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| Sunday - July 24 We left the hotel at 12:30. A lot of people in the lobby and bar weren't even thinking about sleep yet and we had just woke up...it felt a little strange. It was a short and uneventful ride to the Amtrak station. They had some used bike boxes in excellent condition that we used. It took us about an hour to get everything packed. The train was running on time so far, so we had some time to relax before its 3:20 arrival time. However, the east-bound train was going to be 3 hours late. |
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| It did arrive on time. The train was so full that we were in the same row but on opposite sides of the aisle. Still we wasted no time going back to sleep! |
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| Even though it was a very full train, it was also very quiet in our car. We fully appreciated this later when we discovered that there were 3 different Boy Scout troops onboard on their way to Glacier National Park. They were from Alabama, Illinois and Minnesota. |
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| Still looking really green in western North Dakota too. Did you know that Rugby, ND is billed as the geographic center of North America? We are already west of there. |
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| The lounge car became our home for the day. |
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| Bike gloves make good sunscreen except for those funny looking fingertips. |
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| The Missouri River by Williston, ND. |
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| We are pretty sure we are in Montana now. |
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| Chugging along through Glacier National Park. A Park Service interpreter had joined us in the lounge car in Havre, MT and was very informative and entertaining. |
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| Izaak Walton Inn, Essex, MT. They have a tradition of gathering out front to wave at the train in the summer. |
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| A lot of passengers departed at the East and West Glacier stations and the sun was just setting when we left Whitefish, still on time. In a couple of hours we will be back in the Pacific Time Zone. And this night we got to be in seats next to each other. :) The train splits in Spokane in the middle of the night and half goes to Seattle and the other half goes to Portland so you really want to sleep in your assigned spot! |
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| Monday - July 25 The train was still running on time when we got up just after the Pasco, WA stop. |
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| The Columbia River will be our companion now all the way to Portland. |
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| The train travels on the Washington side so we are looking at Oregon across the river. |
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| Drew, the lounge car cafe host, stayed with the Portland bound train. He was just as gregarious this morning as he had been all day yesterday. Unfortunately, he didn't want us to take his picture but we really appreciated his kindness and sense of humor. |
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| Mt. Hood and Hood River just across the river. |
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| Fifi and her mom, Madeline, are from New York. They are planning to visit Crater Lake so had lots of questions for Donna when they found out how much time we've spent there. |
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| The train arrived in Portland 30 minutes early so we were able to catch the Thruway bus that left at 10:40 instead of having to wait for the Coast Starlight which leaves at 2:25....if it is on time. This is the Salem station entrance. |
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| It is always good news when the bike boxes arrive at the same time we do and they don't have any big holes in them! |
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| We have arrived early enough in the day to ride back to Sweet Home instead of spending one more night in a motel as we had originally planned to do. |
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| Almost ready. |
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| This little guy was totally fascinated by Doug's bike. |
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| Time for a fish and chip lunch at The Depot to fuel our ride home. |
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| We had to take a break at our favorite fork in the road. |
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| Just needed a celebratory fuel stop in Lebanon. |
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| Nice.....we are home in time for dinner.....not that there is anything in the frig. |
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| Getting home busyness, preparing for a week on the bikes with our daughters starting August 1, and a few technical glitches kept us from finishing this last post in a timely fashion. We had a great time and hope that you have enjoyed following along. 45 days from start to finish Final cumulative miles = 1,542 |
