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Showing posts with label train travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label train travel. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Train ride home
Our ride home was not nearly as glamorous, but still just as exciting and adventurous. The trip home was broken up in two parts - we started in business class for the first leg of the trip - we had a layover in Portland and we switched trains -and downgraded all the way to steerage coach.
The difference in space was vast. In fact the amount of space we had on the first leg of the trip was better than we could have asked for. We had an entire business class car to ourselves (plus one other couple that didn't mind our roaming toddler!) Yes that leg of the trip Ace was able to literally run up and down between the aisle, push all the buttons, climb in all the chairs ... on dad ... and occasionally look out the window. Guess that nuance lost it's luster after the first 7 hours and he had seen everything there was to see. ;-) He was quite content and even settled down for his first nap right on schedule and for over an hour.
We boarded our second train in Portland and spent several hours in our seats of a sold out train. It wasn't unbearable, but Ace was teething so he was far more volatile than he typically is. Less able to reason with and not understanding why he couldn't run up and down this aisle as he had just been doing. But overall he was great! He sadly fell asleep 10 minutes before we pulled into the station so the relief of unconsciousness for us was minimal and then poor Loving Husband had to schlep all the luggage while I attempted to keep him asleep. It didn't work for very long - but that's ok - we were home!
We had an excellent time on the train - even if our accommodations weren't nearly as fancy as on the way to Oregon. Would we do it again? Sleeper Car: Yes. Business Class: Yes. Coach: Not when the Business Class upgrade is only $10*. ;-)
* We tried to obtain Business Class for the final leg of our trip but they were all sold out.
The difference in space was vast. In fact the amount of space we had on the first leg of the trip was better than we could have asked for. We had an entire business class car to ourselves (plus one other couple that didn't mind our roaming toddler!) Yes that leg of the trip Ace was able to literally run up and down between the aisle, push all the buttons, climb in all the chairs ... on dad ... and occasionally look out the window. Guess that nuance lost it's luster after the first 7 hours and he had seen everything there was to see. ;-) He was quite content and even settled down for his first nap right on schedule and for over an hour.
We boarded our second train in Portland and spent several hours in our seats of a sold out train. It wasn't unbearable, but Ace was teething so he was far more volatile than he typically is. Less able to reason with and not understanding why he couldn't run up and down this aisle as he had just been doing. But overall he was great! He sadly fell asleep 10 minutes before we pulled into the station so the relief of unconsciousness for us was minimal and then poor Loving Husband had to schlep all the luggage while I attempted to keep him asleep. It didn't work for very long - but that's ok - we were home!
We had an excellent time on the train - even if our accommodations weren't nearly as fancy as on the way to Oregon. Would we do it again? Sleeper Car: Yes. Business Class: Yes. Coach: Not when the Business Class upgrade is only $10*. ;-)
* We tried to obtain Business Class for the final leg of our trip but they were all sold out.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Train Scenery
Our trip was truly beautiful! There were so many beautiful sights along the way and I enjoyed capturing them all! Enjoy them!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas Train to Oregon
Our family ventured down to Oregon for Christmas this year. Having an energetic toddler in the car for seven hours sounded like the worst plan EVER! So we decided to try a different adventure. When we went to buy our tickets and all the 'regular' seats were sold out - but the rooms weren't. Rooms? That sounded exciting! We looked into it a bit further - and while quite the splurge we said Merry Christmas to each other and said why not! We are so glad we did!
We arrived at the train station bright and early and Ace still in his pjs - and boarded first - we were in the Sleeper Cars after all, hehe. We were led to our room and greeted with two bottles of champagne and lots of pillows in our room. Wonderful! Ace went straight to the window with his 'breakfast'a wholesome healthy well balanced meal Nacho Doritos, in hand. He was so excited and curious with the train. We looked out the window for a while and eventually pulled away from the station.
Ace absolutely LOVED to look out the window. As usual he enjoyed seeing the birds fly around and all the other animals that were around. He was so interested and loved going through the tunnels. He'd say 'on' wanting the lights back on and then smile when we'd come out of the tunnel as if he had done it - turned the lights back on!
Ace and his dad went exploring and I hung back in our room to make reservations in the Parlor (exclusive for only Sleeper Car passengers only) for lunch. After we made reservations we enjoyed the view from our room for a while - and a bit before 11am Loving Husband headed to the Parlor car to get us the speciality martini - it was a lemon drop with a fancy name for $6, but before 11am - it was pretty tasty!
We enjoyed lunch - although it was pretty sub par - we'd learn later that we had been duped into a fancy crappy lunch with the glitz and glam factor of a shiny penny. Siigh. The 'commoners' dining car was far superior in selection and flavor. Ah well - live and learn. The next time that we take a train and get a room - we'll know better.
After lunch we got Ace down for a nap and we then broke open the champagne and toasted to Christmas traveling in style. We passed some beautiful scenery as we drove along - look for another post this week with more pictures! After Ace woke up we went and explored the train some more. There was a theater (a 50" flat panel) and there was a section that had arcade games in it. It was a lot of fun to explore the double decker train. We walked all the way to the caboose.
We arrived in Oregon at 5:30pm after an exciting adventure! Come back in the next few days to see pictures of the beautiful scenery we saw and about our adventures back home on the train!
We arrived at the train station bright and early and Ace still in his pjs - and boarded first - we were in the Sleeper Cars after all, hehe. We were led to our room and greeted with two bottles of champagne and lots of pillows in our room. Wonderful! Ace went straight to the window with his 'breakfast'
Ace absolutely LOVED to look out the window. As usual he enjoyed seeing the birds fly around and all the other animals that were around. He was so interested and loved going through the tunnels. He'd say 'on' wanting the lights back on and then smile when we'd come out of the tunnel as if he had done it - turned the lights back on!
Ace and his dad went exploring and I hung back in our room to make reservations in the Parlor (exclusive for only Sleeper Car passengers only) for lunch. After we made reservations we enjoyed the view from our room for a while - and a bit before 11am Loving Husband headed to the Parlor car to get us the speciality martini - it was a lemon drop with a fancy name for $6, but before 11am - it was pretty tasty!
We enjoyed lunch - although it was pretty sub par - we'd learn later that we had been duped into a 
After lunch we got Ace down for a nap and we then broke open the champagne and toasted to Christmas traveling in style. We passed some beautiful scenery as we drove along - look for another post this week with more pictures! After Ace woke up we went and explored the train some more. There was a theater (a 50" flat panel) and there was a section that had arcade games in it. It was a lot of fun to explore the double decker train. We walked all the way to the caboose.
We arrived in Oregon at 5:30pm after an exciting adventure! Come back in the next few days to see pictures of the beautiful scenery we saw and about our adventures back home on the train!
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