Monday, November 18, 2013

Morning on the Coast Starlight

Morning Bliss

It took me a while to fall asleep last night. That half-cup of coffee after the beer probably didn't help. The shaking and rolling of the car as it makes its way over the fairly worn out Union Pacific tracks towards Sacramento took some time to get used to. The bed is a bit short, but more comfortable than I expected. I didn't have high expectations, so this was a pleasant surprise, though don't expect memory foam goodness here … Nevertheless, eventually the car rocks you to sleep. I slept for 7 hours with a couple interruptions twisting and turning. Overall, about as good as I hoped for.

When I woke up this morning I could see Mount Shasta in the distance behind the train. We're crossing into Oregon to a beautiful sunrise. I got dressed, took photos, and went to the dining car for breakfast. Amtrak has this interesting policy to fill up the tables in the dining car as they seat you, so you sit with three strangers and get to do conversation. As it turns out the guy across from me was stationed in Ludwigsburg for 3 years. First time ever I met an American who served in my home city, so we had a nice chat.

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2 comments:

simmonmt said...

That trip sounds like a lot of fun to do once, but my goodness is there a time penalty. Seven hours to get from Newark to the Oregon border vs five by car? Maps says 21 hours from Newark to Seattle vs 12 by car. That's just crazy.

Elvis said...

hat mich amuesiert zu lesen :-)