Arriving at Union Station in Chicago. Photo: Miriam Díaz-Gilbert
We've been enjoying our national parks adventures every summer since 2010. To get to the parks from Acadia National Park in Maine to Yosemite National Park in California, and so many more parks in between, we have either taken a plane and picked up a rental car or an RV rental, or we have driven our car. This past August 10, we took the Northeast Regional Amtrak train from Philadelphia to New York City. In New York City, we hopped on the Lake Shore Limited train to to Chicago. The last leg of our train adventure took us from Chicago to Denver on the California Zephyr.
The train trip in coach seating from Philadelphia to Penn Station in NYC was packed with travelers. After a two-hour layover in Penn Station, we boarded the Lake Shore Limited for the long 18-hr ride to Chicago.
Learn more about traveling on Amtrak coach seats, dimensions, and cost here.
On our way from Penn Station NYC to Union Station Chicago.
While the coach seats are a bit bigger and provide more legroom than coach seats on a plane, they are just as uncomfortable. The train offers more discomfort in the form of noise, rattling, and bumps along the tracks for miles and miles. But we were able to stretch our legs on our way up and down the narrow aisle, and up and down a very narrow staircase to the observation deck and the dining car. The snack bar was below the observation deck.
There were two bathrooms on each level of this train. The bathrooms are not unlike airplane bathrooms but maybe a little bit bigger.
Coach passengers can either buy meals in the dining room or snacks in the snack car. Because I cannot eat foods that contain preservatives, additives, food coloring, antibiotics, steroids, pesticides, and insecticides (you can read why here), I prepared our own food. I baked organic sandwich bread, artisan bread, pitas, blueberry muffins and jam made with blueberries that we picked at a blueberry farm. I also baked dark chocolate chip muffins and Jon boiled several of Gracie and Ruby's eggs. They are great egg-laying hens.
We also packed baked chicken, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, sardines in olive oil, avocados, cans of seltzer, cartons of my Vivonex full elemental nutrition drink, and slices of the last half of our 39th wedding anniversary cake a few weeks earlier. We packed everything in two medium-size coolers.
We had plenty of food to sustain us on our train ride from Chicago to Denver, and to our destinations in Colorado: Great Sand Dunes NP, Mesa Verde NP, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP.
Dinner the first night on the train: chicken pita, a slice of the anniversary cake, and seltzer.
After being very uncomfortable and barely sleeping the first night, we enjoyed a nice homemade breakfast in the morning.
Blueberry jam on pita, a dark chocolate chip muffin, and a hard-boiled egg.
We arrived at Union Station in Chicago around 10 am on August 11, and had about a 4-hour layover. We stepped outside and took a selfie overlooking the Chicago River and a couple of boat tours. We had sardine sandwiches in the waiting area. I downloaded some Netflix, Hulu, and Prime movies and series episodes on my iPad for viewing on the ride to Denver.
We got on the California Zephyr to Denver for more uncomfortableness overnight and almost no sleep. But we enjoyed taking a tour of the dining room and hanging out on the observation deck under a blue sky and bright sun in a moving and jerking train that will sometimes cause you to lose your balance.
On our way from Chicago to Denver in 19.5 hours.
We finally arrived at Union Station in Denver on Monday, August 12 at 8 am. While waiting three hours for our driver to pick us up and take us to Cruise America to pick up our RV rental, we decided to upgrade our Amtrak coach accommodations back home from coach to roomette.
We were lucky that there was one roomette available on the 19-hour California Zephyr train ride from Denver to Chicago returning home on August 19. And because I am 65-plus, we received a 10% senior citizen discount. We were thrilled to know we wouldn't be cramped in coach going back to Chicago.
After waiting for our driver to pick us up at 1 pm, we picked up our RV rental for our national parks adventures. You can see our adventures, and the fun and educational videos Jon filmed on my iPhone at Great Sands NP, Mesa Verde NP, and Black Canyon of the Gunisson NP on my YouTube Channel here. We had a wonderful time in our 29th, 30th, and 31st national park.
When it was time to return home, we looked forward to traveling from Denver to Chicago in a roomette on the California Zephyr. While we waited during our layover in Union Station in the lobby of the Crawford Hotel, we learned the California Zephyr coming in from California was delayed.
But that was okay because while we waited, we reunited with longtime friends from our college days, and who live outside Denver. It was great to get together and reminisce, catch up, and laugh. The last time we reunited was in July 2012 in Estes Park before our daughter's wedding in Silverthorne, Co.
