October 9, 2012

We awoke at Redding, about two hours late.  Mt. Shasta was beautiful, as usual, in the morning sun.

We had breakfast in the dining car (our last chance to have the yummy 'Railroad French Toast!).  We had lunch in the parlor car again.  There was lots of color in the Cascades, with the bright orange vine maples and yellow big leaf maples.

We arrived in Salem at 4:15, two hours late.  After waiting about 20 minutes for a no-show taxi, we walked to the bus terminal and took the bus home.  Total miles this leg:  1,138

Total miles walked on our trip:  41.2

Total miles on the train:  7,776

We had a great time and are already thinking about our next train trip.

October 8, 2012

We awoke in Pomona about an hour late, but we arrived in Union Station in Los Angeles almost on time.  Total miles this leg:  1,995

We found some breakfast in the station while we killed a few hours.  The station is in a really lousy part of town, so we didn't feel like walking.  But the station itself is very nice.  It's been restored to its original splendor.

We left L.A. on the Starlight on time.  We had lunch in the parlor car, which was very nice.  It's available only to first class passengers. The food is similar to the dining car, but the atmosphere is nicer.  In the afternoon we attended a complimentary wine tasting there.

The early part of the trip is right along the coast.

One of the most fun things on this part of the Starlight is going up the Cuesta Grade north of San Luis Obispo.  It's a double horseshoe curve.  We can see both ends of the train as we curve around the hills.  The train climbs over 1,000 feet in 11 miles.

The trestle we cross at Stenner Creek was built on the East Coast and shipped around Cape Horn to be assembled.  Who knows why.

After climbing up the grade, we descended to the central valley.  As usual, it's acres and acres of crops.

 

We had a beautiful sunset in the evening. 

October 7, 2012

We awoke still in Texas, now in the desert of the west side.

Just past Del Rio, which is on the Mexican border, we crossed the Pecos River on the highest railroad bridge in the U.S.

The railroad station in El Paso was designed by Daniel Burnham, who also designed railroad stations in Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh.  This station has been very nicely restored.

El Paso sits on the Mexican border, across from Ciudad Juarez.

Here's a different type of railroad station, this one in Sanderson, Texas.  It's on its way to being demolished.

We continued through Texas until mid-afternoon, when we entered New Mexico, then a little later, Arizona.  Things are starting to look familiar here.  Some cactus, but no saguaros.

We spent about an hour outside Tucson while two private cars were unhooked.  We are now about an hour late.  We are a little concerned because we have just a five-hour connection window to get on the Coast Starlight in L.A.

October 6, 2012

Up early today, another easy breakfast at the hotel, then a walk to the train station.  The walk wasn't long, just difficult.  This is not a pedestrian-friendly city.  The tourist areas have been fairly well maintained, but away from there the city is crumbling, along with its sidewalks.  We got on the train at 9:00 a.m. and left on time.  Soon we were crossing the Huey P. Long bridge, the longest railroad bridge in the country at 4.4 miles and 160 feet above the Mississippi River.   

 

 

We rode through miles and miles of swamps and bayous.  Lots of poverty here.

 
 The main crop here is sugar cane.

The eastern side of Texas looks very green.  Evidently they were not affected by the drought.  We were in Houston by dinner time.  In fact, we had dinner in the diner as we sat at the Houston station.

October 5, 2012

Another hot day.  After breakfast we did a walking tour of the Garden District, the neighborhood we were staying in.  We had a printout of a suggested tour, which worked out well.  This is where the Americans built their mansions when the French threw them out of the French Quarter in the 1850's.

 

Also in the area is Lafayette Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in New Orleans.  All the graves are above ground because it's below sea level. 

As we were walking we heard loud noises coming from the tree above us.  It turned out to be Monk Parakeets. 

After lunch we did laundry again.  Even though it was hot, we opted to do a little more walking around the neighborhood before going out for dinner.  Total miles walked today:  5.8

 

October 4, 2012

It was already hot and humid when we went to breakfast.  It was in the upper 80's the whole time we were in New Orleans, with humidity to match.  Our plan for the day had been to ride the St. Charles Avenue streetcar to the French Quarter, but the line was closed for repairs.  So we walked.

 

This is Preservation Hall.

After a lot of zigzagging through the streets of the French Quarter we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Desire.  The highlight was chocolate pecan pie!

After lunch we took a tour on a carriage pulled by a mule.  We learned that all the carriages are pulled by mules because they do better in the heat than horses.  It was an entertaining tour.

 This was the mule pulling the carriage right behind us.




We then walked down to the waterfront to Cafe du Monde for have the mandatory beignets and chickory coffee.

Beignets are pretty much just square donuts without the hole, with lots of powdered sugar. When they are hot out of the fryer they are delicious.

We then walked back to the hotel and had dinner nearby.

Total miles walked today:  9.4

October 3, 2012

We awoke outside Atlanta, back on schedule.

We spent the day traveling through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.  Lots of swamps, lots of kudzu, and lots of poverty.  This isn't a great photo, but it shows the kudzu covering everything.

It was just starting to get dark as we crossed Lake Ponchartrain.  We had a gorgeous sunset.

We arrived at the station in New Orleans on time, then took a taxi to the Queen Anne hotel.

It turns out that this was the only time we traveled in an automobile on the entire trip.  We could have walked to the hotel, but it was dark and we were unsure of the directions.  Total miles this leg:  1,377.

October 2, 2012

So much for quiet nights.  When we went to bed at 10:00, ConEd was still working out in the street below us.  Then at about 4:30 a.m. we were awakened by a guy tossing trash into a garbage truck.

After breakfast at the hotel we checked out and took our bags to Penn Station.  Then we walked uptown on Fifth Avenue.  Here's the Plaza Hotel and a fountain in front of it.

 

















 We walked through Central Park one more time.  This time it was a lot quieter.

After a while it started to rain, so we took the subway back to the train station.   The post office is right across the street from the station.

We had lunch in the station at T.G.I. Friday's.  The Crescent was scheduled to leave at 2:15, but we didn't actually leave until 2:30.  As we left we saw the Acela, Amtrak's high-speed train, on a track above us.

We had three private cars on the back end of our train, including this one.

By the time we got to Washington D.C. it was getting dark, but we had glimpses of some of the landmarks, lighted through the fog.  By bed time we were 30 minutes late.

Total miles walked today:  4.7

October 1, 2012

We decided we couldn't face another breakfast at the Holiday Inn, so we went out for breakfast.  Then we walked to the High Line park.

This is just the neatest thing.  It's an elevated walkway that goes along an abandoned rail line that originally carried freight to local warehouses and factories.  The idea was to keep the rail traffic off the street below.  But after it was abandoned in 1980, it started to deteriorate.  In 1999 couple of young men decided to try to save it, and ten years later it opened to the public.  It's a very popular place to walk.  And being above the sidewalks provides a nice perspective.

The old rails are still evident in places.

There are plans to extend the walk even further.

We then walked back toward the hotel to find lunch.  Along the way, we noticed an interesting thing on some of the cars.  They have covers over their front and rear bumpers to protect them.  We saw several kinds, including the Bumper Buddy.

In theory it prevents this.

After lunch we headed out again on foot for the Chelsea Pier.  There we boarded the Manhattan, a classic yacht, for an architectural tour around Manhattan island. 

We completely circled Manhattan, getting amazing looks at all the bridges and buildings.

We went past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

We went under the Brooklyn Bridge.

The tour lasted almost three hours.  The weather was gorgeous -- warm and sunny.  We had brought warm jackets, but we didn't need them. 

We walked back to our room and then out to dinner.  

Total miles walked today:  7.1