge. We were really impressed with the Lounge. It was definitely a world away from the regular waiting area. It was quiet, with nice lighting, heat, outlets, free drinks, muffins, baggage check, and so on. We had absolutely zero issues getting checked in, and the redcap took our bags. We looked around for Pat but didn't see her, so we walked to Lou Mitchell's and got in line.
We were both pretty hungry and needed caffeine, the line wasn't moving, and the girl standing behind us was extremely annoying and wearing an ungodly amount of perfume. I asked Brent if he wanted to go back to the station and get something there. We go to Chicago all the time, so we're going to try Lou Mitchell's on one of our future trips when time isn't an issue.
When we got back to CUS, we ate at the Metro Deli since neither one of us had eaten there (we usually go to Gold Coast Dogs). The food was pretty good but nothing special. I did like all of the old posters and ads. Also, we got to watch them put up Christmas decorations in the Great Hall.
We decided to hang out in the Lounge. A couple hours later, Pat and her husband came up and explained that the LSL was three hours late into CUS. We explained we'd already eaten and told them to go ahead and get some lunch if they wanted. We ended up talking for a while, and then we said our goodbyes. Brent and I had to go to the nearby CVS to get some snacks for the trip, and I assume Pat and her husband went to lunch since they weren't there when we got back.
Boarding was quick and easy. The conductor checked everyone in at the counter before we actually boarded. All we had to do was walk to our sleeper car. Our SCA, Anna Maria, introduced herself at the door and asked everyone if it was their first time in a sleeper. After everyone was on-board, she came to each room individually to introduce herself again, explain her duties, and inform us that she had two cars for this trip so to please be patient if she didn't respond to the call button right away. She was very nice and professional. She told us we were in a car with a bunch of first-time sleeper passengers, and I said we'd be fine and would only call if something needed immediate attention.
Soon, we were on our way. I couldn't get over the difference between sleeper and coach. I can't imagine riding in coach again unless it's a day trip. We were able to close our door to block out ambient noise (the door at the end of the car kept getting stuck open), and I was amazed at how much noise it blocked. It did make the room feel smaller, though, so we kept it open as much as possible. Brent and I had plenty of leg room (we're 5'8" and 5'5" respectively), but I did miss being able to put my feet up. Brent had his feet on the little stairs, so I propped my feet up on his seat. There was lots of room for that, and it was comfortable. We had room for all of our stuff, once we figured it out Tetris-style. The closet had our jackets, my purse, and the small overnight duffel, and then we put his backpack and the laptop bag on the stairs.
Anyway, even with the door open, there was hardly any noise, other than the noise from the open door. The people in the roomette near it kept shutting it, but eventually it was a losing battle since so many attendants and conductors were walking through the car. Other than that, we didn't hear the same level of "people noise" that we heard in coach. Nobody had crying kids or babies, and most people closed their doors while they were on cell phones or watching movies on their laptops. It was definitely worth it. I told Brent that, even if we don't have points to use for the next trip, we're never traveling in coach for an overnight again. We were in room #6, right in the middle of the car.
We did get delayed a bit near Galesburg. Steve, my favorite LSA, came on and announced there was a fire in a building near the tracks and the local authorities had halted all rail traffic since the fire wasn't a safe enough distance away from the tracks. He then explained a bit about how Amtrak talks with local dispatch and law enforcement and how we have to abide by certain rules and so on. It was nice that he explained everything. Steve always makes little jokes; we seem to get him every time we ride the SWC. He calls Mendota "the Las Vegas of the east", Princeton is "perfect little Princeton", and Naperville becomes "the Ville of Napers". He has a dry sense of humor and cracks us up.
From then on, it was smooth traveling. We had dinner with an older mother and daughter who had never been on a train before. They were traveling to Needles to visit relatives and then flying home. We had the steak with mushroom sauce (delicious), and they had salmon and chicken. They said theirs was also very good. For dessert, we had cheesecake with blueberry topping. We didn't speak much. Brent and I aren't very good with small talk since we tend to be quite shy, and they were speaking to each other for most of dinner. Once we exhausted the usual topics, we ate dinner in silence, which was fine with me but pretty awkward.
