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11 th
November, 2014 sitting at my desk before my laptop computer, and I
hit the jackpot. No, not the lottery, but the chance to reserve bedroom
compartments on Amtrak trains from Philadelphia to San Diego, California,
round trip, in October 2015; eleven months from now. We were going to
attend Dick's annual army intelligence unit's reunion. It was the first
day that the reservation opened up on Amtrak's Computer System, and only
one was available. I made the reservation, paid the required amount and
checked back later to see that I had indeed reserved the last set of
bedroom compartments on the four trains on
which we would be
traveling.
Now here it is, Sunday the 4 th
October, 2015. Our son, Eric, arrives early to drive us to 30 th
Street Station in Philadelphia for a 11:33 departure on
the Northeast Regional to Washington, DC. A Redcap checked our eTicket,
tagged our two bags and led us off to the Amtrak Lounge for comfortable
seating, tidbits and drinks overlooking the Great Hall waiting
room.
Shortly before departure, our Redcap appeared
and led us to the nearby elevator. Dick was using his walker with his
oxygen concentrator over one side and his cpap machine over the other. He
assisted us to our comfortable recliner seats with electric outlets and
WiFi for computers. The train departed 2 minutes early; so smoothly
we
had to look out the window at the Schuylkill River to
see that we
were
moving.
Two hours later we arrived at Washington's Union
Station. Redcaps met us there took our bags. We climbed onto the golf cart
for the short trip to the Lounge area, checked in, sat on a soft couch. An
Amtrak Conductor came around, checked our eTickets with his scanner,
introduced himself as being on our departing Capital Limited to Chicago.
Just before
the 4 PM departure the Conductor
announced
“All aboard for Chicago”. The cars on the Capitol
Limited were double decker, and our bedroom compartment was on the second
level, Car #2900, Room A.
There were five bedrooms on the
2 nd deck; the others were the
smaller roomettes.
The Car Man placed our large bag
in a baggage rack and carried our smaller bag up to our
seven by eight foot compartment. It was designed
for two people with a large picture
window, upper and lower berths, armchair and sofa that converts to the lower berth. Across from
the berth was sink, vanity filled with
towels and washclothes, toilet and shower, garment rack and folddown
table with bottled water in holders.
There was a call button and plenty of lighting
along with climate
control.
Promptly at 4:05 PM, Mary said to
me, we're moving.
As we left Washington, there was
so much scenery
to
see before darkness fell. We followed the Potomac River Valley, up through
the Allegheny Mountains, the Cumberland Narrows and across the river at
Harper’s Ferry, very little changed from the Civil War.
We were called to the Dining Car, the next car, for
dinner. It was a challenge to navigate the narrow passageway, too narrow
for Dick's walker. But, with one elbow against the windows and the other
against the bedroom doors, we made it with no problem. Dinner was a choice
of baked salmon, barbequed half chicken, Amtrak
Signature Steak and a vegetarian platter. Drinks were served as orders
were taken for the meal. We both
chose steaks done to our liking and very
tender . Accompanied baked
potatoes and a vegetable. Dinner was very good. We chose Hagen Daz ice
cream and Tiramisu for dessert.
Back in our
compartment, we finished getting things unpacked. The Car Man arrived
shortly to make our beds. He showed Mary how to connect the safety straps
to keep her from rolling out of the top bunk. Then we learned about the
lighting controls and Attendant call buttons.
Well it was a long
day, and we were tired. So into our beds where sleep quickly overtook us.
I vaguely remember stopping in Pittsburgh, but the next thing I woke up to
a rising sun at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, the home of the Lincoln Library. The
Dining Car Man came through and told us to turn our watches back an hour,
now Central Time. We proceeded to the Dining Car and were promptly seated
across from an English couple who were with a tour group and heading to
the Grand Canyon. Juices ware served and orders taken for breakfast.
Scrambled eggs, sausage and grits filled us both.
We returned to our compartment, remade for day travel. Now we could enjoy
the scenery across Northern Indiana with Lake Michigan on our right side.
As we approached Chicago with the Chicago River next to us, we could see
the Sears Tower, now called the Willis Tower and Trump's International
Hotel and Tower.
At 8:45 Monday we arrived at Union
Station and the Conductor told us to wait until the golf and baggage carts
arrived to take us to the First Class Lounge where we would have a six
hour layover. Free food and drinks were available. There was Wifi so Dick
unleashed his little laptop. That kept him happy and occupied. Mary was
involved with a good story in her Kindle.
At 2PM the
Conductor called “All aboard for the Southwest Chief; have your tickets
ready.” He scanned our eTickets, and our Redcap was waiting with our bags
and the golfcart. On Car #0331, Room D, Dick ran out his extension cord and plugged in
his medical equipment, notebook computer and GPS.
We departed at 3 PM for our 2,265 mile, eight state, journey to Los
Angeles. Two diesel/electric engines pulled our nine cars; baggage, three
sleepers, dining, lounge and three coach cars. We were permitted to travel
90 MPH, and according to Dick's GPS we did up to 91 MPH. Our 41 hour,
total time including stops indicated an average speed of 55 MPH. Many
portions of this route were equipped with the automatic train stop (ATS).
This would have stopped the similar train that overturned on a North
Philadelphia curve earlier in the year. The views were filled with 100's
of wind mills in fields of corn and many solar farms.
Dinnertime found us crossing the muddy Mississippi River near
Keakuk, Missouri. When we returned to our room, it was set up for the
night. It was reading time with our loaded Kindle eBooks. At bedtime we
pulled into Kansas City, Missouri, and on Tuesday morning awoke in Lamar,
Colorado with the call for breakfast and “Turn back your watches one hour.
