THE EMPIRE BUILDER PASCO TO CHICAGO
The Empire Builder pulled into Pasco at 9:00 pm only 15 minutes behind schedule, which I consider ahead of time for Amtrak.
We got on board and settled in for the night. Unfortunately we missed most of the Rocky Mountain scenery as we rode through the night. At least it was late enough that the kids had settled down for the night, and were not running up and down the isle.
Somewhere around daylight we passed through the (mule yard) the place they house the emergency snow crews ans mule engines that pushed the heavy freights up over the Great Divide. There is a hotel there called the Issac Walton, if you are a train buff you would love the place. The entire staff of the hotel plus quests came out on the porch to wave at us as we went through. Kind of a tradition I heard.
Three or four hours later we came down on the upper plains of North Dakota etc. A long barren stretch of corn fields and wheat fields stretching as far as you could see. Way off in the distance you could see the grain silos, which are about three stories high, with tracks running to them off the main line. Not much to see as there were no human inhabitants to be seen.
Many people sat and read a book. I went to the observation car as I can always go to the library, but can't always have a captive audience to exchange stories with. Met many wonderful people there and learned about their lifestyle, work and so on.
They have changed the eating format somewhat. They used to come through taking reservations, now they just say the diner is open and you can go down anytime to eat. I was not concerned with that as I had my food with me.
Once we turned south at Fargo you started to see more activity and it became more interesting to look out the window. It was raining when we pulled into Chicago. To late to catch the Wolverine into Mich. I knew I would miss connections so I had booked a hostel bed in Chicago. So I took a cab to my hostel.
I had a printout of the place with address. It was the Chicago International Hostel. The cabbie said he knew the place but that wasn't the correct address, and sure enough he took me to the Chicago International Hostel. The bottom floor is a bank or insurance office. You take the elevator up to the second floor which is where the hostel is. Surprisingly they did not have my reservation and said it would be $35.00 for a bed for the night. You might know the other International Hostel across town did have my reservation. They charged my credit card as a no show, another $35.00
It was late and I had to be up at 5:00 am to catch the Wolverine into Pontiac Mi. So I went for it never thinking about the no show rule. It was too late to go out and get something to eat, especially in the rain, so I ate out of my stash.
The place was neat and clean and relatively quiet. There was a troop of Boy Scouts two floors up, but management kept them under control.
When I came down at 5:00 am the clerk was stretched out on the floor sleeping. I told him I was sorry for interrupting his nap, but I needed to check out and get a cab to Union Station. He checked me out and called a cab and helped me downstairs with my luggage. He stayed with me, the streets were deserted, till the cab showed up. and I was off to Union Station.
We got on board and settled in for the night. Unfortunately we missed most of the Rocky Mountain scenery as we rode through the night. At least it was late enough that the kids had settled down for the night, and were not running up and down the isle.
Somewhere around daylight we passed through the (mule yard) the place they house the emergency snow crews ans mule engines that pushed the heavy freights up over the Great Divide. There is a hotel there called the Issac Walton, if you are a train buff you would love the place. The entire staff of the hotel plus quests came out on the porch to wave at us as we went through. Kind of a tradition I heard.
Three or four hours later we came down on the upper plains of North Dakota etc. A long barren stretch of corn fields and wheat fields stretching as far as you could see. Way off in the distance you could see the grain silos, which are about three stories high, with tracks running to them off the main line. Not much to see as there were no human inhabitants to be seen.
Many people sat and read a book. I went to the observation car as I can always go to the library, but can't always have a captive audience to exchange stories with. Met many wonderful people there and learned about their lifestyle, work and so on.
They have changed the eating format somewhat. They used to come through taking reservations, now they just say the diner is open and you can go down anytime to eat. I was not concerned with that as I had my food with me.
Once we turned south at Fargo you started to see more activity and it became more interesting to look out the window. It was raining when we pulled into Chicago. To late to catch the Wolverine into Mich. I knew I would miss connections so I had booked a hostel bed in Chicago. So I took a cab to my hostel.
I had a printout of the place with address. It was the Chicago International Hostel. The cabbie said he knew the place but that wasn't the correct address, and sure enough he took me to the Chicago International Hostel. The bottom floor is a bank or insurance office. You take the elevator up to the second floor which is where the hostel is. Surprisingly they did not have my reservation and said it would be $35.00 for a bed for the night. You might know the other International Hostel across town did have my reservation. They charged my credit card as a no show, another $35.00
It was late and I had to be up at 5:00 am to catch the Wolverine into Pontiac Mi. So I went for it never thinking about the no show rule. It was too late to go out and get something to eat, especially in the rain, so I ate out of my stash.
The place was neat and clean and relatively quiet. There was a troop of Boy Scouts two floors up, but management kept them under control.
When I came down at 5:00 am the clerk was stretched out on the floor sleeping. I told him I was sorry for interrupting his nap, but I needed to check out and get a cab to Union Station. He checked me out and called a cab and helped me downstairs with my luggage. He stayed with me, the streets were deserted, till the cab showed up. and I was off to Union Station.