Other random Amtrak thoughts from the Emeryville-Denver leg

I didn't have to check my big bag because the size and weight fit within the limits of a "carryon." This definitely isn't like traveling by plane. It's also interesting that no one asked for an ID when they collected my ticket, even though the ticket says you need to show a picture ID (or maybe you just need to be ready to do so). And the bag went on these luggage rack on the first level so it was pretty convenient to do that as opposed to checking my bag.

We went through a town called Raceville. They had a restaurant called Cattlemens, written in script letter. And all I could think of is if this was the equivalent of a Gentlemen’s club for Cattlemen. (It’s actually a nice steak house http://www.beststeakinthewest.com/ and yes I’m very much a city girl)

From a distance I saw someone train a horse in a round fence a la George of the Jungle. He stood in the middle and was making the horse run around him

Foundations of houses fascinate me because they remind me of the floor plans we drew in Drafting class in high school when you look down on them.

It was really cool to ride this section of the railroad because a huge part of Chinese American history out west is tied to building the transcontinental railroad. I’ve read so much about it since high school and now I’m actually riding it. Also, Leland Stanford made a lot of money by being one of the 4 barons of the Central Pacific Railroad, so that’s also another historical tie.

I felt so bad for the guy running the lounge car. He just sounded sad when he made his announcements inviting people to go see him on the first floor of the lounge car. He also sounded beleaguered when he made an announcement telling people he can’t give them ice for their coolers because they carry a limited amount of ice on the train and there’s no ice machine. Therefore he can only give out a small cup of ice because he needs the rest for people who are ordering beverages. At another point in the trip, when the electricity went out while they were attaching another car to our train, he had to announce that since there’s no electricity, he cannot power the microwaves to make food for people. I guess enough people took the opportunity to stop by that it was an issue. There was nothing wrong with the content of the announcements, he just sounded tired.

It was nice that there were plugs next to the seats. I wasn’t counting on it but it’s nice to have since it’s such a long trip.

I finally went to sit in the lounge car after the weird guy got off at Grand Junction. Most people were sitting with other people. There were some old ladies with their knitting and bags of books. Behind was a dad and his daughter and he was telling her about the mountains. At one point this woman would exclaim over some sight and the rest of us would look up and try to snap pictures. It felt like everyone had a digital camera.

During one segment of the trip, we were parallel to the highway we would typically take to get to Aspen so it’s fun to see the roads from the other side.

If you ever ride the train from CA to Denver, I recommend sitting on the right side in the beginning, but switching to the left side once you pass Glenwood Springs or Winter Park. There were some majestic valleys on that side of the train and I couldn’t get great shots because I was sitting on the right. The train also got crowded around Winter Park/Glenwood Springs because of all the skiers. A huge family got on and one of them sat next to me. They were going to Mt. Pleasant. I thought it was pretty close until I took the Denver to Chicago train and discovered it is in Iowa. That’s a long way to go skiing.

Apparently the train will leave without you if you don't come back in time from the longer stops. As we were pulling into Denver the conductors told people to be back on the train by quarter after and pay attention to the announcements otherwise they'll be left behind like "a couple of guys in Grand Junction." Since this train ran once a day, they'll somehow have to fend for themselves/try to catch that train to continue on their trip. How much would that suck?

Stories from the Amtrak guide

There was a guide from the California State Railroad Museum who got on the PA to give us facts and stories as we passed from California into Nevada. Some of his stories are below:

When they decided to rename the town of Junction, they decided to call it Roseville after the girl who won the prettiest girl contest in town. Isn’t it sort of cliché that the prettiest girl would be named Rose?

Rail barons convinced Congress that the Sierra Nevadas started 8 miles away from Sacramento, where the elevation was only 20 feet. They did that to get more bond money from Congress because they paid more for laying down tracks in the mountains than they did for the flatlands.

According to the guide, the Chinese were great workers because they were efficient and patient and peaceful. They also grew their own food and ate a balanced diet so they were healthier than the workers who ate company food. It’s interesting that the company wasn’t invested in feeding their workers good food to get more work out of them.

I would prefer it if he didn’t talk about avalanches as we drove through the snow alleys. It’s the same reason I don’t like watching disaster movies when I’m on an airplane. The snow sheds are interesting; they’re like covered bridges for train tracks.

He also told the story about the Donner Party, but he left out the part where they ate each other.

Drug Smuggling on the Amtrak

After we crossed into Nevada, two undercover cops busted somebody at Sparks, NV with 4 pounds of pot. (I wrote cocaine in my journal but I don’t think you can smell cocaine through the bag, you’ll see what I mean later).

I saw the two guys in the lounge car- they were just these big guys who looked like they used to play football. And then I got back to my seat I heard them asking the guy behind me his name and where he was going. Apparently the guy behind me was friends with some other cops who probably knew this cop, and they chatted about how cops are spending more time to catch people trafficking drugs via train now. He had a little badge attached to a chain on his belt.

Moments later everyone on the other side looked out the window to see some guy being busted. Somehow the passengers could tell it was 4 pounds by looking, and apparently for that much you’ll get 20 years in the federal pen if you are trafficking it across state lines. Someone else also made the comment that if you don’t pack it in an airtight bag, you’ll definitely smell it. They were also surprised that the cops didn’t bring a dog onto the train. The theory is that they got a tip so they were looking for someone specific. This episode generated about a good 20 minutes of conversation in the train car and I was amazed at how much people knew about this topic. Shows you how unworldly I am.

Strange encounter on the Amtrak

I would say there is a good mix of people on the Amtrak in terms of age and gender and singles/couples/families. I'm guessing I typically don't see the older passenger outside the lounge cars because they've booked the sleepers. But this guy creeped me out. If I was more generous, and sometimes I am, I would say he is socially awkward. All in all, it was an uncomfortable position for a single woman traveling by herself.

