Our Travels, where they have taken us

 Not all of our travel is camping related. We recently began our month long journey to the West Coast and our first cruise. The adventure started with an Amtrak trip from St. Paul to Seattle.

The train ride takes about 37 hours and departs St. Paul late in the evening, which means you spend two nights onboard. We chose a sleeping room. It was considerably more expensive than coach, but in our opinion, it was worth every penny.

The room itself was small but comfortable enough to move around in and enjoy the view from the window. It included a compact bathroom with a combined toilet and shower. While it worked fine as a restroom, the shower was so small that I decided not to use it. Fortunately, larger shower facilities are available for sleeping car passengers.

Sleeping, or perhaps more accurately getting into and out of the beds, provided some entertainment. At age 70, I still consider myself fairly agile, but maneuvering around the room once the beds were set up was challenging. A midnight trip to the bathroom could easily take ten to fifteen minutes just to climb down from the top bunk and make your way to the restroom without waking your partner or hurting yourself.

We were fortunate to have a wonderful sleeping car attendant named Dollencia. She explained how everything worked, gave us an overview of the train, shared the best times to eat, and regularly stopped by to check on us or simply chat for a while. Her friendly service made the trip even more enjoyable.

Our fare included meals in the dining car, and the food was surprisingly good. Dining on the train was one of the most interesting parts of the experience. The tables seat four people, so passengers are often seated with others. As a result, you meet people you probably would never have crossed paths with otherwise. You share a meal, exchange stories, and then move on so the next group can be seated. Every person we met was friendly, curious, and had fascinating life experiences to share.

The train also features an observation car and lounge. We spent quite a bit of time there enjoying the scenery, which was spectacular throughout the journey. Even though we were told the train was completely full, we never had trouble finding a seat. Some passengers enjoyed conversations with strangers, while others quietly watched the landscape roll by or read a book.

One thing that surprised me was the lack of Wi Fi onboard. While that seemed odd at first, there was enough cell service along much of the route to stay connected when needed. There were occasional dead zones, but honestly, it was nice to disconnect for a while.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was simply watching America pass by without a single billboard in sight. We live in a beautiful country. Along the route we saw everything from million dollar homes to modest houses that provided little more than basic shelter. I was amazed by the number of old cars, farm implements, RVs, and pieces of machinery sitting in backyards. If someone could figure out an economical way to transport all that metal to recycling facilities, there is a lot of value waiting to be reclaimed. The number of vintage vehicles alone would be a restorer's dream.

We also built a buffer day into our schedule. With Amtrak, you never know exactly when you will arrive, and the extra day gives us an opportunity to explore Seattle before boarding our cruise. It has been several years since our last visit, and we are looking forward to spending some time rediscovering the city.

So far, the journey has been very enjoyable and we look forward to the cruise, Oregon coast and Glacier Park before heading home. 

 We started off our camping season in Two Harbors, MN  Burlington Bay Campground.  A regular spot for us.  It is always nice to head north on a holiday weekend on Monday and see everyone hearing home.  No crowds and it is easier to get to see the attractions.  Retirement has its advantages  The weather was a little cool so we didn't get the e-biking in that we planned but truly enjoyed getting away.  There had been some forest fires just a week or so before our trip. It was sad to see some of the remnants of the the homes that were lost, but no lives were lost and everyone seemed to be handling what happened very well.