Arrived in Chicago on an eventful plane ride. \240 We are staying at the airport Hilton tonight and taking Uber to the train station tomorrow for our 2 PM boarding. \240 So excited! \240This is the first big trip we have taken since Africa last June after our Great Lakes cruise in July was cancelled due to flight issues with CrowdStrike.

So we checked into the Hilton, the sunset tonight was lovely. \240 Jeff told them at checkin he didn’t want avroom near the elevator. \240 Well we are at the far end of the hall, you can’t get any further from the elevator, however we are overlooking the airport runways. \240 I wonder which is louder elevators or planes taking off all night?

We checked in for our train, interesting at no time were we asked for ID. \240 I presented the train voucher with a QR code and it was scanned, then we were instructed where to check our luggage and directed to the Metropolitan Lounge. \240We are very early as the trip from the airport normally takes an hour but the traffic was minimal and we arrived in about 30 minutes.

When we board the train we were invited to the observation car for Sips and Sightsee as we leave downtown Chicago. \240We also were able to make dinner reservations. \240Dinner is served at a community table of 4. \240There are a lot of new experiences.

Here is our route. \240Our first stop is Salt Lake City to take a coach to Yellowstone

We have a Bedroom cabin, it is about the size of a king bed with a large chunk cut out for the toilet/shower. \240

Thus far the trip has been fantastic. \240 After the Sip and Sightsee we came down to our cabin and have really enjoyed the views along the way. \240There is lots of farmland and after a couple hours we crossed the mighty Mississippi. \240 I had never been to Iowa before

What a fabulous day on the train! \240We are somewhere in Iowa or Nebraska who knows. \240 We have had a great time. \240 Dinner was delicious and we met a nice couple from Cape May NJ. \240 Sunset was beautiful and now we are off to organizing ourselves in our cabin. \240 We will see how it goes with the bunk beds. \240

The mountains are beautiful and we are truly enjoying the trip across Colorado. \240 This is all new terrain for us via land. \240 We can see the Colorado River meandering along the train tracks. \240 There are many people rafting, fishing and camping along the banks.

We arrived in Utah about 7 PM this evening. \240 The landscape was immediately different from that in Colorado. \240The land is flatter and the rocks are more like plateaus.

Sunset tonight was lovely. \240It will be nice to get to Salt Lake City this evening. \240We get off the train tonight at nearly midnight as the train is running about 40 minutes late. \240 Not to bad considering the horror stories we have heard. \240We shall have a good nights rest in a hotel.

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Salt Lake City airport

There are only a few people on the bus so we are sitting opposite each other. \240This allows for maximum photo opportunities and I can stretch out my legs. \240 We met a nice couple Cindy and Tom who are from Mansfield, Ohio, not far from where we are from. \240 They are your friendly and fun midwesterners.

Two items of dude the toilet on the bus is not working, bummer but the driver said we would stop about every hour and one half for quick breaks. \240 Second the USB ports at the seat don’t work. \240Oh well it will all work out.

Thus far nearly 3 hours into the bus ride not much to see out here. \240There is a lot of flat farmland bad small brown hill/ mountains

The trip to Yellowstone was pretty benign. \240Most of the way it was flat with mountains in the distance when we crossed into Idaho the terrain and foliage changed becoming flat with large evergreens. \240Thus far no wildlife sightings except from the highway I saw a bison at a wildlife park. \240 That doesn’t count.

The driver did point out the mountain range that looks like a sleeping Indian. \240See below

We stopped along the last few miles to drink from a fresh water spring called Howard’s Spring \240 The water was icy cold and I filled up my water bottle after a drink. It as fun

Local art

Arriving at the hotel in Montana we were happy to get out of coaches and vans and stretch our legs. \240We are pretty close to ontime only about a 1/2 behind and we should arrive at the hotel in time for cocktail hour and prior to the NFL kickoff at 6:20 MST.

We are staying at the Gray Wolf inn and suites for the next two nights. The hotel has a fire pit outside nd they have s’more kits in the lobby.

We walked to a local restaurant and had a delicious dinner complimented with local beers. \240 Fun evening. \240 On the way to the restaurant we passed a incognito McDonalds and a Chevron also in disguise. \240

We arrived in Salt Lake City after a nearly 8 hour coach ride. \240Frankly it was terrible. \240The roads are not smooth but the coach was so bumpy it was like riding a bucking horse. Multiple times we hit bumps and I was tossed out of my seat up 6 inches. \240Jeff and I both ache.