Jon, me, Bob, and Jacque.
Unfortunately, the California Zephyr was delayed a few more times. We waited in the waiting area, which is actually the lobby of The Crawford Hotel, and not property of Amtrak, for nine hours.
Travelers and passengers are allowed to sit on sofas and chairs with tables, and are nudged by the wait staff to order food and drinks, which I cannot have. When I took out my homemade blueberry sandwich, I was told that outside food is not allowed. I didn't bother explaining my dietary restrictions; I was too exhausted to open my mouth.
And apparently, travelers and passengers are not allowed to rest their fatigued bodies and eyes, and to slump their sleepy, tired heads. Jon was scolded twice by the waitress—"You cannot sleep here."
He wasn't sleeping. He was exhausted. We had been traveling for a long time. I stayed alert creating videos on my laptop. I was so tired that I didn't have the energy to tell her that she needs to show some compassion to weary travelers. I wanted to tell her that our train had been delayed for hours. I wanted to tell her that my husband has endured stage IV cancer twice and came with surgeries, chemo, and aggressive radiation. This takes a toll on one's body. I wanted to tell her that I had just beaten breast cancer two months before we left for our first Amtrak travel adventure half-way across the country to our beloved national parks. I was astounded at the lack of hospitality practiced by this particular employee at the Crawford Hotel.
After being up since 4 am and driving five hours from the Montrose/Gunnison KOA near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park to return our Cruise America RV rental outside of Denver, then cleaning out the RV, and waiting for our driver to take us to Union Station in Denver, and after waiting nine hours for the delayed train, we finally boarded the California Zephyr at about 10:20 pm. We were happy we'd be sleeping in a roomette where two chairs and a fold-down table convert into bunk beds.
The roomette was much smaller than we expected and there was no room for our luggage. The attendant placed our luggage, along with other passengers' luggage, in an empty roomette. We were happy that at least we had some privacy and we could sleep lying down with our legs almost completely stretched.
We were so fatigued. We could not figure out how to convert the chairs and the fold-down table into bunk beds. But the nice and also exhausted attendant worked his magic in about a second. Jon crawled his way up the very narrow steps to the top bunk. I changed from my overalls and slipped into my Indian smock dress.
There is sporadic to zero WiFi on Amtrak even with your personal hotspot. I was glad I downloaded stuff to watch on my IPad. I fell asleep while watching an episode of The Serpent Queen on Hulu.
I'm 5' 81/2" tall; Jon is 6' 1/2" tall. The bunk beds were fine in length for us, but maybe not fine if you're taller. Jon slept okay. I didn't sleep well with the rattles and the rolls, and the jerking of the train. But we got better sleep in the roomette than we got in coach.
The next morning Jon got breakfast (all meals are included with the roomette accommodation). He had an egg and cheese quesadilla, potatoes, and bacon, along with my order of the same, which I could not have. The egg and cheese quesadilla looked a little runny, but Jon enjoyed it. I had a blueberry muffin from my homemade goodies stash and my Vivonex elemental drink and seltzer.
After breakfast, I took a shower in one of the two shower rooms down the hallway. I've never taken a shower in any loud an fast moving vehicle, but the shower room on the train was big enough and towels were provided. The water was nice and hot. I felt revived and refreshed.
Even though it was a tight squeeze in the roomette, it was much roomier than coach accommodations. We decided to upgrade from coach to roomette on our next train ride from Chicago to Penn Station in NYC, but none were available.
Learn more about Amtrak roomettes, dimensions, and cost here.
When lunchtime came, we decided to have lunch in the dining car on the observation deck. Jon's diet is not restricted so he could order from the menu. I let the waiter know that I would not be eating from the menu due to my dietary restrictions. I would eat my blueberry and almond butter sandwich and drink my Vivonex and seltzer.
We waited in the observation deck to be seated at a table. When four names were called—Wayne, Kim, Jon, Miriam—we were seated together. We had a wonderful time chatting and enjoyed lunch with Wayne and Kim from England and on their honeymoon. We shared our travel adventures, stories about our children and grandchildren, our professions, our lives, and so much more. We'd go on to share more meals.
A selfie at lunch time by our attendant Denifar.
And along the way, our train travel schedule almost changed.
Because of the train delays from Denver to Chicago, we missed our connecting train from Chicago to Philadelphia. Amtrak decided to arrange to put me and Jon on a 4-hour bus ride to Galesburg, Indiana to connect on a train to Philadelphia. We said, "Absolutely not! We're not getting on a bus."
