Travelblog episode 2b: Done with the train...on to the bus!

So we got to Minneapolis at around 9 AM on Thursday the 19th, roughly 2 hours late. We, and the rest of the people on the train, piled in to the waiting area and listened to the Amtrak people yell at us to get in various lines. Well, technically they were just talking loudly, and the only people they were interested in at first were those who had connections to make in Chicago. We were off the hook and stood aside. Eventually (probably 45 minutes later) they called those of us heading to Milwaukee and points between (La Crosse, Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Portage and Columbus).

The bus was nice, as busses go. The AC worked, there was space overhead for our bags, it wasn't too crowded, and the seats reclined. We took off and drove down along the Mississippi for a while, then crossed the river and stopped in La Crosse, WI. At this point (about 12:30 PM) we changed drivers and someone had the smarts to ask the driver "hey, will there be a lunch stop?"

"Nope. You can get a quick sandwich here if you want..."

Gee, thanks for telling us. See, back in Edmonds the guy said they would cater in some food for us. And while the bus did have several dozen donuts and some water that wasn't going to keep the Chicken children (or adults) sane for more than an hour or two. So off the bus we got, and in to the restaurant we piled. At which point the driver realized he'd made a grave error, 'cause there were six or seven of us looking for food and we were messing up his schedule. What schedule, you ask? I have no idea. He had it in his head that he "had to be in Milwaukee by 5", but we couldn't find anyone who cared. Maybe he was meeting his mistress or something.

Anyhoo, 10 minutes and $30 later we had some barbecue sandwiches for the kids and clubs for me, Paige and Mom and we were back on the bus and headed for Tomah. Tomah, a town of around 9,000 people, ain't much to talk about. The only reason I AM talking about it is that in Tomah we had to get the guy in the wheelchair off the bus. Which proved to be a Herculean effort because the new driver didn't know how to operate the lift. Even with the help of several passengers it just wouldn't go up. He finally used his "Phone a Friend" lifeline and learned how to do it and, 20 minutes after we arrived, we were on our way again.

The next highlight was driving through the Wisconsin Dells. You've heard of Wisconsin Cheese, right? Well, I'm guessing you didn't know that the cheese they refer to isn't the kind you eat, it's the kind you find in the Dells. You want water parks? They've got a bajillion of 'em. You want a wedding chapel? Done. Torture museum? Sure thing. And did we mention water parks? As Paige put it, it was like the Oregon Coast in Wisconsin. Awww yeah.

Finally, at about 6 or 6:30 we pulled in to Milwaukee where Apple Jim picked us up and hauled us off to the Lake House in Oconomowoc where we were greeted by cousins, cousins and more cousins. And spaghetti. And, more importantly, beds that didn't move!

Travelblog episode 2a: Amtrak Adventures continue

We left off yesterday at dinner our first night on the train. And I realize in retrospect that it sounded like the fun began after dinner, which isn't exactly true. It happened after we'd ordered dinner, but before the dinner had arrived. We were sitting in the dining car, me and the kids sharing a table with a gentleman from, um, Chicago (I think) while Mom and Paige were at another table with another couple. We were tooling west out of Everett when we stopped. Hmm. Odd.

Odder still was that a few minutes later the power went out. Lights off, air conditioning off, nothing. It's not dark - there's plenty of light coming in the windows, but still. Eventually the conductor (or maybe engineer) comes on and says something like "Well, we've got an engine out. But instead of waiting for Burlington Northern to get us a new one we're going to just keep going using one engine to pull and provide power to the cars. So we'll be slow going up Stevens Pass, and late from here on out."

Well, since we weren't exactly expecting to be on time anyway this didn't bother us. The food eventually arrived (and was very good, I might add), and eventually we made it back to our room to watch the trees go by and to try to hold our breath through the big tunnel (we failed. Miserably). And eventually, at around 9:45, we let Mary make up our beds and we settled down to sleep.

Now, something you should know about us Chickens: we like it cold. In winter the heat rarely gets over 65. We get droopy when it's too hot. And with four of us in a small room on a train it gets hot. Especially when the train finally rolls in to Spokane (at around 3:00 AM) and they shut off the power again to swap around engines. So, combining the heat with the movement and stopping and noise, suffice it to say that neither Paige nor I got much sleep that night. Like, oh, none. Well, maybe a couple hours...

But hey, that meant we were up in plenty of time to get a seating for breakfast! And thanks to the slow haul through Washington we were a couple hours behind schedule, which meant that instead of hitting Glacier National Park at 7 AM Mountain we got there around 9, just as we were sitting down to breakfast. And what did we leave in the cabin? That's right, the camera. So no pictures of beautiful waterfalls or other Glacier beauty. No photos, in fact, until we were out of the Rockies entirely and looking back at them. And this is what they looked like:

Our next service stop (where they stop long enough that you can get out and walk around or smoke a cigarette or whatever) was in the town of Havre, Montana (which the train people pronounce "HAVE-er").

I've never heard of Havre, but according to Wikipedia it's 105 years old and half-way from Seattle to Minneapolis. Which is almost the exact center of nowhere. But we did get out and take in the sights. Sights like:

Grandma Chicken!


A steam engine!


More importantly, a steam
engine that thinks it's Christmas time in June!

But soon the train was pulling away, and eventually it was time for dinner again. This time, with no mountains or beauty to distract us, I brought the camera to document the wonders of train-bound eating:

Logan's eating pizza. Paige is putting me in fork jail.


I'm enjoying carrots. Maya is not amused.


The pizza totally wore Logan out. Totally.


But ice cream and Kanoodle brought him back to life!

After another less sweaty night (I took the top bunk this time and it seemed to help being closer to the air vent...and we were all so exhausted it just didn't matter...) and a rushed breakfast we finally arrived in Minneapolis where we waited to board the bus to Milwaukee. But that will have to wait for tomorrow!