rolling east on the california zephyr

[fizzgig]

pandora and a tony bourdain book in the observation lounge for now, but i'll head back to my seat shortly. there's a few single-serving bottles of wine in my backpack

this is way better than driving cross country by myself.

[elleng]

1. GREAT!

Wish I were there!

[fizzgig]

2. i'd love the company

packed some tasty snacks, too. i'll dig into some bread and cheese in a bit.

[Suich]

3. Train is always better than driving!

Where are you going?

[fizzgig]

8. getting off in galesburg, illinois

ultimate stop is the quad cities. off to see my ma

[oldandhappy]

4. Excellent! Soak it all up.

[fizzgig]

9. loving it

having coffee and a croissant in the dining car now.

[DFW]

5. The Silver Streak rides again! n/t

[HeiressofBickworth]

6. A trip I'd like to take!!

My yearly trip is the Coast Starlight. I went Seattle to Sacramento just last month. I've thought of taking the Coast Starlight to LA and then the Zephyr to Chicago and then the Empire Builder back to Seattle. Being retired, I've got the time; I just need the money.

Hope you are having a wonderful time!!!

[fizzgig]

11. that trip sounds like a blast

hope you can make it some day.

i am having a great time. got some rest, watched the sunrise and then had a bite in the dining car. coffee, bacon and a croissant for six bucks, i call that a deal.

this is the only way i'm going to travel when i make solo trips to see my mom.

[KamaAina]

16. The heiress of Bickworth needs the money?!

Where is Bickworth, anyway?

[HeiressofBickworth]

18. Where is Bickworth?

I wondered about that also. In doing genealogy research, I found that my 14th great grandmother was "Heiress of Bickworth". No name of her own just that John Bird married the Heiress of Bickworth. I first researched "Bickworth" as a place name but found nothing. I then researched "Bickworth" as a family name, but again found nothing other than references to the Heiress. There are lots of Bickfords and Bickwiths, but nothing that suggests either as an alternate spelling of "Bickworth". There's not much on Bickworth I can use to tie in my ancestor.

So, here I am 14th great granddaughter of someone with a description but no actual name. I'm descended from her daughter. Any fortune the Heiress may have had would have been assumed by her husband (women didn't have separate property back then) and probably dissipated over the years, and in any case, wouldn't have come to her daughter anyway.

I'm retired on Social Security so, yes, I need to save up my money for a big trip like I've described. I have no husband to either help or hinder me. Wonder what Granny would have thought of this.

[mnhtnbb]

7. Enjoy!

My husband and I rode The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver two weeks ago. Loved it! We met a guy
at dinner one night who takes his vacation every year riding different Amtrak routes.


We had glorious scenery. The aspens were spectacular! This was a shot I took one day out the back of the
observation car--somewhere between Edmonton and Jasper.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[fizzgig]

12. great shot!

glad you had a great trip

[Aristus]

10. I'd love to take a cross-country train trip someday.

I'd only want to do it if I had a sleeper cabin, though...

Enjoy!

[fizzgig]

13. cross-country might be a bit much in coach

i'd love to take this out this out to san francisco some day.

[Aristus]

14. I once took a train from London to Inverness, Scotland,

and then from Inverness to Liverpool. And although Great Britain is a much smaller country than the US, it was sheer torture in a coach seat...

I was a penniless soldier at the time. Nowadays, I'd spring for the sleeper...

[fizzgig]

15. i stopped in edinburgh between london and inverness

nice way to break up the trip. stopped in glasgow on the way back to london.

now if i could just find the damned photos.

[KamaAina]

17. Sorry, no can do.

It only goes as far as Emeryville (a town sandwiched between Oakland and Berkeley), then they put you on a bus to cross the Bay Bridge into SF.