Beautiful Southwest

Woke up on the second day on the Southwest Chief and the terrain was really beginning to change.  We were now in southeastern Colorado and it was looking very barren with lots of brush.  As we headed past Trinidad, Colorado, we saw snow on the mountains and the snow was pretty thick going over the Raton Pass.  Many of the small towns we passed through looked like the set of a western movie and you expected to see cowboys and indians at any moment.  At the top of the pass, we entered New Mexico and the snow continued through much of eastern New Mexico.  We enjoyed going through the small town of Lamy, NM where lots of people got on or off the train.  We enjoyed the dramatic scenery throughout New Mexico.

Not longer after Lamy, the snow disappeared and we were soon in Albequerque where we enjoyed a brief stop.  There were vendors on the platform at Albequerque selling native american goods and we bought a couple of items from Veronica Yellowhorse.  It was a beautiful day in Albequerque and felt very comfortable.  After leaving Albequerque, we had dinner and went to bed fairly early.

This morning found us getting up very early around 5:00 a.m. as we were preparing for an arrival into Los Angeles Union Station around 8:15 a.m.  Even though we had been late for most of the prior day due to daylight savings time, we ended up arriving into L.A. right on time.  The station in L.A. is a very beautiful station with lots of courtyards, fountains, and beautiful flowers.  We enjoyed walking around the Olivera Street area of downtown L.A. and looking over the wares being sold there. 

Back to the station we went as we prepared to board our next train, the Coast Starlight.  We had a red cap take us out to the train and we were glad we did since the station is an extremely busy station with lots of tracks and tunnels.  We boarded the train and after getting settled into our room, we headed to the Pacific Parlor Car to enjoy the scenery heading out of L.A.  This part of the country is absoutely stunning with the many canyons, hillside communities and of course, the Pacific Ocean.  This train runs right along the Pacific Ocean for many miles and we were able to spot several whales today.  We enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting in the Pacific Parlor Car as well as a wonderful dinner there.  We had been running early or on time all day but soon after dinner, we came to a halt because the southbound train had had a collision with a truck and damaged one of th engines.  We have been sitting for about an hour now, waiting for them to clear the tracks ahead and are currently about two hours away from San Francisco.  I will wrap it up here for the night but just wanted to comment on how fantastic all the Amtrak crews have been this trip and the early or on-time performance on this trip until just now has been amazing.

I have taken lots of pictures, but my internet connection is spotty, so I can't upload them.  I will upload some later when I have a better connection.  Until next time . . . .