He came on the train and sat in the seats across the aisle from me. He sat diagonally, facing me and my window. He had sunglasses on so I couldn’t really tell if he was looking at me or out the window, either way, it felt very uncomfortable. I tried looking up from my book and over couple of times but couldn’t tell. Then he introduced himself to me and told me he was going to Grand Junction. He asked me my name and where I was going. I told him Denver and he said he wished he had enough money to get to Denver.

Side note: When my friends in Denver asked what he looked like, I said “Old, like maybe mid-to-late thirties.” and promptly offended all my friends close to and in that age category. For that, I profoundly apologize, again, for my insensitivity.

I went back to my book, because I was uncomfortable. Then he asked me why I was going to Denver. Rather than engaging in a long conversation about how I quit my job and am now going back to visit my friends, I just said I’m going there to work. Then I went back to my book.

A few minutes later, he told me that the train might get crowded, so if it does, he’ll move to sit next to me. I just nodded and said we’ll see, and hoped that the train wouldn’t actually get that crowded. I wondered if there was any sort of etiquette issues with just getting up and moving and if he would follow me. If that happened then I was going to talk to the conductor about moving somewhere else. At this piong I texted Elena about this guy named Vic, so at least somebody knew just in case anything happened.

A few minutes after that, he told me he thought it would be easier if he just moved next to me now. I looked back and thankfully there was another empty set of seats behind me and I said, “There are still some empty seats right now, so I’ll just move back.” He became very apologetic and said I didn’t have to me. I said, no, it’s ok, I’m just going to move back a row. Even though it wasn’t far as I wanted to go, at least there was a guy behind me (even though he was sleeping) and an old guy across the aisle from him, so I didn’t feel as isolated as I was in the previous seat.

A few minutes after the seat shuffle, he came back to ask me where the lounge car was and headed off once I told him. I took a deep breath and finally relaxed for the first time in a while. Couple of hours later he brought me a bag of cookies when he came back from the lounge car. I thanked him but never at it. It was in a sealed plastic bag, but I just felt so weird about the whole thing that I didn’t want to engage in any way. (I eventually threw them out in Chicago after I took a picture)

At night, around lights out, he came back and told me he moved seats and is sitting up a few rows. He always said it was nice to meet me, and not to worry, he wasn’t getting off yet, and he just wanted to say “see you in Colorado.” And as he is saying this he just kept shaking my hand. I thought to myself, I can’t wait until we get to Grand Junction.

I hoped that was the end of the story, but in the middle of the night, he woke me up twice: once to ask me where we were, and another time to ask me to help him with his coat. When he asked me for help with his coat, I told him he should go ask the conductor because I’m trying to sleep. He didn’t bother me after that. Thankfully, he didn’t come say goodbye when we got to the Grand Junction stop.

My cross countries train trip

I've started to upload pictures and write up thoughts before I lose them, so coming up will be a series of thoughts/stories, hopefully organized in a somewhat coherent fashion.

I've been wanting to take some sort of trip since I got home. My benchmark was based on the trip I passed up (about 10 days sailing around the Virgin Islands). It was a lot of money for one trip and it was very last minute so I opted not to do it. As a result I've weighed subsequent trips against that (both in price and coolness factor).

I was inspired to take the train because of a New York Times article talking about traveling on Amtrak and on the Canadian Rail. Plus the train had major stops in cities where I had friends and wanted to revisit. So in the US I stopped in Denver and Chicago, and now I'm in New York. From here I'll fly up to Toronoto and then take the train from Toronto and Vancouver to hang out with my cousins for a week before heading home in time for my dad's birthday. I left on 3/18 and I'll get home on 4/14. And the entire trip will very likely cost less than the 10 day trip in the Virgin Islands (which I still hope to do some day).

So enjoy the stories and I'll try to post gradually after this rather than in a flood, but no promises. I'm putting all the pictures on picasa but will try to select a few for a best of album on Facebook.

The No. 1 Ladies' Political Organizer Agency

My favorite TV critic reminded me this morning why I heart her so much:

Over the past few decades, if you wanted to create a TV character who's striving to make the world a better place, you made that character a cop. Cops on TV have always been stand-ins for anyone who's striving to right some wrong or wrestle with the enormous injustices of the universe.

Because, unfortunately, shows about tireless employees of nonprofit organizations just don't have the same flair as murder mysteries. We don't necessarily care whether Joe finishes his grant proposal or files his expenses under the appropriate federal code. Likewise, schoolteachers, city councilmen, volunteers, drug counselors, public policy reform advocates, social workers and grass-roots organizers fail to capture our imaginations the way a gritty detective with a bad attitude and a drinking problem does.

Dine-o-rama

It is a weekend of fine dining.

RTD joined a friend of the Drawer for her birthday dinner at SHAZZ (spirit fingers required) on Friday. My meal:
* Roasted beet salad with ewephoria cheese (cheese/beet combo was lovely, but the beets were oversauced).
* Seared ahi on a bed of white bean puree, with olives and anchovies (olives and anchovies good addition, turn this from blah to acceptable).
* Honey coconut cheescake (cheese on a macaroon --fantastic!)

Mr. Mame and I joined friends for a dinner party last night. The meal:
* Mustard-roasted chicken with vegetables (chicken perfectly cooked and the mustard and fennel combine really really well)
* Corn casserole (this recipe is a classic that just can't go wrong. Great complement to the mustard).
* Spinach and orange salad with a nice homemade dressing w a hint of mustard.
* A beautiful English trifle, made by the English host. I love trifle - especially if made by a real Englishman. I had two servings mmmmmm.