One of our best vacations EVER began in the little waiting area pictured above - South Bend's Amtrak station. Nana & Poppy along with the 5 of us H's boarded a train bound for Chicago where we would board the train the Empire Builder which took us to Seattle: 48 hours on a train!
Waiting for the train was the hardest part.
Mames and Doug (with coffee in hand) on the train to Chicago.
The kids could barely sleep the night before and then Nana & Poppy got to our house the morning we left (so we could drive to the station together) EARLY because they were so excited they said they had barely slept the night before! We're ALL kids at heart!
Our station in Chicago was underground below a 30 story building!
We were getting OFF the train in the right side of the picture and eventually boarded the train on the left side of the picture which is a 'double decker' with sleeper cars!
We had about a two hour wait in the Chicago station - just long enough to step outside and take a picture of the kids with the Sears Tower in the background!
It seemed as though immediately we started seeing different landscapes!
The trip from Chicago to Seattle is run by the train the Empire Builder. There are two identical trains with this name that run constantly - one coming and one going all the time.
We actually passed the eastbound Empire Builder somewhere in Montana and waved! It's amazing what you can see on a train - it never gets boring!
There were over 30 stops on our trip. Most of them lasted about two minutes and we racing along again before we even knew we stopped most of the time. However, there were about 5 "smoker stops" which were at stations where more than a couple people were either boarding or disembarking. At these stops the train stopped about long enough to have a cigarette - that's how these stops got the nickname "smoker stops". We of course don't smoke, but instead jumped off the train a few times to let the kids run up and down the tracks and take pics. Here we are in South Dakota on a VERY sunny day!
Look closely and you can see both engines of our train in the left side of this photo!
This was a river we followed while in the foothills of the Rockies one night.
We didn't spend much time in the cars that just held seated people. We walked through them when we needed to get to a car beyond them and that's all. Most of our time was spent in our sleeper car where our room and Nana & Poppy's room was.
Each car had an upstairs and a downstairs.
To move from car to car you had to go UPSTAIRS and then through the narrow hallways to the other cars.
The stairs were so steep and narrow! The kids thought it was great - just their size!
Doug was afraid his claustrophobia might kick in but it never did and he can't wait to go on his next train trip. (we're thinking Canada & Niagara Falls next....)
To go from car to car you had to walk through the passage doors.
These were two hydraulic doors you pressed large metal plates to enter.
Kind of like elevator doors - here is Trev holding one for me!
One of the biggest things the kids were anxious about was EATING on the train!
They kept asking "how are you supposed to drink out of a cup?!" and "will it be REAL food or the kind they give astronauts?" - so cute!
Trains require organization so people don't get backed up in the hallways. It's hard for two adults to pass in a hallway. You have to step into someone's room or a restroom to let someone get by! So every meal each passenger has to make reservations for the next meal and then you know when to show up for your table! And each table seats exactly 4 people - so our party had 7 people which meant each meal we ate with a 'single' passenger on board. It was random but by the end of the trip we'd made some new friends and requested the same dinner times so we could eat together.
It was very good food. A full menu every meal - steak & sweet potatoes or veal with mint jelly and roasted veggies for one dinner. Breakfast was custom omelettes, pancakes or oatmeal. Lunch always offered soups & salads along with a great sandwich and pasta selection. NOTHING like airplane food!!! Thank goodness!
(dessert trays every night with multiple selections including Haagen Daz ice cream! YUM!)
Gorgeous sunset in the Rockies!
Everything was just so beautiful - it was like looking at a postcard every time you'd look out of your window.
We saw bridges and barns and little towns everywhere that were so 'Norman Rockwell'!
The Observation Car / Lounge Car was definitely the most popular. With windows going up the sides and onto the top of the car you could see everything - even the mountain tops - clearly. There were booths and tables as well as comfy large seats you could curl up in and play games (or do summer homework) any time you wanted to. The downstairs of this car (the Lounge part) had a cafe that served everything from soda to beer and munchies like candy bars and chips.
I am most thankful that we had our own room. Those poor souls stuck sleeping upright in their seats four cars back had it rough. Funniest thing - the kids DIDN'T MIND making their beds every morning on the train!
Our "seats" were actually a private room in the second car back from the engines.
It's a large room with six seats, a closet and the seats convert into a full bed with three bunks that fold down from above. We had the only Family Room on the train!
The kids loved visiting Nana & Poppy's room just upstairs from ours. We played games, read, had plenty of time for relaxed chatting and even took some nice naps! So many memories made and we hadn't even reached our destination!
The four of us adults even got to attend a private wine and cheese tasting in the dining car the second day - all Washington state wines. So good!
I absolutely recommend taking an Amtrak train trip!
It was such a unique and special way to start off our vacation!
