The train trip of beautiful sights continued on and I ended up taking more pictures in CO because it is my original home place and it is incredibly beautiful to me.
Glade Park, Colorado,. This is a lovely Cottonwood growing in part of the damp area around the Colorado River as it nears Utah. Loma, Colorado farmland flanked by mesas on all sides and desert in between.A beautiful old train station at Grand Junction, CO in disrepairLook at that detailThe announcement on the train encouraged us all to use the store and that they had delicious local peaches. The magic of these peaches is legendary and talked about for miles. My Aunt Dorothy came from Pueblo, CO would drive over to see us on their way to get their stone fruits for the year. Iconic rock overlooking Grand Junction, CO. This is about 100 miles from where I grew up and where my medical doctors were.Solar farm on the outskirts of Grand Junction, CO.Clifton, Colorado. For many miles, the train followed the remarkable and beautiful Colorado River. It went around the western side of Grand Mesa, I grew up on the eastern slope of Grand Mesa. Here is more info on the Grand Mesa - because it is very cool and I encourage you to check it out.Glenwood Springs train station home of naturally occuring hot springs in town and ski slopes nearby. Elev. 5,761 ft. Look at this beautiful train...Colorado River - higher elevation where it is smaller and more lively. White River National Forest, Glenwood Springs, ColoradoGypsum, CO - mighty fine fishing hole.Burns, ColoradoBond, Western Rockies Corridor - The Colorado River was on the other side of the train and this was an area with still waterKremmling. Western Rockies, ColoradoGranby, Colorado here we are getting close to the highest the train goes before it goes through the Moffat tunnel the year on the western side of the tunnel is 1923 -1927! Tabernash, CO. Rockies off in the distance. They look like hills but they are all between 12,000 and 14,000 feet. Winter Park, ColoradoHere we are in Moffat Tunnel. It is 6.2 miles long. Amazing to think you are inside of a mountain for what seems like a looooong time. This is the valley that holds Denver and you can see it off in the distance. This is shortly after the tunnel. Rolling into Denver takes some time.Super beautiful maintained station and a cool sign. We didn't have time to go inside and check it out but we had a "fresh air" break of 10 mins
We had dinner and slept through the rest of Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. We woke up in Iowa! Our train was roughly on time we were in the top 20% of on-time trains. The Amtrak workers were so pleased! Morale was high.
Good Morning Iowa! Creston, IowaMississippi River, Gulfport, Illinois, United StatesOquawka, IllinoisChicago where it was 100 degrees and with humidity through the roof my phone said it felt like 110. It was miserable. Every time I've been in Chicago the weather has been extreme. So much so that I've found it impossible to walk a mere 5 blocks to see Lake Michigan.
This is the "Great Hall" which has 115-foot ceilings. It had a full restoration in 2019. It is truly a thing of wonder. If you look closely at the details there are the same rosette details as in the station at Grand Junction that was decrepit. Because we traveled in a private space we were welcomed into the metropolitan lounge which is a place you can store your bags and lounge around or explore. It was seriously (read: freezing) air-conditioned and had free snacks and water. Highly civilized. We had a 5-hour layover then caught a local splitter train (Limited 448/48) which puts people going to NYC in the back and Boston folks in the front and then divides the train in half. This part of the journey was 24 hours and at one point we were two hours late but we got in roughly 45 minutes late.
In our cubbie for 24 hours more. Tired little people at this point. Trains speeding around everywhere. Rolling out of Chicago on the Chicago River. Photos on the train are always a fight against reflection but they can accurately capture the mood sometimesOur wee sink in our roomette that you fold up and it empties that way. Good Morning Pennsylvania. Another sad abandoned Union Station in Erie, PA Rain in Utica, NYHudson River, Albany NYOur hotel in Boston. YAY, a bed and space and we arrived in the rain at about 10pm. This is a view of a fully tiled interior courtyard. It's lovely.Hello, my lovely friend the Red Oak of Spring Street. We have arrived in the rain in Portland, Maine. It's so good to be "home"
This was really an adventure! I promise there will be significantly fewer photos from now on and I will get caught up so it is my daily practice. I love you all more than you know.