After the conductor placed a call to Amtrak, we were able to stay on the California Zephyr to get to Chicago to connect to the next train, the Lakeshore Limited, to Penn Station in NYC in coach accommodations. Jon then made a phone call to Amtrak to upgrade us from coach to a roomette at a reduced rate for all our troubles—the train delays in Denver that caused us to miss our original connecting train and that almost put us on a long bus ride to Indiana. The customer service agent took care of us. We were thrilled to be traveling in first class again.
We arrived in Union Station at about 7 pm and waited in the VIP Lounge for our departure. Passengers traveling in roomette and bedroom accommodations get VIP treatment—free luggage storage during layovers and free refreshments. I was happily surprised to find a Justin's organic dark chocolate peanut butter cup to pick from at the snack bar. I read the ingredients label; there were no chemicals. Jon had a banana and we we both enjoyed a bottle of water.
It was also an exciting time in Chicago that night; it was the first night of the Democratic National Convention. And I was running out of my food, and had to ration what was left. I just needed something to hold me over.
We went out for a slice of pizza. because we were going to miss dinner on the train due to the late departure. Some plain pizzas have the least amount of chemicals and might be relatively safer for me to take a bite of compared to a salad, sandwiches, soups, chicken, hamburger, meat, and other fast foods which have more preservatives, additives, food coloring, antibiotics, steroids, hormones, pesticides, and insecticides.
We walk from Union Station in the dark to the closest pizza shop on Google maps—Giordano's. They don't sell slices but sell personal size Chicago deep dish pizza. We'd never had one. We reluctantly ordered a personal size plain cheese pizza and waited for about thirty minutes for it.
We walked back to Union Station only to be greeted by a mob of protestors and a line of Chicago police in riot gear at the entrance we needed to get through. A police officer in a helmet, and holding his shield and baton, turned us away. Our cries, "Our train is leaving soon. We're going to miss our train," fell on deaf ears.
We found another door with a police officer on the inside of the glass door. "We're going to miss our train." He ignored us. When Jon yelled, "We're going to miss our train." The police officer yelled back at us. He told us Union Square was in lockdown. "But we need to get on the train, " Jon yelled, angrily. The police man yelled back that we're not getting in. For a split second, I thought he was going to open the door, and put Jon in handcuffs.
Union Station was in lockdown. Apparently, a bomb threat was called in while we were at Giordano's. We could not get into the building, and our train was leaving soon.
Suddenly, a man saw us in distress. Holding a coffee cup, he said, "Need to get in the building? Follow me." He looked sketchy but we followed this total stranger down a dark alley. We were familiar with this alley having walked through it a week earlier in broad daylight when we were at Union Station a week earlier. We followed and he worked his magic when his palm scanned the wall near a door. The area lit up in glowing green. The door opened.
He led us through this open door and worked his magic again with his palm on another door, and we were inside Union Station. We thanked him. Then he said, "Got some spare change?" Jon gave him whatever coins he had in his jeans' pockets as we scrambled with our backpacks and the bag with my personal pizza to catch the train.
We don't know if he was homeless, a Union Station employee on his night off, or an undercover cop. For me, he was another angel who knew we needed to run to the train.
But first, we ran to the VIP lounge where our roller duffle bags and small coolers with my food were the only things left In the storage room. We grabbed them and ran as fast as we could to the train track. I struggled to pull my pink roller duffle bag up the train steps. We were the last two to climb on the train. We were greeted by an attendant.
Jon said, "We have a roomette."
"What room?
"We have room 9."
"You have too much luggage. That's not going to work. Follow me."
We followed him.
Then the attendant opened a wide door. "This bedroom is yours now."
We couldn't believe our eyes and ears.
"Really? Are you sure?" Jon and I quietly asked in unison.
"I can see you've been through a lot. You're in distress. But I've got you. Sit down. Relax. Nobody booked this room so, it's yours"
He offered us a drink on the house, but we don't drink. He offered us tea. We accepted. He came back with a selection of fancy teas in cloth tea bags and hot water in thick paper cups. I don't remember what kind of tea or flavor I had, but it came in a light purple tea bag, and it was delicious. But the Chicago deep dish pizza was cold, soggy, and mostly sauce. One bite was more than enough.
We were astonished at the amazing hospitality. Just like that, we were upgraded to a bedroom accommodation at no additional cost after having survived the mob of protestors and line of police in riot gear, and with the help of an angel with magic palms. And then we were taken care of by another angel on the train we almost missed.
