Spectacular State of Mind Part Two

10 August 2009

Well, it's been another interesting day. I'm currently sitting on Amtrak's train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, somewhere between Denver and Fort Morgan, CO. I got on this morning at Grand Junction. It's been an interesting two days, since I got onto my bus in Albuquerque, New Mexico after 7 a.m. Sunday morning………….

In booking my ticket a few weeks ago, I discovered it was almost 20 dollars cheaper to get a ticket all the way to Denver rather than just to Grand Junction, so I did that. When I got to Grand Junction, though, I discovered that because my bus had been so late that I had missed my supposed connection to Denver, Greyhound was going to put me up in a hotel for free. Now I already had a room booked, albeit at a less upscale hotel closer to the bus and train stations, but fool that I am, I went along with all the other bus people to the "free" hotel. This was fine – until it was time to get back into town this morning. I was forced to take the hotel shuttle, and the driver decided to wait until she had an almost full load before she left.

Now this was at 11 a.m., and my train was scheduled to leave at 11:23 a.m. At that point it was so late, there was no way I could walk down from the bus station to the train station in time, so I had to get her to drop me at the Amtrak station instead. Of course since she didn't know I was actually catching the train, she decided to give us the "scenic" tour of Main St, Grand Junction, instead of just dropping me off, already! What was worse was that I couldn't tell any of the other bus passengers, with whom I'd become "passengers of fate" friendly, that I wasn't going by bus. After all, if I DID miss the train, I would still have to get to Denver, and I already had a bus ticket!

So there I was, refusing the kindly offer of one of the other passengers to watch my luggage at the bus station, dashing around the station corner, and breathing an immense sigh of relief to discover that the train was still there. I was probably the last passenger on the train, but I did make it.

The moral of this story? I ended up paying for a hotel room that I didn't sleep in at all. (It was too late to cancel the reservation by the time I got to Grand Junction.) And because I didn't stay at the hotel (which I had originally selected because of its proximity to the train station), I almost missed my train. Let's just say that being a smart aleck isn't always so smart.

Because I got on the train in between major stops, I wasn't fortunate enough to get a window seat. However, my seatmate spent the majority of the day in the sightseer car – not a big surprise given the sights to be seen on the day's ride – so I was able to take quite a few pictures from my seat. I also got up and stood at the back of the coach car several times when I wanted a closer shot of what was on the other side of the train or when I wanted to get a better shot of the train itself going around one of the many sharp curves we encountered running along the picturesque Colorado River.

We went through four canyons, most notably Glen Canyon, through which I passed last Tuesday on my way to ABQ, and, after stopping briefly at Winter Park Resort, we passed through Moffat Tunnel, which crosses under the Continental Divide and shaves all but 12 minutes off the old six-hour long trip over Rawlins Pass. The 6.2 mile long tunnel is the 4^th longest in the Western Hemisphere, according to our very informative coach attendant. Coming down the eastern flank of the Front Range, we passed through 29 more tunnels and around some seriously twisty curves. I think this trip for me was spectacular as much because of the remarkable feats of engineering which made it possible as it was for the natural beauty which lined its route.

As I bring this entry to a close, we getting ready to cross the Colorado – Nebraska state line, where I will have to remember to turn my watch forward one hour. They say that trains were the original time machines, and at moments like this I can see why people might think so.