The California Zephyr

I left San Francisco on 9 am Saturday morning and spent the next couple of days on the California Zephyr to Chicago. The ride was plush and the people mostly enjoyable. Packing along 3 liters of wine, a half pound of stinky cheese and some crackers meant that I would be dining in style, slightly inebriated, and slightly offensive for the duration of my journey.

A view of the train from the observation car.

Traveling over the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, made my views of the rockies brief. I did have a great panoramic seat in the observation car. If they'd darkened the car however, the snow and bright moon would have made for great landscapes at night.

A view from the observation car, somewhere between San Francisco and Chicago ;)

Castle Gate, infamous site for the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid gang. Although it seems that there are too many of these sites to be possible, they seem to be everywhere out west.

View somewhere in Utah, Colorado?

A sunny shot of the Colorado River, downstream from Glen Canyon.

Arriving a few hours late in Chicago on Monday night we were informed that trains in Michigan were frozen up and we'd be waiting for awhile. The track switches were frozen from a snow and ice story common along the western Michigan shoreline. 'Frozen up' was a euphemism as the septic systems aboard some of the trains had actually burst... I spent a few hours reading my book and staying warm on the nativity scene in the Grand Union Station. The nativity scene was adorned with large swatches of cotton and red-ruby blankets, very christmassy, especially with me on it. The bus finally left and 72 hours after departing from San Francisco I arrived in Battle Creek, MI.