Exhausted, we quietly laughed and grinned from ear to ear in our spacious bedroom and counted our blessings. We had fun taking pictures. Jon was looking forward to his shower only to discover that the shower had zero water pressure. The water did not even come out in drips. But he managed to shower with the thick paper cup originally filled with tea but now filled with water from the sink. He filled the cup with water about fifty times. He came out from the shower refreshed.
Learn more about Amtrak bedrooms, dimensions, and cost here.
The spacious bathroom with a built-in shower. Unfortunately, the shower head did not work.
Jon enjoying his tea on a big sofa that converts into a bed.
The bottom bed was big enough for the two of us to sleep together.
We were so exhausted, we slept well through the noise and jerking..
We were now on a 21- hour train ride to Penn Station and closer to home. We had a good night's sleep.
And even though suddenly the toilets on the train stopped working the next afternoon, we still had fun and good laughs on a beautiful summer day. We had more fun with Kim and Wayne at meals. During the one-hour stop at the train station in Albany, NY, we headed for the convenience store where Kim found small packets of Chips Ahoy cookies and Twizzlers to take back home to her children and grandchildren. Chips Ahoy and Twizzlers are very expensive in England.
And we took a selfie with Kwame, who took care of us and gave us the bedroom. An hour later, we all got back on the train. The toilets were working again, and now we could take a shower. We passed on the shower. There's a reason why the toilets stopped working and the shower had no water pressure. Kwame told us the train is forty-five years old.
Jon and I enjoyed the ride from Albany to Penn Station. We took more pictures of our spacious moving bedroom in daylight.
Along the Hudson River.
Jon admiring the view.
We arrived at Penn Station at about 6:45 pm on August 21 and waited for about two hours for our last train ride to Philadelphia and home sweet home.
Now that we've reflected on our Amtrak experience, the question you might be asking us is, Would you travel long distances on Amtrak again?
To answer this question, we need to answer what we liked the best and the least about traveling on Amtrak. We would say we liked the Amtrak attendants, the nice passengers, and knowing that no one was verbally violent and abusive, as happens during some airplane travel. That was the reason we chose Amtrak over an airline. Everyone, from children to senior citizens, were well-mannered, respectful, and courteous.
I can't rate the food on Amtrak because I wasn't able to eat it, but Jon said his Angus beef hamburger was delicious.
We made new friends. While we never anticipated a lockdown in Union Station and almost missing our train in Chicago, there were things we couldn't control like, a mob of protestors and police in riot gear during a political convention. But we were lucky to have an angel who helped us get on the train just in time, and lucky again when we were upgraded to a bedroom at no additional charge and welcomed on board with great hospitality and care by Kwame.
What did we like the least? The uncomfortableness of contorting our bodies in coach seats and getting disrupted sleep. The long and multiple delays in Denver did not enhance our travel experience. The lack of water pressure in the bedroom shower was a disappointment, but we were happy to know the next passenger(s) in the bedroom would now be able to shower.
Will we travel on Amtrak again?
Jon said, "Never again." I say, "Maybe." But under the following conditions. The train has to be less than forty-five years old but preferably a brand new train. The toilets must flush at all times. The showers must have water pressure.
And passengers with dietary needs/restrictions should be allowed to heat their home prepared food in the microwave in the dining car. When planning our trip, I inquired about the use of a microwave to heat my prepared food, like is permitted in hotels, but I was told it is not allowed. But if the Amtrak menu also included meals free of preservatives, additives, food coloring, hormones, steroids, antibiotics, pesticides, and insecticides, I would be in chemicals-free heaven and wouldn't need to prepare all of my food at home to travel with.
Things can change and Jon and I could potentially travel to more national parks or other far destinations on Amtrak again. Time will tell. But what we'd like to leave you with is that you consider traveling on Amtrak for a few days on your next adventure.
You might not like everything about it, but you will certainly discover new things, meet new people, make new friends, and if you can sleep through the noise, rattle and roll, and jerking of a moving train, you'll have a great time.
You might even find an angel or two when you need them the most. And you might even be unexpectedly upgraded to first-class accommodations. It will most certainly be some kind of memorable adventure!
All aboard!
©2024
I am the author of Come What May, I Want to Run: A Memoir of the Saving Grace of Ultrarunning in Overwhelming Times. Jon's cancer journey, my journey as his caregiver, and our adventures in national parks during his cancer journey, are themes in my book. Order it here from Wipf and Stock Publishers, Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble. It's available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and Kindle.
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