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Friday, October 5, 2007
New Slideshow Posted: The Coast Starlight
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Day 5: Goodbye to Jon
The Coast Starlight pulled into Eugene, Oregon pretty much on time, and Jon stepped off into the cold drizzle. Fortunately, the train lingered at the station for about 10 minutes before departing, so we were able to snap some final photos before we pulled away.
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Day 5: The Great Oregon Rendezvous
So Jon, my friend from middle and high school, met me in Portland, Maine, and wanted to finish his trip in Eugene, Oregon, which is near where his brother, Brett lives. Bert and Greg, my two friends from college, were planning to meet me in Portland, Oregon (which comes before Eugene), and to ride all of the way to San Diego. That meant that Portland would be our rendezvous point for all four travellers, and we’d be riding together for about two hours, until Jon got off in Eugene.
Jon and I arrived about 45 minutes early on the Empire Builder, and we dropped our bags off at the First Class lounge and headed out for some food; Greg and Bert weren’t due to land in Portland from an east coast flight until after noon. Now, I’m the kind of guy who always forgets something when he goes on a trip. Always. Something. Toothbrush, hair comb, socks, pants (yes, I have forgotten pants), you get the idea. So I get to Portland, Oregon, and I realize what I forgot: a jacket.
Now, Portland was rainy and it was about, I’m going to guess, 45 degrees. And I’m wearing that goofy red shirt with jeans. Jon and I start walking and it becomes clear to me that my ears are probably going to freeze off in the cold rain if I don’t get a jacket or an umbrella or something. But this is Sunday. Sunday morning. And that means that nothing’s open at all, so we decide to get a bite to eat first.
A few weeks before the trip, my mom had called me in a panic, because she absolutely, positively, had to tell me to go to this cafe in Portland that she saw on the Food Network. I wrote it down, though, and thank goodness I did, because it was walking distance from the train station, and it was open. And apparently my mom wasn’t the only one who saw it featured on the Food Network, because there was a line outside. Luckily, the rain had apparently kept the crowd down, and Jon and I were able to get two seats at the counter before five minutes was out. Two biscuits with gravy, two eggs, and a glass of milk later, and was ready to roll.
By that time, stores had begun to open, so we swung by an REI store, I found a nice new jacket (I needed one anyway), and we were off. Greg and Bert called about that time, too, and we all met up at a fantastic used book store called Powell’s. Everyone except me knew about it, it seemed, but I did find two great books on trains for the trip.
From there, we all walked back to the train station. Here’s a quick video:
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And off we went on the Coast Starlight.
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Day 4, 5 & 6: Hello Pacific Northwest
To try and describe the sights we encountered on our trip through Washington State, Oregon, and Northern California would take much, much too long for a blog entry. So, instead, I’m going to fill this blog item with pictures and some brief narration. If you’re reading this on the blog index page, make sure to click here to see all of the pictures and content.
The Empire Builder
In all my years of riding Amtrak, whenever I asked people about their impressions of the Empire Builder, the response I’d almost always get went something like this:
“Oh, that’s a wonderful train, but the scenery just isn’t quite as good as the California Zephyr.”
Now, I’ve been on the Zephyr twice, and yes, the scenery on that route is spectacular—possibly the best in North America. But to compare that route’s scenery to the Empire Builder is an apples and oranges kind of thing, I discovered. The Empire Builder’s scenery pretty much sneaks up on you when you’re heading westward, like Jon and I did. One minute you’re in the high desert and badlands:
and the next, you’re heading into what looks like Mordor. I’m serious. You look out the window and you literally see this:
Yeah, holy crap.
That’s Glacier National Park. And from there on out, the scenery just kicks into high gear and doesn’t let up until you’re in Seattle, or in our case, in Portland (remember, the train splits in Spokane). The air changes from a dry, sun-warmed breeze to a crisp chill. If you stick your head out, you smell the pine needles and you hear the rush of the mountain streams. It’s invigorating and relaxing at the same time, if you can imagine that.
Since our section split off in Spokane to head to Portland, we woke up Sunday morning to the sight of the Columbia River, which is this monolithic chasm of water in the middle of the mountains. It was foggy, cold, and rainy, but it was still breathtaking:
The Coast Starlight
I had been on the Coast Starlight once before, back in 2004 when I rode from Seattle to San Jose. On that trip, I was able to capture some fantastic scenery on film because our train was 8 hours late, ironically. So, for example, I took this lucky shot under Mount Shasta in northern California:
Even though our train wasn’t 8 hours late this time around (shucks!), we were still able to get some great pictures of the Oregon countryside:
But from there on out, it was too dark to really capture anything. Suffice it to say, the Coast Starlight’s northern scenery is, in fact, spectacular. You just have to time it to see it in daylight (heading north is probably better for that).
For more pictures, make sure you check out both the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder photo galleries.
-Rafi
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New Slideshow Posted: The Empire Builder
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