We are now on Mountain Time”. Dick was having problems with his automatic
atomic watch. Mary's watch was two faced. One showed Eastern time, and the
other was local time. We had slept through the whole state of
Kansas.
One more night to go. But Tuesday was a great
site seeing day as we headed across desert land with flat topped mountains
sprouting up all around us. The only plant life were small cedar and
mesquite trees scattered across the plains. Eagles soared above us. The
Engineer was blowing his whistle, and we did not know the reason until we
saw a large herd of antelope scattering away from the train. This is truly
the land where the buffalo roam and the deer and antelope play, and we saw
all of them. Then through the Sangre and Cristo mountains with stops at
Raton, Las Vegas, Lamy and crossing the Rio Grande river approaching
Aubuquerque. The walk to and from the dining car really took the breath
out of Dick. Mary was wondering if she should get him to a hospital in the
largest city in the area. But she went down to the lower deck with the Car
Man to retrieve the Nebulizer machine from our large suitcase. With
Albuterol in the machine, the oxygen concentrator and plenty of bottled
water he was able to begin breathing normally. We figured that it was the
walking and high altitude that caused the breathing problem. Mary's
nurses' training was put to use. Aubuquerque was a 45 minute extended
stop. Dick was able to use the station's Wifi to bring his computer to
use, from his seat, and receive his latest emails and news from home.
Navajo Indians were on the station platform selling their Indian trinkets.
We were truly in the old west.
We crossed the
Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert south of the Grand Canyon and west
of Gallup, New Mexico. The Car Man brought dinner to us in the compartment
because of Dick's breathing problem which now was much improved. We
finished dessert at Flagstaff, Arizona where many exited the train for
their short trip to the Grand Canyon. And now for us it was bed time, our
last night on the Southwest Chief.
Wednesday morning
we awoke early near San Bernardino, California and pushed the bottom bunk
back into its daytime position. We made it just in time as the Car Man
came with two breakfasts. He had said the night before that he would be
too busy to bring us breakfast, but there he was. Since our travel bag was
all packed, he took it down to the lower deck. At 8:30 we pulled into Los
Angeles Union Station.
We remained in our compartment until most
passengers got off, then our Train Man came for us and lead us down the
windy stair way with Mary in the lead. Then it happened! Mary's left knee
failed on her and down she went. As she was being helped up, what she said
turned the air blue. Everyone helped gettiing the both of us to the
waiting golf cart with our baggage and walker already loaded. We rode down
the platform, across several tracks, and up another platform where the six
car double decker Pacific Surfliner awaited us. We had First Class
Business seating on the lower deck, left side. They placed our luggage and
walker along the right wall where there were no seats. This is normally
the bicycle racks. We had Wifi and electric outlets right at our seats.
The doors closed, and then there was the recorded announcement that the
doors were closing. The Conductor told us that was the way it is, as he
handed out drinks and snacks. Our seating area was reserved for first
class senior citizens and groups of three or more. The toilet area doorway
was wide enough for wheelchair access.
It was three
stops before we arrived at Fullerton where many, almost all, of the houses were
Japanese style. Dick felt that he was on a Japanese train. The train then
came right out to the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean and traveled along the
beach. Beach people and surfers parked on the left side of the tracks, and
then walked through tunnels under the tracks to the beech. We passed the
chapel at San Juan Capistrano where the swallows return on schedule each
year.
Mary got out her phone and called our reunion
hostess to let her know our arrival time in Old Town and to find a good
medical supply house between the Old Town station and the Town and Country
Resort & Convention Center. Our group president and his wife were
waiting at the Old Town Station as we pulled in. Mary and Dick shared the
walker to their car, about thirty feet. At the medical supply house Mary
purchased a knee brace for her bad knee and some urinary supplies for
Dick. It was only ten minutes to the holel which had two nine story
buildings and many cottages on 32 acres, with 2,000 Palm Trees and three
swimming pools
next to a 27 hole golf course. We got to our room on the 1st
floor with
a pool outside our French doors. Mary decided that her knee brace would
not be adequate for the reunion. She called the medical supply and asked
if she could lease a walker until Sunday, with delivery and pickup
included. They settled on a price, took her height and in 15 minutes it
was delivered to our hotel room door. The next day she again called the
medical supply and said she wished to buy the walker as she would need it
all the way home.
Our group were all military stationed
on the island of Hokkaido, Japan between 1945 and 1975. Dick was stationed
there from 1954 to 1956. Mary spent the winter of '55' 56 and lived in a
tiny Japanese house in a very small village named Chitose. Our annual
reunion meets every year at a different location around the States. There
are normally tours of the area arranged by the host and hostess. There are
so mant things to see in San Diego. Our group had a tour of the aircraft
carrier Midway, a Japanese buffet dinner, an evening harbor dinner cruise
aboard a 200 foot catamaran. Our annual meeting and banquet was on
Saturday night and most of the group returned home on Sunday.
We all said our good byes. A hibred taxi took us to
the San Diego Transportation Center. We were going to have to take a bus
up the coast to Oceanside because track work was being done on weekends
just north of San Diego. Our train would be waiting for us in Oceanside.
The bus ride was a scenic trip and the train was waiting for us when we
arrived. It was then that we saw another bus behind us with more
passengers. There was a total of three busses in our convoy from San Diego
to Oceanside to meet the
train. |