I'd never been in a roomette through Kansas. I should have prepared for the rocking and rolling. I'd untucked my sheets since I hate feeling trapped, but I should have used them to hold me in.
I usually sleep on my side, but I was thrown back and forth so much that I switched to my stomach. Our curtains were too short, so there was light coming in from the hallway. I ended up facing the windows so it wouldn't keep me up. Normally, I hate facing the wall, but it was really cozy and I fell asleep somewhere around Wichita.I woke up shortly before Lamar. We'd turned the PA off, but they were making announcements and I could hear it through the door. I decided to skip breakfast since I didn't feel like getting pretty and meeting new people that early in the morning. I wasn't tired, since the sleep I did get was good sleep. Brent said the upper bunk was comfortable, despite having a thinner mattress, and he liked that it was really dark up there. He was able to sleep for another couple of hours after I woke up. I ended up poking him since I didn't want him to miss the smoke stop at La Junta.
I'm really glad I got off at La Junta. There was a girl with cherry red hair (maybe a wig), her husband or boyfriend, and a kid. They got into a car, as it was their stop. Anna Maria was standing sort of behind their car while smoking. I noticed the car moving and reverse and saw the girl was on her phone, not even paying attention to what/who was behind her. I started yelling and screaming for her to stop and for Anna Maria to move, and that's when she hit her. Luckily, she stopped the car right away, because Anna Maria fell on the ground. She could have been run over!
The girl's husband/boyfriend got out and ran behind the car right away. He asked, "Did you hit this lady?!?" The girl just stood there, and I said, "Yeah, she was on her phone. Maybe she should learn to pay attention," and glared at her. Then I helped Anna Maria up, and the girl was blubbering and apologizing. Anna Maria's knee was pretty banged up and bleeding, but she was otherwise okay (thank goodness). We got her onto the train (she was limping a little), and she said she'd go see the train doctor to get checked out. I haven't been that angry in a long time. I hope that girl never picks up a phone in the car again, and I hope her boyfriend/husband yelled at her all the way home.
We had lunch a couple hours later. We sat with a gentleman who loves train travel. He wasn't very talkative, but he'd been on the SWC many times, so we got to talk about our favorite parts of the trip. He said he'll never travel by air again unless the train doesn't go there.
We all had the Angus Steakburger and agreed it was phenomenal. I liked that they had kettle chips with it instead of regular chips. I had cheesecake again, and the server asked if I wanted topping. I said, "No... oh wait... yes. He always eats the topping," and motioned at Brent. When she brought my cheesecake, it was plain. I started to say something, and then Brent laughed. She'd put a little plate in front of him. On it, she put his cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and then she'd poured the cheesecake topping into a little cup so he wouldn't have to scrape it off my cheesecake. :-D We gave her a big tip.
Since our room was taken at ABQ, Anna Maria asked if we wouldn't mind sitting in the empty roomette across from it while she changed our bedding, emptied the trash, and vacuumed. It only took her a few moments, and we talked about our pets and her history with Amtrak. Once she was finished, we got back into our room, and I made sure we kept it nice and clean so she wouldn't have to vacuum again.
We were talking about the roomette size (Brent felt a bit cramped) and how we might want a bedroom next time, especially for a longer trip. Anna Maria said one of the bedrooms was empty at that point and told us to go check it out. Brent said that was definitely better and that he'd been picturing a bedroom when I told him we had a roomette, hence his surprise over the size. I don't mind the roomette for one night, but it IS rather hard to arrange things and get dressed and such when the beds are still down.
We were a half-hour early into ABQ. It was a smooth departure. I was going to give Anna Maria $20, but I gave her $30 instead since I felt bad about her knee. Plus, since she did have a lot of first-timers, I figured a good percentage wouldn't know a tip is customary. I saw a lot of sleeper passengers leaving the dining car without tipping.
I'll post pictures and the second half of the trip (in this thread) later today.
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