West Coast Adventure Begins: Amtrak, Alaska, and the Oregon Coast

We recently began our month long adventure to the West Coast, including our very first cruise.

Our journey started aboard Amtrak from St. Paul to Seattle. The trip takes about 37 hours and departs late in the evening, so you spend two nights on the train. We booked 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, with enough space to relax and watch the scenery roll by outside the window. It included a compact bathroom with a combination toilet and shower. The restroom worked fine, but the shower was so small that I skipped using it. Fortunately, larger shower facilities are available for sleeping car passengers.

Sleeping, or maybe I should say climbing into bed, became its own adventure. I am 70 and still fairly agile, but getting into and out of the upper bunk was more of a workout than I expected. A midnight trip to the restroom could easily take ten to fifteen minutes as I carefully climbed down without waking Pat or hurting myself. Looking back, it was pretty funny.

We had an excellent sleeping car attendant named Dollencia. She explained how everything worked, offered helpful tips about the train and dining schedule, and regularly stopped by to check on us or chat for a few minutes. That personal touch made the experience even better.

Our fare included meals in the dining car, and the food was surprisingly good. Dining turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. Tables seat four people, so passengers are often seated together. You end up sharing meals with people you probably would never have met otherwise. Everyone we talked with was friendly, interesting, and had stories worth hearing.

There is also an observation car and lounge, where we spent quite a bit of time. The scenery was spectacular, and even though we were told the train was full, we never had trouble finding seats. Some people visited with strangers, while others quietly enjoyed the scenery or read a book.

One thing that surprised me was the lack of WiFi. At first, that seemed odd, but there was enough cell coverage through much of the trip to stay connected. There were stretches with no signal at all, and honestly, that became part of the experience. It felt good to disconnect for a while.

One thing I especially enjoyed was seeing the country without billboards everywhere. We live in a beautiful country. Along the route we saw million dollar homes alongside places that looked like they barely provided shelter. I was amazed by the number of old cars, farm equipment, RVs, and machinery sitting in backyards. If someone could figure out an economical way to transport it all to recycling centers, there appears to be a tremendous amount of value just sitting there. The number of old vehicles alone would make any restorer smile.

We intentionally built an extra day into our schedule because Amtrak arrival times can vary. It also gave us an opportunity to spend a day exploring Seattle, which we had not visited in several years.

Next Leg of the Trip: Our First Cruise

Neither of us had ever been on a cruise, so we really didn’t know what to expect.

Friends and family shared advice, and we watched numerous videos about what to do and what to avoid. Eventually, it became almost overwhelming trying to prepare.

After a day and a half exploring Seattle, it was finally time to board the Celebrity Edge.

From the moment we arrived at the terminal, we were impressed. Boarding was efficient, the lines moved quickly, and everyone we encountered was friendly.

Our cabin was beautiful, comfortable, and actually larger than our hotel room in Seattle.

The crew members were consistently pleasant, helpful, and always willing to point us in the right direction whenever we became turned around. The food was excellent, the entertainment was first class, and the scenery reminded us of portions of our trip to Banff several years ago.

Our first port was Ketchikan, Alaska, with a population of about 8,500. It is a beautiful town filled with interesting shops and friendly people.

I happened to be awake as we docked and watched three additional cruise ships arrive within the next hour. The night before, we had decided to get off the ship as early as possible to make the most of our eight hour visit.

That turned out to be one of our best decisions.

Early in the morning, the streets were quiet and there were almost no crowds. We were able to see everything we wanted without waiting in lines. By late morning, passengers from all four ships had flooded into town. Suddenly there were long lines for photographs, crowded stores, and busy checkout counters. Fortunately, we had already finished exploring and were back aboard the ship before noon.

A couple of things surprised me.

First were the prices in many of the souvenir shops. Not because they were expensive, but because they were much lower than I expected. T shirts averaged about fifteen dollars, sweatshirts around twenty five, and lightweight jackets were generally under thirty dollars. Prices seemed noticeably lower than similar tourist destinations elsewhere in the country.

Juneau was a completely different story. Prices there were considerably higher and more in line with what I expected. Skagway, however, was similar to Ketchikan, which was a pleasant surprise.

The second surprise was that Alaska apparently takes its rocks very seriously.

While walking along the creek, Pat picked up a few smooth stones and slipped them into my backpack. When we returned to the ship and passed through security, we were asked if we had any rocks.

We admitted we did and explained where we had found them.

Apparently, you are not supposed to remove rocks from the area.

Security politely confiscated our four stones. I suspect they eventually found their way back to the creek, or perhaps the trash, but either way, they did not leave Ketchikan.

As for cruising, we both discovered that we really enjoy it.

One thing I realized is that a Caribbean style party cruise probably is not for me. This Alaska cruise attracted an older crowd that clearly enjoyed themselves but seemed content with a quieter atmosphere. There were relatively few children on board. The ones we noticed were generally the result of being given a little too much freedom. By the fourth day, they became much less noticeable as everyone settled into the routine.

I can confidently say that Pat and I will cruise again. We enjoyed the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted, while simply falling into the rhythm of life aboard the ship.

The only disappointment came at the very end.

Disembarkation felt rushed and chaotic.

I understand that cruise lines have only a few hours to unload thousands of passengers, clean the ship, reload supplies, and prepare for the next voyage. Even so, the process became a long series of waiting. We left our cabin, waited for our luggage, then waited another ninety minutes just to board a bus to the airport. Once on the bus, it took another thirty minutes just to leave the terminal area because two ships were unloading at the same time.

After such a smooth and well organized cruise, ending the trip that way stood out and unfortunately became our final memory.

We’ll get over it, but I do think there is room for improvement. One thing we do know is that we will probably choose a different departure port the next time we cruise.

Now it is on to the next phase of our adventure.

We have rented a beach house for a week on the Oregon Coast, and we are looking forward to slowing down, relaxing, and seeing what comes next.