A Few Trip Notes and Photos
My ride from cold and windy Chicago to the Bay Area on the California Zephyr was excellent, start to finish. Good crew, good food and spot on time the whole way.
During the 40-minute pause in Denver, I was delighted to see the windows being washed. Alas, because of where the train had stopped, with only narrow access to the right side of the train, only the windows on the left side received the scrubbing. Care to guess which side of the train my roomette was on?
The ride from Denver west is spectacular, or course, as the Zephyr climbs up into the Rocky Mountains and winds its way through a series of canyons before pausing in Glenwood Springs. Because the Colorado River is on the left side of the train (!!) for almost all of the three hours that journey takes …
… I spent most of the time in the lounge car or in the dining car, comfortably and happily settled at a table – all on the left side of the train, of course.
The great scenery on the following day occurs as the Zephyr climbs over the Sierras via Donner Pass, but before we got to the mountains, the Nevada desert offered some pretty spectacular viewing, too.
The rock formations are really quite amazing. For that matter, the Zephyr’s route is pretty amazing and varied from start to finish. I suppose, if I had to pick the one Amtrak route that offers the greatest variety of scenery and some of the most breathtaking, it would be this one. The California is a must-do from anyone wishing to experience a great train journey here in the U.S.