We had dinner in downtown Salt Lake. \240The town is beautiful, clean and appears safe. \240There were a large number of people walking around. \240 We chose to dine at the Copper Onion. \240It was delicious and we had waygu beef stroganoff. \240 Excellent dish. \240Cute restaurant, great service and wonderful menu.

Ar 10:00 PM we are getting Uber to the train and we will try the bunk beds again. We are so tired I don’t think it matters at this point. \240 We will see. \240 We arrive in Emeryville about 11 miles from San Francisco tomorrow around 5 PM. \240We will see how close to time Amtrak is running. \240

Yosemite has experienced several fires in recent years along with some flooding. \240The fire damage is still evident and of course this will lead to mud slides with heavy rainfall.

Above are some pictures. \240 Tomorrow we hope to take the ferry over to Alcatraz before we board the train for Seattle tomorrow evening.

After return to Pier 33 we walked up to Pier 39 and enjoyed lunch at Fog Harbour Fish House. \240 I had the lobster roll and Jeff enjoyed the clam chowder and a wedge salad. \240We both agreed it was yummy. This was our lunch and dinner as we leave for the train station at 6 and board the train at 9.

We took Uber from the hotel near the wharf area of San Francisco back to the Emeryville Amtrak station. \240 We depart here at 9:41. \240 \240We hope the train is on time. \240We don’t arrive in Seattle until after 7 tomorrow evening. \240

The Oregon terrain is simply stunning. \240 We have throughly enjoyed watching the landscape from our cabin. \240 Jeff and I both agree this is a new adventure and we enjoy traveling this way. \240 The food on this train is a little better, but the menu is the same.

Pictures of the Columbia River as we arrive in Portland. \240

Tomorrow we are in Seattle all day. \240We are going to the space needle and the Chihuly garden glass exhibit. \240 Fun fun fun. \240 I’m sure we will find a great seafood restaurant. \240 We board the train for Glacier at 4:55 and arrive Friday morning.

Once we arrived at West Glacier on the far side of the park we saw some beautiful scenery as we traveled across the park to the East Glacier stop. \240We are staying in the Glacier Lake Lodge a historical property.

We arrived at the Lodge we were greeted by a gentleman to take us the short distance from the train. \240He was driving a 1967 Checker. \240 The car was awesome. \240The lodge was built in 1913.

After lunch in the canteen there was a wedding on the lawn. \240 The sun was out but it was a bit cool, at least the rain stopped prior to the big event.

Our friends Alane and Steve stopped by to play with the cats. \240They also brushed Oliver. \240He loves to be brushed. \240 They are getting along well. \240This is the longest they have been with just a sitter twice a day rather than someone living with them.

Once again it was a no wildlife day. \240Bummer! \240 She said she typically sees big horn sheep, mountain goats and bears on her tours. \240We saw none not even a squirrel. \240 Friends who did and earlier tour saw deer, goats and white buffalo.

We hit many of the high points of the park although it was foggy due to the rain for a great part of the afternoon. \240 The park is beautiful and there were many small waterfalls and many large and small lakes, rivers and creeks. \240The landscape is very unique and it was exciting to see

We had lunch at the McDonald Lake Lodge another old lodge which is more of a hunting style lodge.

McDonald Lakes

McDonald Lodge for lunch

Cows not bears.

Saint Mary’s Tourist Center

Blackfeet Tribal Flag

Giant bird nest I forget what kind

Jackson Glacier

Blackfeet Glacier

We got out at the Continental Divide at Logan’s Pass and had our photo taken

Today, our last day I the park we saw a bear cub! \240 My wishes have been granted. \240He was in a tree and mama must have called because by the time we got cameras he was sprinting across the grass. \240I have circled him in my picture. \240We also missed seeing a grizzly bear by about 5 minutes. \240Bummer. \240

We board the train at 9:30 tomorrow and arrive in Chicago around 4 on Tuesday. \240 Our flight home is Wednesday.

The terrain during the trip was flat filled with corn fields and agriculture after we left glacier. \240This continued throughout the day in Montana.

We arrived in North Dakota around 7 this evening. \240Sunset \240and the ND sky are beautiful. Jeff has noted that we have been in 14 states during this trip. \240 Many of these states we had not been in before. \240 The list includes Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, ,Utah,Wyoming, Montana,Idaho,California,Oregon, Colorado,Washington, North Dakota and Minnesota. \240 This is quite a list.

Tomorrow we go through Minnesota, Wisconsin and finally Illinois to our destination of Chicago. \240 The landscape has been so very lovely and very so different from state to state. \240