Oregon, Part I

This is one of the longest train trips we've ever done. Picked up Amtrak in Syracuse. For once, the waiting area was crammed with people. A bowling tournament had just finished, and the players (mostly middle-aged and older women) were on their way home. Most seemed to live in Illinois and Wisconsin, so the train was full. Good thing we had room reservations....

From Chicago, we took the Empire Builder west, and that's when things really got interesting. We were five hours late at one point. Flooding along part of the track forced us to take an alternate route. Also, some clown decided he just *had* to smoke on the train. The staff told him that was forbidden by federal mandate (not to mention common decency -- c'mon, we all have to breathe that air!). He ignored them and lit up. The train stopped at the next railroad crossing, the staff called the local police, and they tossed the offender off the train.

Below is a video and three pictures shot from the train window, to give you an idea of the landscape.






















We spent two nights and most of two days riding across the upper U.S. One of the unique aspects of train travel are meals. You're seated with however many people are needed to fill a table, so you often end up sitting with people you've never seen before. My dining companions on this trip included two women traveling to Alaska by way of Texas (don't ask -- they had it all worked out to their satisfaction, and that's what counts), and a young man from England traveling the U.S. and Canada before going off to college. (And the absolute last thing he wanted to discuss was the recent Royal Wedding. Can't say that I blame him.)

With a lot of effort, the engineer cut our late time down to three hours. So we pulled into Portland, Oregon at 1 p.m. instead of the 10-something a.m. we were supposed to have. Rented a car, fired up Ethel (our friendly GPS) and headed out to Pendleton, Oregon, where we are currently.

Presently reading: Extremes, by Kristine Katheryn Rusch. It deals with a murder mystery on the moon, and is part of the author's Retrieval Artist series, about a detective who finds "Disappeareds" -- people who are given new identities because they've broken the laws of alien races, often by accident. This is a re-read for me, but I like the series. I've finally gotten it in e-book format.


Warning: my laptop has developed a virus. I'm hoping to find someone in Portland, Oregon willing to look at it and give a good cleaning, if possible. If not, I won't be able to upload pictures, although I will probably still be able to type posts. (Many hotels offer a "business center" with computers for travelers.) If necessary, I will post the text, then edit later to include pictures once I'm back up and running. Stay tuned.